Human Resource Management Practices and Employees Retention in Non-Governmental Organizations in Nairobi City County, Kenya
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Date
2025-11
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Kenyatta University
Abstract
The main objective of this research was to study the effect of human resource management
practices on employee’s retention within Non-Governmental Organizations in Nairobi
County. Specifically, the research purposed to ascertain the influence of leadership style,
work environment, and career development opportunities on employee retention.
Additionally, the study sought to assess the role of job embeddedness as a mediator in the
relationship between human resource management practices and the ability of NonGovernmental Organizations to retain employees. A good number of employees in NonGovernmental Organizations in Nairobi express a lack of intention to remain in their
current work environments. In 2020, more than 30% of Non-Governmental Organizations
employees in Nairobi expressed a desire to voluntary leave their employment. A rate that
rose to 34% in 2021 according to reports. This observation was predominantly attributed
to poor working environments, unfriendly organizational cultures, poor staffing practices,
lack of motivating renumeration packages and operational methods. The theoretical
foundations underpinning this study is drawn from one model and three theories, namely,
the Mixed Model of employees Retention, Trait Theory, Hierarchy of Needs Theory, and
Job Embeddedness Theory. They provided insight to understand employee’s retention. The
study assumed an explanatory research design, targeting 201 Non-Governmental
Organizations operating within Nairobi County. The research sample comprised of 69
Non-Governmental Organizations selected through stratified random sampling technique.
This enabled the sample to be representative and accurate, ensuring that the distinct
subgroups from the population were adequately and proportionally included. Fishers’
formula was used to get the 69 organizations. Semi-structured questionnaires were utilized,
with pilot testing conducted on 7 Non-Governmental Organization employees who were
subsequently excluded from the final study. Questionnaire validity was ensured through
expert judgment and reliability was ensured through Cronbach's alpha testing with a
threshold of 0.7. Data analysis involved coding and entry into Statistical Package for Social
Sciences version 22, followed by descriptive statistics analysis to characterize the data, and
logistic regression to assess variability associations of the variables under the research. The
research established that leadership style, work environment and career development
opportunities affected employee’s decision to stay or leave the organization. In addition,
job embeddedness was observed to mediate the affiliation amongst human resource
management practices and retention in Non-Governmental Organisations. Further, the
study showed that job satisfaction moderates the connection amongst human resource
management practices and retention of workers. The study determined that factors such as
employee commitment, motivation, and work-life balance are key contributors to retention.
However, many employees in Non-Governmental Organizations in Nairobi do not have
adequate access to coaching and mentorship programmes, which could support their
professional growth. It is recommended that managers adopt appropriate leadership styles,
that integrate supportive work environments with career development opportunities to
enhance employee retention
Description
A Thesis Submitted to the School of Business, Economics and Tourism in Partial Fulfillment of the Requirements for the Award of the Degree of Master of Science in Human Resource Management of Kenyatta University, November, 2025
Supervisors:
1.Hannah Bula
2.Stephen Muathe