Retention of employees in the Department of Transport in the Ministry of Works and Transport in Namibia

Abstract

The purpose of this study was to investigate the retention of employees in the Department of Transport in the Ministry of Works and Transport. The research was undertaken because employees in the Department of Transport are resigning rapidly, creating a high vacancy rate in the department. There is thus a need to investigate the reason/s why employees are leaving the institution so that strategies can be implemented to mitigate the high number of resignations. In order to obtain the desired results, the research project used both qualitative and quantitative research methods. The study revealed that the Department of Transport has no guidelines on retention of employees and this has negatively affected the department, particularly its failure to retain employees with specialised skills that are highly sought in the labour market. Another shortcoming of the Department of Transport is the failure to offer performance-related incentives and market-related remuneration. In the absence of these benefits, employees opt to resign and seek better remuneration packages elsewhere. It is therefore proposed that the department should review its efforts to retain employees, including the formulation of retention guidelines and reviewing the remuneration of employees.