Factors Influencing Employee Retention: A Karachi Based Comparative Study on IT and Banking Industry

The purpose of this study is to explain the factors that help in retaining employees in IT and banking industry. These factors include performance appraisals, training and development and workplace environment. It is important to learn how different organizations use these variables as tools to keep their employees satisfied and preserved. In order to carry out this research, a count of 120 questionnaires were distributed among the respective officials in various IT companies and banks. SPSS software was used to analyse the received data to find the relationship between employee retention and these three factors. The study explains that some variables such as performance appraisal, training and development and work environment largely affect the rate of employee retention. Results showed that performance appraisal has a significantly more impact on the retention rate of the employees working in IT sector whereas in banking sector training and development has more influence on retention rate. And through conducting a survey from employees working in these sectors, it is verified that banking and IT industries are also focusing on employee retention management. The academic implication of this research is that academicians should introduce the separate course of employee retention or retention management for the students of HR major as this area is gaining attention of not only researchers, but also of corporate world practitioners. And the practical implication of this research includes the importance of employee retention in the local and global competitive market. The practitioners must understand the worth of retention factors so that they can compete nationally and globally by effectively implementing them in retention strategies. They must work out for their employees as employees are the organization’s prior customers and satisfied employees can satisfy the organization’s customers.