DETERMINANTS OF EMPLOYEE’S ATTRITION AND INTENTION TO RESIGN AT THE INTERNATIONAL RESCUE COMMITTEE

Abstract

The retention of skilled staff is indispensable in any organizational structure especially for non-governmental humanitarian organizations which respond to immediate humanitarian crises. Many studies show that attrition rates are very high in the NGO sector of Ethiopia. A previous study particularly done to determine employee attrition at the International Rescue Committee Ethiopia program, indicated a high turnover rate of 45% .However, the IRC Ethiopia retention rate has improved through time and the organization has seemingly stable retention rate. This study tried to examine the current actual degree of attrition, factors contributing to the attrition and the intention of employees to resign (as a proxy to attrition).A descriptive as well as explanatory research design were adopted for the study. A self-administered questionnaire to randomly selected 254 employees was distributed electronically. Additionally, for the qualitative data, in-depth interviews were arranged with the management team and the ex-staff who left the IRC. Data from questionnaires were examined by descriptive and inferential statistics with the help of SPSS version 22 and inferential statistics using bi-variable and multi-variable analysis was done to identify the key determinants. Qualitative data was analyzed thematically through content analysis technique. The qualitative findings were used to supplement and/or triangulate the quantitative findings. The response rate was 78 % and a complete data (n = 191) was used for analysis. The results of this study revealed that even though the magnitude of IRC’s employee retention for the last three and half consecutive years stayed at 98%, the intention to resign is significantly high. The results of regression showed that intention-to-resign is higher among those who are in management positions, who have doubts about the fairness and flexibility of the work environment. Those working in field office and those in non-management position have lower risk of intending to resign. In addition, a major mismatch between the employees and the leadership in terms of level of intention to resign and what keeps employees working is identified. Salary is not the main reason for continuing to work in the IRC. The IRC should work on creating conducive work environment where fairness prevails. Given the fact that stress has detrimental effects on performance and employee’s health, options must be sought to reduce stress. Addressing the mismatch in the understanding of the management and employees on fairness and conduciveness of the work environment is needed.