CHAPTER ONE
GENERAL INTRODUCTION
1.1       Background to the Study
Career development and employee retention are key strategic considerations for all organization regardless of size, sector, market or profile. The development of the capacity and capability of the organizations managers has a fundamental impact on efficiency, effectiveness, morale and profitability of an organization. High performing organizations increasingly pay close attention to the validity of their recruitment practices and are becoming equally vigilant about developing their employees in order to ensure they achieve optimum performance both in the present and the future. This is confirmed by Mwenebirinda, (1998) who acknowledges that employee performance can be enhance via training that addresses identified weaknesses. One of the most significance developments in the public sector in recent times is the increasing importance given to human resources. Torrington and Hall (1987) agree and point out that due to their use of labour intensive activities and increasing competition within the sectors, financial services in general and industry in particular have embark on considerable investment in career development. A career refers to all of the jobs that people hold during their working lives. Career planning is the process by which employees plan their career goals and paths. Career development refers to all technical and managerial skills employees acquire to achieve their career plans. Employee retention is an act of keeping or retaining workers in an organization for increases turnover. Employee retention can means how long an individual has stayed with an employer, or it can means how long a person has been attached to the labour force. Employee retention can be represented by a simple statistic ( for example, a retention rate 80% usually indicates that an organization kept 80% of its employees given period). However, many consider career development as relating to the effort by which employers attempt to retain employee in their workforce. In this sense, retention becomes the strategies rather than the outcome.
Career development is considered important factor in employee retention, organization has the incentives to decrease employee turnover in form of training & development of workers. According to Clark (2001), organizations are intensification development for talented employees, through proficiency analysis, input on employee interests, need development and multisource appraisal of capabilities and formulate plans for action. Wetland (2003), suggested that firms and individual made investment on human capital in the form of development. Career development enhances the skills, organization needs to start training and development programme. Career development provides specialized technique and skills to employee that helps to rectify deficiencies in employee performance, and provide the skills and abilities to employee which will be needed in the organization in the future. Development of skill consists of improving interpersonal communication; technologies, problem solving and basic literacy, the development of people, their competencies and the process of development of the total organization are the main concerns of organization to enhance retention. Stone and Freemen (1992) list special training for career development and employee retention undertaken by supervisors as: Career Planning and Development for personnel. The retention of talented employees is an advantage to an organization because employees’ knowledge and skills are central to a company’s ability to economically competitive. Employee retention becomes increasingly important to organization because periodic labour shortages can reduce high performance employee. Thus workers are searching for better employment opportunities and organizations are seeking to increase productivity of their career path within an organization to move them to remain in the organization to achieve their personal career goals.