Influence of Employee Assistance Programs on Employee Retention in Kenyan Public Level Five Hospitals

Abstract

Employee Assistance programs are mediation programmes at the work place that assist employees to resolve their personal problems. Retention of employees alludes to strategies and practices that an organization uses to keep important and high qualified employees from finding employment elsewhere. The general objective of the study was to investigate the influence of employee assistance programs in public level five hospitals in Kenya. The specific objectives of the study were; to establish the influence of child care programs, Counselling programs and wellness programs on staff retention. The study adopted descriptive and correlational research designs. The study targeted 472 doctors, 3318 nurses and 449 clinical officers from the 11 available public level five hospitals in Kenya. The study further used a proportionate stratified random sampling to select eight (8) public level five hospitals, and a total sample size of 40 doctors, 278 nurses, and 37 clinical officers. Simple

random sampling was used to select the study participants in each stratum. Data was collected using a semi- structured questionnaire through drop and pick approach. Cronbach alpha was used to test the reliability of the

research instruments. Data was analyzed using SPSS Version.23, with descriptive and inferential statistics being used to discuss study findings based on the objectives. The study found out that employee assistance programs, significantly influenced the health workers’ decision to continue working in the same institution. The study concludes that employee assistance programs, significantly exert influence on employee retention in the public level five hospitals. The study recommends that the management of the public level five hospitals in Kenya, should invest in improving the employee assistance programs. The study recommends that the management of the public level five hospitals in Kenya, should invest in improving the employee assistance programs as a means to encourage and motivate their employees. These will in turn lead to improved employee retention.