The influence of training on employee retention for a tailing company

Abstract

The purpose of this study is to examine the influence that training has on employee retention for a tailings company. Worldwide the retention of the most skilled employees has been one of the most serious concerns that managers are facing in an ever increasing higher rate of employee turnover. A growing number of organisations view their human resources compliment a a definite source of their competitive advantage. The corporate operation used for this study will be a tailings management organisation that has operations on many of the larger mining houses within the different areas of mining activities that is mostly situated in the Goldfields, Rand and Stilfontein or Orkney operations. The literature review consists of articles written by industry professionals who discuss employee retention issues. Retaining qualified employees in a labour intensive and demanding work environment is a major struggle in the tailings services industry. The researcher has identified how training influences the employees’ commitment and loyalty towards their specific company. Data has been collected from 128 respondents by using the convenience sampling technique. The results indicate that there is a positive relation between training and employee retention, as well as employees’ decision to remain with the company for longer periods. Recommendations were based on the possible means to address employees who are not committed to the company and can apply to any organisation in almost any industry.