Employee retention in Finnish IT companies: perspectives of HR professionals
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School of Business |
Master's thesis
Ask about the availability of the thesis by sending email to the Aalto University Learning Centre oppimiskeskus@aalto.fi
Authors
Date
2016
Department
Major/Subject
Mcode
Degree programme
Management and International Business (MIB)
Language
en
Pages
74
Series
Abstract
As the competition over the best talents is heated in the information technology industry in Finland, employee retention has become increasingly important in the companies trying to hold on to their most valuable assets – the people. HR professionals have to find ways to affect the level of job satisfaction and organizational commitment in order to make employees to stay. This study focuses on observing the ways that Finnish IT companies use to retain their employees. In the previous academic research, employee retention has been connected with the theories of job satisfaction and organizational commitment. Much of the earlier research concentrates on finding the linkages between employee retention and single, distinct components that explain the formation of employee retention. This thesis aims at taking a broader outlook on the topic and bringing together various practices and policies that HR professionals consider important in building employee retention. A focus of a particular interest is how organizational culture affects employee retention. Theoretic background of this study is built upon theories of employee retention, job satisfaction, organizational commitment and organizational culture. The theoretic framework combines these four theory branches and aims at explaining how employee retention develops from job satisfaction and organizational commitment together, and how organizational culture may affect these three themes. This study is qualitative and descriptive, as it aims at portraying the viewpoints of HR professionals working in the IT industry. The data was gathered through semi-structured interviews and thematic analysis was conducted in order to recognize patterns and themes that help in answering the research questions. The key findings of this study show that organizational culture can be used as a way to retain employees. An organizational culture that emphasizes e.g. freedom, openness, continuous development and communality was seen as an important feature of a company that manages to retain its employees. A more traditional way to retain, remuneration and benefits, was seen to have some influence in the employee retention. In addition, low organizational hierarchy and flexibility were linked with employee retention, as well as providing the employees with work that is meaningful for them. Practical implications of this study highlight the role of organizational culture as a way to retain employees.Description
Thesis advisor
Katila, SaijaKeywords
employee retention, job satisfaction, organizational commitment, organizational culture, information technology industry