The Subtleties of Retention - A Human Resource Management Perspective

Abstract

Title:<br> The Subtleties of Retention – A Human Resource Management Perspective Authors:<br> Christian Wallin and Ivan Stipic Instructors:<br> Hervé Corvellec and Filippa Säwe Purpose:<br> The purpose of this thesis is to discuss and explain the subtleties of retention in knowledge-based firms from a human resource management perspective. Furthermore, to investigate which employee demands firms should consider<br> when formulating their retention strategies. Realization:<br> Initially, the thesis presents a theoretical study where existing theory of Human Resource Management and retention strategies is presented. Secondly, empirical evidence collected through interviews with so-called knowledge workers and HR-managers is presented. The empirical evidence is compared to existing theoretical material and also between interviewees. Results:<br> The subtleties of retention present themselves in every aspect of the retention equation. From a resource-based view of the firm, retention of employees is of great importance in knowledge-based firms, as the human resources mainly constitute their competitive advantage. However, the degree of importance varies depending on factors such as organizational size, industry and labour<br> supply. Employees have become increasingly flexible making it difficult to build sustainable competitive advantage on human resources, since people cannot be owned. We found that theory often neglects the social complexity of<br> people and formulate retention strategies based on homogeneous groups. If retention is deemed of great importance we find that firms should consider the<br> employee’s individual demands, where challenging work, opportunities for learning and substantive rewards are usually deemed most valuable. Keywords:<br> Retention, Human Resource Management, Motivation, Resource-based view, Employee turnover, Knowledge-based firms, Knowledge workers.