To What Extent do Training & Development and Work-Life Balance Impact Employee Retention during the Covid-19 crisis?

Abstract

In any organisation, it is crucial not only to attract affected many aspects of organisations, and there is very little Covid-19 pandemic has This study used a quantitative them as this increases competitive advantage. This study focuses on two retention strategies: talented human resources, but to retain work-life balance (WLB) and training and development. The environment. There is a requirement therefore for updated research on the impact of WLB previous research in this new and training and development on employee retention intention. method in which an adapted online questionnaire was distributed to a convenience sample of 96 employees in an organisation in the Saudi Arabian public sector to test four hypotheses. The findings show that contrary to previous research findings, WLB did not impact employee’s retention intention (H1), and there were no differences between the genders in how they perceived WLB (H1a). The other findings did support previous research: training and development opportunities have a positive impact on employee retention intention (H2), and the perception of training and development practices between the genders is the same (H2a). Covid-19 is likely to have had a significant impact on the rejection of hypothesis H1, as many employees were working from home as a result of safety measures. Work and life were therefore more intertwined, so consideration of WLB as a retention factor may have been reduced. Rejection of hypothesis H1a could be explained by noting that this study contained fewer females than males, and only a minority of these had children. The two accepted hypotheses (H2, H2a) can have come about as employees may have wanted to do something productive with their new free time. Compensation must also be considered, however, as further economic measures are likely to be taken, creating financial worries for many. Organisations should take these findings into account when developing retention strategies, but it is recommended that research be done into the impact of compensation and job security on employee retention during Covid-19.