Staff retention strategies in a humanitarian context

Dublin Business School

Staff retention strategies in a humanitarian

context: The challenge of the Generation Y

By

Synzi Dadié

Master of Business Administration

2015

Dublin Business School

2015

Staff retention strategies in a humanitarian

context: The challenge of the Generation Y

By

Synzi Dadié

1765275

A thesis submitted to Dublin Business School, in partial fulfilment of the requirements

for the Master of Business Administration in Business Management.

Word count: 18,332 January 2015

Contents

Declaration ............................................................................................................................ vi

Acknowledgments ................................................................................................................vii

Acronyms ........................................................................................................................... viii

List of tables and Figures ...................................................................................................... ix

Abstract .................................................................................................................................. x

Chapter 1 ................................................................................................................................ 1

1.1 Introduction .................................................................................................................... 1

1.2 Background ...................................................................................................................... 1

1.3. The Context of humanitarian missions ........................................................................... 2

1.4. Research objective .......................................................................................................... 3

1.5. Research questions .......................................................................................................... 4

1.6. Field Investigation: Rwanda and the Central African Republic ..................................... 4

1.6.1. Rwanda ..................................................................................................................... 4

1.6.2. Central African Republic (CAR) ............................................................................... 4

1.7. Rationale and justification .............................................................................................. 5

1.8. Structure .......................................................................................................................... 6

1.9. Conclusion ...................................................................................................................... 7

Chapter 2: Literature Review ................................................................................................. 8

2.1. Introduction ..................................................................................................................... 8

2.2. Conceptual framework .................................................................................................... 8

2.2.1. Generation Y (Gen Y) ............................................................................................... 8

2.2.2 Staff turnover ........................................................................................................... 12

2.2.3 Staff retention .............................................................................................................. 15

2.3 Theoretical framework and discussion........................................................................... 16

2.3.1 Staff retention and motivation theory ....................................................................... 17

2.3.2. Staff retention and leadership .................................................................................. 19

2.3.3. Staff retention and humanitarian organisational culture ......................................... 21

2.3.4. Staff retention and psychological contract .............................................................. 22

2.4 Conclusion ..................................................................................................................... 24

Chapter 3: Methodology ...................................................................................................... 25

3.1. Introduction ................................................................................................................... 25

3.2. A qualitative approach ................................................................................................. 25

3.3. Sampling Strategy ......................................................................................................... 25

3.4. Data gathering method .................................................................................................. 27

3.5. Data gathering process ................................................................................................. 28

3.6. Research challenges and limitations ............................................................................. 29

3.7. Personal biases .............................................................................................................. 30

3.8. Ethical issues ................................................................................................................. 30

3.9. Conclusion .................................................................................................................... 30

Chapter 4: Data Analysis ..................................................................................................... 31

4.1. Introduction ................................................................................................................... 31

4.2. Profile of interviewees .................................................................................................. 31

4.3. Presentation of the findings ........................................................................................... 33

4.3.1 Reality in the field .................................................................................................... 33

4.3.2. Commitment to their job and career perspective ..................................................... 37

4.3.4 Respondents’ recommendations ............................................................................... 40

4.4 Analysis of findings and discussion ............................................................................... 42

4.4.1. Reality in the field ................................................................................................... 42

4.4.2. Commitment to their job and career perspective ..................................................... 44

4.4.3. Respondents’ recommendations .............................................................................. 45

4.5. Conclusion .................................................................................................................... 46

Chapter 5: Conclusion .......................................................................................................... 47

5.1 Introduction .................................................................................................................... 47

5.2 Research conclusion ....................................................................................................... 47

5.3. Limitation and Recommendations ................................................................................ 49

5.3.1 Limitations ............................................................................................................... 49

5.3.2 Recommendations .................................................................................................... 50

5.4 Conclusion ..................................................................................................................... 50

Chapter 6: Reflections on learning and skills development................................................52

6.1. Introduction ................................................................................................................... 52

Doing the MBA course ........................................................................................................ 52

6.2. Learning ........................................................................................................................ 53

6.3. Skills Development ....................................................................................................54

6.4. Obstacles, personal weakness and the MBA ................................................................. 56

6.5. Towards improving my decision making skills ............................................................ 57

6.6. Personal achievement .................................................................................................... 58

6.7. MBA, what is next…. ................................................................................................... 59

6.8. Conclusion .................................................................................................................... 60

Appendix .............................................................................................................................. 61

Appendix 1: Semi-structure interview guide ....................................................................... 61

Bibliography ........................................................................................................................ 62

vi

Declaration

I, Synzi Dadié, declare that this research is my original work and that it has never

been presented to any institution or university for the award of Degree or Diploma.

In addition, I have endeavoured to reference correctly all literature and sources

used in this work. Finally, I recognize that the onus is on me to ensure that this

work is fully compliant with the Dublin Business School’s academic honesty

policy.

Synzi Dadié 15/01/2015

vii

Acknowledgments

I would like to thank everyone who helped me to complete this work including my

supervisor Shakeel Siddiqui and the whole DBS team.

This work is dedicated to my wife Joanna, a dedicated development worker, who

supported me in completing the MBA. A special thanks to our children, Jamie and

Noah, who inspired me throughout the process.

I would also like to thank my family in Cote d’Ivoire and my in-laws in Ireland for

their continual support.

Thank you!

Synzi Dadié

Babanam Kevalam!