Factors Influencing Labour Turnover within Public Institutions in Namibia
Volume 10, Issue 2, February – 2025 International Journal of Innovative Science and Research Technology
ISSN No:-2456-2165 https://doi.org/10.5281/zenodo.14979288
Factors Influencing Labour Turnover within
Public Institutions in Namibia
1
Dr. Michael Moyo; 2Dr. Gibbet Murambiwa Magaisa
University of Namibia
Windhoek, Namibia
Aldersgate University
Johannesburg, South Africa
Publication Date: 2025/03/08
Abstract: Elevated employee turnover is a significant determinant that impacts organisational productivity and must be
managed for institutional success. This study examined the factors affecting employee turnover in public organisations in
Namibia. The effective delivery of services is contingent upon the public sector organisations' ability to retain their
experienced personnel. The study employed a quantitative research methodology. A sample of 384 respondents was
utilised, employing the stratified sampling technique to choose participants from several strata. The PLS-SEM statistical
findings indicated a necessity to enhance the leadership styles employed by the institutions to bolster staff retention.
Correlation research reveals significant relationships among leadership style, work-life balance, employee turnover, and
job satisfaction. The adoption of effective leadership styles, implementation of organisational policies that foster work-life
balance, and facilitative policies that enhance job satisfaction are strategies that can be employed to retain personnel in the
Namibian public sector. The report advocated for the implementation of comprehensive leadership development programs
to cultivate successful leaders capable of enhancing staff development and fostering teamwork in the public sector.
Leadership should be cultivated within supportive work environments to foster trust and effectively lead teams.
Establishing work-life balance initiatives, flexible work hours, telecommuting alternatives, and wellness programs is
essential for employees to effectively manage their personal and professional lives. These qualities are directly associated
with increased work satisfaction and staff retention. In addition, staff engagement surveys should be administered
regularly to assess job satisfaction and identify areas for enhancement. These surveys yield meaningful insights, enabling
institutions to address employee problems promptly and react effectively to avert attrition.
Keywords: Employees, Employee Retention, Labour Turnover, Voluntary Turnover, Involuntary Turnover.
How to Cite: Dr. Michael Moyo; Dr. Gibbet Murambiwa Magaisa (2025) Factors Influencing Labour Turnover within Public
Institutions in Namibia. International Journal of Innovative Science and Research Technology, 10(2), 1695-1702.
https://doi.org/10.5281/zenodo.14979288
I. INTRODUCTION Ref [3] support the notion that organizations interested
in achieving their objectives should take steps to reduce
Turnover of employees is defined as the proportion of employee turnover. Yet, there are organizations, particularly
employees who exit an organization over a given period of in the public sector with huge employee bases, which appear
time [1]. According to Ref [2], high employee turnover rates not to pay attention to this problem, thereby leading to
reduce an organization's capacity to carry out its functions ongoing adverse effects [5]. Ref [6] point out employee
efficiently. Ref [3] state that organizational success relies on turnover affects both private and public sectors negatively. It
retaining quality and skilled employees. In Namibia, the can be seen that employee turnover has been a growing
employment market has faced rapid transformation with problem in today's business world.
employees constantly shifting employers in search of
improved working conditions and better remuneration [4]. In Namibia, public institutions struggle to retain their
Besides inherent factors causing labor turnover, this trend has employees and continue to rely on new recruits to implement
caused high employee turnover, especially among government their mandate. This problem creates a situation where public
agencies. institutions have to invest in recruitment processes as well as
training development. Again, relying on new employees
affects the public service delivery negatively. This research
evaluated awareness of the factors influencing labour turnover
within public institutions in Namibia.
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ISSN No:-2456-2165 https://doi.org/10.5281/zenodo.14979288
II. LITERATURE REVIEW a stable workforce [8]. Employees therefore need to be
empowered because empowering employees enhances
Labour turnover is the rate at which workers exit an organizational commitment, while reducing turnover due to a
organisation and are replaced by others in a given amount of sense of ownership and loyalty to the company [10, 14]. Ref
time [1]. Labour turnover is divided into several types, [3,5] allude that those who engage employees through clear
including retirements, layoffs, and voluntary terminations [7]. leadership, respect, appreciation, and opportunities enhance
Ref [8] also conceptualize labour turnover as the quantity of service productivity and employee retention. Recognizing and
workers replaced to the current labour force during a rewarding valued employees is therefore critical for retaining
particular length of time, whereas Ref [1] maintains that it is employees and reducing labour turnover.
the inflow and outflow of the workforce within an
organization. Labour turnover portrays the well-being of an Key employee retention strategies include developing
industry in terms of wages, working conditions, and workers' relationships with key employees, recruiting the right people,
welfare [9]. Ref [7] observes that high turnover typically providing competitive remuneration packages [16], promoting
indicates instability in the workforce and causes notable worthy employees, fostering inclusivity, giving effective
difficulties for organisations, such as disruptions in the leadership, empowering employees, and providing work-life
workforce and fiscal pressures linked with the recruitment and balance [16, 17]. Organizational culture is another key
training of new replacements. element in reducing turnover [11]. High-performing cultures
that attract, motivate, and retain quality employees continually
Employees leave organizations because of various produce strong results [8, 16]. Hiring the best candidates for
reasons, both voluntary and involuntary. Stress, job the organization and its culture optimizes job satisfaction and
dissatisfaction, and conflicts with other employees are some organizational commitment, and reduces turnover. Thus, by
of the causes of voluntary turnover [2, 7]. Ref [5] recognizes addressing these elements, organizations are able to create a
that employees will go to greener pastures elsewhere if they committed and stable workforce, and decrease the negative
are not contented in their current jobs. Economic factors, such impact of labour turnover.
as poor remuneration or lack of development opportunities
and leadership styles are also causes of turnover [8, 10]. Ref III. RESEARCH METHODS
[11] identifies that organisations that do not offer
opportunities for professional and personal development are The study was conducted on an infinite population,
more susceptible to employee turnover. Poor retention focusing on labor turnover in Namibian public institutions. A
programs, low job self-esteem, poor work-life balance, lack of quantitative research method was adopted to confirm
engagement, and poor leadership all help exacerbate the issue statistical rigor. The sample size was determined using
[11]. Geographic factors, including long distances from home, stratified random sampling to safeguard representation across
also affect turnover rates as employees find employment several strata within public institutions in Namibia. The
closer to home [12]. Inadequate hiring practices, which result sample size was calculated by way of the formula n = Z² * p *
in a misalignment between candidates and positions, (1-p) / E², with a 95% confidence level, a 5% margin of error,
significantly contribute to employee turnover [1, 4, 10]. Ref and an estimated response proportion of 50%. This resulted in
[2] therefore underscore the necessity for organizations to achieving a sample size of 384 respondents. Data were
enhance their recruitment procedures in order to attract and collected using closed-ended and structured questionnaires,
maintain qualified candidates. which were distributed electronically through the Survey
Monkey. The collected data were analyzed using PLS-SEM,
High turnover of employees has a number of financial enabling detailed statistical analysis and interpretation.
effects and organizational challenges. Loss of talented
employees causes disruption in operational continuity, IV. DISCUSSION OF RESULTS
resulting in performance gaps and impacting overall
performance [3, 8]. The cost of recruitment, both in monetary The descriptive statistics results provide helpful insights
terms and time, rises as organizations persist in finding the on the distribution and variation of data in the variables
right talent to pursue their objectives [13]. Ref [5] considers it measured. Job Satisfaction (JSS) has a high mean (3.888) and
imperative to have proper retention strategies to counter these median (5.000), indicating that employees would likely feel
expenses. Induction of new employees is a high cost, safe at work when they are satisfied with their jobs. However,
particularly in technically specialized areas such as the police its moderate standard deviation (1.484) depicts the existence
service, which involves lengthy training [13]. Excessive of some level of variation in response. The negative skewness
turnover also results in customer dissatisfaction, decreased (-1.022) reveals that more participants marked job satisfaction
morale among employees, and organizational productivity on the higher end of the scale showing concerns with the level
loss [14]. Therefore, Ref [3] posits that turnover reduction of job satisfaction, while the excess kurtosis (-0.577) presents
improves organizational performance and decreases the a somewhat flatter distribution than a normal curve.
adverse effects of job-specific knowledge. Leadership Support (LSS) maintains the highest mean
(4.224), revealing employees who perceive a high degree of
In order to deal with labour turnover, organizations need guidance from supervisors would reduce turnover within the
to retain workers with key skills in order to save institutional Namibian public institutions. Its low standard deviation
knowledge and skills [15]. Workers are assets, and (1.015) reveals minimal variability. Strong negative skewness
organizations need to provide job satisfaction in order to have
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Volume 10, Issue 2, February – 2025 International Journal of Innovative Science and Research Technology
ISSN No:-2456-2165 https://doi.org/10.5281/zenodo.14979288
(-1.298) and positive excess kurtosis (0.552) suggest a of higher ratings, and excess kurtosis (-1.222) suggests a
clustering of high ratings with a slightly peaked distribution. flatter distribution. For Labor Turnover (LTO), the low mean
For Work-Life Balance (WLBT), the mean (3.643) suggests (2.286) and median (2.000) indicate that workers leave in
an overall time balance that is positive, although the higher general, while positive skewness (0.950) and low kurtosis (-
standard deviation (1.567) reveals more variation in 0.368) indicate variability skewed towards lower turnover
perceptions. Negative skewness (-0.682) suggests a direction intentions.
Fig 1: Cronbach’s Alpha Results
Figure 1 above presents the Cronbach's alpha test consistency in its items. Leadership styles, with 0.909, also
outcomes from PLS-SEM. The Cronbach's alpha values meets the minimum for acceptable reliability but is lower than
suggest high internal consistency for the measurement the others. Work-life balance, with 0.975, also has high
constructs within the PLS-SEM analysis. A value of 0.947 for reliability. The overall rho_c values indicate that all the
labor turnover (dependent variable) suggests exemplary constructs have good reliability, with job satisfaction and
reliability, which means that the items used to measure it are work-life balance being most consistent.
very consistent. A score of 0.969 for job satisfaction also
suggests exemplary reliability and good consistency among its The values of Composite Reliability (rho_a) represent
indicators. Leadership styles, with a score of 0.864, also the reliability of constructs in the PLS-SEM model. A value
indicates good reliability but a little less than the other of 0.949 for labor turnover (dependent variable) suggests high
variables. Work-life balance with a score of 0.966 also reliability, demonstrating that indicators measure the construct
indicates excellent reliability. Overall, the high Cronbach's reliably. Job satisfaction, represented by a value of 0.972,
alpha scores indicate that measurements of each construct are suggests very good reliability, demonstrating high consistency
reliable and can be used for subsequent analysis in the model. in indicators. Leadership styles, represented by a value of
0.971, also suggests very high reliability, suggesting that the
Composite Reliability (rho_c) was also conducted, and construct is measured reliably. Work-life balance with 0.966
its findings indicate high reliability in the constructs within also exhibits high reliability. All the rho_a values illustrate
the PLS-SEM analysis. A score of 0.962 for labor turnover that all constructs are highly internally consistent, with job
(dependent variable) demonstrates that the construct is very satisfaction and leadership styles being moderately more
consistent internally, hence its indicators precisely measure reliable than labor turnover and work-life balance, but all the
the concept. Job satisfaction, with a score of 0.978, has an variables are still within acceptable parameters for reliability
even higher consistency, demonstrating very strong measurement.
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Volume 10, Issue 2, February – 2025 International Journal of Innovative Science and Research Technology
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Fig 2: Average Variance Extracted (AVE) results
The Average Variance Extracted (AVE) in Figure 2 significance of time-based work-life balance in employee
exhibit the degree of variance explained by each construct retention. This shows that both job satisfaction, leadership
compared to the degree of variance explained by measurement styles and work-life balance have an influence on labour
error. The figure of 0.864 for the dependent variable: labour turnover within Namibian public institutions. On the other
turnover suggests that a high degree of the variance is well hand, there are a number of workers who think that there are
explained, signifying that there is high construct validity. On more external promising career prospects. In this case (LTO)
the other hand, job satisfaction, which recorded 0.916, are moderately negatively correlated with job satisfaction (r =
demonstrates very high explanatory power and high validity. 0.647) and work-life balance related to time (WLBT, r =
Leadership styles, at AVE = 0.732, is far above the 0.50 0.716), reflecting that dissatisfaction with the current situation
threshold indicating that the variable leadership styles have a and insufficient personal time are factors contributing to
good construct validity. Work-life balance at 0.907 has turnover intentions within Namibian public institutions.
excellent construct validity, measuring the variance
effectively. Overall, the majority of the constructs have good The experience of being overwhelmed by work demands
to excellent AVE values. (WLBD) has a moderate relationship with actual turnover
(LTO, r = 0.738) and expressed turnover intentions (LTR, r =
Findings of the correlation analysis reveal noteworthy 0.855), demonstrating the detrimental effects of excessive
connections between leadership style, work-life balance, work demands on employee retention. Leadership support in
employee turnover, and job satisfaction. Individuals with a coping with challenges (LSS) has weaker correlations with
perception of safety in their existing job state (JSS) have a other factors, including job satisfaction (r = 0.545) and
positive correlation with those leadership styles that create a turnover (LTO, r = 0.044), compared to leadership style
supportive work culture (LSL, r = 0.882) and organizational (LSL). This illustrates that although support is helpful, the
policies that promote work-life balance (WLBS, r = 0.877). It dominant style of leadership has a more profound effect on
shows that leadership style and facilitative policies have an staff retention and satisfaction. These statistics demonstrate
equal role to play for enhancing job satisfaction. Besides, that an optimal working environment, work-life balance, and
having enough time to attend to personal needs (WLBT) is supportive leadership substantially diminish employee
strongly correlated with job satisfaction (r = 0.922) and there turnover, with time-related work-life balance being the most
is a likelihood of employees staying in their current jobs for valuable factor.
the next two years (LTR, r = 0.962), indicating the
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Fig 3: Structural Model with P-Values
The structural model on Figure 3 above illustrates the relationships between job satisfaction, leadership styles, work-life
balance, and labour turnover. The p-values for all the paths are significant (p < 0.05), indicating that each of the independent
variables, job satisfaction (p = 0.008), leadership styles (p = 0.000), and work-life balance (p = 0.001) has a statistically significant
influence on labor turnover. The model also shows that leadership styles and job satisfaction exert a stronger direct effect on labor
turnover compared to work-life balance. The explained variance (R² = 0.846) suggests that 84.6% of the variation in labor turnover
is accounted for by these three independent variables, revealing a well-fitted model.
Fig 4: Structural Model with T-Values
The structural model on Figure 4 above illustrates the impact of job satisfaction, leadership styles, and work-life balance on
labour turnover as indicated by t-values. Job satisfaction significantly affects labour turnover with a t-value of 2.634, showing its
usefulness in retention practices. Leadership styles have the greatest impact with a large t-value of 5.209, showing that effective
leadership has a major role in suppressing employee turnover. Work-life balance also has a large impact on labour turnover, with a
t-value of 3.387, indicating its significance in staff retention. Of all the predictors, leadership styles have the largest effect,
indicating that leadership interventions ought to be a priority to deal with labour turnover.
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Fig 5: Regression Model
The regression model on Figure 5 above examines the impact of work-life balance, leadership styles, and job satisfaction on
labour turnover with a combined predictive power evident in an R² value of 0.846, implying that the three factors together explain
84.6% of the variance in labour turnover. Leadership styles have the greatest impact, followed by work-life balance and job
satisfaction, as shown by their respective path coefficients. Every construct is measured using observable measures (JSE, JSM for
job satisfaction) to obtain strong construct validity. The large R² measure shows the goodness of the model to fit labour turnover
and identifies leadership as well as work-life balance as high-priority areas to intervene.
Fig 6: Path coefficients and p-values
Figure 6 babove reflects path coefficients and p-values. associated with higher labour turnover, with a very significant
The path coefficient of -0.470 between labour turnover and p-value of 0.000. Similarly, the path coefficient of 0.562 from
job satisfaction shows that there is a negative relationship, work-life balance to labour turnover is a moderate positive
thus, higher job satisfaction is associated with lower labour relationship with a significant p-value of 0.001. Overall,
turnover. The p-value of 0.008 confirms that this is leadership styles and work-life balance significantly influence
statistically significant. The path coefficient of 0.829 between labour turnover, while job satisfaction has a negative impact
leadership styles and labour turnover indicates a very strong on it.
positive relationship, like improved leadership styles are
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VI. RECOMMENDATIONS Employee Retention at Egyptian Hotels. Journal of
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ACKNOWLEDGMENT Resource Management, 20(0), 1-10. 2022.
[14]. W.A. Al-Suraihi, S.A. Samikon, A-H.A. Al-Suraihi, I.
We duly acknowledge the Namibia public institutions Ibrahim, Employee Turnover: Causes, Importance and
for their contribution to this study. We also recognize the Retention Strategies, European Journal of Business and
contribution of the respondents for voluntarily taking part in Management Research, 6(3), 1-10. 2021.
this study on the factors influencing labour turnover within [15]. K. Nadeem, M.A. Khan, N. Imtiaz, Y. Iftikhar,
public institutions in Namibia “Turnover Intention and Perceived Organizational
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