An Investigation into Employee Turnover in the Recruitment Industry

Purpose: The purpose of this study is to investigate turnover in the recruitment industry. By exploring factors of turnover and identifying retention strategies, this study formulates a research agenda to help reduce turnover in the recruitment industry. Research Design/Methodology: This research project performs a thematic and exploratory critical review of turnover in the recruitment industry. The author pursued a qualitative and inductive research approach. Semi-structured interviews were deemed the most suitable research instrument to carry out the primary research. The author interviewed six recruitment professionals to uncover new insights to compliment previous literature. The results from the interviews were drawn together and compared with secondary research and formulated in a thematic and explorative analysis. Findings: The findings from this study demonstrate the importance of understanding the factors of turnover which contribute to a high rate across the industry. Arising from the data, new factors of turnover were uncovered such as, the age demographic of employees, lack of role clarity, and the on-going pressure in the industry. Additionally, the findings highlighted that financial reward is a key motivator in the industry and plays an important role in keeping high performing individuals engaged. Casual factors such as, leadership style and organisational culture were identified as important pull factors for employees joining alternative organisations. While employee engagement and burnout were explored, it was concluded they are factors that indirectly affect turnover. Moreover, learning and development was renowned as an area that requires much more attention to keep recruiters engaged and foresee a lifelong career in recruitment. Finally, the study identified number of common strategies the industry utilises for reducing turnover, for example, changing of job titles and holding company events. Key words: Turnover, Factors of Turnover, Recruitment Industry, Recruiter, Recruitment Consultant