Talent Retention : A case study of two companies' Trainee Programmes

Talent Management is a topic gaining more attention among businesses and it is one of the most important challenges faced by companies worldwide; therefore it should be a top priority for managers. Literature states that many organisations are not aware of the issue of Talent Retention and that it is the high performers who are the ones end up leaving. Due to that the generation Millennials are considered to be a generation with talent and the education needed to take over and become the next generation of leaders, it is important to take advantage of them as opportunities and factors for success. One opportunity for companies to both attract talents and thereafter retain them is through conducting trainee programmes, however, to successfully execute these programmes, resources in terms of money, time and efforts are required. Therefore, in order to achieve the best possible return on the resources invested is it crucial to be able to retain the talents after them finishing the trainee programme. In order to answer our research question and fulfil our purpose we have done a multiple case study and conducted in-depth interviews to gather qualitative data. Our sample group consisted of eight representatives, two managers and six trainees, working at the two companies sampled. Consequently, our findings show that even without having an outlined retention plan, companies can be successful within Talent Retention. Moreover, this research acknowledge that good leadership, presence of Psychological Ownership and opportunities for challenges and development are the most important factors leading to talents wanting to stay within the company, after participating in the company’s trainee programme