The retention of high performing employees in the development finance industry

M.Phil.Abstract: Talent management has become increasingly popular within the field of Human Resource Management (Chambers, Foulon, Handfield-Jones, Hankin & Michaels, 1998). Many organisations are losing talented, high potential employees to competitors and big corporations (Castellano, 2013). The development finance industry plays a vital role in the development and growth of a developing country like South Africa (Qobo & Soko, 2015). While there are best practice guidelines on talent retention, there was a need to understand the factors which retain high performing employees within a development finance organisation in South Africa. The objective of this study was to understand what factors influence the retention of high performing employees in a development finance company. To do this it was important to understand the need for retention and the characteristics of a high potential employee within the organisation. A qualitative research methodology was used and the study was designed in a two-phased approach. The first phase aimed to understand why retention was important and what the characteristics of a high potential employee were considered important within the organisation. The participants for Phase One included two executives in the organisation. Phase Two of the study addressed the factors which influenced the retention of high performing employees. Eleven participants comprised the purposively selected sample and were chosen based on information obtained from Phase One. Content analysis was conducted highlighting themes and categories that evolved organically and which assisted the researcher in answering the main research question. The study contributes to understanding what factors influence retention. Specifically, leadership, organisational purpose, developmental opportunities, meaningful work, the work organisational culture and a focus on collegiality. Recommendations are made to assist Human Resource Practitioners in designing retention strategies which..