Mentored Staff Induction and Employee Turnover in Advertising Firms in Kenya

Organizations use mentored induction programs to provide new employees with a systematic structure of support that helps them become familiar with their current and future work environment. In Kenya, firms and Government agencies have adopted mentored staff induction programs for the purposes of guiding the newly recruited staff in their personal and professional growth. A number of researchers have strongly emphasized the positive relationship between mentored staff induction and employee retention, however no research has been conducted exploring the relationship between staff induction and employee turnover, specifically not in advertising firms in Kenya. Accordingly, this paper is focused on the effect of mentored staff induction on employee turnover in advertising firms in Kenya. Specifically, the study sought to establish the effect of senior staff, peer mentoring, and ongoing staff support in mentored induction programs on employee turnover in advertising firms in Kenya. The overall theory used in the study was the TPI theory of induction. The target population of the study was 750 employees working with the 19 advertising firms in Kenya that are registered with the Association of Practitioners in Advertising. The sample size for the study was 254 respondents obtained using simple random sampling technique. Data was collected using a semi-structured questionnaire. Data analysis entailed descriptive and inferential analysis using the Statistical Package for Social Sciences. The study findings established that mentored staff induction had a positive significant relationship with employee turnover in advertising firms in Kenya. This was indicated by an overall mean score of 4.025, normality test score of 0.768 and linearity test of r=0.624, p<0.05. The study recommended that advertising companies in Kenya should focus on ongoing staff support as a key method of implementing mentored induction programs. The method obtained an overwhelming approval by the respondents as the best way of managing employee turnover