Influence of retention strategies on employees’ Performance in disciplined forces in Nakuru county, Kenya.

Abstract

This research determined how employee retention strategies affect the performance of the officers working in the Administration Police Service (APS) based in Nakuru County, Kenya. It presented three major retention strategies: compensation and benefits, training and development, and work life balance policies. The presented strategies gain further significance as the issue of high employee turnover and dissatisfaction remains at the core of the activities of the officer cadre of APS. The research also examined the correlation between organizational retention policies and employee performance results based on the Two-Factor Theory, the Hierarchy of Needs, and Equity Theory issued by Herzberg, Maslow and J. Stacy Adams. The methodology employed a quantitative approach in which descriptive and inferential statistics were carried out to analyze the data. Stratified sampling used a sample size of 65 APS officers as participants who filled out the questionnaires to provide a representative sample (based on rank, gender, and departmental section). Structured, self-administered questionnaires were used to collect data, and the Statistical Package for the Social Sciences (SPSS) version 27 was used to compute means and standard deviations and perform regression analysis. The discussion of the research presented evidence based knowledge that guided retention policy and boosted organizational performance in the APS. It enhanced the broader scholarly and practical understanding of retention of employees in disciplined forces and provided practical solutions to policymakers, law enforcement organizations, and the study's authors who specialize in public service delivery and the management of human resources. Statistical analysis confirmed that financial incentives—like salaries, bonuses, and allowances—significantly boost employee performance, with a strong regression coefficient of 0.909 and robust significance indicatorsThe analysis indicated that all the independent variables were statistically significant in predicting a positive change in employee performance, whereby compensation and training had the highest beta coefficients. These results fully support the hypothesis that the practice of employee retention is proportional to the level of performance.