Abstract
Employee turnover is being witnessed in every organization in response to changes in global competitiveness and advancement in technology. As a result, employee turnover has been attributed to workplace conditions that appear to cause employees to leave individual workplaces or the profession altogether, as opposed to focusing on factors associated with employees who transfer or quit. It is against this reason that this research was undertaken to assess the perceived factors affecting employee turnover in Kenya tea development authority: the case of the Kiamokama tea factory, Kisii Central Sub-County, Kisii County. The study was guided by one general objective and three specific objectives: To establish how employee participation, job satisfaction and employee motivation influence employee turnover in KTDA. Descriptive and explanatory research designs were adopted with staff being the target population. Random sampling and purposive sampling technique were used to select a sample size from at least 30% of the target population as respondents for the study between January 2015 and May 2015. Document analysis and self administered questionnaires were used as data collection instruments. The questionnaires were pre-tested for validity and reliability in a factory in a neighboring Sub-County to avoid respondent contamination. Data was analyzed both quantitatively and qualitatively. Data was analyzed using descriptive statistics mainly standard deviation and inferential statistics, specifically correlation at α=0.05 significance level to determine the direction and nature of association between independent variables and dependent variables. The results were tabulated using frequency distribution tables. Findings from this study established a strong negative correlation between the independent variables and depended variables. This will assist KTDA managers and other stakeholders on how to retain their staff for better performance because if proper action is taken on employee turnover, the performance among employees will be enhanced which in turn may increase productivity of the organization.
