The study on factors influencing staff turnover at international university, vietnam

MEIHO UNIVERSITY Graduate Institute of Business and Management MASTERS THESIS The Study on Factors Influencing Staff Turnover at International University, Vietnam In partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Masters of Business Administration Advisor: Dr Ron Chuen Yeh Co-advisor: Dr Nguyen Trung Truc Graduate Student: Nguyen Tran Quynh Giao December, 2010 ACKNOWLEDGMENTS I would like to save all of my sincerest thanks in this part of the research and share gratefulness to the great support from the following persons: First of all, I would like to express my deepest gratitude to Dr Ron Chuen Yeh and Dr Nguyen Trung Truc, the great supervisors of my research project, for their research guidance and useful advices, which enables me to develop the thesis of the dissertation, for their time reading its earlier versions, and for their discussions and comments Without their patience and willingness to help, this project can never be completed I also wish to send my thanks to all professors in EMBA Vietnam program of Meiho University who have shown their expertise, patience and great efforts in disseminating new knowledge to Vietnamese students in this newly-started program It is cordially believed by the author that the EMBA programs co-held by Meiho University and Hochiminh City University of Industry will progress steadily in the coming years I also would like to extend my appreciation to all my friends and colleagues who are working at International University for their valuable time and inputs into the survey and interviews that form the research The gratitude also goes to my classmates in EMBA program who kindly help and motivate me to accomplish this challenging course Last but not least, from the deepest part of my heart, I would like to thank my mother who always supported me during the course of this study and gave me a lot of encouragement for completing my MBA program I The Study on Factors Influencing Staff Turnover in International University, Vietnam ABSTRACT In any organization, including universities, in addition to the boards of rectors and lecturers, working staffs plays a very important role to the sustainable development of the university In fact, high staff turnover rate – to a university – is always a trouble and even a serious problem since it can affect the quality of education Thus, the purpose of this study was to identify the most important factors that influence on the staff turnover at the International University (IU), Ho Chi Minh City since it has have a high staff turnover rate through years Once such factors are identified, further researches can make efforts to lower the turnover of the university In-depth interviews with one Rector and four Heads of Personnel Administration offices were conducted to develop questionnaires Then, a survey was done with questionnaires sent to 81 staff working at the International University Data collected through the survey were sorted by the frequency of their importance Data collected through in-depth interviews were noted down and then categorized into themes Both qualitative and quantitative data were considered and analyzed Exploratory Factor Analysis (EFA) was used to analyze interrelationships among twenty-nine variables, condense their contained information into a smaller set of factors, and then did further analyses; like testing seven hypotheses, and examining the level of impact of the factors that influence on the staff turnover at IU through the results to achieve the goals of the thesis Results of statistical analysis indicate that the benefits and working conditions have no effect on the turnover intention of the IU’s staff On the contrary, the factors that influence on their intention of leaving the university are supervisors and promotion; and some other factors The research findings also put forward a conclusion that among those, the supervisors and promotion were the important factors that have the most effect on the employee turnover of IU Keywords: Turnover, Staff Turnover, Turnover Intention II The Study on Factors Influencing Staff Turnover in International University, Vietnam Contents ACKNOWLEDGMENTS I ABSTRACT II Contents III Tables VI Figures VII Chapter1 Introduction 1.1 Background and Motivation 1.2 Research Purpose, Objectives and Questions 1.3 Research Scope and Limitations 1.4 Definition of Terms Chapter Literature Review 2.1 Turnover and High Turnover Rate 2.2 Comparison between the Average Staff Turnover Rate at IU and Public Universities in Vietnam 2.2.1 The staff turnover rate at some public universities in vietnam 2.2.2 The staff turnover rate at IU 2.3 The Impacts of High Staff Turnover to the Education Quality 2.3.1 Financial cost of turnover 2.3.2 Inefficient performance 10 2.3.3 Lack of staff 10 2.3.4 University’s morale 11 2.4 The Factors That Influence On the Staff Turnover Rate 12 2.4.1 Supervisors 12 2.4.2 Working conditions 13 2.4.3 Training and development 14 2.4.4 Promotion 15 2.4.5 Job stress 16 2.4.6 Salary 17 2.4.7 Benefits 18 III 2.5 Turnover Intention 19 Chapter Research Methodology 20 3.1 Research Framework 20 3.2 Research Process 22 3.3 Research methods 23 3.3.1 In-depth interview 23 3.3.2 Survey 26 3.3.3 Follow-up interviews 26 3.4 Designing the Questions 26 3.4.1 In-depth interview 26 3.4.2 Survey 26 3.4.3 Follow-up interviews 29 3.5 Validity and Reliability 29 3.6 Sampling Design 31 3.6.1 In-depth interview 31 3.6.2 Survey 31 3.7 Data Collection 32 Chapter Research Results and Analysis 34 4.1 Descriptive Data Statistics 34 4.1.1 Result of gender 35 4.1.2 Result of age 36 4.1.3 Result of year of working 36 4.1.4 Result of education’s level 36 4.1.5 Result of monthly income 37 4.2 Exploratory Factor Analysis 39 4.2.1 Test the reliabilities of variables 39 4.2.2 Analyze to check hypotheses by exploratory factor analysis 39 4.3 Correlation and Regression Analysis on the Impact of the Five Factors on the Turnover Intention 48 4.3.1 Correlation analysis with pearson coefficients 48 4.3.2 Linear correlation and regression analysis 49 Chapter Implications, Conclusions and Recommendations 53 5.1 Conclusions 53 5.1.1 The staff turnover rate at iu is higher than other universities in viet nam 53 IV 5.1.2 High staff turnover has a negative effect on the quality of education 53 5.1.3 High Staff turnover has a negative effect on the quality of education 53 5.1.4 Factors not influencing on the staff turnover intention of IU 55 5.2 Research Implication 56 References 58 Appendix Questionnaire 64 Appendix Questionnaire 68 Appendix Basis for determining sample size 72 Appendix In-depth Interview Responses 73 Appendix Follow-up Interview Responses 77 Appendix Descriptive Statistics 80 V Tables Table 2-1 Turnover Rates of A Number of Public Universities in Vietnam from 2008 to 2010 .6 Table 2-2 Total Number Employed and Leavers over Year 2004 to 2010 Table 2-3 Percentage of Staff Turnover Rate over Year 2004 to 2010 .7 Table 2-4 Definition of Job Stress .16 Table 2-5 Definition of Turnover Intention .19 Table 3-1 The Questionnaire Constructs with References 27 Table 3-2 Reliability of the Questionnaire (Detail in the Attachment) .30 Table 4-1 The Sum of Coded Scales 34 Table 4-2 Descriptive Statistics Analysis of Gender 35 Table 4-3 Descriptive Statistics Analysis of Age 36 Table 4-4 Descriptive Statistics Analysis of Working Year 36 Table 4-5 Descriptive Statistics Analysis of Education 36 Table 4-6 Descriptive Statistics Analysis of Monthly Income 37 Table 4-7 The Result of Quantitative Variable Descriptive 37 Table 4-8 KMO and Bartlett's Test 40 Table 4-9 Result of the Relationship between Components and Variables .41 Table 4-10 Result of Component Loadings .42 Table 4-11 KMO and Bartlett's Test 43 Table 4-12 Result for the Relationship between Components and Variables 44 Table 4-13 Result of Component Loadings .45 Table 4-14 Factors Grouped and Named 46 Table 4-15 Result of Linear Relationship between Variables 48 Table 4-16 Result of Linear Relationship between Variables 50 Table 4-17 Result of Variables Entered 50 Table 4-18 Model Summary (d) 50 Table 4-19 The Result of ANOVA 51 Table 4-20 The Result for Coefficient of Three Variables 51 VI Figures Figure 3-1 Research Framework 21 Figure 3-2 Research Process 22 Figure 3-3 Research Model 47 VII Training and development I get the training I need to my job The university provides me with appropriate and adequate training courses 10 IU emphasizes on skill development programs 11 The university supports my work-related learning and development 12 IU facilitates staffs to continuing education Promotion 13 I know the university’s conditions for promotion 14 Working styles and characteristics of work in my department are challenging and encouraging so that I can continuously learn new things through my work 15 Staffs who are capable, skillful and efficient in the university will certainly get promotion Job stress 16 My job responsibilities are not clear to me 17 To satisfy some people at my job, I have to upset others 18 It seems to me that I have more work at my job that I can handle 19 I often get stress at work and that makes me too tired to enjoy family life Salary 20 My salary is compensated with my ability and responsibility 21 The salary policy motivates me at work 22 I will surely get salary raise if I perform well Benefit 23 The university has good benefit 24 I am satisfied with the IU’s sponsored money for further study of their staff 25 The university performs social insurance and health 66 insurance well 26 I am satisfied with prize money from the university Turnover Intention 27 As soon as I can find a better job will I quit at this organization 28 You will probably look for a job at a different company in the next year 29 You often think about quitting my job 67 Appendix Questionnaire Vietnamese version Kính thưa Quý Anh/ Chị, Tôi tên Nguyễn Trần Quỳnh Giao, học chương trình Cao học Quản trị kinh doanh trường Đại học Mỹ Hòa liên kết với Đại học Cơng nghiệp – TP Hồ Chí Minh Tơi thực đề tài nghiên cứu “Các yếu tố ảnh hưởng đến tỉ lệ việc trường Đại học Quốc tế, Việt Nam”, nhằm tìm nguyên nhân tác động đến tỉ lệ việc trường Đại học Quốc tế Tôi xin thành thật biết ơn Quý Anh/ Chị dành chút thời gian q báu hồn tất giúp tơi bảng câu hỏi nghiên cứu Tôi xin cam đoan bảng câu hỏi sử dụng khuôn khổ đề án nghiên cứu cấp Thạc sĩ Quản trị Kinh doanh, đó, thơng tin Q vị giữ kín Rất mong nhận trả lời trước ngày 20/10 Vui lịng liên hệ với tơi qua địa email nguyentranquynhgiao@gmail.com để biết thêm chi tiết Xin chân thành cảm ơn giúp đỡ quý báu Quý Anh/Chị Trân trọng Nguyễn Trần Quỳnh Giao 68 Phần I: Thơng tin cá nhân: Xin vui lịng chia sẻ đôi chút công việc cá nhân anh/chị: Giới tính: Nam □ Nữ □ Tuổi: 35 tuổi□ Thời gian làm việc IU: < năm□ 1- < năm□ > năm□ Trình độ Trung cấp□ Cao đẳng□ Đại học□ Cao học□ Thu nhập tháng: ≥ triệu - < triệu VND□ ≥ triệu – < triệu VND□ ≥ triệu VND□ Phần II: Ý định việc Quan hệ nhân viên lãnh đạo Hồn Khơng Khơng ý Đồng Hồn tồn đồng kiến ý tồn khơng ý đồng ý đồng ý 1 Lãnh đạo có quan tâm đến cảm nhận thực công việc Tôi cảm thấy thoải mái làm việc với lãnh đạo Lãnh đạo tơi giao việc cách bình đẳng 69 Tôi tin tưởng vào lực lãnh đạo Điều kiện làm việc Tôi trang bị đầy đủ thiết bị cho công việc Trường cam kết bảo đảm sức khỏe an tồn cho nhân viên Tơi nhận thức rõ vai trò trách nhiệm để bảo vệ sức khỏe cá nhân tơi an tồn nơi làm việc Đào tạo Phát triển Tôi đào tạo phù hợp cho công việc IU cung cấp cho tơi khóa đào tạo huấn luyện đầy đủ phù hợp 10 IU trọng tới chương trình phát triển kỹ cho nhân viên 11 Tôi Trường hỗ trợ việc học tập phát triển liên quan đến công việc 12 IU tạo điều kiện cho nhân viên tiếp tục học tập nâng cao Cơ hội thăng tiến 13 Tôi nắm điều kiện để thăng tiến IU 14 Phong cách làm việc tính chất cơng việc anh/chị mang tính thử thách, kích thích anh/chị liên tục học hỏi điều 15 Các nhân viên có lực làm việc hiệu IU chắn thăng tiến Sự căng thẳng công việc 16 Tôi không rõ trách nhiệm công việc 70 17 Trong cơng việc, vừa lịng người tơi làm lịng người khác 18 Dường tơi có q nhiều việc phải giải 19 Tôi thường bị căng thẳng mệt mỏi công việc Lương 20 Mức lương xứng đáng với cơng việc 21 Chính sách lương IU khuyến khích làm việc 22 Nếu làm việc tốt, tăng lương Phúc lợi 23 Chế độ phúc lợi IU tốt 24 Tơi hài lịng với mức chi phí đài thọ IU cho nhân viên học tập nâng cao 25 Trường có chế độ bảo hiểm sức khỏe bảo hiểm xã hội tốt 26 Tôi hài lịng với mức thưởng IU Ý định thơi việc 27 Tơi nghỉ việc IU tìm cơng việc tốt 28 Tơi tìm cơng việc cơng ty khác năm tới 29 Tôi thường nghĩ vấn đề xin việc 71 Appendix Basis for determining sample size Determining Sample Size from a given population (Source: Krejcie & Morgan, 1970) N S N S N 10 15 20 25 30 35 40 45 50 55 60 65 70 75 80 85 90 95 100 110 120 130 140 150 160 170 180 190 200 210 10 14 19 24 28 32 36 40 44 48 52 56 59 63 66 70 73 76 80 86 92 97 103 108 113 118 123 127 132 136 220 230 240 250 260 270 280 290 300 320 340 360 380 400 420 440 460 480 500 550 600 650 700 750 800 850 900 950 1000 1100 140 144 148 152 155 159 162 165 169 175 181 186 191 196 201 205 210 214 217 226 234 242 248 254 260 265 269 274 278 285 1200 1300 1400 1500 1600 1700 1800 1900 2000 2200 2400 2600 2800 3000 3500 4000 4500 5000 6000 7000 8000 9000 10000 15000 20000 30000 40000 50000 75000 1000000 72 S 291 297 302 306 310 313 317 320 322 327 331 335 338 341 346 351 354 357 361 364 367 368 370 375 377 379 380 381 382 384 Appendix In-depth Interview Responses Interviewee A: ƒ Questions: - The current status of turnover rate at the interviewee’s university - Factors influencing on the turnover rate of the university ƒ Answer: The turnover rate of our university is not high It is just about 2-3% each year Some staff left the university because of the salary Since the university is a public one, the salary policy is set up in accordance with the regulations of the State Therefore, it is quite low and some employees find it not meet their need in daily life Consequencely, they quit job when they find another one with more attractive salary Another important factor that may cause the turnover is the job stress Staff in some specific positions felt that they had to work under a lot of pressure Moreover, some cannot find anyone to share the works with them because (1) their office lacked employee; or (2) the other staff have less or no experience in that kind of work and they cannot support them That is the reason why the staff decided to leave the university Employees also quit job because of the supervisors This factor is significantly important for it led to the turnover of most staff at our university I saw that most of the staff left the university because the relationship between them and their supervisors were not good, or even bad Some felt that their direct managers did not care how they really feel about their work or assigned work unfairly Others thought that the supervisors did not appreciate their achievement in works Day after day, the conflict raised and they quit job Interviewee B: ƒ Questions: - The current status of turnover rate at the interviewee’s university - Factors influencing on the turnover rate of the university 73 ƒ Answer: The turnover of our university is low, only 3-4% each year Most people here left the university because they were not satisfied with current salary In fact, the salary of this university, like other public universities, is not high enough Especially, younger staff usually applied for the job just to gain experience Therefore, they quit job immediately right after they find another job with better salary In addition, the role of supervisors is also very important Employees who did not have confidence in their direct managers are far more likely to exit the university Another reason is the training and development of the university Some employees wrote in their exit interviewee before quitting job that they did not receive the sufficient training they need for their job Because of high caseloads and other works priorities, supervisors and other seniors are often unavailable to provide on the job training Moreover, the university has not much training program for some reasons As a result, employees quitted job In addition, the staff turnover also results from the stress of employees’ job Staff in some functional offices usually felt stress and frustration that results from not being able to the job as it should be done Thus, when the situation was getting worse, they left their positions Interviewee C: ƒ Questions: - The current status of turnover rate at the interviewee’s university - Factors influencing on the turnover rate of the university ƒ Answer: Our university has a low turnover rate each year The highest rate until now is 4% in 2007 Salary is usually one of the reasons why the staff left the university The salary policy of this school, like other public universities, based on the working time and level of education of staffs The salary also increases quite slowly through 74 each year and some employees were not satisfied with it Then they quit job when there is another job with higher salary Some staff also complained that they often get stress in their work and cannot balance between work and life Thus, once it is beyond their endurance, they quit job It is especially true since some staffs are in charge of key works that require a lot of skills and they find it hard to share the works with others who have less experience Until now, we still not have vehicle to take staff to the school for some reasons Thus, some staffs who live far from the university’s location found it inconvenient and they find another job which is near to their living places The working condition of our university is not so poor, but the facilities are not modern for this was built for a long time ago In additon, the need of human is unlimited, so some left the university if they find another university with modern facilities and higher salary Interviewee D: ƒ Questions: - The current status of turnover rate at the interviewee’s university - Factors influencing on the turnover rate of the university ƒ Answer: There are only few people left the university each year Most of them are not satisfied with the salary and benefits of the university It falls on younger staffs, especially ones who have just graduated from their universities usually apply for jobs at the universities just to gain more experience and then easily quit their job as soon as finding another jobs with higher salary Some staff does not complain about the salary for they know that salary is something hard to change; instead, they showed that the benefits policy of their university such as the bonus on some national occasions or the overtime allowance is still poor Others claimed that their work is under a lot of pressure and even heavy workload For they cannot share or not know how to share their works with 75 other staffs As a consequence, they easily get stress and decided to leave the university Working conditions is also a very important reason for the turnover Some employees felt that the facilities of our university not meet the requirements of them Interviewee E: ƒ Questions: - The current status of turnover rate at the interviewee’s university - Factors influencing on the turnover rate of the university - Is the salary the most important factor that affects on the staff turnover ƒ Answer: The turnover rate of our university through each year is acceptable: 2-3% It is true that some staff not stay with a university for a long time because of the salary However, in this university, people usually think that the salary is not low by comparison with others Instead, some staff claimed that the salary policy is not competitive and could not motivate them to try their best and bound up with the university The reason is that the salary policy is based on education’s level and year of working, regardless the staff’s ability Anyway, salary is not the most important reason which causes the employee turnover in this university Most of the employees who quit job are due to the promotion policy of the school According to the opinions of some staff, our university’s promotion policy is not attractive enough to keep them stay They thought that they had very few chances to get promotion with their current job Thus, they always look for another better one and quit job as soon as they can Another factor which is very important is the job stress that some staff in specific positions faced with The work overload results in the stress and “burnout” of some staff and then causes the turnover 76 Appendix Follow-up Interview Responses Interviewee 1: ƒ Questions: - What is the most important reason that made you quit job at the university? - How you feel about the working conditions and benefit policy of IU? Do they seriously impact on your decision to leave the university? ƒ Answer: At my office, I had so many works that sometimes I felt exhausted However, I think I can bear the stress and be patient waiting for new comers to share my works But, my supervisor seemed not encourage me She made me feel down and did not respect my ideas to improve the working processes That is the reason which has the strongest effect on my decision to leave Regarding the promotion opportunities at the university, I am also dissatisfied with it I found that there was very little chance for staff to promote; moreover, they had to wait for a long time to get it One more reason, the training of the university is not good Perhaps leaders did not have time to give us sufficient training But, it is really hard to work without any guideline or instruction Thus, I quit job There is no problem with the working conditions at the university They are quite good For the university was equipped with modern facilities and equipment In addition, we did not have to worry about personal health and safety at IU I am also satisfied, though not one hundred percent, with the university’s benefits They are not really attractive but acceptable Interviewee 2: ƒ Questions: - Is the salary the most important factor that made you quit job at the university? - How you feel about the working conditions and benefit policy of the university? Do they seriously impact on your decision to left it? 77 ƒ Answer: Salary is important because it is a need of human I also need high salary to comfort my life In fact, the salary of the university is not bad in comparison with other public university Thus, I think salary is acceptable The only problem is that it is not a completive one for everybody gets the salary based on their certificates and senior in work, not the ability Thus, I am not really satisfied with the salary However, my previous supervisor is a real factor that made me left the university I think that she should study more about the way to manage work effectively In addition, she seemed not to be kind with employees In addition, I also had to work with a lot of pressure and no one shared me Sometimes, I seriously feel stress Beside that, I am not satisfied with the promotion of the university I can see that there is really little chance to be promoted Promotion is very important for a staff because it is their long-term aim in the future Unfortunately, the university seemed to limit it Thus, why don’t we agree to change job which maybe better for our future? Interviewee 3: ƒ Questions: - What is the real factor that made you quit job at the university? - How you feel about the working conditions and benefit policy of the university? Do they seriously impact on your decision to leave the workplace? ƒ Answer: To be frank, I am not satisfied with my supervisor He treated us not fairly I not want to talk much about this But in general, the relationship between us is worse day after day This is the most important reason forcing me to quit job Moreover, I did not receive the training from supervisor and other experience seniors Maybe they did not have time, but I really found it hard to work without sufficient training to deal with various kinds of works Thus, stress is another problem for me The working conditions of the university are okay I had enough stationary I need to works The benefit is also okay, not really good but acceptable 78 Interviewee 4: ƒ Questions: - What is the real factor that made you quit job at the university? - How you feel about the working conditions and benefit policy of the university? Do they seriously impact on your decision to leave the workplace? ƒ Answer: The working conditions and benefit of the university are no problem They are acceptable The university has modern facilities and equipment and provided us health and medical insurance I liked them There is also nothing to complain about the benefits of the university It is reasonable in comparison with other public universities in Vietnam However, I am not satisfied with the promotion of the university I can see that there is really less chance to be promoted It is not good because promotion seems to be what most people aim to in their future At the university, you will hardly get opportunity even when you have ability and you perform well The salary is paid also based on the education level and year of working So, everybody who has the equivalent diplomas or certificates got the same salary though their capabilities are different That was two reasons why I quit job But, the most important factor is, perhaps, my supervisor She is disorganized and worse, she did not respect her subordinates Moreover, I found that she rarely gave us chance to participate in development programs of the university It discouraged me a lot In fact, it was really hard to work under such a supervisor who did not have enough professional knowledge and leading skills So, I changed job 79 Appendix Descriptive Statistics Reliability Statistics Cronbach' s Alpha 962 N of Items 29 Item-Total Statistics a1 a2 a3 a4 b1 b2 b3 c1 c2 c3 c4 c5 d1 d2 d3 e1 e2 e3 e4 f1 f2 f3 g1 g2 g3 g4 h1 h2 h3 Scale Scale Mean if Variance if Corrected Item Item Item-Total Deleted Deleted Correlation 115.32 220.326 387 115.20 214.294 644 115.04 216.598 627 114.71 212.768 826 114.55 211.531 844 114.80 216.641 526 114.07 213.236 596 114.71 214.102 710 114.66 214.175 800 114.67 214.437 800 114.04 216.305 717 114.50 211.347 841 113.89 217.829 683 114.00 217.467 535 114.01 215.346 620 114.61 210.215 680 114.74 204.703 739 114.59 210.485 729 114.50 210.867 730 114.80 214.107 552 114.03 213.706 717 114.05 212.317 723 114.71 214.848 672 114.50 212.040 806 115.26 210.490 594 113.89 217.375 839 114.74 213.903 769 114.80 214.694 648 114.66 216.255 513 80 Cronbach's Alpha if Item Deleted 962 961 961 959 959 961 961 960 960 960 960 959 960 961 961 960 960 960 960 961 960 960 960 959 961 960 960 961 962 ... to the education quality? What are the factors that influence on the staff turnover intention at IU? 1.3 Research Scope and Limitations This project focuses on the factors that influencing on the. .. questions that this study examines They are: What is the average staff turnover rate at universities in Vietnam? What is the staff turnover rate at IU? What are the impacts of high staff turnover. .. effect on the turnover intention of the IU’s staff On the contrary, the factors that influence on their intention of leaving the university are supervisors and promotion; and some other factors The