An exploration of staff retention strategies implemented by the banking sector in Laos to retain talented employees

Abstract

RESEARCH QUESTION How do banks FB1, FB2, FB3, LB1 and LB2 retain their talented employees?

SUB-RESEARCH QUESTIONS: 1. What staff retention strategies are implemented by foreign-owned banks FB1, FB2 and FB3 in Laos?

2. What staff retention strategies are implemented by locally-owned banks LB1 and LB2 in Laos?

3. What components of the remuneration packages are effective in retaining talented staff at foreign-owned banks FB1, FB2 and FB3?

4. What components of the remuneration packages are effective in retaining talented staff at locally-owned banks LB1 and LB2?

5. What components of job satisfaction are effective in retaining talent at foreign-owned banks FB1, FB2 and FB3?

6. What components of job satisfaction are effective in retaining talent at locally-owned banks LB1 and LB2?

7. What components of organisational culture motivate talented employees to stay at foreign-owned banks FB1, FB2 and FB3?

8. What components of organisational culture motivate talented employees to stay at locally-owned banks LB1 and LB2?

ABSTRACT:

With the current strong economic growth trend in Laos, investment has been made throughout various industries. This includes the banking sector that has led to the rise of a number of both locally-owned and foreign-owned banks. The reliance on advanced information technology in these banks has been hindered by various obstacles caused by consumers and government regulations. What this implies is that human-workers still play key roles in the banking sector making employee retention, especially with regards to talented employees, become one of the most essential focusing points under the HRM umbrella for the locally owned and foreign-owned banks in Laos. This is because talented workers are in high demand and are considered to be the brains of these banks, so robust retention strategies need to be in place to retain the star performers.

The purpose of this research thesis was to examine the ways banks in Laos retain their talented employees. Simply put, its main aim was to explore strategies implemented by locally owned and foreign-owned banks participating in this research thesis to retain their talent through the participants’ lens. To address research questions and objectives, a qualitative research approach was adopted where semi-structured interviews were conducted to extract data from seven participants. Of these, four participants have held HR and Branch Manager’ positions at three selected foreign-owned banks, whereas the three other participants have worked as HR and Training/Development Managers for two locally-owned banks.

Based on the findings, strategies used by the participating banks were both monetary and non-monetary-focused. From foreign-owned banks, these strategies reflected the roles of HR and line managers, job security, compensation, workplace relationship, demographic change, career development, equal pay, employee involvement, job enrichment, flexible work arrangements, team building, the application of religious beliefs and human capital. For locally owned banks, the strategies included the use of psychological contract, a lead market pay structure, motivation, promotion, training and development, supportive leadership, job enlargement, work attire, workplace communication and technological involvement. These findings satisfactorily achieved the research aim and objectives as well as provided some clues for the researcher to develop a retention model that can be applied in these banks. Furthermore, six constructive recommendations were given to those banks in order to guide them in strengthening their staff retention strategies.