Effects of Employee Turnover on Organisational Performance of Selected Small and Medium Enterprises (SME’S) in Kabwe

This study was set to examine the effects of employee turnover on the organisational performance of Small and Medium Enterprises (SMEs) in Kabwe. The study’s main objective was to assess the effects of employee turnover on the organisational performance of SMEs in Kabwe. The research philosophy was pragmatic and convergent parallel mixed methods approach was adopted. The target population for this study was 1,200 registered formal business enterprises in Kabwe. The study employed non-probability sampling with purposive and convenience sampling methods. The study utilized Yamane (1967) formula for proportions to obtain a sample size of 300 respondents. The primary data was collected using questionnaires and interview guides. Data collected from the questionnaires was coded in Microsoft Excel and data from interviews was analysed using Thematic analysis. Quantitative findings indicated that most of the respondents believed that poor salary, poor leadership and management, lack of career advancement opportunities, no work-life balance are the causes of employee turnover. The results from the regression analysis with one model, had a positive R square value of 0.4187 which showed that 41.8% of the variation in organisational performance is explained by employee turnover and this established that employee turnover has an effect on organizational performance of SMEs. The qualitative findings indicated that high employee turnover leads to reduced efficiency and reduced output. The convergence of quantitative and qualitative findings enhances the reliability and validity of this study. The theoretical contribution of this study shows that despite SMEs adopting some employee motivation and retention strategies such as recognition, bonus rewards, training, providing conducive work environment and providing employees with occasional incentives, most SMEs in Kabwe do not provide employees with opportunities for career advancement which has been one of the reasons for employee turnover. The study recommended that SMEs should develop strategies to retain employees, such as offering competitive salaries, incentives, and career growth opportunities by invest in continuous training, mentorship programs, and upskilling initiatives.