What Impact Does Human Resource Management (HRM) Practices Have on Retaining Younger Employees? A Study of NatWest Bank (2015)

Retaining Younger Employees Dissertation – The banking industry of the UK is presently ruled by the ‘size factor’ and big corporate names such as Barclays, Lloyd’s Banking Group, Royal Bank of Scotland and HSBC are few established players who compete with their huge financial muscle. In the aftermath of economic crisis, the UK government are considering measures to end the oligopoly of big banks and fragment the entire banking industry (especially high street banking), hence creating a fair marketplace. NatWest which is now a part of the Royal Bank of Scotland is focussing on providing unparalleled customer services as its core competitive advantage.

An unparallel customer service can be achieved only through developing a unique workforce who works hard and stays with the organisation. Retaining a high performance workforce is a key challenge for almost every organisation in the UK. It is hence that organisations are focussing on their HR practices which directly impact the retention rate of employees, hence creating a brand that not only retain its employees but also attracts talented individuals from the job market. This report hence looks into the case of NatWest employees, identifies four critical parameters (work life balance, compensation, career development and supervisor support) that impacts retention rate, evaluates employee perception and hence, analyse whether NatWest has been successfully implemented HR practices that will retain its key talent.

Close ended questionnaires were used and distributed through using free survey hosting websites. The research surveyed 106 employees from various NatWest branches (thus eliminating any biasness) through social networking websites (mainly LinkedIn, Twitter and Facebook). The research uncovers that whilst NatWest was successful in providing a unique work life balance and supervisor support to its employees, it was however observed that the bank was unable to provide career development opportunities and adequate compensation and benefits to its employees.

The report concludes through recommending inclusiveness of employees and the employers in identifying training needs make use of technological tools and developing a transparent compensation strategy that closely meets the employee and business needs. Hence, it is quintessential that banks like NatWest must take measures to boost retention rate, else any delay in this regard may prove detrimental over the longer term success.

Research Questions:

• Does NatWest provide work life flexibility to retain its younger group of employees?
• Does NatWest provide necessary career development opportunities to retain its younger group of employees?
• Does NatWest provide adequate compensation and rewards to retain its younger group of employees?
• Does NatWest provide supervisor support to retain its younger group of employees?

• 17,000 words – 64 pages in length
• Excellent use of literature
• Good analysis of subject area
• Well written throughout
• Includes questionnaire
• Ideal for international HRM students

1: Introduction
Rationale of Study
Seeking Economies of Scale: Fierce Competition for Talent
Recent Redundancies Made by RBS
Research Objective
Research Question

2: Literature Review
Impact of Work Life Balance on Retention Rate
Impact of Career Development and Retention Rate
Impact on Compensation and Reward on Employee Retention Rate
Impact of Supervisor Support and Retention Rate
Summary

3: Research Methodology
Qualitative vs. Quantitative Method
Sampling Technique
Data Collection
Questionnaire
Questionnaire Design
Data Analysis
Ethical Issues
Data Quality, Validity and Reliability

4: Key Findings and Analysis
General Information
Work Life Balance
Career Development
Compensation
Supervisor Support

5: Conclusion
Research Question Answered
Recommendations
Higher Management to Play Role of Career Coaches
Creative Compensation Policy: Rewarding the Best One
Limitations of the Research

References

Appendix
Questionnaire
SPSS Data