Why People Stay A Systematic Literature Review of Employee Retention

Employee retention has received less direct attention than employee turnover, particularly regarding the reasons employees choose to remain with their employers. This article reports a systematic review intended to identify the factors associated with employees' decisions to stay in an organisation. The review examined 1,164 studies related to retention and turnover, allowing the authors to distinguish research that specifically addressed retention. The findings indicate that employees' decisions to remain are shaped by a broad range of influences. By tracing how retention research has developed and summarising the factors discussed in the literature, the review extends earlier work that concentrated mainly on employees' decisions to leave. It also provides practitioners with an organised overview of possible approaches to supporting retention and highlights areas where further research is needed.