Abstract
M.Phil.
Orientation: This study is an exploration of the factors that lead to staff turnover amongst chartered accountants (CAs) in auditing firms.
Research purpose: Its aim was to investigate the factors that might have led to CAs‟ leaving these firms.
Motivation of study: There is an increased concern in the South African auditing industry as more CAs are leaving their employ for the greener pastures of commerce and industry. An understanding of the factors leading to high CA turnover will aid employers in developing retention strategies.
Research design: The auditing division of BDO was selected for the study. A randomly selected sample consisted of 11 auditing managers and was selected from a population of 26 auditing managers. Tables 3, 4 and 5 in Chapter 4 depict the profile of the participants.
Method: A qualitative research method was adopted with the aim of identifying turnover causes. This approach allowed the researcher to understand the meaning that underlies the turnover of CAs, and to interpret the meaning and intentions of this. Interviews with open ended questions were used to collect data. Responses were subsequently grouped into themes and categories, comparisons made, and interpretations of these were then formed.
Main findings: The results of the study indicated the importance of incentives, career advancement, the term of employment contracts, as well as interesting, stimulating and diverse projects. These were found to lead to a decision to leave auditing firms, and for this reason required urgent attention. The study noted that personal factors had stronger impact on a decision to leave than job-inherent factors. This might signal that CAs prefer to control their own careers. None of the employer factors were found to be push factors.
Practical/managerial implications: It is suggested that management of auditing firms should investigate matters that staff members consider to be important, or even investigate what other auditing firms are doing to retain staff. A limitation of the study is that its results are not generalisable to a larger population.
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Contribution and value add: The main contribution of the study was to investigate the initiatives that were important enough to CAs to convince them to remain with their employers rather than leave them.
Key words: Human Resources, Employees, Skills shortages, Staff turnover, Employer Value Propositions, Qualitative research, CAs.