Abstract
Globally, the retention of skilled workers in the construction industry has been a serious concern to management due to higher turnover of professionals in the construction industry. The desired critical measures for retention strategies of skilled workers need to be done to sustain competition among construction professionals. This paved way for the study to analyze the current retention strategies within the construction industry in South Africa. The study adopted a source technique with the administration of a well-structured questionnaire to active stakeholders and professionals in the construction industry as well as interviewing human resource managers in the Gauteng Province of the South African construction industry. Data for this study was obtained through primary and secondary sources. The primary data collected was achieved through administering a well-structured questionnaire to 100 respondent professionals in the construction industry, in which 75 respondents completed and returned the questionnaires. Data for this study were analyzed by percentage distribution. The questionnaires were administered to active professionals in the construction industry in the Gauteng Province of the South Africa. The findings of the study revealed that the significant retention strategies within the construction industry in South Africa are performance appraisal bonuses, training, also by Construction Education Training Authority (CETA), recognition, good working conditions and competitive salaries in some companies outside South Africa. The study concluded that all the retention strategies need to be improved because they have been found to have a positive and significant effect on organizational performance. The study recommended that stakeholders in the construction industry and management of construction organizations should improve on retention strategies because they have been found by this study to have a positive effect on the organizational performance and by extension, the construction industry.