The link between staff training and development and retention levels in firms: The case of Mc Donalds in Finland

Abstract

This research investigated how training and development relate to staff retention in an organizational context by taking the case of McDonald's in Finland. To realize this aim, the research was guided by the following specific objectives: to investigate factors affecting employee turnover at McDonald's in Finland; to explore factors affecting the effectiveness of training and development at McDonald's in Finland; to explore the relationship between training and development and retention of employees at McDonald's in Finland; to suggest how McDonald's in Finland can improve employees' training and development to improve staff retention. The theoretical framework offers a critical review of past scholarly articles that explored concepts on or related to the link between training and development and employee retention, including the underpinning research: Herzberg's Two-Factor theory and definitions of key concepts. The study was qualitative research that adopted the deductive approach to help understand the relationship between staff training and development and retention levels in firms. Semi-structured interviews were chosen as the data collection technique. The study found that McDonald's has a great commitment to training and developing its workforce through e-learning, e-business, and product development training. The company derived benefits from training and developing employees include improved organizational performance and overall wealth, better customer services, and improved employee productivity and performance. Also, the study found a positive relationship between training and development and employee retention in the organization. The researcher concluded that McDonald's could improve its training and development strategies to enhance staff retention by providing constant training and learning opportunities to employees and trainers, promoting employees within the company, and then training them to handle those higher positions. McDonald's should consider these and ensure that training aligns with employees' needs to enhance its effectiveness.