The Supervisor's Role in Retaining Young University Graduate Talent : A Case Study within the Swedish Automotive Industry

Abstract: Worldwide, employee turnover has been and remains a concern for organizations. Previous research has shown that the loss of a valuable employee creates both tangible and intangible costs for companies, and organizations are therefore forced to focus their efforts on employee retention. Previous research has also shown that university graduates have capabilities that are of value in industries going through transformation, and that supervisors, i.e., employees with personnel responsibility, play an important role in the retention of this type of employee.  The purpose of this qualitative single case study is to investigate how a supervisor can contribute to the retention of their young university graduate employees, particularly in the context of a largescale enterprise in the Swedish automotive industry. This is done partly through a literature review concluded with a theoretical framework that summarizes the existing literature's suggestions about factors that contribute to employee retention. In this framework, suggestions from existing literature are separated into themes depending on what aspect of employee retention they deal with. These five themes, including job design, communication, leadership, organizational support as well as atmosphere and work environment, recur throughout this study to structure the findings. The investigation is also done through primary data collection in the form of interviews with young university graduate employees at the case company, as well as a focus group with supervisors from the case company. This is complemented by the collection of archival data. The interview data are then analyzed to find themes and patterns using the Gioia-method.  The study finds several factors and activities that young academic employees value at their workplace. Some of these findings include freedom under responsibility, helpful and supportive supervisors, personal development, cooperation between departments and an open workplace climate. The findings are discussed in relation to the study’s purpose as well as in relation to the theoretical framework. The study concludes by summarizing the extent to which the findings of this study confirm the suggestions from previous literature under each of the five themes, as well as by presenting the findings that extend the theoretical framework. The findings that extend the framework include networking, benefits, an open climate, varying work tasks, a well-structured introduction process, as well as a beneficial geographic location of the office. For each of the five themes, practical suggestions are also given concerning how a supervisor can contribute to the retention of their young university graduate employees.