Employees' Needs at Work : A case study of employee retention at a real estate firm

Abstract: The intent of this study is to improve our understanding of employee behavior. Specifically, to understand why an employee would be motivated to seek a job somewhere other than their current place of employment. As well to understand the perspective of the employer with how they could retain these employees, considering the current job-hopping phenomenon and the high cost of employee turnover. The purpose of this study is to understand the needs of employees at work and apply them to retention strategies. The study focuses on the differences between organizational levels, as this has not been sufficiently studied in the past. The present study applies Maslow's hierarchy of needs, along with traditional retention strategies to employee's current views, in order to create a new framework for retention strategies. As a qualitative case study, interviews have been conducted within a small firm from the real estate industry in the USA to obtain an insight into employees' needs at work and their perception of retention. It was of paramount importance that every level of the organization was represented, with responses from the lowest level administrator up to the partner owner level of the company. Discussing the findings, this study intends to create a model for employee job satisfaction at two different levels of an organization, thus providing an understanding of their needs and goals at work. As well also contributing to suggested retention strategies by offering a retention model for each level. The main contribution of this study is that it demonstrates a difference in factors for job satisfaction at different levels of an organization, which justifies the adoption of a uniquely adapted retention strategy for each level. If the traditional means of motivation and retention can be used for employees highly positioned within the hierarchy, this study shows that at a lower-level, employees seek well-being far more than performance and financial rewards. Thus, the conclusion has been proposed that achievement and success are central to the satisfaction and retention of high-level employees where well-being and company culture are central to low-level employees.