Abstract:
Hiring a qualified and talented workforce and implementing a program to retain these employees is a key
component to successful workforce retention. However, one of the challenges of managers in today`s health
sector in Kenya lies in building a workplace of choice where employees want to remain for a long time. Any
employer`s foremost responsibility is retention of the best employees, and this can only be achieved by
managing employee talent well to keep them satisfied and motivated. The purpose of this paper was to analyze
various programs of managing medical personnel’s talent in the public hospitals in Kenya, a case of Kenyatta
national hospital. The research objectives elaborated the independent variables which were: Availability of
career development opportunities, nature of the workplace climate and learning, levels of training and
development opportunities available, and attractiveness of compensation and benefits. These independent
variables were assumed to have significant relationships with the dependent variable which was employee
retention. Theoretical framework focused on the social exchange theory, cognitive career theory and Hertzberg`s
motivation- hygiene theory. The total population of the study comprised of a total 800 medical doctors and
nurses who have been in the service for less than five years and over five years at the Kenyatta national hospital
Nairobi, Kenya. The study derived a sample size of eighty (80), arrived at by calculating 10% of the study
population. The study`s sampling technique that was used was judgemental sampling. The study used mixed
methods of data collection. Mean and standard deviation was calculated in data analysis. Regression analysis
model was used to determine the relationship between the dependent and the independent variables. This was
done using the statistical package for social studies software (SPSS) version 21.
