Impact of managers on the retention of knowledge workers from different race groups within the manufacturing sector

Literature has also shown that how long an employee stays in an organisationis determined by their relationship with their manager. By identifying the keymanagerial behaviours that are considered by knowledge workers to beimportant for retention, organisations will stand a greater chance of retainingthese individuals. This research investigated what impact the knowledge workers perception ofhis managers behaviour has on his intention to stay with the organisation. Theresearch also aimed to establish whether perceived managerial behaviouraffected retention differently for the different race groups. A quantitative study was done which was based on a previous study by Rhule(2004). The current study focuses on knowledge workers in a leading Pulp andPaper company in South Africa. The study found that there is a strong relationship between the knowledgeworkers perception of the managers behaviour and intention to stay. Anotherkey finding is that there is no significant difference between black and whiterespondents in how competent they perceive their managers to be onmanagerial behaviours they consider important for retention. Copyright © 2008, University of Pretoria. All rights reserved. The copyright in this work vests in the University of Pretoria. No part of this work may be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means, without the prior written permission of the University of Pretoria Please cite as follows: Naidoo, N 2008, Impact of managers on the retention of knowledge workers from different race groups within the manufacturing sector, MBA dissertation, University of Pretoria, Pretoria, viewed yymmdd < http://upetd.up.ac.za/thesis/available/etd-03162010-122754/ > G10/69/ag