Employees’ perception of employee retention initiatives at Maltese audit firms

Abstract

PURPOSE: This study seeks to collect a first-hand account on issues related to employee retention in Maltese audit firms. Hence, this study aims to determine the auditors’ perception on the causes of employee turnover and the resulting costs and benefits to audit firms. This study aims to determine the effectiveness of the retention initiatives employed by audit firms, and finally recommends improvements to employee retention initiatives employed by audit firms. DESIGN: The three objectives of this study were addressed using a qualitative methodology. Fourteen semi-structured interviews were conducted with auditors working in the Big 4 and medium-sized audit firms. FINDINGS: The findings indicate that audit firms should have a balanced level of employee turnover to bring in fresh talent and ideas, but to also avoid turnover costs. Therefore, audit firms should strive to retain their employees. The findings show that work-life balance; rewards; mentoring; training and career development; and good relationships with colleagues and managers are deemed to be effective in retaining employees within the audit firm. Most auditors working in medium-sized audit firms mentioned good work relationships as a strong motivator to stay within the firm. In contrast, learning and growth were most commonly mentioned by auditors working with Big 4 audit firms. Furthermore, the findings include a number of recommendations put forward by auditors, which audit firms themselves could implement to enhance the effectiveness of the aforementioned initiatives, including: better engagement planning; the encouragement of a good work-life balance by seniors and its promotion within the firm; the employment of more auditors; the awarding of departmental and personalised rewards; the payment for overtime; being more selective in the choice of mentors and trainers; more engagement between foreign and local employees; and the attendance of seniors at team building activities. CONCLUSIONS: This study concludes that one of the main causes of employee turnover is job dissatisfaction. Whilst it is beneficial to have an element of employee turnover, it must be maintained at an appropriate level due to the repercussions on turnover costs as well as the negative impact on employees’ morale. In addition, work-life balance; rewards; mentoring; training, career development; and good relationships with colleagues and managers are deemed as being effective in retaining employees within an audit firm. IMPLICATIONS: Employee retention is one of the key problems faced by the Maltese accountancy profession; yet there is insufficient research on employee retention in Maltese audit firms. This study could therefore prove to be valuable to audit firms in improving their effectiveness in their retention of employees, especially when taking into consideration the recommendations put forward in this study.