Audit firm employee retention initiatives : an analysis

Abstract

Purpose: The aim of the study is to identify and assess the various employee retention initiatives used by various audit firms in Malta and whether these differ according to the size of the company. This study also seeks to identify the main demands that employees at these audit firms tend to have and whether there were any changes in trends in the past years. Design: The objectives of this study were achieved through the conduct of 11 semi-structured interviews with personnel in charge of employee retention from various Maltese audit firms. Findings: The study’s results show that audit firms in Malta do not give employee retention the same amount of importance. Various Maltese audit firms still do not have a formulated employee retention strategy but some of them are in the process of formulating one. Through this study it was also noted that although many of the audit firms use the same employee retention initiatives, their application differs between larger and smaller firms. Larger firms tend to have a more formal and structured way of implementing employee retention initiatives, while smaller firms tend to take a more relaxed and informal approach to implement these initiatives. Throughout this study, it was also noted that there was a shift in employees’ demands in the past years. Although remuneration is still considered as hugely important for an employee, factors such as flexible working hours and tele-working demands are increasing. Conclusions: Maltese audit are realising that employee retention has a significant importance in the success of a company, and the majority of the firms that did not have an employee retention strategy are in the process of implementing one. It was also argued that recruiting the right people is imperative for retention efforts to be more successful. Also, employees are generally seeking a better work-life balance, sometimes even at the cost of a lower wage. Employee demands tend to be very subjective, and will vary according to an individual’s economic, social and family situations. Value: Maltese audit firms can adopt the recommendations included in the study in order to improve their employee retention initiatives’ effectiveness.