Factors Affecting the Employees’ Turnover at the Ministry of High Education in Gaza Governorates-Case study: North and West Gaza Directorates of Education

Abstract

This study aims at identifying the factors which influence the turnover phenomenon of the Employees of the Ministry of Education and Higher Education in the Gaza Strip. The Ministry of Education in Gaza suffers from the employee turnover phenomenon. Statistics show that the number of employees who have quit their jobs at the Ministry since 2010 is 829 administrative staff and teachers. This requires the attraction of new employees to fill the vacancies. The study population included all of the previous employees, including teachers, who have worked at North and West Gaza Governorates and willingly quit since 2010. To achieve the study objectives, the researcher gathered the data from different sources. The descriptive analytical approach was adopted through using a stratified random sample of the research population. The study sample consisted of previous teachers who worked at public schools and administrative staff and professionals who worked at the North and West Gaza governorates. The total number of sample individuals was 307; then 260 questionnaires were distributed and 239 were retrieved. SPSS Program was used for the data analysis. The results show that all work-related factors (payments, job performance, role clarity, job satisfaction, and organizational commitment) influence the employees’ turnover. As for external factors (employment perception and unions’ presence), the results show that employees’ turnover is affected by the employment perception, but not affected by the presence of a union. The Multiple Correlation Coefficient R=0.776 and R-Square=0.589. This means that 58.9% of the variation in Turnover is explained by all independent variables together. The study recommends decision makers at the Ministry of Education to search for the connection between employees’ turnover and turnover intentions. In addition, it should make use of the data it collects about the turnover intentions to identify and target valuable employees with high turnover intentions. The employees’ job satisfaction should be evaluated and reinforced, and meetings should be held with quitters to understand the factors which led to their resignation. To limit employees’ turnover phenomenon, the Ministry should work on achieving better level of organizational commitment.