Supportive Work Environment and Retention of Employees of Nigeria’s Small and Medium Enterprise Development Agency

Abstract

The study evaluated the link between supportive work environment and employee retention. The study focused on employees of Small and Medium Enterprise Development Agency (SMEDAN) Headquarter Abuja. The study employed descriptive research design and used structured questionnaire to collect data from 203 employee in SMEDAN Headquarter. All 203 questionnaire were filled and returned. Four null hypotheses were formulated and tested using linear regression analysis, and at 0.05 level of significance. The result showed that supervisory support, perceived climate and personal development opportunities have significant positive effects on employee retention which led to the rejection of the first, third and fourth null hypotheses. However, result showed that perceived organisational support has a positive non-significant effect on employee retention leading to the acceptance of the second null hypothesis. Base on these findings, the study recommends that SMEDAN management should among other things create a climate of work that guarantees security and wellbeing of employees since it has a direct impact on employee retention.