Abstract:
Apparel industry has become the major economy provider in the Sri Lankan context. High
employee turnover and low supply of employee benefits may lead many apparel firms to survive at
economy downturn. High employee retention practices may cause to reduce employee turnover.
Therefore, the Sri Lankan apparel firms are willing to invest money and time on high employee
turnover, being in a leading sector. The objective of this study is to find the impact of talent
management practices on staff retention in the Sri Lankan apparel industry. Population of this
study was 100 individuals within the staff of a selected apparel manufacturing organization. Among
them, 80 were selected with systematic random sampling. Data was collected through a structured
questionnaire and analyzed using correlation and regression analysis. The literature review
recognized five major independent talent management practices such as compensation, training
and development, succession planning, work-life balance and job security. The study developed the
conceptual framework based on five independent variables. Regression and correlation analysis
results showed that the staff retention has positive relationships with compensation, training &
development and work-life balance. The analysis further showed that succession planning and job
security have negative impact on staff retention. This study suggested managers to focus on
developing succession planning to identify the next suitable person and some benchmarking
practices to improve job security. Suggested solutions were financially feasible and improve the
efficiency of the company performance.
