Retention and attrition of experienced Malay male Architects in Malaysian architectural design consultant firms in the Klang Valley, Malaysia

Mohd Hisham Ariffin, Ismah Summayyah Mohd Amar

Abstract


The Malaysian construction industry suffers from a high rate of talent attrition within architecture design consultant firms which hinders these firms from strategic nurturing of employees needed to sustain the firms’ involvement in the global market. This paper reports the findings of an investigation into the factors that contribute to employment retention and attrition of a purposive sample of ten male professional Malay Architects in Malaysian architecture consulting firms in the Klang Valley. These reasons were uncovered through analysis of interview transcripts with the sample cohorts. Qualitative data coding generated employment retention and attrition meaning units relevant with need categories in Alderfer’s ERG motivation theory which are existence needs (physiological, material security, convenience) relatedness needs (group belongingness, social needs, family obligations, friendship obligations, social obligations and social esteem), growth ( self esteem and self actualization) and intrinsic motives (choice, progress, competence and meaningfulness). All respondents remain in the firm when the employment provided convenience and self-esteem to them, and from a sense of group obligations for the firm. Yet they would seek employment elsewhere when the gratuities with the current employer cannot fulfill their physiological needs. They also leave when they do not fulfil self esteem needs. Thus, a possible theme within the responses is that high order (growth) needs and mid-order (relatedness) needs retain male professional Malay Architects while the failure to meet low order (existence) needs and high order (growth) needs motivate their employment attrition. Further investigations are warranted due to the limitations of the sampling methodology (249 words)

Keywords


Architecture consulting firms, Attrition, Employment, Malaysia, Retention

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References


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