Influence of Employee Voice Mechanisms on Labour Turnover in Manufacturing Industries in Dar es Salaam, Tanzania

Abstract

For many years, labour turnover has significantly affected manufacturing industries, resulting in reduced productivity, higher 
hiring costs, and lower operational effectiveness. Despite the implementation of various strategies to mitigate labour turnover, 
researchers rarely scrutinise the assertion that employee voice mechanisms contribute to this reduction. This study examines 
how employees' voice mechanisms influence labour turnover in Tanzania's manufacturing industries in Dar es Salaam. Using a 
cross-sectional design, the study employed structured questionnaires to gather data from 126 manufacturing industries. Human resource managers were the unit of observation, and manufacturing industries were the unit of analysis. Descriptive statistics and the fractional logarithm model were used to analyse the data. The results indicate that employee voice mechanisms, such as collective bargaining and email usage, have a negative and significant influence on labour turnover. Furthermore, an employee survey has a positive and significant influence on labour turnover. These findings indicate that various employee voice mechanisms have distinct effects on labour turnover. Therefore, to effectively retain employees, manufacturing industries should use email more, engage in collective bargaining, and review and improve employee surveys, general meetings, newsletters, joint consultative committee meetings, suggestion boxes, and intranet shared information.