The Influence of Management, Workplace, and Compensation on Employee Engagement and Retention

Abstract

This paper examined employees' experiences to understand the factors that influenced their long tenure in Elaine’s pastry shop-restaurant industry. The study aimed to identify the key motivators that encouraged employees to remain in their workplace. A qualitative research design, specifically narrative inquiry, was employed to capture participants' experiences. Semi-structured interviews were conducted to gather data from the employees' personal stories. The findings revealed several reasons why employees chose to stay, including a positive work environment, employers’ commitment to supporting their staff, a strong sense of being valued, competitive compensation, job satisfaction, and the machine-intensive nature of the production process (e.g., Meyer & Allen, 2022; Kwon, 2023; Allen et al., 2021).