Organizational Culture and Employee Retention Among Employees in Uasin Gishu County Government, Kenya: The Mediating Role of Employee Commitment

Abstract

Employee retention is central to continuity, institutional memory, and reliable public service delivery, yet county governments operate under administrative, resource, and career-structure conditions that can make the retention of experienced employees difficult. This study examined the effect of organizational culture on employee retention in Uasin Gishu County Government, Kenya, and tested employee commitment as a mediating mechanism. The study adopted an explanatory survey design and targeted 3,431 permanent employees in the county executive and county assembly. A proportionate stratified random sample of 359 employees was selected, of whom 330 returned complete questionnaires, yielding a 91.92% usable response rate. Multi-item measures were assessed using a five-point Likert scale. Reliability, factor analysis, descriptive statistics, partial correlations, multiple regression, and mediation analysis using Hayes PROCESS Model 4 with 5,000 bootstrap samples were applied. The direct-effects model explained 56.6% of the variance in employee retention. Work environment (B = 0.251, p < .05), leadership communication (B = 0.328, p < .001), recognition and rewards (B = 0.359, p < .05), and professional development (B = 0.363, p < .05) all had positive and statistically significant effects on retention. When employee commitment was introduced, the model explained 70.2% of the variance and commitment remained a strong positive predictor of retention (B = 0.581, p < .05). Bootstrap results further showed significant indirect effects through employee commitment for work environment (0.0977, 95% CI [0.0341, 0.1629]), leadership communication (0.1020, 95% CI [0.0479, 0.1569]), recognition and rewards (0.0958, 95% CI [0.0408, 0.1535]), and professional development (0.0942, 95% CI [0.0386, 0.1521]). The study concludes that organizational culture influences retention both directly and through the commitment employees develop toward the county government. The findings support integrated public-sector retention strategies that combine supportive working conditions, credible leadership communication, fair recognition, and visible development pathways rather than treating retention as a compensation issue alone