Retention swirl: tool creation to understand factors effecting employee retention in entrepreneurial firms

In this technological era, the minds of the employees in the organisations are the biggest assets. An entrepreneurial firm have this talent pool in limited number and the completion of the goals, realisation of the vision and the mission of the firm solely depends upon the dedication, hard work and loyalty of the employees. The key employee in any firm plays the most crucial role in the smooth sailing of the business and so in this cut-throat competitive environment, it is particularly important to retain those key employees. This paper extracts the list of factors that affect the employee retention in the entrepreneurial firms in service industry. These factors are further explained through a model termed as 'retention swirl'. The framework is developed using five factors effecting retention, which are further divided into ten attributes. This tool can be used in further defining and designing of retention strategies in entrepreneurial firms.