Determinantes na retenção do capital humano

Abstract

For each and every organization, human capital is believed to be a key feature in its growth. The attraction and especially the preservation of employees in the present scenery of accelerated and unpredictable changes in the labour market require for a greater knowledge of this capital to reach bigger effectiveness in the management processes of the human resources. This case-study aims to understand the relevance that the workers of the company-group “União de Transportes dos Carvalhos” (UTC) attach to the psychological contract, seniority, job satisfaction and organizational identification in their permanency in the company. Given the shortage of research-studies on the effect of these features in the retention of human capital in a company of road-passenger transport, this study emerges as a pioneer for the development of this theme within this sector of activity. A sample of 12 employees (8 of which are male) scattered through all three group-companies has been formed. Their ages lie between 32 and 55 years, and their seniority in the company between 3 and 30 years. Semi-structured interviews have been held, according to guide-lines resulting from the observation carried on a curricular apprenticeship and the notes taken throughout that period of time. The analysis of the content was performed with the software application NVivo resulting in a system of 12 categories. It was concluded that employees with higher seniority do not perceive any benefit from it in their salaries or working conditions; the economic return has been identified as the core motive for the permanence in the organization, and there was no evidence of any feelings of identification with the values and the culture of the organization. These factors reveal the prevalence of labour relations based on transactional psychological contracts, although some workers highlighted moderate levels of job satisfaction. In future researches it would be appropriate to extend the sample for analysis to the elements of the Human Resources department and to the Senior Management in order to relate the representations of the workers to the prospects of the Organization.

Date of Award	2 Dec 2011
Original language	Portuguese
Awarding Institution	Universidade Católica Portuguesa
Supervisor	António Fonseca (Supervisor) & Eduardo Oliveira (Co-Supervisor)