Know-How Exchange : Student Questions

I have no idea what things would be like related to professional retention on the island of Mauritius, but you can find some good general information at:

- HR.com (https://www.hr.com). They don't have a specific category on retention, but they do have articles of interest in different categories there. Plug "retention" into their search box and you should find some good ones.

- Workforce Management Magazine (https://www.workforce.com/). Do the same thing - search for "retention" in heir search box.

As a marketing management consultant, I always begin a project by asking myself who would know the most about this topic. Then I begin to interview a small sampling of that audience and ask lots of questions about their experience, who else they know that might be even more expert than they are, what has worked in the past and what has not, etc.

It usually doesn't take too many of those interviews to generate some great leads, references, and new contacts. Sometimes there are studies that have already been done that address my issue. Other times the need for original research becomes obvious. And sometimes I even find someone who is willing to share the cost of further research, in return for either getting to specify certain questions and/or to have access to the results before they are published.

Michele is clearly right when she says you need to narrow the subject somewhat. Think of who the experts would be for a topic as broad as the one you laid out. It would be very difficult to find a small number of people who are representative of the expert base for a broad topic. Much easier if the topic is narrower.

Michele's right, your thesis needs to be detailed and to break new ground, so keeping the context wide would make it enormous if you plan to go into depth too.

Ask yourself what are the most critical industries for Mauritius' survival, is it sugar, clothing manufacture, tourism, ecology?

Then look at the most critical skills to keep that industry operating in Mauritius - then you have a thesis subject that will have national significance.

Perhaps getting the focus can become part of the thesis work - if you survey government and say the top 100 companies, what would they say are the key industries and most critical skill-sets for the future survival/success?

Narrow that down with a second survey to find the methods they use to retain staff now. Do they work well? what could be done to improve retention?

Is there a retention benchmark for Mauritian companies or institutions? If not, why not create one and then measure the top 100 companies against it?

You can make the thesis a work which will have real, practical applications in the Mauritian economy if the work is rigorous, ground-breaking, well produced and coherent.

Good luck.

ChrisB

Just a suggestion if you're going to use search engines in your research...

In addition to keywords to "retention" and "employment," try using terms like "attrition" and "turnover."

It's a small thing, but it might turn up material you'd otherwise miss. Good luck!