The effectiveness and impact on organisations in requiring employees to work during their noice period

Abstract

Research Objective: The study looked at the benefits and impact of requiring employees to serve notice period once they have resigned. Motivation of the Study: An employee deciding to leave an organisation can cause work interruptions and a corresponding loss of productivity. The main aim was to look at whether it is beneficial for employers to expect employees to serve notice and assess the risks and benefits thereof. Method: This study collected and analyzed data retrieved from semi-structured interviews conducted with eight participants. These participants were sampled from two State owned companies, within the defence equipment acquisition and manufacturing environment. Results: The results in the study highlighted best practices in optimizing performance. The focus was mostly on skills and knowledge transfer, retaining of important information, risk of wastage, loss of information as well as productivity of notice serving employees. Conclusion: The common practice in most organisations is for employees to serve a notice period after a termination of a work contract. Monitoring notice periods and processes involved in serving notice is important and should be well managed. This will assist in minimizing the risk of losing skills and knowledge when an employee resigns. The protection of company assets in the form of intellectual property and confidential information related to the organisation’s practices should be an area of concern when an employee is leaving the company.