Re-establishing the psychological contract as a precursor to employee retention

The violation and breach of a psychological contract and trust often results in a decline in employees' willingness to contribute and intentions to stay in an organization. Hence, this paper aims to understand the psychological contract and trust and their role in employee retention. It focuses on employee and organizational expectations and the importance employees attach to these and assesses issues of trust, job satisfaction and intentions to leave. Data was collected using an established questionnaire whose psychometric properties of validity and reliability were assessed using Factor Analysis and Cronbach's Coefficient Alpha respectively. Data was analyzed using descriptive and inferential statistics. The findings reflect that mutual trust and, meeting expectations and having their expectations met by the organization are important to employees. Based on the results of the issues of the psychological contract and trust, recommendations are tabulated, which when implemented, have the potential for enhancing employee retention and reducing intentions to leave the organization.