Why Companies Experience High Employee Turnover and How Background Checks in Kenya Can Help Fix It 

By Diana Kwamboka – Background-Checks Quality Specialist at Peleza 

You hire and train new staff, only to see them hand in their resignation a few months later. High employee turnover is frustrating and expensive. Its the wish of every hiring manager to get the right people and retain for as lon gas they can. As someone who’s spent years helping companies in Kenya and beyond hire better at Peleza, fixing high employee turnover problem starts long before the resignation letter. I can confidently say it begins with informed hiring and onboarding.

As I write this article, I hope you find it valuuable as we look into key reasons why employees quit, the high costs of high turnover, and how background checks in Kenya can help you hire right the first time and keep your best people. Let’s begin. 

Table of Contents 

• Key reasons for high turnover in Kenya 

• The steep business costs of high turnover 

• How poor hiring and onboarding fuel churn 

• Why background checks in Kenya are critical for retention 

• Onboarding best practices to boost retention 

• How Peleza supports informed hiring and onboarding 

• Conclusion 

Key Reasons for High Turnover in Kenya 

Every employee has their own reason for moving on, but some common issues come up across workplaces. Understanding them is the first step in addressing high employee turnover: 

• Stalled career growth: Ambitious employees look for opportunities to advance. If they feel stuck or lack training and promotion prospects, they will look elsewhere. When your people don’t see a future with your company, they will exit. 

• Inadequate compensation: Compensation isn’t everything, but its a huge determinant, over 65% of our background check reports mention that the reason for leaving is to seek better offers. With the rising cost of living, employees will jump ship for better pay and benefits. Ensuring your salaries and benefits are competitive for the market is definitely needed for retention. 

• Poor management and culture: Deep down, people often leave managers, not companies. A micromanaging or unsupportive boss, or a toxic workplace culture, will send good employees away. Lack of recognition, communication breakdowns, or misaligned values can all erode loyalty. 

• Burnout and work-life imbalance: Late nights and constant stress also take a big part in employee turnover. Employees who are overworked or can’t achieve work-life balance eventually burn out. Without wellness initiatives or flexibility, turnover rises. 

These factors are often intertwined. For example, a poor manager may cause burnout, or low pay might feel worse in a job with no growth. The bottom line is that employees want growth, respect, fair rewards, and balance. If they don’t get these, better offers are only a LinkedIn click away; they are even recommended in their feeds. 

The Steep Business Costs of High Turnover 

When an employee leaves, the impact is a dent in the company’s productivity and profits. High turnover carries steep business costs that many leaders underestimate: 

• Recruitment and training expenses: Replacing an employee requires advertising the role, interviewing candidates, onboarding the new hire, and training them. All that takes time and money. The Society for Human Resource Management (SHRM) estimates it costs on average 6 to 9 months of an employee’s salary to replace them. For a Ksh 1,000,000/year employee (~$8,000/year), that’s potentially 500,000+ Ksh lost per replacement. Multiply that by multiple exits, and the costs skyrocket. 

• Lost productivity and knowledge: Every time someone walks out the door, they take their know-how with them. Projects get delayed while you seek a replacement. The remaining team often must pick up extra work, stretching them thin and hurting morale. 

• Impact on team morale and brand reputation: Frequent turnover can shake the confidence of those who stay. If “everyone is leaving,” your remaining employees may start to wonder if they should be looking too. It’s hard to build a winning team spirit when faces keep changing. Externally, high turnover can also signal to potential hires (and even clients) that something is amiss in the company. An organization known for churn may struggle to attract top talent, creating a vicious cycle. 

• Customer and intellectual capital loss: In client-facing businesses common in Kenya’s service sector, losing a seasoned employee can mean risking client relationships. A salesperson or account manager often has bonds with customers; their departure can open the door for competitors to lure those customers away. Likewise, an engineer or specialist leaving might set back innovation as their expertise walks out with them. The loss of these human assets can’t always be quantified, but it certainly hits your competitive edge. 

In short, high turnover silently drains resources. You’re constantly funneling money into recruitment, training, and overtime for remaining staff, instead of investing in growth. Retention is as important as recruitment, keeping a stable, experienced team is ultimately far more cost-effective than cycling through new hires. 

How poor hiring and onboarding contribute to high employee turnover 

Many turnover problems actually begin before an employee even starts work. Poor hiring practices and weak onboarding can sow the seeds of early departures (also known as “quick quits” or probationary turnover). Here’s how missteps in these early stages fuel churn: 

• Hiring the wrong fit: If a candidate is hired without proper vetting or simply to “fill a role quickly,” you risk bringing in someone who isn’t truly qualified or aligned with the role and company culture. A mismatched hire often leads to disappointment on both sides; the employee struggles or feels out of place and soon leaves (or must be let go). Often, these bad hires are preventable with more thorough screening. 

• Insufficient onboarding: First impressions matter. Onboarding is the process of integrating a new hire into the company, if you rush through it (or skip it entirely beyond basic HR paperwork), new employees feel lost, unsupported, and disengaged and a significant number decide to bow out early.

• Unclear expectations and role confusion: When hiring processes are rushed or superficial, new employees may enter the job with misconceptions about what it actually entails. If the reality doesn’t match what they were sold in the interview, disillusionment sets in quickly. Similarly, without a structured onboarding, employees might not fully understand their responsibilities or how to succeed in the company. This confusion can lead to early mistakes, frustration, and thoughts of “Maybe this job isn’t for me after all.” It’s no surprise that many employees who quit within 6 months cite a lack of clarity and fit as major reasons. Early turnover is often a hiring accuracy problem: the right person wasn’t matched to the right role, or they weren’t set up for success from day one. 

The good news is that these causes of churn are fixable. With better up-front processes, companies can significantly reduce quick quits. Organizations that implement a strong, structured onboarding program see much higher retention, new hires are 82% more likely to stay at least three years when they have great onboarding. The lesson: hiring and onboarding are your first opportunities to build loyalty. A little extra effort in those first few weeks can pay off with employees who stick around for the long haul. 

Why Background Checks in Kenya Are Critical for Retention 

So, how do we improve hiring and make sure we bring in the right people who will stay? One critical tool is conducting thorough background checks as part of your recruitment process. Background checks are all about hiring with confidence and, of course, catching any red flags. Here’s why deeper screening is so important for keeping turnover low: 

• Ensuring candidates are qualified and honest: CV embellishment or even outright credential fraud happens. Without verification, you might hire someone who looked great on paper but doesn’t actually have the skills or degrees they claimed. That employee is more likely to underperform or quit (or be terminated) when the truth comes out. By doing due diligence, verifying education certificates, past employment, and professional licenses, you ensure each new hire can truly do what they were hired to do. Employees who meet the job requirements from the outset are far more likely to succeed and stay on board.

• Finding culture fit and integrity issues: A background check can include reference checks and character checks. This can reveal patterns or behaviors that might not suit your company culture. For example, if a reference flags that a candidate didn’t work well in teams, and your workplace is highly collaborative, that’s a sign of potential mismatch. Better to know before you hire. Screening can also uncover any serious integrity issues, such as criminal history relevant to the role, which, aside from safety concerns, could later lead to problematic behavior or quick dismissal. Hiring people you can trust and who align with your values create a more stable, cohesive team. Your current employees feel safer and more confident in their coworkers when rigorous checks are standard, which boosts overall morale and retention. 

• Reducing costly “bad hires”: Without background checks, you may rely on presented personality, documentation and gut feeling and what a candidate chooses to share. This can result in costly mistakes. These bad hires quit or are let go within months, contributing directly to high turnover. Conducting better background checks is one of the top ways to avoid these hiring mistakes. By filtering out unsuitable candidates early, you increase your chances of selecting employees who will flourish in the role and remain productive long-term. 
• Data-driven hiring improves retention: Think of background screening as a way to gather data for a major investment decision. The more information you have about a candidate’s history, the more informed your decision. This leads to what one HR tech company called “hiring accuracy”. And when you hire accurately, you don’t need to replace that hire in 3 or 6 months. Background checks ultimately help you hire right, and the right hires stick. 

6 Onboarding Best Practices to Boost Retention 

Hiring great people is only half the battle, you also need to integrate them smoothly so they feel valued and effective. As we saw, poor onboarding can drive new hires away. So, what does good onboarding look like? Below are onboarding best practices I recommend to boost retention (many of which we emphasize with our clients at Peleza): 

• Start onboarding before Day One: Don’t wait until a new hire’s first morning to begin the process. Send a welcome email with useful info (office location, start time, dress code, schedule for first day) as soon as they sign the offer. Perhaps assign them a “buddy” or mentor in advance. This pre-boarding step builds excitement and reduces first-day jitters. 

• Set clear expectations and goals: From the get-go, clarify what success in the role looks like. Go over the job responsibilities in detail, introduce key performance indicators (KPIs), and outline any 30-60-90 day goals. When employees know what’s expected, they ramp up faster and feel a sense of purpose. Lack of clarity is a common early complaint, so eliminate the guesswork. 

• Immerse them in company culture: Help new hires feel part of the team and understand your mission. Simple ways to do this include team introductions (in-person or virtual), a tour of the office or facility, and sharing your company’s story and core values. Encourage colleagues to take the new person to lunch. Feeling socially connected and aligned with the culture from the start increases an employee’s commitment to stay. 

• Provide training and resources: No matter how experienced a hire is, every company has unique processes and tools. Ensure you have a structured training plan for the first few weeks. This might involve software tutorials, shadowing experienced staff, or formal training sessions. Also, equip them with the right resources, from an employee handbook to access to systems and maybe a FAQ list for common newbie questions. Competence breeds confidence; a well-trained employee is more likely to feel “I can do this” and remain engaged. 

• Give regular feedback and check-ins: The first several months are critical. Schedule frequent check-ins (e.g. weekly one-on-ones) to see how the new hire is adapting. Encourage them to ask questions and voice concerns. Provide constructive feedback and positive reinforcement for early wins. Don’t wait until a formal 3-month review to discover a problem; open dialogue from day one prevents small issues from festering into resignation letters. 

• Extend onboarding beyond week one: Onboarding isn’t just a one-week orientation. The most successful companies consider an employee “new” for at least the first 3 to 6 months, with ongoing support throughout that period. For example, have a 30-day and 90-day review specifically to talk about their experience so far. Continuously integrate them into more projects, and keep that buddy/mentor assigned for a while. When onboarding is treated as a journey rather than a checkbox, employees feel consistently supported and are far more likely to stick around for year two and beyond.

By following these best practices, you create an environment where new team members want to stay and succeed. Remember, retention starts on day one (if not earlier). A well-onboarded employee is not only less likely to quit, but often more productive and loyal in the long run. It’s about setting them up for long-term success at your company. And given that strong onboarding can improve new hire retention by over 80% (1), it’s clear that investing time in this process pays for itself many times over. 

How Peleza Supports Informed Hiring and Onboarding 

At Peleza, our mission is to help businesses in Kenya hire the right people and build teams that last. As a Background-Checks Quality Specialist, I’ve seen firsthand how a detailed screening and onboarding strategy can transform a company’s retention rates. Here’s how Peleza supports you in making smarter hiring and onboarding decisions: 

• Comprehensive background screening solutions: Peleza is the top East Africa’s pioneering background screening company, and we offer a wide scope of employee checks. This includes identity verification, criminal record checks, education and certificate verification, past employment and reference checks, credit history (for finance roles), and more (Peleza Services). Our process is thorough, we gather first-hand information from primary data sources to ensure 100% accuracy in every check. By partnering with us, you dramatically reduce the risk of hiring someone with misrepresented credentials or hidden issues. We help you verify trustworthiness before day one. A great team truly starts with great (and truthful) hiring. 

• Tailored screening for your needs: We understand that every business is different. A banking institution might worry more about qualifications and criminal checks, while a manufacturing firm might prioritize employment history. Peleza provides tailored screening solutions where you can choose from our wide range of checks to fit your industry, role seniority, and specific concerns. This customization means you’re not wasting time or money on irrelevant checks, and you’re covering all the must-have areas for your context. You hire with confidence, knowing each new employee meets your standards and is a good fit for your company. 

• Fast turnaround and seamless process: We know the hiring process in Kenya can move fast, and you don’t want background checks to become a bottleneck. Thanks to technology integration, Peleza delivers the fastest turnaround times in background checks in Kenya. This speed enables you to onboard new hires promptly, keeping the candidate experience positive. There’s nothing worse than losing a great candidate to another offer because your background check process was too slow, with Peleza, that’s one less worry. 

• Expert guidance and support: Background screening can be complex, especially with evolving laws (like Kenya’s Data Protection Act) and cross-border checks. Our team at Peleza prides itself on customer-centric service. We don’t just hand you a report; we help you understand the results and even advise on best practices. For example, if a check reveals a minor discrepancy, we guide you on how to follow up or get clarification from the candidate. We also ensure all checks are compliant with Kenyan regulations, including obtaining candidate consent and data privacy compliance so you stay on the right side of the law.
• Ongoing employee verification (post-hire): Hiring doesn’t stop at the contract signing, and neither do we. Some of our clients opt for periodic checks or updates on employees in sensitive roles (e.g., repeat criminal checks annually). Peleza can support these ongoing employee screening needs to further reduce long-term risk. This proactive approach can catch potential issues early and address a subtle contributor to turnover: undisclosed problems that later jeopardize an employee’s position. By staying proactive, you either resolve issues or at least make informed staffing decisions well before they lead to a turnover shock. 

Peleza empowers you to hire and onboard with peace of mind. When you know each new team member has been vetted and is who they claim to be, you can focus on setting them up for success in your company culture. Our clients have seen the difference: fewer surprises, better hires, and ultimately lower turnover. We’re proud to be a trusted partner for Kenyan businesses looking to build honest, high-performing teams. 

Whats our conclusion? 

Employee turnover is not a fun topic; it can hurt watching good people leave. But as we’ve explored, high turnover is not inevitable. By understanding why employees leave, investing in better hiring through tools like background checks, and doubling down on effective onboarding and retention practices, your company can break the cycle. The payoff is huge: a stable team means higher productivity, stronger morale, and cost savings that go straight to your financial performance. 

In Kenya’s vibrant economy, businesses that prioritize employee retention will have a competitive edge. It’s about building a workplace where people want to stay, where they feel valued, see growth opportunities, and trust their colleagues and leaders. From ensuring you hire the right talent (no shortcuts on background screening) to nurturing them from their first day onward, each step reduces your turnover risk. 

Remember, you don’t have to tackle this alone. As an expert at Peleza, I’ve seen how a bit of extra care in hiring and onboarding transforms workplaces. Book a call with Peleza today and see how better background checks in Kenya can help reduce your turnover risk. Whether you’re struggling with frequent exits or just want to strengthen your hiring process, we’re here to help you build a loyal, long-term team. Your employees are your greatest asset; invest in them wisely, and they’ll invest their careers in your company.  

Here’s to building a workforce that grows with you.