KIJHUS Volume. 2, Issue 2 (2021)

This study examined the employees’ retention and compensation packages of Research Institutions in Oyo State, Nigeria. The two selected Research Institutions selected were National Centre for Genetic Resources and Biotechnology (NACGRAB) and Forestry Research Institute of Nigeria (FRIN). A multistage sampling technique was used to select 109 respondents in NACGRAB and 126 respondents in FRIN for the study. Primary data were obtained on respondents' characteristics, level of employees’ retention and accessibility of compensation packages through the use of a structured questionnaire. Descriptive statistics, One-Way Analysis of Variance and Linear Regression were used for data analysis. The results showed that employees entitlement to sick leave/maternity leave/casual leave ( = 2.48), provision of incentives before jobs are performed (  = 1.85) and provision of retirement plans/pension made available for staff by the organisation for quality service years (  = 1.78) were the major incentives and compensations accessible to the respondents. Employees’ were happy with their job (  = 3.13) and that their job is meaningful / satisfying (  = 3.08). There was a significant difference between employees’ retention across the selected research Institutions (F=4.418; p<0.05). There was a significant effect of compensation packages (β = 6.59; p<0.05) on employees’ retention. It was recommended that the research institutions should revise, update and adopt comprehensive compensation package scales in order to motivate, retain and improve the productivity of the research environment vis-à-vis employees’ retention enhancement.