ABSTRACT

The study aimed to ascertain the extent to which gender differences impact staff turnover in SMEs in Enugu Urban, compare the factors responsible for staff turnover, compare the staff welfare packages, and ascertain whether the rate of staff turnover affects the performance in male and female-headed SMEs in Enugu Urban. The questionnaire was used to elicit information from 292 stratified randomly selected out of 1,080 respondents. The average mean score (AMS) technique was adopted to test four hypotheses. The findings indicate that there were significant differences in staff turnover, in male (90.5%) and female (9.5%) SMEs, factors responsible for staff turnover, and welfare package in male and female-headed SMEs. Also, the rate of staff turnover had a significant effect on the performance of male and female-headed SMEs in Enugu. The study recommended that male and female-headed SMEs should be conscious of staff turnover and provide improved staff welfare packages to minimize it.