Leadership is the most important aspect of the management. It is the trust and faith leaders should have in the staff to build the air of harmony and peace for smooth state corporation operations. In Kisii County, there is low productivity and employee performance in most of the state corporations. Further, a large number of managers operate in the organizations without keen interest on their actions on retention of staff in the state corporations. The purpose of this study has been to determine the influence of leadership styles on retention of staff in state corporations in Kisii County, Kenya. The specific objectives of the study are: to find out the leadership styles used in state corporations, to determine the level of staff retention in state corporations and to establish the influence of leadership styles on staff retention in state corporations in Kisii County. This study seeks to employ a conceptual framework in which the independent variable is the leadership styles used in state corporations whereas retention of staff in state corporations becomes the dependent variable. The study adopts a descriptive survey design. The target population consists of seven state corporations in Kisii County; seven (7) managers/ principals, seven (7) HODs and 726 employees in the state corporations. The study employs purposive sampling and simple random sampling techniques to select the sample. Purposive sampling is also used to sample key informants like the managers/principals and HODs of the institutions. Simple random sampling is used to select the employees in the state corporations. Sample size for the employees can be determined in accordance with Morgan matrix. Questionnaires and interview schedules is used to collect data from respondents. The reliability and validity of the outcome of this study can be ensured. In this study both qualitative and quantitative data has analyzed. The data is organized, presented, analyzed and interpreted using descriptive statistical techniques. The findings may assist policy makers to come up with strategies of sensitizing other stakeholders and managers on successful management. The study findings enable managers and their HODs to improve on their leadership styles to retain the staff.

1st JOOUST Scientific Conference