And the 10 percent raises for all employees helped retention by "sending a signal the market that Google continues to be the place of choice," Mr. Pichette said.
Nottingham Trent believes the tool will help retention, he says, "but equally importantly we want to help build a better sense of belonging between students and their tutors and also improve students' engagement with their course".
One of the first institutions to use data to help retention was Purdue University in Indiana, which four years ago introduced a traffic light set of signals every time students logged into the course website.
"The data raises questions like 'Is it too difficult,' and 'do we need to A/B test alternatives.'" Responses like modifying enemy placement or the level design itself could help retention.
"We had discussions that we hoped this would help retention of students and in our recruitment efforts.
It is therefore unlikely that financial reward influenced recruitment, however it might have helped retention.
There was some evidence to suggest that the use of initiatives to improve motivation had been effective in helping retention.
Other studies in experienced trial sites (USA, Caribbean, Southern Africa and in Latin America) have already shown how financial compensations and retention measures help with retention of marginalized populations.
"Volunteerism can be great for a company's brand, and there is plenty of research that suggests it helps with retention and recruitment," Ms. Ellis says.
