Background: Academic performance in the private secondary schools of Nigeria has been declining where low academic performance has been attributed to low teachers’ retention. According to the International Labour Organization (ILO), work-life balance regulations are lagging worldwide, particularly in middle-class and lower-income nations. However, Nigeria is not exempt from the recommended work-life balance practices or the requirement of adequate policies. Despite that, Employees at the secondary level are frequently subjected to workload conflicts and contradictory responsibilities that lead to intent to leave their profession. Purpose: The purpose of this study is to find out about the various monetary and non-monetary factors that affect employee retention in the education sector of Nigeria. The study will, therefore, study the empirical evidence to fulfil this objective. Design/methodology/approach: a quantitative Data Collection approach is followed since numerical information is gathered through the responses of the survey using a Likert scale. The study gathered primary data from 201 teachers with a maximum of 8 years of experience from the Jigawa region in Nigeria, using a survey questionnaire. Findings: The result of the research work identifies that monetary rewards are more effective for private school teachers to influence their retention compared to the non-monetary reward. Recommendations: Employers should be more innovative about job perks to motivate employees to stay. Employers should consider more than salary packages and bonuses since other factors like work environment and satisfaction also play a great part. A transparent and open feedback channel is always helpful Limitations and future research: The outcome identifies less impact or influence of non-monetary rewards like increasing job security or flexible scheduling. However, the outcome is not effective to provide ideas about other kinds of monetary factors like incentives or commissions.