How can managers reduce employee intention to quit
TLDR
In this article, the authors investigated the variables that may be predictive of intention to leave a job, and tested a model that includes mediating variables such as emotional support from supervisors and self-esteem.Abstract:
This paper reports on an investigation of the variables that may be predictive of intentions to leave a job, and tests a model that includes mediating variables. A total of 173 retail salespeople completed questionnaires measuring commitment to the organization for which they worked, job satisfaction, stress, supervisor support, locus of control, self‐esteem, the perceived stressors in the job and their intention to quit. Path analysis was used to test the relationships hypothesized in the model. The majority of hypotheses were supported, with the variables included accounting for 52 per cent of the variance in intention to quit. Emotional support from supervisors and self‐esteem mediated the impact of stressors on stress reactions, job satisfaction, commitment to the organization and intention to quit. It is suggested that to ameliorate intention to quit and in turn reduce turnover, managers need to actively monitor workloads, and the relationships between supervisors and subordinates in order to reduce and manage stress. Managers also need to monitor both the extrinsic and intrinsic sources of job satisfaction available to employees. These activities could assist in maintaining and increasing job satisfaction and commitment to the organization.read more
Deakin Research Online
This is the authors’ final peer reviewed (post print) version of the
item published as:
Firth, Lucy, Mellor, David, Moore, Kathleen A and Loquet, Claude 2004,
How can managers reduce employee intention to quit?, Journal of
managerial psychology, vol. 19, no. 2, pp. 170-187.
Available from Deakin Research Online:
http://hdl.handle.net/10536/DRO/DU:30008720
Reproduced with the kind permission of the copyright owner.
Copyright : 2004, Emerald Group Publishing
Howcanmanagersreduceemployeeintentiontoquit?
LucyFirth,DepartmentofInformationSystems,UniversityofMelbourne,Melbourne,
Australia
DavidJ.Mellor,SchoolofPsychology,DeakinUniversity,Melbourne,Australia
KathleenA.Moore,SchoolofPsychology,DeakinUniversity,Melbourne,Australia
ClaudeLoquet,SchoolofPsychology,DeakinUniversity,Melbourne,Australia
Abstract
Thispaperreportsonaninvestigationofthevariablesthatmaybepredictiveofintentions
toleaveajob,andtestsamodelthatincludesmediatingvariables.Atotalof173retail
salespeoplecompletedquestionnairesmeasuringcommitmenttotheorganizationfor
whichtheyworked,jobsatisfaction,stress,supervisorsupport,locusofcontrol,self‐esteem,
theperceivedstressorsinthejobandtheirintentiontoquit.Pathanalysiswasusedtotest
therelationshipshypothesizedinthemodel.Themajorityofhypothesesweresupported,
withthevariablesincludedaccountingfor52percentofthevarianceinintentiontoquit.
Emotionalsupportfromsupervisorsandself‐esteemmediatedtheimpactofstressorson
stressreactions,jobsatisfaction,commitmenttotheorganizationandintentiontoquit.Itis
suggestedthattoameliorateintentiontoquitandinturnreduceturnover,managersneed
toactivelymonitorworkloads,andtherelationshipsbetweensupervisorsandsubordinates
inordertoreduceandmanagestress.Managersalsoneedtomonitorboththeextrinsicand
intrinsicsourcesofjobsatisfactionavailabletoemployees.Theseactivitiescouldassistin
maintainingandincreasingjobsatisfactionandcommitmenttotheorganization.
“Whatdeterminesemployeeturnover?”Theanswertothisquestionhasgreatrelevanceto
theindividualwhomaybethinkingaboutquittingajob,andforthemanagerwhoisfaced
withlackofemployeecontinuity,thehighcostsinvolvedintheinductionandtrainingof
newstaff,and,notleast,issuesoforganizationalproductivity.Whileactualquitting
behaviouristheprimaryfocusofinteresttoemployersandresearchers,intentiontoquitis
arguedtobeastrongsurrogateindicatorforsuchbehaviour.Jobstressorsandlackofjob
satisfactionareamongthefactorsthatcontributetopeople'sintentiontoquittheirjobs
(Moore,2002);however,itisimportantbothfromthemanager'sandtheindividual's
perspectivetounderstandthefactorsthatmediatetherelationshipbetweenjobstressand
intentiontoquit.Thisstudyhadthreeaims:
1. Weaimedtoinvestigatetheeffectofjobstressorsonjobengagement(job
satisfaction,jobcommitmentandfeelingsofjobstress),andtorelateallofthese
variablestointentiontoquit.
2. Weaimedtoinvestigatewhetherpeople'sdispositionalfactors(locusofcontrol,
self‐esteemandperceptionsofsocialsupport)weremediatorsofintentiontoquit.
3. Weaimedtoprovideacomprehensivemodelofintentionstoquitthatcouldbe
extrapolatedtoinformquittingbehaviour.
Intentionsare,accordingtoresearcherssuchasAjzenandFishbein(1980)andIgbariaand
Greenhaus(1992),themostimmediatedeterminantsofactualbehaviour.Theyarealsoof
practicalmeritfromaresearchperspective,asoncepeoplehaveactuallyimplementedthe
behaviourtoquit,thereislittlelikelihoodofgainingaccesstothemtounderstandtheir
priorsituation.Thevalidityofstudyingintentionsintheworkplacecanalsobedrawnfrom
Sager's(1991)longitudinalstudyofsalespeople,inwhichintentiontoquitwasfoundto
discriminateeffectivelybetweenleaversandstayers.However,whileitisreasonableto
arguethatintentionsareanaccurateindicatorofsubsequentbehaviour,westilldonot
knowwhatdeterminessuchintentions.
Numerousresearchers(e.g.Bluedorn,1982;KalliathandBeck,2001;Krameretal.,1995;
Petersetal.,1981;Saks,1996)haveattemptedtoanswerthequestionofwhatdetermines
people'sintentiontoquitbyinvestigatingpossibleantecedentsofemployees’intentionsto
quit.Todate,therehasbeenlittleconsistencyinfindings,whichispartlyduetothe
diversityofconstructsincludedbytheresearchersandthelackofconsistencyintheir
measurementsbutalsorelatestotheheterogeneityofpopulationssampled.Further,some
authorshavereportedvalidityco‐efficients(readfactorloadings)forthevariablesunder
investigationbut,whilestatisticallysignificant,theseareoftenoflittlepracticalutility.Such
authorshavealsofailedtoreporttheamountofvarianceinintentiontoquitexplainedby
thefactorsintheirmodels.
Despitetheselimitations,amongthevariablesconsistentlyfoundtorelatetointentionto
quitare:
theexperienceofjob‐relatedstress(jobstress);
therangeoffactorsthatleadtojob‐relatedstress(stressors);
lackofcommitmenttotheorganization;and
jobdissatisfaction(e.g.GreenhausandBeutell,1985;IgbariaandGreenhaus,1992;
Kahnetal.,1964;Leongetal.,1996;Lumetal.,1998;Petersetal.,1981;Rahimand
Psenicka,1996).
Thesevariablescanbemediatedbypersonalordispositionalfactorsandbyenvironmental
ororganizationalfactors.Amongthepersonalfactorsthatmediatebetweenstressorsand
intentiontoquitareaspectsofpersonalagency,self‐esteemandsocialsupport(e.g.Avison
andGotlib,1994;Coyneetal.,1990;CoyneandDowney,1991;TurnerandRoszell,1994).
Personalagencyreferstoconceptssuchasasenseofpowerlessness,locusofcontroland
personalcontrol.Researchfindingsstronglysuggestthatagreatersenseofpersonalagency
isassociatedwithareducedriskofnegativeoutcomesfollowingmajornegativelifeevents
androle‐relatedstress(seeTurnerandRoszell,1994).Oneofthepersonalagencyvariables,
locusofcontrol,whichreferstotheextenttowhichpeoplebelievetheyorexternalfactors
suchaschanceandpowerfulothersareincontroloftheeventsthatinfluencetheirlives
(Levenson,1974;Rotter,1966),hasbeenstudiedinrelationtotheworkplace.Rahimand
Psenicka(1996)foundthataninternallocusofcontrolmediatedtherelationshipbetween
jobstressorsandtheintentiontoleaveajob.Morespecifically,internallocusofcontrolwas
foundtobepositivelyrelatedtojobsatisfaction(Sujan,1986)andtobeingemployed
(WatersandMoore,2002),whileanexternalorientationwasfoundtobenegativelyrelated
tojobsatisfaction(BehrmanandPerreault,1984)andwashigheramongunemployed
versusemployedpeople(WatersandMoore,2001).
Self‐esteemreferstotheevaluationthatindividualsmakeandcustomarilymaintainwith
regardtothemselves.ReviewsbyKaplan(1975,1980)andsubsequentstudiesbyother
researchers(e.g.Silverstone,1991;WatersandMoore,2002)haveconsistentlyshownthat
lowself‐esteemisrelatedtopsychologicalproblems,unemploymentandmaladaptive
behaviours.Anumberofotherstudieshaveprovidedsupportforthecontentionthathigh
self‐esteemiscorrelatedwithjobsatisfaction(e.g.GreenhausandBadin,1974;Inkson,
1978;Kohli,1985;Teas,1981,1982).InastudybyMoore(2002),arelatedconstruct,self‐
efficacy(assessedspecificallyamongnursesinrelationtotheirprofessionalabilities),was
associatedwithreducedintentiontoquit(β=−0.23).
Socialsupporthasbeenshowntoplayanimportantroleinmitigatingintentiontoquit,
althoughnotallfindingshavebeeninagreement.Forexample,Moore(2002)foundthat
socialsupportfromsupervisorsreducedthelevelofnurses’burnoutandindirectly,through
reducedlevelsofburnout,reducednurses’intentiontoquit.Asimilarresultwasreported
byKalliathandBeck(2001)whentheytestedtheimpactofsocialsupportontwo
componentsofburnout,namelydepersonalizationandemotionalexhaustion,andfound
thatsupervisorysupportreducednotonlythosesymptomsofburnoutbutalsodirectlyand
indirectlynurses’intentiontoquit.Ontheotherhand,Munn etal.(1996),inastudyof
Americanchildlifespecialists,foundlackofsupervisorsupportwasthebestpredictorofjob
dissatisfactionandintentiontoleaveajob,whileHattonandEmerson(1998)foundthat
actualstaffturnoverwaspredictedinpartbylowlevelsofsupportfromsuperiors.
However,otherstudies(e.g.RahimandPsenicka,1996)havefailedtofindamoderating
effectforsocialsupportintherelationshipbetweenjobstressorsandintentiontoquit.
Otherresearchers(e.g.Coghlan,1984;KellyandCross,1985)havefoundthatratherthan
supervisors’support,itisthesupportgainedfromtalkingwithpeers,familyandfriendsthat
isfrequentlycitedasasourceofstressreduction.Consistentwiththesefindings,Freddolino
andHeaney(1992)foundthatpeersocialsupportwasassociatedwithhigherjob
satisfactionamongdirectcarestaffandhomemanagersforintellectuallydisabledclients,
whileintentiontoquitwasassociatedwiththepresenceofsocialunderminingbyco‐
workersandprovideragencies.However,thebulkofevidencesuggeststhatitissituation‐
specificsupport,thatis,work‐supervisor/home‐family(e.g.TinkerandMoore,2001),
thatis
mosteffective.Accordingly,inthisstudyweexaminedtheroleofsupervisors’supportin
employees’intentiontoquit.
Othervariablesimportantinthecontinuityofemploymentareemployees’jobsatisfaction
andtheircommitmenttotheorganization.Therelationshipsbetweenthesevariablesand
intentiontoquithavebeenfoundto
prevailacrossarangeofoccupations.Forinstance,
Wunderetal.(1982)foundthatjobstressorshadadirect,negativeeffectonjobsatisfaction
amongmanagersofalargeinternationalmanufacturer,whichledtoareducedcommitment
totheorganizationandtointentiontoquitandactualquittingbehaviour.However,several
otherstudies(e.g.Armstrong‐Stassenetal.,1994;IgbariaandGreenhaus,1992;Koeskeand
Koeske,1993;TinkerandMoore,2001)havefoundnodirecteffectofstressorsonintention
toquit,butratherindirecteffectsthroughtheexperienceofjobstress,socialsupport,job
satisfactionandlackofcommitmenttotheorganization.Forexample,Igbariaand
Greenhaus(1992)reportedthatamongmanagementinformationsystemspersonnel,the
mostimmediatedeterminantsofturnoverintentionswerelackofjobsatisfactionandlack
ofcommitmenttotheorganization.Itisimportant,therefore,toevaluateboththedirect
andindirecteffectsofjobstressorsonintentiontoquit.
Thisstudyassessedtheimpactofjobstressorsonintentiontoquitusingthedispositional
factors:locusofcontrol,self‐esteem,andperceptionsofsupervisorsupport;andmediating
variablesthatarerelatedtojobengagement:commitmenttotheorganization,job
satisfaction,andfeelingsofstress.ThehypothesizedmodelispresentedinFigure1.
Method
Participants
Atotalof173salespeoplewererecruitedfromtheclothingsectionsofalargedepartment
storeinAustralia.Thesampleconsistedof164femalesandninemales,withameanageof
35.95years(SD=12.66,R=18‐61).Educationlevelsvariedfromcompletingsometimeathigh
schooltocompletingadegree.Intermsofyearsofservice,11participantshadworkedat
thestoreforlessthanoneyear,33foronetothreeyears,60forfourtosixyears,27for
seventotenyears,and42formorethantenyears.
Measures
AquestionnaireadaptedfromthecomprehensiveworkplacescaledevelopedbyTateetal.
(1997)fortheirtri‐nationstudywasusedinthisstudy(seetheAppendix).Tateand
colleaguesreportedadequateinternalreliabilityforeachfactorofthescale(α=0.61to
0.91).Thefactorsassessedwerestressors,jobstress,jobsatisfaction,commitmenttothe
organization,locusofcontrol,self‐esteem,supportofferedbysupervisorsandintentionto
quit.Eachofthefactorsisexplainedbelow.
Stressorsmeasuredfouraspectsofstress.Threeitemsmeasuredeachofthefollowing
stressors:
roleambiguity(e.g.myjobresponsibilitiesarenotcleartome);
roleconflict(e.g.tosatisfysomepeopleatmyjob,Ihavetoupsetothers);
work‐overload(e.g.itseemstomethatIhavemoreworkatmyjobthanIcan
handle);and
work‐familyconflict(e.g.myworkmakesmetootiredtoenjoyfamilylife).
Itemswereansweredonafive‐pointLikertscale,fromagreetodisagree.
Jobstresswasmeasuredwiththreeburnoutitems(e.g.Ifeelemotionally‐drainedbymy
job)andfiveitemsrelatedtoanxietyandsomatic
complaints(e.g.job‐relatedproblems
keepmeawakeatnight;Ifeeltenseatmyjob).Participantsindicatedonasix‐pointscale
thedegreetowhichtheyexperiencedeachofthesesymptoms.
Jobsatisfactionwasmeasuredusingafive‐pointLikertscaletoassessparticipants
agreementwithfourstatementsrelatingtoextrinsicfactors(e.g.jobsecurity,physical
conditions),andfourstatementsrelatingtointrinsicfactors(e.g.therecognitionreceived
forworkdone,thefreedomgiventodoone'sbestatthejob).
Commitmenttotheorganizationwasassessedviafiveitemsratedonafive‐pointscale(e.g.
Ireallycareaboutthefateofthisstore).
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