Doctoral Degrees (Industrial Psychology)

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Browsing Doctoral Degrees (Industrial Psychology) by browse.metadata.advisor "Engelbrecht, Amos Schreuder"

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    Human capital retention: Developing and validating a structural model of selected antecedents of intention to quit
    (Stellenbosch : Stellenbosch University, 2017-12) Samuel, Olorunjuwon Michael; Engelbrecht, Amos Schreuder; Stellenbosch University. Faculty of Economic and Management Sciences. Dept. of Industrial Psychology.
    ENGLISH SUMMARY : Contemporary organisations are more interested in understanding employees’ cognitive intention to quit the organisation rather than dealing with the costly and disruptive consequences of actual turnover. This understanding will, to a large extent, assist organisational managers in developing strategies that are capable of effectively reducing the rate of employee turnover to a manageable proportion. In order to achieve a meaningful understanding of employees’ cognitive intention to quit, it is imperative for organisational managers to develop a knowledge of the complex relationship that exists between antecedents of intention to quit and an individual employee’s turnover intention. Based on extant literature, this study investigated the relationship between employees’ turnover intention and selected psychological constructs, i.e. transformational leadership, psychological empowerment, perceived organisational support (POS), organisational justice, organisational trust, psychological contract violation and affective organisational commitment. In order to establish these relationships, an empirical study was conducted among various levels of employees in selected public, private and parastatal organisations located in the Western Cape, Eastern Cape and Gauteng provinces of South Africa. A theoretical model depicting the relationships among the investigated constructs was developed and a number of hypotheses were formulated based on the theoretical model of the study. The study employed a survey research design using a quantitative research strategy. Data were collected from a non-probability and conveniently sampled 232 employees across the organisations that were surveyed. A standardised measurement instrument consisting of all the variables under investigation was used and administered personally and online. The postulated relationships were empirically tested using various statistical methods. Reliability analyses were conducted on all the measurement scales and adequate reliability was established. The content and structure of the measured constructs were investigated by means of exploratory factor analysis. A Partial Least Square (PLS) based Structural Equation Modelling was used to test the relationships between the constructs. On the basis of the multiple regression results, the two most important predictors of intention to quit are organisational justice and psychological contract violation. Organisations that want to minimise employee turnover should therefore start with practical interventions promoting organisational justice and decreasing psychological contract violation. While the results of this study have mostly confirmed findings of previous studies, it also established some new and interesting directions in the relationships between certain constructs (e.g., trust and perceived organisational support) and intention to quit. The structural model indicates both less complex and more complex paths consisting of the following possible sequences to predict employee turnover: Transformational leadership through organisational justice, through POS, through affective organisational commitment to impact intention to quit; Transformational leadership through organisational justice, through trust, through psychological contract violation to impact intention to quit; and transformational leadership through psychological empowerment through trust, through psychological contract violation to impact intention to quit. The findings of the present study represent an incremental and meaningful contribution to existing literature on employee retention and intention to quit by providing insights into the nature of the relationships amongst these constructs. The study also provides practical implications that could assist management in adopting strategies that enhances retention of its workforce. The limitations and recommendations of the study provide a useful guide for future research consideration.