The Purpose of This Study Is to (1)

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The Purpose of This Study Is to (1)

Human Resource Practices, Job Embeddedness, and Voluntary Turnover

ERICH BERGIEL University of West Georgia [email protected]

VINH Q. NGUYEN Mississippi State University [email protected]

G. STEPHEN TAYLOR Mississippi State University [email protected]

BETH CLENNEY University of West Georgia [email protected]

ABSTRACT Human resource practices are thought to play an important role in affecting employee turnover but this relationship is mediated by several variables. Moreover, empirical evidence consistently shows that attitudes about these practices explain only a very small amount of variance in outcomes such as intent to quit and actual turnover. The study presented here used job embeddedness, a new construct, to investigate its mediation effect on the relationship between employees’ intentions to leave and four areas of human resource practices: compensation, supervisor support, growth opportunity, and training. The findings showed that human resource practices, overall, were mediated by job embeddedness in relation to voluntary turnover. Specifically, job embeddedness fully mediated compensation, partially mediated supervisor support, marginally mediated growth opportunity, and did not mediate training in the relation to voluntary turnover. Theoretical and practical implications of the finding and direction for future research are discussed. INTRODUCTION The effective management of employee turnover long has been a crucial issue for organizations. Not only are the economic costs of turnover very high, but unmanaged departure of employees disrupts social and communication structures as well as decreases cohesion and commitment among those who stay (Mobley, 1982; Staw, 1980). Thus, it is hardly surprising that employee retention continues to be of great interest both to practicing managers and organizational researchers. The current thinking is that people stay if they are satisfied with their jobs and committed to their organizations, and leave if they are not. However, work and job-related attitudes play only a relatively small role in employee retention and leaving (Hom & Griffeth, 1995; Griffeth, Hom, & Gaertner, 2000). Consequently, factors other than job satisfaction and organizational commitment are important for understanding turnover (Maertz & Campion, 1998). A relatively new approach to this issue has been offered by Mitchell and colleagues (2001). These researchers argue that job embeddedness is a direct antecedent both of intent to quit and voluntary turnover. The study reported here expands on their work by testing whether embeddness is a mediator of the relationship between certain job-related attitudes and employees’ intention to quit.

RESEARCH, BACKGROUND, AND HYPOTHESES Efforts to elucidate the causes of voluntary turnover of employees have focused on individual-level factors, such as personal preferences, and organizational-level factors, such as human resource practices (Deutsch, Langton, and Aldrich, 2000). Individual- level explanations stress the differences among people, often by examining the process by which jobholders consider other employment possibilities (Lee & Mitchell, 1994; Deutsch et al., 2000). Individual-level studies traditionally link employees’ interest in changing jobs to their level of job satisfaction (e.g., Mobley, Griffeth, Hand & Meglino, 1979). However, empirical studies show that attitudinal constructs such as job satisfaction account for less than five percent of the total variance in turnover (Hom & Griffith, 1995; Griffeth et al., 2000). Other frequently studied individual-level factors include organizational commitment (Pierce and Dunham, 1987), job involvement (Blau, 1986), and job performance (Williams & Livingstone, 1990).

The present study, while concentrating on individual-level factors, adds to our knowledge of turnover by examining the relative impact of job embeddedness on employees’ desire to work elsewhere. Job embeddedness, a new construct developed by Mitchell, et al. (2001), consists of three dimensions: (1) links to other people, teams, and groups, (2) self-perceptions of fit with the job, organization, and community, and (3) perceived sacrifices associated with changing jobs. To date, job embeddedness has been shown to predict both intent to leave and voluntary turnover. Furthermore, it explains statistically significant incremental variance over and above job satisfaction, organizational commitment, job alternatives, and job search (Mitchell, et al., 2001). However, the impact of this construct in the presence of individual-level variables known to impact turnover - attitudes toward compensation, perceived supervisor support, internal growth opportunities, and training (e.g., Shaw et al., 1998; Stinglhamber and Vandenberghe, 2003; Allen, Shore, and Griffeth, 2003) - has not been assessed. Compensation One purpose both of direct and indirect compensation is to enhance employees’ motivation and attachment to the organization (Appelbaum et al., 2000; Arthur, 1994). Both meta-analyses (Cotton and Tuttle, 1986; Hom and Griffeth, 1995) and empirical studies (e.g., Shaw et al. 1998) show an inverse relationship between high relative pay and/or pay satisfaction, and employee turnover. Additionally, Trevor, Barry, and Boudreau (1997) found that strong salary growth significantly reduced turnover for high performing employees. According to Williams and Livingstone (1994), in organizations using performance-contingent reward systems, high-performing individuals who were well compensated were less likely to quit than those with lower levels of rewards and performance. Thus, the following hypothesis is offered:

H1: Compensation is negatively related to intention to quit.

Supervisor Support Supportive supervisors are those who employees perceive as valuing their contributions and caring about their well-being (Kottke & Sharafinski, 1988). For example, a supervisor who switches schedules to accommodate employees’ needs, listens to their problems, organizes tasks or duties to accommodate their family responsibilities, and shares ideas or advice can be seen as supportive. Hatton and Emerson (1998) found that employee intention to leave and actual turnover were related to level of practical support from supervisors. Although a number of organizational factors can make employees begin to think of leaving their jobs, according to these researchers the supervisor plays an important role in whether they actually do so. While Stinglhamber and Vandenberghe (2003) also found a relationship between these two variables, they argue that affective commitment to the supervisor mediates the effect of perceived supervisor support on turnover. There is agreement, however, that supervisor support is negatively associated with turnover intention.

H2: Supervisor support is negatively related to intention to quit.

Growth Opportunities Miller and Wheeler (1992) along with Allen, Shore, and Griffeth (2003) found a statistically significant negative relationship between growth opportunities and intent to quit. Since growth opportunities signal that the organization recognizes and values the employees’ contributions as well as imply future support will be forthcoming, employees tend to stay longer with the organization (Wayne et al., 1997; Allen et al., 2003). Therefore, organizations may improve their employees’ retention rates by enhancing their advancement opportunities.

H3: Growth opportunities are negatively related to employee’s intention to quit. Training Shaw and colleagues (1998) argue that providing employees with sufficient training opportunities is an investment strategy for job stability. Moreover, these researchers maintain that such actions by the organization constitute a crucial part of its fulfillment of the informal contract between itself and employees. This in turn should deepen employees’ sense of attachment to the organization and, therefore, enhance retention. Furthermore, in terms of Mitchell and associates’ (2001) job embeddness construct, training opportunities should improve the fit between the individual and job, as well as represent a sacrifice that must be experienced if the employee chooses to take employment elsewhere. Therefore, it is predicted that:

H4: Perceived training opportunities will be negatively related to intention to quit.

Job Embeddedness as Mediator While each of the abovementioned variables has been shown to have a significant impact on employee turnover, the empirical evidence reveals that the magnitude of the direct effects of each on turnover is pretty small (Griffeth et al., 2000). This suggests that attitudes directly related to the job might be somewhat distal determinants of turnover. If so, then it is likely that the relationship is mediated by an intervening factor. It is hypothesized here that job embeddedness is a likely mediator of this relationship.

Mitchell and colleagues (2001) describe “job embeddedness” as being similar to a net or web in which an individual can become stuck. The critical aspects of job embeddedness are (1) “links,” or the extent to which people have links to other people or activities, (2) “fit,” the extent to which their jobs and communities are similar to or fit with the other aspects of their lives, and (3) “sacrifice,” which denotes the ease with which links can be broken (i.e., the things employees would give up if they left the employer, especially if they had to physically move to other cities or homes (Mitchell et al., 2001). While these dimensions have both job-related and non-job-related sources, the current research considers only internal links, fit, and sacrifice (i.e., job-related sources).

Links. These are formal or informal connections between a person and institutions or other people (Mitchell et al., 2001). Links can be thought of as strands that connect an employee with his or her work team members, supervisors, and other colleagues with whom he or she is working. The greater the number of links, the stronger the web and, therefore, the more tightly the individual is bound to the job and organization (Mitchell et al., 2001). This linking process, or social integration to use O’Reilly, Caldwell, and Barnett’s (1989) term, typically increases with employee tenure and thereby reduces an individual’s desire to work elsewhere (e.g., Abelson, 1987).

Fit. Fit denotes an employee’s perceived compatibility or comfort with the organization and with his or her environment (Mitchell et al., 2001). Mitchell and his colleagues propose that an employee’s personal values, career goals, and plans for the future must fit both with the larger corporate culture and the demands of his or her immediate job. Accordingly, the better the fit, the higher the likelihood an employee will feel professionally and personally tied to an organization.

Relating fit to voluntary turnover, O’Reilly, Chatman, and Caldwell (1991) found that “misfits” quit slightly faster than “fits.” Chatman (1991) later reported that employees were likely to leave an organization when organizational entry produced poor person- organization fit. Chan (1996) suggested that having one’s personal attributes fit with one’s job might decrease turnover. Thus, a person’s fit with job and organization influences his or her attachment to the organization.

Sacrifice. Sacrifice captures the perceived costs of material or psychological benefits that may be forfeited by leaving a job (Mitchell et al., 2001). For example, leaving an organization may imply personal losses such as giving up colleagues, interesting projects, or cash bonuses. The more an employee would give up when leaving, the more difficult it will be for him or her to break employment with the organization (Shaw, Delery, Jenkins, & Gupta, 1998). Though comparable salary and benefits may be the obvious concern of employees, the switching costs, such as new health care or pension plans, are also real and relevant.

Less visible, but still important, potential sacrifices incurred by leaving an organization include opportunities for job stability and advancement (Shaw et al., 1998). In addition, various advantages can accrue to an individual who stays (e.g., promotion or pension benefit). Taking a new job means giving up these accrued advantages. It is for these reasons that job embeddedness, or the sum total of the three dimensions just discussed, is hypothesized to mediate the impact of job-related attitudes on intent to quit. Consider an employee who is dissatisfied with his or her pay level. In all likelihood, it is very unlikely this individual would make the decision to quit absent a variety of other considerations. For example, if this person sees opportunity for growth and advancement in the organization, then he or she may be willing to experience short-term dissatisfaction in exchange for long-term benefit and satisfaction. Similarly, it is generally recognized that people work for a variety of reasons other than a paycheck. Thus, an employee who finds the employing organization to satisfy social needs may be willing to work for a less-than-supportive supervisor in exchange for a supportive work group that fills other needs.Therefore, the following is hypothesized:

H5: The impact of attitudes toward compensation, supervisor support, growth opportunities, and training on intent to quit is mediated at the degree to which an employee feels embedded in his/her job.

METHODS Sample All 645 support/staff employees working for a state department of corrections in the Southeastern United States received a questionnaire asking their attitudes about the job, the place of employment, and the agency as a whole. Of this number, 495 (76.5%) chose to participate. Measures Unless noted differently, the following constructs were measured by Likert scales with responses ranging from 1 (“Strongly Disagree”) to 5 (“Strong Agree”). Intention to quit. Employee’s intention to quit was measured with a 4-item scale. A sample item is “I don’t plan to work here much longer.” Compensation. Five items were used to create the composite scale of compensation. A sample item is “I’m paid adequately for the job I have”. Supervisor support. A 5-item scale also was used to assess supervisor support. A sample item is “My supervisor praises people who do good work”. Growth opportunity. Growth opportunity was measured with a 5-item scale. A sample item is “There are plenty of opportunities to advance here.” Training. Training was measured with 7-item scale. A sample of the items is “the organization provides me the training I need to do my job.” Job embeddedness. Following Mitchell et al. (2001), job embeddedness is an aggregate measure created by summing and averaging the means of the fit, links, and sacrifice sub-scales. Fit, an employee's perceived compatibility or comfort with his or her career and organization, was measured with 7 items. A sample item is “You can have a good career in Corrections.” The 7 items were then averaged to create the composite scale of fit. Links, the interpersonal connections between an employee and his or her co- workers or team members, was measured with two items. One was an ordinal measurement of tenure (less than 1 year, at least 1 but less than 3 years, at least 3 but less than 5 years, more than 5 years) and a dichotomous measure asking if the respondent has a friend who also works at the same location). Sacrifice, the perceived cost of both intangible and tangible benefits that may be forfeited by leaving a job, was measured with 4-item scale. A sample item is “Employees here are treated with respect.” These three scales (fit, links, and sacrifice) then were summed and averaged to create the aggregate scale of job embeddedness.

ANALYSIS AND RESULTS The study uses the four-step method developed by Kenny, Kashy, and Bolger (1998) and Baron and Kenny (1986) for mediation analysis. Step 1 of the regression analysis uses intention to quit as the criterion variable and human resource practices as a predictor. This step revealed that these human resource practices were significantly related to employees’ intention to quit (R2 = .24, F = 38.76, p < .001). This establishes that there is an effect that may be mediated. Looking at individual independent variables in Step 1, compensation, supervisor support, and training were significantly related to intention to quit, whereas growth opportunity was marginally significantly correlated with intention to quit. Thus, Hypotheses 1, 2, and 4 were supported and Hypothesis 3 was not.

In Step 2, job embeddedness served as the criterion variable and human resource practices as the predictors. Overall, human resource practices were significantly and strongly related to job embeddedness (R2 = .34, F = 63.53, p < .001). This step showed that the antecedent variables are correlated with the mediator. Looking at each independent variable (Step 2), compensation, supervisor support, and growth opportunity were significantly related with job embeddedness, whereas training was not. In the third step, we conducted another regression using intention to quit as the criterion variable and both human resource practices and job embeddedness as predictors. It was found that job embeddedness was significantly related to intention to quit when controlling for human resource practices (R2 from Step 1 to Step 3 = .15, ΔF = 121.60, p < .001). As for the individual predictors, compensation and growth opportunity now become non-significantly related to intention to quit, whereas supervisor support and training are still significantly related to intention to quit (Step 3). Thus, taking all three steps together, job embeddeness is found to mediate the relationship between human resource practices and employees’ intention to quit. The overall hypothesis of the study, Hypothesis 5, therefore, is supported. However, because this relationship is only partially mediated, we then use Sobel’s (1986) and MacKinnon and Dwyer’s (1993) test to confirm the mediation effect of job embeddedness in the whole model. The result showed that the mediated effect of job embeddedness is statistically significant (Mediated effect = -.12; Z-score = -5.99; p < .001). This result again strongly supports the hypothesis that human resource practices are negatively related to employee’s intention to quit, which is mediated by job embeddedness.

Of the individual predictors, compensation was significantly related to intention to quit in the first step and significantly related to job embeddedness in the second step, but became non-significantly related to turnover intention in the third step. This suggests that job embeddedness fully mediates the relationship between compensation and employee’s intention to quit. Again by way of Sobel’s (1986) test, we were able to confirm the statistical significance of this mediated effect (Mediated effect = -.13; Z-score = -5.69; p < .001). This result, therefore, shows that the inverse relationship between compensation and intent to quit is fully mediated by job embeddedness.

These results also show that supervisor support was significantly related to intention to quit and job embeddedness in Steps 1 and 2, respectively. In Step 3, the relationship between supervisor support and intention to quit was still significant, but the magnitude of significance was reduced (the reduction in s from step 1 to step 3). This suggests that job embeddeness partly mediates the relationship between supervisor support and intention to quit. Sobel’s (1986) procedure again was employed to test the significance of this mediated effect. Although small, the mediated effect is statistically significant (Mediated effect = -.07; Z-score = -4.42; p < .001). Thus, job embeddedness is found to partially mediate the relationship between supervisor support and employees’ intention to quit.

Growth opportunity, in Step 1, had a marginally significant relationship with intention to quit. In Step 2, this predictor was significantly related to job embeddedness, while in the third step, this relationship became non-significant. There is, therefore, evidence that job embeddedness also mediated this relationship in a statistically significant manner (Mediated effect = -.08; Z-score = -3.56; p < .001). This confirms the mediation effect of job embeddedness on the relationship between growth opportunity and intention to quit.

Finally training was not significantly related to job embeddedness in Step 2. This violates the condition for establishing a mediation effect (Kenny, Kashy, and Bolger, 1998; Baron and Kenny, 1986). Therefore, the relationship between training and employee’s intention to quit was not mediated by job embeddedness. To confirm this conclusion, we once again calculated the mediated effect by using Sobel’s (1986) and MacKinnon & Dwyer’s (1993) formulas. The result showed that the mediated effect is not statistically significant (Mediated effect = -.01; Z-score = -.77; p = .44). Thus, job embeddedness does not mediate the relationship between training and intention to quit.

DISCUSSION AND CONCLUSION This current study explored, at the individual level of analysis, the issue of employees’ voluntary turnover. It is unique in that the study used job embeddedness to explain the relationship between human resource practices and employees’ intention to quit. As Allen, Shore, and Griffeth (2003) pointed out, little explanation has been offered for how human resource practices influence individual turnover decisions. This study offers some insight into this process. Specifically, this study found that overall human resource practices are negatively related to employees’ intention to quit, which is mediated by job embeddedness.

Among human resource practices, compensation is found to be fully mediated by job embeddedness in the relation to employee’s intention to quit. It is quite clear that when thinking about quitting a job, an employee often considers tangible benefits (i.e., compensation) from the current organization that he or she has to sacrifice. Concerning supervisor support, this study found that job embeddedness partially mediates the relationship between it and employees’ intent to quit. The explanation for this is that by providing guidelines, suggestions, assistance, trust in and praise for their subordinates, supervisors can help employees better fit with their jobs and the organization, as well as build better links to colleagues. This suggests that employees would be more embedded in their jobs when they received more support from supervisors which is consistent with previous studies (e.g.,Stinglhamber & Vandenberghe, 2003).

Similar to supervisor support, growth opportunity is also negatively related to turnover, although this relationship is mediated by job embeddedness. Growth opportunity implies that employees would have better positions, better salaries, or better work environments. It would be a sacrifice for employees to leave an organization which offer such good growth opportunities. Moreover, growth opportunity means that employees can have chances to develop and demonstrate their potential, which should lead them to better fit their jobs and the organization. Thus, employees would be more embedded in their job and less likely to leave when there is an abundance of growth opportunities.

Contrary to our expectation, the relationship between training and intention to quit is not mediated by job embeddedness. Instead, training is directly related to employee’s intention to quit. This seems a little contradictory, but is consistent with previous research that provides conflicting results on training and employee’s intention to quit. The relationships among training, voluntary turnover, and job embeddedness, therefore, clearly requires further elucidation. Consistent with the findings of Mitchell and his colleagues (2001), job embeddedness in this study also has a strong relationship with employees’ voluntary turnover as it explained roughly 34% of the variance in the intention to quit. Given the nature of social science research, this is an appreciable amount of explained variance. Consequently, it may indicate that job embeddness warrants further research in attempts to better understand such organizational phenomena as absenteeism, work performance, and organizational citizenship behaviors.

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