The role of personality and organisational climate in employee turnover

Abstract

Research on employee turnover dates back many decades. However, this research traditionally focused on either understanding turnover intentions or the factors preceding turnover, such as job satisfaction. Despite the challenge in SA being huge and organisations struggling to keep their talent, the research on employee turnover is quite limited. Understanding the different variables that influence employee turnover and providing practical solutions on how to mitigate turnover would be valuable to many organisations. The aim of this research project was to understand the role of personality and organisational climate in employee turnover. In addition, a comprehensive model of employee turnover was developed and tested. The Five Factor Model was used to conceptualise personality, while (due to the limited nature of existing models) a new model was designed to conceptualise organisational climate. A sample of 1 536 people was drawn from a large retail organisation in SA, with 807 stayers and 729 leavers. Biographical, personality and organisational climate information was collected over a two-year period for both samples. Results of the study were mixed; there were no significant differences in the two samples regarding the big five personality factors, except when nine bipolar scales were used. On these scales, leavers were found to be more assertive, persuasive and optimistic than stayers. All five personality factors moderated HR policies & procedures in determining turnover. There were differences between the stayers and leavers samples with regard to age, gender, tenure and absenteeism. Organisational climate was a key determinant of whether people left or stayed and organisations had more than one climate. Personality, organisational climate and absenteeism accounted for 29% of turnover. The proposed model of employee turnover met most of the requirements of goof fit measures when using Structural Equation Modelling (SEM).