Does perceived support in employee development affect personnel turnover?

Abstract

This paper focuses on the question whether it is beneficial for firms to invest in the general skills of their workforce or that these training investments merely encourage personnel turnover. We examine two contrary theoretical perspectives on how investments in employee development are related to their turnover behaviour. Estimation results derived from a sample of 2,833 Dutch pharmacy assistants show that participation in general training does not induce the intention of assistants to quit, as predicted by human capital theory. We find that a firm's investments in general training, significantly contribute to the perceived support in employee development (PSED) among their workforce. Our results also show that PSED is negatively related to the intention of employees to quit the firm. This effect is to a large extent mediated by the job satisfaction of pharmacy assistants. Our findings support the importance of social exchange theory in explaining turnover behaviour as a consequence of personnel development practices. It should be noted, however, that PSED only diminishes the intention to quit for other occupations.

The Link between HR Attributions and Employees’ Turnover Intentions

“…This study also confirms the work by Koster et al (2009);De Moura et al (2008); Boselie and Wiele (2001); Bowen and Ostroff (2000); Clark et al (1998);and Freeman (1978) that demonstrates a negative relationship between job satisfaction and turnover intentio n: A highly satisfied employee will have a lower tendency to leave the organization, and conversely a highly dissatisfied employee is more likely to leave the organization and change employer. Furthermore, the findings of this research are partly in line with the results by Chen and Wang (2014) whose study showed a partially mediated relationship between the HR attribution of commitment focus towards turnover intention, and a fully mediated relationship between the HR attribution of control focus toward s turnover intention.…”

“…According to Bowen and Ostroff (2000) and Koster et al (2009), job satisfaction is one of the most researched work-related variables, and has a significant relationship with turnover intentions. An obvious reaction to dissatisfaction is to leave the company and change employers (Clark et al 1998;De Moura et al 2008;Mahdi et al 2012), and conversely, employees who have high satisfaction levels are more motivated to stay within the company.…”

“…Further, as Tsui et al (1997) points out, one of the desired employee attitudes towards HR practices is high satisfaction, and in order to achieve this desired state, employees must perceive the HR practices positively. For example, if training is implemented by the organization to improve workforce utilization, employees will feel that their development is supported by the organization, thereby increasing job satisfaction (Jones et al 2009;Koster et al 2009). This finding is consistent with the social exchange theory, which suggests that employees may feel the need to reciprocate when management provides some tangible benefit (Blau 1964): Employees possessing a positive perception of their firm's HR practices will feel a duty to respond in positive ways, which translates to higher levels of satisfaction (Boselie and Wiele 2001).…”

What Is the Role of Training and Job Satisfaction on Turnover Intentions?

“…Some of the studies have recommended that providing training opportunities to employees will lead to higher level of job satisfaction (Pare & Tremblay, 2007;Georgellis & Lange, 2007, Edgar & Geare, 2005. A study conducted in the Dutch pharmacy assistants found a negative relationship between training and employees" turnover intentions mediated by job satisfaction (Koster, Grip & Fouarge, 2009). Similarly, Cheng and Waldenberger (2013) conducted a study to examine the relationship between training expectations and turnover intentions mediated by job satisfaction among Chinese employees.…”

How can personal development lead to increased engagement? The roles of meaningfulness and perceived line manager relations

“…Thus, personal development can be seen as a way in which the employer and employee can participate in social exchanges because the employer is giving the employee opportunities to acquire and develop valuable resources in the form of skills, abilities and knowledge (Koster, de Grip, & Fouarge, 2011). The theory of social exchange (Blau, 1964) posits that an employee and their employer participate in an ongoing exchange of resources that occurs within a framework of rules and norms of reciprocity, such that when an employee receives resources from the other party they will feel obliged to repay in kind.…”