Research Article - (2021) Volume 29, Issue 7
Melaku Agmasu
Department of Psychology, College of Social Sciences & Humanities, Injibara University, Ethiopia
Received Date: June 4, 2021; Accepted Date: July 12, 2021; Published Date: July 19, 2021
Background: Organizational commitment is job related attitudes that have received considerable attention from researchers around the globe. This study attempted to investigate the relationship among the organizational commitment, and turnover intentions among academic staff employees of Woldia University. Embedded research design was used.
Methods & Materials: A total of 206 (male=187 and female=19) academic staff employees were taken by stratified sampling from the university and the researcher also used semistructured interview by selecting long experienced participants purposively to cross check the quantitative result by following qualitative approaches . After cleaning the data, analysis was conducted using Pearson correlation and Multiple Regressions along with descriptive statistical techniques.
Results: Workers commitment has been found to have statistically significant negative association with turnover intentions (r=-.516, p<0.05). Moreover, organizational commitment has better predictive power to level of turnover intention among academic staff employees. The interview result also shows that the overall commitment of academic staff was normative rather than affective and Continuance level of commitment and high level of turnover intentions.
Organizational Commitment, turnover intention and Academic staff
Background of the study
Organizational commitment and job satisfaction are job related attitudes that have received considerable attention from researchers around the globe. This is because committed and satisfied employees are normally high performers that contribute towards organizational productivity [1]. Simultaneously, theory and research have also long held that employee turnover can be both a cause and effect of problems in organizations [2]. From this perspective, higher rates of employee turnover are not only a manifestation of underlying problems in an organization; it also creates problems for the organization (e.g. increased costs, decreased productivity, etc). Turnover among teachers is significantly higher than other professions and quite costly in terms of quality of instruction, student learning, financial overhead in recruiting and training replacement teachers, and employee morale [3].
Therefore, investigate organizational commitment, and turnover intentions in the context of academic staff of the study area will play advantage because these variables have multiple impacts to the overall effectiveness of the instructors as indicated by the above empirical literature. Moreover, when the current researcher took decision to make this topic as focus of investigation of Woldia University as the study area, considered that this university is one of the governmental university in Ethiopia with the high turnover rate and intentions (report compiled by human resource personal data in 2011 stastical reports).
Statement of the Problem
Research findings suggest that certain demographic factors such as age and work experience significantly related to organizational commitment. This study did not address the relationship between organizational commitment and turnover intention. Rather it has been focused on productivity. Although the findings also did not show the turnover intentions focusing on academic staff. Mainly the study also did not show the variables like turnover intentions and job satisfactions that which predicts best among the organizational commitment domains like affective, continues as well as normative levels of commitments and demographic variables like sex, educational status and ages.
In woldia university the study has been conducted by Tekle Abebe finding shows that only one fourth of teachers was satisfied with their job. Specifically teachers were satisfied with teaching and coworker relation aspect of the job. But this study did not show the commitment and the turnover intentions of academic staff employee and the relationship between them.
Therefore, the rational for doing the research for this issue is that understanding commitment and turnover intentions may provide valuable information that would fill the gap in relation to the issue under investigation. So the research were try to answer the following basic research questions.
Research Questions
1. Is there significant relationship between organizational commitment, and turnover intentions of academic staff employees in Woldia University?
2. To what extent organizational commitment domains (affective, continuance and normative) predict turnover intentions of academic staff in Woldia University?
3. What conditions should be satisfied to enhance the work stability of academic staff employees in Woldia University?
Objectives of the Study
General Objective
The general objective of this study was to investigate organizational commitment, and turnover intentions of academic staff employee at Woldia University.
Specific Objectives
This study tried to address the following specific objectives
1. To examine the relationship between organizational commitment, and turn over intentions of academic staff employees in Woldia University
2. To explore the variance attributed to organizational commitment in predicting turnover intentions of academic staff employees in Woldia University
3. To identify the conditions which enhance the work stability of academic staff employees in Woldia University
Study design
The study were used the embedded design. This design is a mixed method in which one data set provides a supportive secondary role in a study based on primarily on the other data type [4]. That to investigate organizational commitment and turnover intensions of academics staff employees of Woldia University.
Data source
According to the data obtained from Woldia university HR (human resource), the total numbers of academic staff employees are 861 and they have categorized in to 8 facilities. So the Source of population for this study were Woldia University academic staff employees.
Target Population
The target population of the study was full time academic staff employee in Woldia University.
Samples and sampling techniques
The sample of the study were obtained through the select number of academic staff by using stratified sampling techniques across eight facilities. This means that the lottery system or equal chance for the selected sample and unbiased information were obtained. In this study the researcher also used purposive sampling in order to have depth information about the over satisfaction and commitment and turnover intention levels by interviewing 4 PhD participants and 2 selected participants who have long experience in Woldia University. The reason that the researcher uses interview of those PhD holders the quantitative result shows those have high turnover intentions as we compare with masters and degree holders , by following the quantitative findings it was important to cross check the results by using qualitatively through interviews . So that according to the data obtained from Woldia University human resource administration the target population of the study were 861 total academic employee among these 759 are male and102 are female. In order to determine the sampling size of the study the researcher using the rule Krejcie and Morgan (1970) which could have been constructed using the following formula.
s = X2NP (1− P) ÷ d2(N −1) + X2P (1− P).
s = required sample size.
X2= the table value of chi-square for 1 degree of freedom at the desired confidence level (3.841).
N = the population size.
P = the population proportion (assumed to be .50 since this would provide the maximum Sample size).
d = the degree of accuracy expressed as a proportion (.05)
s=3.8412 x 861 x 0.5(1-0.5) ÷(0.05)2 (861-1) +3.8412x0.5(1-.5) 14.75 x 861 x 0.5 ÷0.0025x860 +14.75 x 0.2 S=269
Data collection procedures
The researcher use adapting standardized questionnaires. The instrument help the researcher to gather all the necessary data from the respondents pertinent to the objectives of the research. Therefore after the instrument are adapting and constructing, the English version of the questionnaire were used to obtain relevant data from the respondents. In short, forward and back translations was made to validate the accuracy of the instruments. This, forward and back translations help the researcher to understand thoroughly the accuracy of the instruments. Accordingly, the researcher were organize his close friends as research assistants or coordinators to gather data from the participants as well as to facilitate communication during the data collection processes. In the end, these were translate and organize for the purpose for analysis.
Methods of data analysis
The data were analyze using statistical package for social science (SPSS) version 20.0 for windows. However for the qualitative results semi-structured interviews were used.
1. Pearson product correlation coefficient was used to know the significance relationship between organizational commitments with turnover intentions on academic staff in Woldia University
2. Standardized multiple Regressions analysis were employed to find out which dimension of organizational commitment in predictive turnover intentions of academic staff in Woldia University.
To know whether there are statistically significant relationships among organizational commitment, and turnover intention, Pearson correlation was computed. The result of the correlation analysis is presented in the following table. Pearson correlation was computed for each sub-scale.
Table 1 Relationship among organizational commitment and turn over Intention (n=206) (Table 1) portrays the relationship among organizational commitment and turn over intention among academic staff employees in Woldia University. Workers commitment has been found to have statistically significant negative association with turnover intentions(r=-.516, p<0.01.
| Commitment | Turnover | |
|---|---|---|
| Commitment | 1 | -.516** |
| Turnover | -.516** | 1 |
Table 1: Relationship among organizational commitment, and turnover intention.
The result of the multiple regression analysis showed that organizational commitment were found significant predictors of turnover intention (oe = 0.05 df =203).
As shown in Table 2, the multiple correlation (R) between turnover intention and the linear combinations of the predictor variables (organizational commitment) is 0.534. The total coefficient of determination (R2) indicates that the combined effect of all predictor variables on turnover intention was 0.285 that means nearly 28% of the variation in the turnover intention can be attributed to the variation of the combined predictor variables. In other way, all the predictor variables nearly explained 28% of the variation in turnover intention. The remaining 72% of the variation in turnover intention can be attributed to other variables which were not included in this study.
| Variables | Unstandardized coefficient | Standardized coefficient | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| B | Std. Error | Beta | T | Sig. | |
| Organizational commitment | -0.217 | 0.033 | -0.443 | -6.549 | 0 |
Table 2: The pregnancy-related condition of the study participants in Jinka general hospital, southern Ethiopia 2018 (n=250).
Out of the total contribution of all predictor variables (28%), organizational commitment contribute 21.7% (beta=-.443 t= -6.549. This result indicated that the largest contribution is made by commitment, in predicting turnover intention
Results obtained from interview
Participants were asked to state their ideas about the overall commitment level of academic staff employees .They respond that there are two factors for workers commitment these are pull and push factors .Those push factors are by its nature are negatives, however the pull factors are positive like good work environment. Some of the push factors that affect the commitment level of academic staff employees were lack of infrastructure in Woldia town, lack of private work opportunity due to this problems the overall commitment of academic staff employees in Woldia University laid in problem. The new political conditions leads to think to live around their home around their family this ethnic based thinking leads them to leave their work. A response from interview would explain the problem clearly.
The overall commitment of academic staff were normative rather than affective and Continuance level of commitment.
<< Institutional development strategies is very important to make academic staff employees to be stable in their work. The University should give emphasis for the facilities like cafeteria, transportation services, staff promotion and continuous staff professional development issues needs to be given great emphasis. Doing every work by stated rule and regulation , opening doors for staff promotion and transfer , having planned discussion and communication between leaders and staffs (Woldia University academic staff employees)>>
The purpose of this study was to examine the relationships among organizational commitment, and turnover intention of academic employees in Woldia University and to dig out the association between turn over intentions of academic staff in Woldia University as well as to explore the variance attributed to organizational commitment in predicting turnover intentions of academic staff in Woldia University. In this regard the discussion follows along the following lines.
Relationship among organizational commitment, and turnover intention
In case of magnitude the highest negative correlation was found between commitment and turnover intention. This study result indicates that higher organizational commitment in academic staff will lead to have lower turnover intention . This study finding was in line with this scholars finding.
From this result it is possible to conclude that as the employees’ organizational commitment increases their turn over intention decreases. Finally, the study has hinted on the need to develop employees’ organizational commitment as it was found to influence turnover intention. This is important as employees who are less committed may likely route their commitment in other directions and tend to seek job opportunities elsewhere.
Thus, it is suggested that the University develops human resource strategies to strengthen employees’ organizational commitment level. Research suggests that employees will interpret organization’s human resource practices as support and commitment to them, hence reciprocating these kind deeds by increasing their own commitment to the organization [5]. According to the study finding shows that the strategies such as merit-based recruiting, fair performance appraisal practices, and opportunities for training and development may contribute to strengthen organizational commitment. In addition, a positive organizational climate based on trust, good communication, and cooperation can also develop better commitment among its employees. Finally the interview result also revealed that the overall commitment of academic staff were normative rather than affective and continuance level of commitment [6] suggested that normative commitment manifests from the socialization and induction process of newcomers to the organization so that the individual is “indebted to his organization for having invested its time and resources on him and feels responsible to repay for the benefits that he gets from the organization by putting effort on the job and staying on the job” [7].
Relationship among organizational commitment, and turnover intention of academic staff employees
Summary of regression analysis has shown that the linear combination of the multiple correlation (R) between turnover intention and the linear combinations of the predictor variables (commitment) is 0.534. The result showed that the correlation between turnover intention and the combined predictor variables namely commitment was found to be statistically significant. The total coefficient of determination (R2) indicates that the combined effect of all predictor variables on turnover intention was 0.285 that means nearly 28% of the variation in the turnover intention can be attributed to the variation of the combined predictor variables. The remaining 72% of the variation in turnover intention can be attributed to other variables which were not included in this study.
Out of the total contribution of all predictor variables (28%), organizational commitment contribute 21.5%. The findings of this study is consistent with the results of previous studies conducted by Carolina [8].
The study finding shows that there is a strong inverse relationship confirmed by this research between organizational commitment and turnover intentions. Organizational commitment has better predictive power in turnover intention of academic employees. Finally the result of the study shows that there is high level of turnover intention among academic staff employees .The more an organization or University leaders understand the factors like transportation service problems, infrastructure problems like cafeteria access, staff promotion policy, institutional development strategies at long term like housing ownership by University support needs to be given emphasis to be solved. If these problems are solved they will lead the staff to be stable in the University despite of that the better the opportunity for the organization to reduce turnover, which leads to reduced costs.
Ethics
Ethical clearance was secured from ethical review board of Woldia University Faculty of Education and behavioral sciences. Appropriate & full detailed information were taken according to the respondent’s willingness after getting a written and verbal consent from respondents. The confidentiality of the respondents would not be exposed & any information that they would give would only be used for the study purpose.
Consent was obtained for publication competing interests: The authors have no competing interests to declare.
The authors have no competing interests to declare.
This research article was supported by Woldia University
MA- participate in all phase of the study process. DT - participated in developing manuscript. All authors approved the final manuscript for publication.
We like to express our heartfelt gratitude to Woldia University for funding this study. Also we would like to thanks all data collectors, study participants and all others individuals who had contribution in this study.
