Investigating the relationship between social ties and intention to quit as mediated by job embeddedness: A study conducted within the pharmaceutical industry
Master Thesis
2015
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University of Cape Town
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Orientation: In order to maintain a competitive advantage, employers need to understand the various factors (antecedents) that are conducive to employee retention and engagement. Social ties is one such factor that is believed to be related to job embeddedness and the intention to quit. Better understanding the role that social ties play in employee engagement and the intention to quit will hopefully aid the development of effective retention strategies. Research Purpose: An empirical study was conducted, within a sample obtained from the pharmaceutical industry, to investigate the relationship between social ties and intention to quit as mediated by job embeddedness. Motivation for the Study: The pharmaceutical industry is experiencing severe skills shortages, particularly in terms of pharmacists. Developing a better understanding of the role that social ties play in employee retention may assist these organisations in putting interventions in place to reduce undesirable voluntary employee turnover. Method: A quantitative research approach was employed to investigate the broad research question i.e. if the relationship between organisational and occupational social ties and intention to quit is mediated by organisational and occupational job embeddedness. A descriptive research design was employed and a questionnaire consisting of 36 items was designed using existing measures, to collect data. The questionnaire was distributed on l in e and convenience sampling was used to collect data across the pharmaceutical industry (n = 524). Data were analysed using descriptive statistics, correlations analyses and multiple regression analysis. Main Findings: Significant negative relationships were found between organisational social ties and intention to quit, and between occupational social ties and intention to quit. It was further found that organisational job embeddedness completely mediated the relationship between organisational social ties and intention to quit. Occupational job embeddedness completely mediated the relationship between occupational social ties and intention to quit. Practical / Managerial Implications: The value of social ties in an organisational setting is an under-researched aspect of employee retention. By developing retention strategies aimed at enhancing organisational ties and by facilitating occupational ties with co-workers, employers may be able to reduce turnover and so retain scarce skills. Contribution: The present study contributes to the current body of social science research as few studies have empirically demonstrated the mediating role of job embeddedness in the relationship between social ties and intention to quit. There is also limited empirical research conducted in South Africa that has investigated the relationships between organisational and occupational social ties, organisational and occupational job embeddedness and intention to quit. These results will hopefully be used to develop more effective retention strategies in the pharmaceutical industry.
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Matthews, M. 2015. Investigating the relationship between social ties and intention to quit as mediated by job embeddedness: A study conducted within the pharmaceutical industry. University of Cape Town.