This study investigates the impact of transformational leadership on employee retention in small-and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) and probes the mediating role of organizational citizenship behavior (OCB) and the moderating role of communication. Data were collected using convenience sampling from 505 employees of SMEs. A Smart PLS structural equation modeling (PLS-SEM) was used to estimate the various relationships. The findings of the study reveal a positive and significant relationship between transformational leadership and OCB. Similarly, this study finds a positive and significant relationship in OCB and employee retention. In addition, OCB had a positive mediating effect on the relationship between transformational leadership and employee retention. Furthermore, communication positively moderates the transformational leadership-OCB and OCB-employee retention relationships. Leaders at SMEs should implement the traits of transformational leadership such as developing a compelling vision for employees, focusing on goal achievement, having problem-solving techniques, having a sense of purpose, and spending time on the training and development of the team to enhance OCB and employee retention.

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Employee retention is very critical issue these days. Cost of losing talented, experienced and skilled workers is much higher then the cost of hiring new ones. Therefore, it is more critical for the organizations to retain their best talent with them. In this study a relationship is developed between job satisfaction, organization culture, benefits and salary to check their influence on employee retention. The relatedness of these variables with the motivational theories has also been measured. Employee retention is critical in today's competitive advantage. Job satisfaction is the key variable which makes the higher or lower levels of employee retention at any organization. Moreover, organizational culture also plays an effective role in retaining the best talent within the organization. As loyalty and strategic commitment among all employees regardless of job can be enhanced through the organizational cultures as it emphasizes on teamwork, security and respect of individual employees.Besides this, benefits and salary are also strong determinant of employee retention at organization. There is a significant relationship between rewards offered by a firm and employee satisfaction for the employees to work for the organizations for longer time duration. High level of pay and benefits as compare to other companies in the market, attract and retain high quality employees. Thus, these elements are directly related to employee retention at any organization.

Entrepreneurial orientation has become an enormously significant construct in the innovation studies literature. Predominantly for SMEs, its role has been widely recognized in almost all regional contexts across the globe. The present study is aimed at investigating the effects of entrepreneurial orientation, transformational leadership and organizational commitment on innovation performance. The data for the present study were collected from 1095 employees working at various levels in SMEs. The present study used partial least square structural equation modeling to examine the constructed hypotheses. The findings suggested the significantly positive direct relationships among entrepreneurial orientations, organizational commitment and innovation performance. Besides, organizational commitment positively mediated the relationships between entrepreneurial orientation and innovation performance. Additionally, this study also found the significant moderation of transformational leadership among entrepreneurship orientation and organizational commitment. Leaders of small and medium-sized enterprises should practice entrepreneurial orientation (innovativeness, proactiveness, and risk-taking) and transformation leadership (articulating a compelling vision, focus on goal achievement, and creative problem solving) to enhance the innovation performance of their firms. Moreover, this study provides a robust mechanism for leaders at SMEs to develop strategies for enhancing the willingness of the firms to bring innovation and offer new products and services. The policymakers should enhance the emotional attachment of employees with their firms, sense of moral obligation to remain with the firm which will, in turn, increase the organizational commitment of employees for innovation performance. The study provides empirical evidence to the resource-based view in the context of SMEs. The study delivers solid theoretical and practical implications to experts, leaders and policymakers.

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