Influence of empowerment, psychological contract and employee engagement on voluntary turnover intentions

Abstract

PurposeThe purpose of the study is to explore the influence of psychological empowerment, psychological contract and employee engagement on voluntary turnover intentions of employees in theinformation technology (IT) industry.Design/methodology/approachThe study used a cross-sectional, quantitative research design. The analysis for the study is based on a sample of 392 Indian IT professionals. Partial least square–structural equation modelling (PLS-SEM) was used to analyse the data.FindingsThis study has identified a significant relationship between turnover intentions, employee engagement, psychological contract and psychological empowerment. The findings of the study are that there exists significant positive influence of psychological contract and psychological empowerment on employee engagement. Employee engagement, in turn, has the capability to influence intention to leave the organization.Originality/valueThere is heightened awareness among industry leaders about the need to retain top performers. However, organizations are found to repeatedly fail in this regard. The study has succeeded in empirically establishing the complex relationship between empowerment, psychological contract, employee engagement and turnover intentions. The findings of the study are significant and have practical implications. It can be put to use by progressive managements in devising strategies to reduce turnover intentions.

Do psychological and sociological capitals predict employee engagement

“…All these changed by the end of the 1980s. It is then that organizational behaviourists and social scientists started looking at workplace relationships from a different perspective (Sandhya and Sulphey, 2020;Sulphey, 2020;Welbourne, 2007). After that, positive psychology constructs like EE, Psychological contract, Psychological capital (PsyCap), etc.…”

“…There could be various other personality traits that could influence the variables that were studied. There could be extreme variations between individuals concerning personality (Barrick et al, 2001), self-evaluations (Judge and Bono, 2001), the general outlook (Bakker and Schaufeli, 2008), attitude towards various organizational variables (Jose &Mampilly, 2014), psychological contract (ALkahtani et al, 2020;Naidoo et al, 2019), intention to leave (Sandhya & Sulphey, 2020), etc. Future research could consider these variables and attempt to control them while examining their impacts.…”

“…Due to EE's advantages, and to a certain extent, its indispensability, social scientists, and management experts have been keen to identify its antecedents. This has led to a massive accumulation of literature about EE (Sandhya & Sulphey, 2020). Despite the exceptional surge in literature and interest and efforts towards improving EE, there still exists a certain degree of disagreement as to what it is, how to achieve it, and how to know when it is achieved (Welbourne, 2007).…”

“…Despite the exceptional surge in literature and interest and efforts towards improving EE, there still exists a certain degree of disagreement as to what it is, how to achieve it, and how to know when it is achieved (Welbourne, 2007). Substantial evidence exists to show the positive influence of EE on employee attitudes, behavior, and individual and organizational outcomes/performance (Sandhya & Sulphey, 2020;Schaufeli & Bakker, 2004;Shuck & Wollard, 2010). Evidence suggests that EE can enhance positive attitudes like job satisfaction (Hakanen & Schaufeli, 2012), conscientiousness (Kim et al, 2009), and innovative behaviors (Slatten & Mehmetoglu, 2011).…”

“…Employees having EE are also likely to have a deep sense of psychological meaningfulness (Kahn,1990;Resick et al, 2007) and are found to accomplish tasks with passion (Harter et al, 2003). It is also found to have a negative relationship with absenteeism (Schaufeli & Bakker, 2004), turnover intention (Agarwal et al, 2012;Sandhya & Sulphey, 2020); deviant workplace behaviors (Shantz et al, 2014), and the like. Though substantial literature exists concerning the consequences of EE, very few exist for its antecedents (Karrasch, 2003;May et al, 2002;Saks, 2006;Shuck et al, 2011).…”