Effect of organizational commitment on employee turnover intention; a case of county government of Nakuru, Kenya

Abstract

Organizations are expected to invest in resources for its staff such as compensation and benefits, supportive working condition, staff supervision, co-worker support/relationship with colleagues, work itself, recognition on its employee's achievements and award of promotional opportunities. Organizational Commitment is influenced by dimension of affective commitment, continuance commitment and normative commitment of employees. The aspects of where employees have a sense of belonging and loyalty to the organisation. They feel associated with the organisation and hence continued participation to achieve the goals of the organization. Despite all these efforts by some public institutions little is known about the effect of organizational commitment on employee retention. The purpose of this study therefore was to determine the effect of organisational commitment on turnover intentions among employees in the County Government of Nakuru. The study population was 4,975 employees who consisted of managerial staff, clerical staff and support employees from four sub-counties of Nakuru. The study used random sampling to identify four (4) sub-counties to participate in the study and used random sampling design to select 370 respondent employees. A questionnaire was used to collect data and the data obtained was processed using the Statistical Package for Social Sciences (SPSS). Pearson’s correlation coefficient and regression techniques were used in the analysis. The results of the multiple regression analysis showed that extrinsic and intrinsic aspect of job satisfaction alongside affective, normative and continuance dimensions of organizational commitment were critical factors in determining employee tumover intentions. The study recommends that in order to minimize employees’ intention to turnover, good structures that support compensation and benefits of employees need to be put in place. Qualified supervisors should be available for advice, guidance and problem solving to provide employees with support and co-operation in completing their tasks. Strategies such as merit-based recruiting, fair performance appraisal practices, and opportunities for training and development may contribute to strengthen organizational commitment. Further studies should be carried out to determine other aspects that may influence employee turnover intentions.