Effect of Flexible Work Arrangements on Turnover Intention: Does Job Independence Matter?

Abstract

It is commonly agreed, flexible work arrangements (FWA) could bring many benefits to both employees and employers. With the increased prevalence of team-based work structures, collaborative jobs with limited independence may also limit the advantages of FWA. This research is designed to investigate the moderating effect of perceived work independence in the relationship between different flexible work arrangements (flex time, flex leave, and working from home) and turnover intention. Mixed-effect modeling analysis is done using data collected from the International Social Survey Programme (ISSP) Work Orientation 2015, which consists of 35 nationally representative samples with a total number of 16, 920 responses. The results show that perceived job independence significantly moderates the relationship between flexible work arrangements and turnover intention. Employees who perceived their jobs as highly independent have a lower turnover intention when flex time, flex leave or working from home were used, while interdependent employees who work from home and uses flex time may have greater intention to leave. The results conclude that providing FWA alone is not enough to retain talents in organizations. Employees will stay in the same organization when their jobs, simultaneously, are designed to allow some sole control over their work content.