Job Conditions and Intentions to Quit

Abstract

Higher quitting rates and concerns with satisfaction and commitment are common in resort industries. A field study at a large mountain resort was conducted to assess the degree to which specific job conditions influenced stress, job satisfaction, organizational commitment, and assessment of occupational alternatives, and how these in turn, influenced intentions to quit. Specifically, it was thought that job demands, supervisory style, pay satisfaction, role conflict, and training issues would influence psychological stress levels, job satisfaction, and organizational commitment which would affect intentions to quit. A questionnaire assessing these constructs was given to 440 full-time employees of a ski resort. Two hundred usable questionnaires were returned. Path analysis was used to assess the model. Results showed that supervisory style, prolonged static work postures, high levels of workload, and role conflict were predictors of psychological stress. Role conflict, psychological stress, and job satisfaction were significant predictors of organizational commitment, and organizational commitment was indeed negatively linked to intent to quit. The strongest predictors of intentions to quit were job satisfaction and organizational commitment. Subsequent analyses attempted to differentiate between levels of organizational commitment and job satisfaction as well as between seasonal and year round employees using additional job condition variables which were not included in the original path analysis. This group of additional variables included the Work Environment Scales, and other job conditions such as repetitiveness, task significance, skill utilization, departmental cooperation, and job security. Staff support, autonomy, job involvement, and task clarity were found to significantly discriminate between low, medium, and high levels of both satisfaction and organizational commitment. Several of the additional job condition variables differentiated between employment type (seasonal vs. year round), thus implying that these other job conditions may influence employee ITQ through the mediating constructs of organizational commitment and job satisfaction.