Telecommuter intent to leave

Abstract

Purpose – The purpose of the study was to examine the relationship between perceived leadership styles and telecommuter intent to leave an organization. Design/methodology/approach – A quantitative non-experimental design was used to examine the relationship between perceived leadership styles and telecommuter intent to leave an organization. In all, three leadership styles were examined: transactional, transformational, and laissez-faire. Telecommuters responded to a single online survey combining two validated survey instruments, the MLQ 5X Rater Form and the Staying or Leaving Index. Respondents were instructed to consider their current manager when responding to the survey. Findings – Linear regression results indicated a significant relationship between perceived transformational and telecommuter intent to leave an organization (F(1, 111)=34.36, p<0.001) suggesting the more a leader demonstrates a transformational leadership style, the more a telecommuter wants to leave the organization. Results indicated a significant negative relationship between perceived laissez-faire leadership style and intent to leave an organization (F(1, 111)=20.01, p<0.001) suggesting the more a leader demonstrates a laissez-faire leadership style, the less a telecommuter wants to leave the organization. No relationship existed between perceived transactional leadership style and telecommuter intent to leave an organization. Research limitations/implications – The data collected represents perception of leadership behavior vs actual leadership style. Further research should gather both perceived and actual leadership behavior. Research encompassing perceived and actual behaviors would allow for an assessment of the degree of convergence and assist in judging the accuracy of perceptual data. Practical implications – A relationship was found to exist between perceived transformational leadership style and telecommuter intent to leave an organization. A significant negative relationship was found to exist between perceived laissez-faire leadership style and telecommuter intent to leave an organization. No relationship was found to exist between perceived transactional leadership style and telecommuter intent to leave an organization. The findings were unexpected for all three leadership styles. Originality/value – Extending the study to gather actual leadership behavior instead of perceived behavior, expanding the populations to include greater diversity, and conducting the study as a longitudinal study to capture leadership over time are recommended for future research. Organizational leaders may wish to use the results of the study to aid their understanding of which leadership styles affect telecommuter intent to leave an organization.