The influence of psychological capital and self-leadership strategies on job embeddedness in the banking industry

Martha Harunavamwe,Petrus Nel,Daphne Pillay

doi:10.4102/sajhrm.v18i0.1294

Abstract

Orientation: The success of organisations depends on their ability to appoint, develop, sustain and retain skilled employees. Retaining a strongly committed workforce has become a top priority for most organisations in the financial service sector. Nurturing positive organisational behaviours and emotions helps retain employees, and this is key to lowering the risk of losing precious talent.Research purpose: The purpose of the study was to determine if self-leadership and psychological capital positively influence job embeddedness.Motivation for the study: The study was motivated by the sentiments from a study conducted by Nafei (2015) that indicated that traditional methods of reducing turnover have become ineffective. The focus on positive retention was however described as promising.Research approach/design and method: A cross-sectional quantitative survey was employed using self-administered questionnaires. The sample comprised 303 banking sector employees. Data were analysed using SmartPLS.Main findings: Self-leadership strategies (constructive thought patterns, behavioural strategies and natural rewards) through psychological resources (hope, optimism and self-efficacy) positively influenced job embeddedness.Practical/managerial implications: The banking industry that seeks to retain employees may invest in increasing levels of job embeddedness, which can be achieved through enhancing psychological resources and utilising self-leadership strategies.Contribution/value add: The findings provide preliminary insights that contribute to the body of knowledge concerned with positive organisational behaviour and retention in the fields of industrial and organisational psychology in the South African context.

Highlights

Organisations worldwide have invested billions of dollars and time to address turnover challenges
Studies have been conducted on employee turnover (Zhao & Liu, 2010), and evidence indicates that the turnover crisis in banks may be reduced by effectively exploring the concept of job embeddedness (JE) (Yavas, Babakus, & Karatepe, 2008)
The current study explored the role of JE, SL and psychological capital (PsyCap) amongst employees in the banking sector

Summary

Introduction

Organisations worldwide have invested billions of dollars and time to address turnover challenges. Irrespective of all the efforts, businesses still struggle to retain talent (Biggane, Allen, Amis, Fugate, & Steinbauer, 2017). The difficulties in attracting, sustaining and retaining qualified employees have become a painful reality. A total of 86% of employers noted that attracting new skilled employees has become a nightmare, and 58% stated the difficulty associated with sustaining and convincing skilled employees to remain in the organisation for long, at the same time highlighting the high costs involved in hiring new employees (Biggane, Allen, & Albert, 2016). A construct developed from a broader perspective in response to traditional turnover models (Moses & Knutsen, 2012), investigates on-the-job and off-the-job http://www.sajhrm.co.za

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