Turnover intention among Indian police: Do organizational and community stressors matter?

Abstract

PurposeThis study investigates the influence of organizational (abusive supervision, organizational support, and interpersonal trust) and community (political interference and perceived crime rate) stressors on police turnover intention via the mediating role of burnout. MethodsA total of 492 police personnel from India participated in the study. Structured Equation Modeling (SEM) was performed for testing hypotheses. Additionally, a machine learning model was built to develop concurrent predictive capability for burnout and turnover intention. ResultsWhile abusive supervision and political interference positively influenced police turnover intention, co-worker trust, perceived organizational support and perceived crime rate negatively contributed to turnover intention. Burnout was found to significantly mediate the relationship between stressors and turnover intention. The machine learning model developed for the study that indicated an accuracy of 85% asserted that about 60% of the sample who suffered from burnout were also prone to developing a positive attitude towards turnover intention. ConclusionThis study is among the first to empirically explore the precursors to police turnover intention in India and establish the role of burnout in the turnover process. Based on the findings, the police organization can introduce and modify policies and practices to help control high employee turnover.