Working to leave or living to work?: Employees’ quality work life factors and its impact on turnover intention

Turnover intentions should be seriously viewed by top management as it corresponds to actual action or decision of leaving the job. Employees’ loss has detrimental effect on the performance and lucrativeness of the organization. If employees are satisfied with their quality of work life, turnover intentions can be prevented. Thus, this study was conducted to determine through a quantitative research design whether the quality of work life factors (development, participation, compensation, supervision, and working environment) has a negative impact on turnover intentions of employees in a select private Higher Education Institution (HEI) in the Philippines. Purposive sampling was utilized among 152 teaching and non-teaching employees who accomplished the questionnaire which includes the quality of work life factors scale and Turnover Intention Scale (TIS-6). Data were analyzed using descriptive analysis, Pearson correlation coefficient and multiple regression analysis. Findings revealed that quality of work life significantly predicts turnover intentions; however, it was found out that among the five factors, only development, compensation, and working environment were significant with turnover intentions. In addition, only compensation and work environment negatively predicted turnover intentions, while in contrast, development positively predicted turnover intentions of employees. In conclusion, when employees believe they are underpaid and work in a hazardous and unpleasant workplace, they are more likely to want to leave. The implications could provide information to management and the human resource department, allowing them to focus on key aspects that could minimize the institution's employee turnover rate. Finally, in order to reduce employee turnover, it is suggested that the institution focus on developing and implementing compensation and work environment policies and programs. Received : February 2, 2022 Revised : April 2, 2022 Accepted : April 18, 2022 K E Y W O R D S Compensation, Development, Quality of work life, Turnover intentions, Work environment Suggested Citation (APA Style 7 th Edition): Cruz, L.M. , Sengco, B.T. S & Gadin, N.P. (2022). Working to leave or living to work? : Employees’ quality work life factors and its impact on turnover intention. International Research Journal of Science, Technology, Education, and Management, 2(1), 15-25. https://doi.org/10.5281/zenodo.6496738 International Research Journal of Science, Technology, Education, and Management Volume 2, No. 2 | April 2022 16 https://irjstem.com INTRODUCTION Employees are the most valuable asset of an organization; hence their loss would have a detrimental effect on the organization's performance and profitability. It is therefore critical for any organization to devote considerable attention to them. Employees must be contented with their occupations in order to stay with the organization for an extended period of time (Jha, 2009). However, some employees intend to leave the organization in search of a more favorable opportunity. As a result, the immediate threat of employee turnover to a company is the employee replacement costs associated with recruiting, hiring, and training new employees. Similarly, the negative consequences would be the disruption of the organization's function, resulting in decreasing performance and unfulfilled daily functions (Schlechter et al., 2016). Indeed, turnover is a significant problem for organizations due to today's intense global competition, particularly in the area of human resource management. Therefore, an employee's turnover intention could be utilized as a strategy to prevent turnover since it frequently predicts the employee's actual quitting behavior within the organization (Windon et al., 2019). Employees are essential to an organization's success, and as such, they should be valued, as there are several costs associated with the loss of an employee, whether direct or indirect. The various expenditures may include those associated with recruiting, selection, and training. Thus, in order to maximize the return on investment made in employees, it is critical to focus on lowering employee turnover rates, as this acts to demotivate the current employees and also results in a loss for the company (Jha, 2009). However, the duration of an employee's tenure at an organization is unpredictable due to a variety of factors. Individuals will alter or leave their jobs and organizations to the extent that it is convenient for them. The intention to leave a job or organization is a necessary condition for leaving, which is frequently referred to as turnover intention (Belete, 2018). Turnover intention can be defined as an employee's desire to leave the organization. These intentions are statement that concerns specific conduct of behavior (Mosadeghrad, 2013). In addition, the turnover intention is the likelihood that an individual plans to leave or change jobs voluntarily within a specified time period which results in a real turnover. With this, it is identified that the intention to leave is the best predictor of their actual departure (Windon et al., 2019). Therefore, turnover intention can be used to determine the likelihood of personnel leaving the organization, and this enables the identification of opportunities to reduce overall turnover. Indeed, that most of the time, an employee’s life is spent on their jobs, so it is important that organizations must take strategic measures to reduce the turnover intentions. Therefore, a more attractive environment and a better quality of work life are critical to attracting and retaining qualified professionals in order to maintain a competitive edge over other organizations. Quality of work life refers to an employee’s contentment with their working life. It emphasizes the quality of the relationship between the employees and the working environment (Raduan et al., 2006). Quality of work life is a multidimensional notion that encompasses a variety of factors that have an effect on how people perform their jobs and are also evaluated when determining the quality of work life. It motivates people to perform effectively, and enhancing employees' quality of life is a necessary condition for increasing their productivity (Adhikari and Gautam, 2010). Therefore, the management is expected to have a thorough understanding of the concept of quality of work life and how it relates to employee well-being. For the organization, quality of work life will be one of the aspects that contribute to efforts to develop high productivity and reduce employees' desire to leave the company (Afsar et al., 2014). In addition, Walton (1975) pioneered the concept of quality of work life and initially proposed categorizing it into eight distinct dimensions. Nonetheless, other research redefined the aspects of quality of work life in a variety of ways. In this research, the five factors of the quality of work life adapted from the study of Adikoeswanto et al. (2020) to be analyzed are the development, participation, compensation, supervision, and work environment. Given that the study was done in Asia, it is strongly believed that the same factors would apply in the context of the Philippines because it holds a similar working culture. International Research Journal of Science, Technology, Education, and Management Volume 2, No. 2 | April 2022 17 https://irjstem.com The operational definition of the five factors of the quality of work life are as follows: Development refers to formal training and education, work experience, relationships, and personality assessments, as well as skills and abilities that assist employees in preparing for future jobs and positions that can be used for long-term personal and professional growth (Jehanzeb and Mohanty, 2018). Participation is a process through which employees take control of their work and engage in conditions that include their engagement in work-related decisions (Khalid and Nawab, 2018). Employees share their task-related decision-making authority with their superiors through this approach. Compensation can be described as the type of income and financial benefits obtained by employees as a result of their employment connection, and it is classified as direct such as salaries, overtime pay, and bonuses and indirect compensation such as insurance plans, educational help, reimbursements, and other benefits (Ogunnaike et al., 2016). Supervision is the total amount of helpful social interactions accessible in a supervised workplace. It is the manifestation of goodwill and positive feelings, as well as the relationship of trust and empathy demonstrated by superiors in a positive social environment (Orgambídez and Almeida, 2020). Work Environment refers to the organizational culture in which employees perform their duties. It is associated with the organizational climate in which employees accomplish their jobs in a conducive and safe work environment that can attract people since their demands are addressed (Hanaysha, 2016). Consequently, even educational institutions such as Dr. Carlos S. Lanting College, which has been in service to a diverse population of learners for over 37 years, have experienced an increasing five percent of inevitable turnover based on the overall population of the teaching and non-teaching employees during the previous years. In order to withstand these intentions, the company should establish a suitable quality of work life that meets the physiological, psychological, social, and economic needs of their employees (Akar, 2018). In which there are five factors that influence the quality of work life, namely development, participation, compensation, supervision, and work environment (Adikoeswanto et al., 2020). With this, the person-organization fit theory by Jennifer Chatman (1989) will be applied, as it addresses the similarity and congruence of an individual and the organization as a whole. This includes the