Employee voice mechanisms, leadership styles, job satisfaction and academic staff turnover intentions in universities in Kenya

Abstract

Globally, managers are concerned about employee turnover, which has been a major problem facing many organizations. Global average universities' academic staff turnover intentions stand at 45%, far above10-15% considered normal by Human Resource Management (HRM) researchers. African universities continued to be seriously affected by brain drain, worsening the experienced high employee turnover. In Kenya, 68% of organizations experience a high employees turnover. Even though calls have been made towards stemming the high academic staff turnover in universities, the situation has continued to be experienced. Employee voice mechanisms can be considered a relevant intervention for addressing turnover. The purpose of this study was to determine the relationship between employee voice mechanisms and academic staff turnover intentions and the moderating effect of leadership style and job satisfaction on this relationship. The specific objectives were to determine the effect of employee voice mechanisms on academic staff turnover intentions; examine the effect of leadership styles on academic staff turnover intentions; examine the effect of employee job satisfaction on academic staff turnover intentions; assess the moderating effect of leadership styles on the relationship between employee voice mechanisms and academic staff turnover intentions; assess the moderating effect of job satisfaction on the relationship between employee voice mechanisms and academic staff turnover intentions and finally to analyse the joint of employee voice mechanisms, leadership style and job satisfaction on academic staff turnover intentions. The study hypotheses were derived from the stated objectives. The study was anchored on the Universalistic theory, Resource-based theory, Herzberg’s two-factor theory, Kaizen theory, Harvard model of HRM, Kurt Lewin model of leadership styles, and Unfolding model of voluntary turnover. The study was guided by positivism research philosophy and a descriptive cross sectional survey research design was used. The study population consisted of 17210 academic staff in Kenya universities from whom a sample of 364 was drawn. The study adopted a multistage sampling technique. Primary data was collected using a structured questionnaire administered through the drop and pick later method. Descriptive statistics were used to summarize the data into means and standard deviations. Inferential statistics employed regression analysis to test hypotheses and draw conclusions. The data was presented using tables, charts, and graphs. A pilot study was carried out amongst 37 respondents from Meru University. Reliability was established by the use of Cronbachs' Alpha coefficient. The study's findings established that employee voice mechanisms had a significantly negative influence on academic staff turnover intentions. Secondly, autocratic leadership style positively influences academic staff turnover intentions while democratic and laissez-faire leadership style negatively influences turnover intentions. Thirdly, employee job satisfaction had a significantly negative influence on academic staff turnover. Fourthly, autocratic leadership style moderated employee attitude surveys and academic staff turnover intentions only, and democratic leadership style moderated the relationship between employee representations and academic staff turnover intentions. Fifthly, supervision moderated employee representation and academic staff turnover intentions only, and pay and benefits moderated the relationship between employee representations and academic staff turnover intentions. Finally, the joint effect of employee voice mechanisms, leadership styles, and job satisfaction changed from negative to positive. The findings of the study offer insight into the situational positioning of employee voice mechanisms, leadership styles, and employee job satisfaction in Kenyan universities, as well as managerial and epistemological insights for scholars in HRM. The findings further contribute to theory, policy development and HRM practices. The research had a few limitations. The selection of the study variables was not exhaustive as it did not cover different psychological traits and personalities possessed by an employee that leads to varying job satisfaction. The use of a descriptive cross-sectional research design and single key-informant approach and linear regression statistical models put constraints on the generalizability of the results. Future research should address these limitations by including additional psychological traits, personalities, soft and hard HRM approaches using a longitudinal research design and more robust statistical techniques such as structural equation modelling.