Staying power: factors influencing knowledge worker retention

Purpose Employee retention, especially among knowledge workers, poses a significant challenge for global organizations. This study aims to investigate the organizational factors influencing knowledge workers’ intent to stay (ITS) within a company. Drawing on Social Exchange Theory (SET) and the Resource-Based View (RBV) of the firm, the authors propose that distributive fairness, growth opportunities, job complexity, person-organization (P-O) fit and virtuous leadership significantly impact ITS. Design/methodology/approach Data was collected from 235 employees of a South Korean telecom company, with hierarchical multiple regression analyses used to test the hypotheses. The majority of respondents were highly educated knowledge workers (97%) in their 30 s (44%) and 40 s (50%). Findings The findings indicate that distributive fairness, growth opportunities and job complexity positively influence ITS. Moreover, P-O fit moderates the relationship between these predictors and ITS, enhancing the retention effect. Virtuous leadership also plays a crucial moderating role, particularly in the relationship between growth opportunities and ITS. Research limitations/implications This study’s limitations include cross-sectional design hindering causal inferences, reliance on self-reported data introducing biases and a single-company sample limiting generalizability. Future research should adopt longitudinal designs, multisource methods and diverse sampling to enhance robustness and broaden applicability. Practical implications The results underscore the importance of aligning organizational values and leadership practices with employee expectations to foster a committed and stable workforce. Effective retention of knowledge workers can be facilitated through initiatives such as leadership development programs and the implementation of pertinent HR practices, including learning and development opportunities, job redesign and an equitable reward system. Originality/value This study contributes to the literature by integrating leadership, organizational justice, job design and P-O fit theories, offering practical insights for HR practices aimed at retaining key knowledge workers. Notably, the study unveils the moderating effect of P-O fit on the relationship between HR practices and retention. Additionally, this study introduced the concept of virtuous leadership, which had received limited exploration in prior research. The moderating role of virtuous leadership indicates that leadership qualities can amplify the effect of growth opportunities on retention.