The moderating effects of demographic characteristics and certain psychological factors on the job embeddedness – turnover relationship among Thai health-care employees

Purpose This paper aims to investigate the roles of demographic characteristics (i.e. generations and organizational tenure) and psychological factors (i.e. leader-member exchange and self-efficacy) as moderators of the relationship between job embeddedness and turnover intention, and the mediating effect of turnover intention between job embeddedness and actual turnover. Design/methodology/approach Data were collected from 422 health-care workers through a questionnaire survey and analyzed by means of a confirmatory factor analysis and hierarchical regression. Findings The results reveal that less embedded employees who perceive a lower level of leader–member exchange quality are more likely to indicate an intention to leave. The negative relationship between job embeddedness and turnover intention is stronger among less embedded employees with high self-efficacy. The finding also indicates that turnover intention plays a significant mediating role in the relationship between job embeddedness and actual turnover. Research limitations/implications The current research took place within two health-care organizations. Replicating the study in a variety of industries, professions or cultures would be useful for the generalizability of the findings. Practical implications Organizations may improve their retention of employees by nurturing the leader–member exchange relationship to enhance a social web that bonds them together. Managers may need to pay attention to making a greater effort to embed individuals in their jobs, so that they are better able to cope successfully with challenges and organize the workday to accommodate them. Originality/value This study examines the moderating roles of individual characteristics and psychological factors on the relationship between job embeddedness and turnover intention, which has not been extensively investigated in the literature.