Retention factors in relation to organisational commitment in medical and information technology services

<strong>Orientation:</strong> Retaining staff with scarce and critical skills in the medical and information technology (IT) industry has become a top priority because of skills shortages.<p><strong>Research purpose:</strong> The objectives of the study were to investi...

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Main Authors: Jeannette van Dyk, Melinde Coetzee
Format: Article
Language:English
Published: AOSIS 2012-02-01
Series:SA Journal of Human Resource Management
Subjects:
Online Access:http://www.sajhrm.co.za/index.php/sajhrm/article/view/433
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author Jeannette van Dyk
Melinde Coetzee
author_facet Jeannette van Dyk
Melinde Coetzee
author_sort Jeannette van Dyk
collection DOAJ
description <strong>Orientation:</strong> Retaining staff with scarce and critical skills in the medical and information technology (IT) industry has become a top priority because of skills shortages.<p><strong>Research purpose:</strong> The objectives of the study were to investigate empirically: (1) the relationship between employees’ satisfaction with organisational retention factors (measured by the Retention Factors Scale) and their organisational commitment (measured by the Organisational Commitment Questionnaire) and (2) whether gender, age, race and tenure groups differ significantly in terms of these variables.</p><p><strong>Motivation for the study:</strong> Medical and information technology professionals have specialised and hard to replace skills. They also have strong tendencies to leave their organisations and countries. Understanding the retention factors that will increase their organisational commitment may benefit the organisations who want to retain their valuable talent.</p><p><strong>Research design, approach and method:</strong> The researchers used a cross-sectional survey design to collect data from a purposive sample of 206 staff members who had scarce skills in a South African medical and information technology services company. Correlational and inferential statistics were computed to achieve the objectives.</p><p><strong>Main findings:</strong> The results showed that the participants’ satisfaction with retention factors has a significant relationship with their organisational commitment and that the biographical groups differ significantly in terms of the variables.</p><p><strong>Practical/managerial implications:</strong> The measured retention factors were all associated with human resource management practices that influence employees’ intentions to leave.</p><p><strong>Contribution/value-add:</strong> The results are important to managers who are interested in retaining staff who have scarce skills and provide valuable pointers for designing effective retention strategies.</p>
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spelling doaj.art-5b9188ee0f154f13904015c4821280642022-12-22T03:02:26ZengAOSISSA Journal of Human Resource Management1683-75842071-078X2012-02-01102e1e11255Retention factors in relation to organisational commitment in medical and information technology servicesJeannette van Dyk0Melinde Coetzee1Department of Industrial and Organisational Psychology, University of South AfricaDepartment of Industrial and Organisational Psychology, University of South Africa<strong>Orientation:</strong> Retaining staff with scarce and critical skills in the medical and information technology (IT) industry has become a top priority because of skills shortages.<p><strong>Research purpose:</strong> The objectives of the study were to investigate empirically: (1) the relationship between employees’ satisfaction with organisational retention factors (measured by the Retention Factors Scale) and their organisational commitment (measured by the Organisational Commitment Questionnaire) and (2) whether gender, age, race and tenure groups differ significantly in terms of these variables.</p><p><strong>Motivation for the study:</strong> Medical and information technology professionals have specialised and hard to replace skills. They also have strong tendencies to leave their organisations and countries. Understanding the retention factors that will increase their organisational commitment may benefit the organisations who want to retain their valuable talent.</p><p><strong>Research design, approach and method:</strong> The researchers used a cross-sectional survey design to collect data from a purposive sample of 206 staff members who had scarce skills in a South African medical and information technology services company. Correlational and inferential statistics were computed to achieve the objectives.</p><p><strong>Main findings:</strong> The results showed that the participants’ satisfaction with retention factors has a significant relationship with their organisational commitment and that the biographical groups differ significantly in terms of the variables.</p><p><strong>Practical/managerial implications:</strong> The measured retention factors were all associated with human resource management practices that influence employees’ intentions to leave.</p><p><strong>Contribution/value-add:</strong> The results are important to managers who are interested in retaining staff who have scarce skills and provide valuable pointers for designing effective retention strategies.</p>http://www.sajhrm.co.za/index.php/sajhrm/article/view/433affective commitmentcareer developmentcontinuance commitmentnormative commitmentretention factors
spellingShingle Jeannette van Dyk
Melinde Coetzee
Retention factors in relation to organisational commitment in medical and information technology services
SA Journal of Human Resource Management
affective commitment
career development
continuance commitment
normative commitment
retention factors
title Retention factors in relation to organisational commitment in medical and information technology services
title_full Retention factors in relation to organisational commitment in medical and information technology services
title_fullStr Retention factors in relation to organisational commitment in medical and information technology services
title_full_unstemmed Retention factors in relation to organisational commitment in medical and information technology services
title_short Retention factors in relation to organisational commitment in medical and information technology services
title_sort retention factors in relation to organisational commitment in medical and information technology services
topic affective commitment
career development
continuance commitment
normative commitment
retention factors
url http://www.sajhrm.co.za/index.php/sajhrm/article/view/433
work_keys_str_mv AT jeannettevandyk retentionfactorsinrelationtoorganisationalcommitmentinmedicalandinformationtechnologyservices
AT melindecoetzee retentionfactorsinrelationtoorganisationalcommitmentinmedicalandinformationtechnologyservices