Employee retention and perceived supervisor support: A study of “knowledge workers” in Argentina

Previous research has studied both organizational and personal factors related to employee retention (ER). Learning, working climate, personal factors (i.e., high potential employees, level of education, age, gender), have been analyzed in their relationship with employee retention. Employees develop global beliefs regarding the extent to which they perceive the organizations (and supervisors’ acts as an agent of the organization) value their contributions and are concerned about their well being. These beliefs, which affect the commitment of the employees to the organization, have implications on retention (Eisenberg et al, 2002). In the context of high global competition for talent attraction, “employee retention” has been seen as a critical source for organizations in order to maintain knowledge advantages. The present study has two objectives: 1) to validate a Spanish version of an Employee Retention questionnaire designed in Belgium (Kyndt et al., 2009) to analyze the relationships between Employee Retention and Perceived Supervisor Support (PSS). A sample of 557 workers from different private organizations (in Argentina), ages between 18 and 64 (M= 32.28; SD0 9.881), both genders (Female= 53%) participated in the study. Two instruments, the Employee Retention questionnaire (Spanish version, Musso, Kyndt, Cascallar & Garay, s/f) to measure employee retention factors, and one scale of Perceived Organizational Support (Eisenberg et al., 1986) were applied. Exploratory Factor Analyses resulted in a four-factor model: Appreciation, Stimulation and Development (α = .915); Learning Attitude (α = .758); Pressure of work (α = .791); and Leadership skills (α = .699). ANOVA results showed a significant effect of PSS on employee retention (p= .001). Results of a multiple stepwise regression resulted in a model that explained 41% of the variance of ER, with a significant positive influence of appreciation/stimulation (t=4.569, p<.001, β=.637), a significant negative influence of number of children (t=-3.320, p<.002, β= -.778), and a significant positive influence of age on ER (t=2.462, p<.02, β=.569). These findings are consistent with previous research. An organization where an appreciative approach prevails (i.e., recognition, leadership) and where leaders demonstrate concern about their subordinates becomes an organization where people choose to stay.status: accepte