Links between high-performance workplace practices and turnover intent: An exploration of the relationship between workplace practices, embeddedness and career stage using moderated mediation

High staff turnover in the workplace has been known in psychological and business literature to negatively impact organisation performance and staff wellbeing. Recent research into staff turnover has sought to explore the organisational and community factors that act to keep employees engaged in their current roles, and Job Embeddedness Theory (JET), has emerged to explore and understand these reasons. JET has been shown to be causally linked to organisational outcomes such as turnover, staff productivity and job satisfaction. The present study aims to explore the role of organisational embeddedness in mediating the relationship between workplace human resource practices and staff turnover, and thus further explore the impact of workplace strategy, policy and procedure in retaining staff. This study comprehensively evaluated the links between High-Performance Work Practices (HPWP) and individual turnover intent, utilising a moderated-mediation research model. Results based on an Australian sample of 274 employees indicate that some clusters of HPWPs, primarily skills/ability-enhancing practices, have a statistically significant impact on staff turnover intent. These effects are observed to occur directly and via the mediating role of job embeddedness. Results suggest that workplace human resources practices act to increase job embeddedness and in turn, reduce turnover. However, further research in these areas is required to understand the mechanisms by which these outcomes occur