The Role of Organizational Commitment and Citizenship Behaviors in Understanding Relations between Human Resources Practices and Turnover Intentions of IT Personnel

Patrick Lalonde, Guy Paré and Michel Tremblay

CIRANO Working Papers from CIRANO

Abstract: The primary objective of this study is to present and test an integrated model of turnover intentions which addresses the unique nature of the information technology (IT) profession. It identifies a multidimensional set of human resources (HR) practices likely to increase retention among IT employees. It also considers organizational citizenship behaviors and two distinct types of organizational commitment as key antecedents of turnover intentions. A second goal is to explore the moderating effects of organizational commitment and citizenship behaviors on HR practices-turnover intention relationships. A questionnaire was developed and sent to the Québec members of the Canadian Information Processing Society. Data from 394 respondents were used to validate the measures and test the research model. Findings reveal that IT specialists are particularly sensitive to four types of HR policies and practices: distributive justice, competence development, empowerment, and recognition. Results also provide additional support for the generalizability of the two-component model of organizational commitment in the IT context. This study is the first to show that the effects of various HR practices on turnover intentions among IT specialists depend upon the nature of their commitment to the organization. Similarly, we found that citizenship behaviors not only mediate but also moderate HR practicesturnover intention relationships. Implications of these results for practice and research are discussed. Dans cette étude, nous présentons et testons un modèle de recherche portant sur la rétention des spécialistes en TI. Ce modèle examine les relations entre diverses pratiques de GRH, les comportements discrétionnaires, l'engagement organisationnel et les intentions de quitter des spécialistes en TI. Un questionnaire fût développé et envoyé aux membres de la Fédération de l'Informatique du Québec (FIQ). Les données de 394 questionnaires ont servi aux fins d'analyses statistiques. Les résultats de cette étude révèlent que les spécialistes en TI au Québec sont particulièrement sensibles à quatre types de pratiques de GRH, soit: la justice distributive, la reconnaissance non-monétaire, le développement des compétences professionnelles et la responsabilisation. Notre étude est également la toute première à démontrer clairement que l'impact des pratiques de GRH sur l'intention de quitter des spécialistes en TI dépend à la fois du niveau d'engagement et de mobilisation des employés. Nos résultats confirment enfin l'importance relative de deux formes distinctes d'engagement organisationnel (affectif et continu) dans un tel contexte. Sur la base des résultats obtenus, nous faisons une série de recommandations aux hauts dirigeants.

Keywords: IS staffing issues; IS turnover; HRM practices; Gestion du personnel en TI; roulement du personnel en TI; pratiques de GRH (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2001-03-01
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Citations: View citations in EconPapers (3)

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Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:cir:cirwor:2001s-24

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