Moderating Role of Organizational Commitment between Communication Satisfaction and Turnover Intentions Among Nurses

Received 10 Jan, 2014

Accepted 02 Apr, 2014

Published 30 Jun, 2014

Aim of the present study was to investigate the relationship of communication satisfaction and turnover intentions and to explore the moderating role of organizational commitment in relationship of two variables. The sample of 120 nurses was taken from government and private hospitals of Rawalpindi and Islamabad. Turnover intention was measured by Turnover Intentions Scale (O’Driscoll & Beeher, 1994), while Organizational Commitment Scale (Cook & Wall, 1980) was used to measure organizational commitment, and level of communication satisfaction of nurses was assessed by Communication Satisfaction Questionnaire (Downs & Hazen, 1977). It was hypothesized that communication satisfaction was inversely correlated with turnover intentions and organizational commitment play a moderating role in the relationship of communication satisfaction and turnover intentions. Results revealed that communication satisfaction with co-workers, supervisors, and upper management has negative relationship with turnover intentions. Results also showed that organizational commitment has a significant moderating role in the relationship of communication satisfaction and turnover intentions.

Health care industry is facing a high turnover rate of nursing which ultimately causes shortage of nurses that negatively affects the performance of an organization because it interrupts the continuous care of a patient (Laschinger, Purdy, & Cho, 2006). Turnover is a gradual process of employees’ departure from their current position to another. It could be voluntary or involuntary which can be triggered by internal or external factors. Internal factors can be personal characteristics such as age, education, gender, and marital status while external factors can be work related factors, including years of working experience, work load, work schedule and social support (Watrous, Huffman, & Pritchard, 2006). Besides these, an important external factor that contributes high in turnover intention is communication satisfaction. Communication satisfaction is an employee's personal satisfaction that built-in by successfully communicating to someone or being successfully communicated by others in an organization (Downs & Adrian, 2004). It has been indicated in literature that organizations that are practicing good communication, can facilitate their employees to successfully complete their tasks, creates a groovy work environment, and increases job satisfaction which at long last decrease the turnover intentions (Ballard & Seibold, 2006).

A well informed nurse, who is satisfied with the supervisory communication, can better understand its job requirements and work goals. She can contribute more to the success of an organization and it is an important variable to consider in predicting the turnover intentions. Communication can be formal in which information regarding job tasks, transferred from managers to employees or it can be informal communication between co-workers and supervisors. Co-workers usually spend more time with each other as compared to the supervisor and higher management authorities. Their mutual communication appears to be an important factor that impart on employee's turnover intentions. If an employee is dissatisfied with peer communication, he or she can develop intentions to leave the organization. But being satisfied with supervisor plays an equally important role in a person holding a job (Scott et al., 1999).

Therefore, better communicators create an optimal work environment and that is the reason some organizations often exposed their managers and employees to the importance of communication but unfortunately they do not practically implement effective communication practices. They are not aware of the consequences of communication problems to their organizations. It has been observed that working environment, relationship with supervisor and work experience lead to the employee's satisfaction and reduce turnover intentions (Spector, 2000). When the communication and information sharing decreases, diminishes or is less accurate, it effects the quality of the supervisor-subordinate relationship that causing employees to be isolate themselves from the supervisor and more likely to desire employment elsewhere in higher quality relationships (Sias, 2005). Sometimes managers reported that they have done their best to communicate their prospects to employees but their employees might not be satisfied with the way they communicated. Hence tasks could not be completed when communication quality had been low. If the information provided to employee is not sufficient then employee will not feel involved, and committed to the organization, and sooner or later he will show the intentions to leave the organization (Ehlers, 2003; Johlke & Duhan, 2000).

Nurses are also similar to the employees of any other organization so favorable supportive supervisor-nurse relationships can satisfy nurses’ needs for self esteem, affiliation, respect, and approval called socio-emotional needs. Supervisory support and communication satisfaction has a positive effect on organizational commitment (Al-Hussaini, 2008; Laschinger et al., 2006). Organizational commitment is a bond or linking between an employee and organization, when organizational theme becomes employee’s identification and involvement (Beecroft, Dorey, & Wenten, 2008; Borkowski, Amann, Song, & Weiss, 2007; Chen, Chu, Wang, & Lin, 2008; Lynn & Redman, 2005). There are three major types of organizational commitment: Firstly, identification; when employee feels emotional attachment, and identify himself with organization and its contents is also called affective commitment. Secondly, involvement; when employee has some fear of losing work and wants to retain to get economic benefits from an organization, its also called continuous commitment and finally loyalty; when employee feel responsibility to their organization to make it successful is also called normative commitment (Meyer & Allen 1990).

The emotional bond between a supervisor and employee, who exhibit a high quality relationship can enhance the employee's loyalty and belongingness (affective commitment), therefore they want to continue with same organization which may lead to fewer turnovers (Hopper, 2009; Rhoades & Eisenberger, 2002). Continuous commitment would be stronger if employees have good quality relationship with other co-workers and supervisors. So all three components of organizational commitment play a vital role in retention of an employee in an organization they want to, they need to or they ought to (Yavuz, 2010). A consistent negative correlation had been observed between organizational commitment and nurses' turnover intentions reported by researchers in different countries such as United States, Canada, Taiwan, and Australia. Results of meta-analysis also showed that these three types of organizational commitment were significantly negatively correlated with the turnover intentions (Meyer, Stanley, Herscovitch, & Topolnytsky, 2002). Furthermore it has been proved that organizational commitment plays a moderating role between communication satisfaction and turnover intentions and correlation between these two variables significantly increase by the inclusion of moderating variable (Griffeth & Hom, 2001).

Nurses start and leave their jobs in organizations for many different reasons and there is not a single quick solution that can reduce turnover intentions. Nurses in Pakistan also have high turnover intentions due to lack of pay satisfaction and financial benefits, as well as violence and harassment at workplace. Chaos can be seen on media and this all happens due to dearth of satisfactory communication between employees and managements. Researches found that pay satisfaction and secure work environment are important factors for organizational commitment and low turnover intentions (Somani & Khowaja, 2012). But the knowledge regarding communication satisfaction and turnover intention among nurses was ignored. In these circumstances it was important to explore the role of organizational communication to enhance nurses’ retention in healthcare settings. So the current study explored the factors related to communication that contribute to nurses’ intent to turnover. Findings of the study will be helpful for the development of policies and procedures that create healthy, cooperative and satisfactory work environment for nurses. Results of this study will also provide basic information for nurse administrators in developing appropriate strategies to enhance organizational commitment among nurses in Pakistan.

Hypotheses
Based on literature review, following hypotheses were formulated;

1. Communication satisfaction is positively correlated with organizational commitment.
2. Communication satisfaction and organizational commitment are negatively correlated with turnover intention.
3. Organizational commitment moderates the relationship of communication satisfaction and turnover intentions.
4. Nurses with more work experience will be more committed to organization and score low on turnover intentions than those who have less work experience.

METHOD

Sample
The sample comprised of 120 female nurses selected from government and private hospitals of Rawalpindi and Islamabad. Convenient sampling technique was used to collect data. The age range of sample was 20 to 35 years (M =27, SD = 2.45) with 10 to 14 years of education. 8.3% (n = 10) of nurses reported 10 years of education (they were doing nursing diploma after matriculation and working part time or as trainee in some of hospitals), 53.3% (n = 64) reported 12 years of education, and 38.3% (n = 46) reported 14 years of education.

Measures
Turnover Intention Scale. Turnover Intentions Scale developed by O’Driscoll and Beeher (1994). It has three items “Thought about quitting my job cross my mind” rated on a 6-point response options ranging from not at all to all the time. “I plan to look for a new job within the next 12 months” measured on 6-point scale from strongly disagree to strongly agree; and, “how likely is it that, over the years, you will actively look for a new job outside this firm” measures on a 6-point response scale ranging from very unlikely to very likely. Alpha coefficient of the scale for the current study was found to be .85.

Organizational Commitment Scale. Organizational Commitment Scale was developed by Cook and Wall (1980). There were 9 items in this scale with three subtypes of organizational commitment: identification (pride in the organization: the internalization of the organization's goals and values), involvement (psychological absorption in the activities of one's role), and loyalty (affection or a sense of belongingness to the organization and a wish to stay with it). Item number 2, 3, and 8 were negatively phrased and reverse coded in analysis. Items were rated on 7-point scale which ranged between 1(strongly disagree) to 7(strongly agree). For the present study, alpha coefficient of .79 was achieved for this scale.

Communication Satisfaction Questionnaire. Communication Satisfaction Questionnaire was developed by Downs and Hazen (1977). This scale included eight dimensions of communication which were: subordinate communication, horizontal communication, personal feedback, communication climate, supervisor communication, media quality, job-related communication, and management communication. There were 40 items in the Communication Satisfaction Questionnaire, five items in each dimension. Items were rated on a 7-point Likert scale that ranges from 1(very dissatisfied) to 7 (very satisfied). Alpha coefficient of this scale for the present study was found to be .93. Three additional items were found in the instrument about the employees’ level of job satisfaction in general therefore these items were not included in this study. Furthermore the current study was a quantitative study and these were open ended questions.

Procedure
Sample was approached after getting permission from the hospital's authorities. Consent form was taken from the participants and only those nurses were included who fulfilled the inclusion criteria and voluntarily participated in the research. Purpose and intention of the study was explained to each respondent. The respondents were instructed to complete the questionnaires as honestly as possible and make sure to give response on every item of each questionnaire. It was assured to them that all the given information would remain confidential and would be used only for the research and academic purpose. There was no time limit for the completion of questionnaires as they were allowed to complete these questionnaires on their ease. After the completion of questionnaires, it was inspected for missing data.

RESULTS

The present study was aimed at investigating the moderating role of organizational commitment in the relationship between communication satisfaction and turnover intentions among nurses. In order to achieve the objectives of present study mean, standard deviations, and the alpha reliability coefficients of the instruments were obtained as a preliminary step. To test the hypotheses, Pearson Product Moment correlation, hierarchical regression, and one way ANOVA was conducted.

Table 1:	Correlation Matrix among Communication Satisfaction, Organizational Commitment and Turnover Intentions (N = 120)
*p < .05, **p < .01

Table 1 presents the correlation matrix among communication satisfaction, organizational commitment, and turnover intentions among nurses. Results suggested that communication satisfaction has significant negative relationship with turnover intentions while it has a positive relationship with organizational commitment. Results also showed that organization commitment has significant negative relationship with turnover intentions.

Table 2:	Hierarchical Regression Analysis of Communication Satisfaction and Organizational Commitment as Predictors of Turnover Intentions
Step 1, R2=.020, Adjusted R2=.044, F = 17.77 Step 2, R2=.467, AdjustedR2 =.249, F = 12.22 ∆ R2 = .44

Table 2 shows that in model 1 communication satisfaction as a predictor has non significant negative effect (β = -.05, t =.51, p > .05) whereas organizational commitment has significant negative effect (β = -.48, t = 5.68, p < .001) on turnover intentions. This model accounted for 2% of the variance in turnover intentions (R² =.02, F =17.77). Second model accounted for 46.7% variance (R² =.467, F = 12.22) in turnover intentions that could be attributed to communication satisfaction (β = -.32, t = 3.39, p < .05) and organizational commitment (β = -.68, t = 5.50, p < .001). Furthermore, results showed that interaction of communication satisfaction and organizational commitment has increased the significant negative effect on turnover intentions indicating that organizational commitment significantly moderate (β = -.54, t = 5.67, p < .000) the relationship of communication satisfaction and turn over intentions.

Table 3:	Means, Standard Deviation and F-values of Turnover Intention, Organizational Commitment and its Subscales on Three Levels of Work Tenure
Between group df =2; within group df = 117; groups total df = 119

Table 3 showed significant mean differences on turnover intentions, organizational commitment and its two sub scales that is those nurses who have spent more time in an organization have less turnover intentions and they are more committed, involved, loyal, and identify themselves with their organization.

DISCUSSION

The major aim of the study was to found the relationship between communication satisfaction and turnover intention and to explore the effect of organizational commitment as moderator between these two variables among nurses. Results of the study revealed that communication satisfaction is positively correlated to organizational commitment while these two constructs are negatively correlated to turnover intentions. Chen, Silverthorne, and Hung (2006) found that continuous and open communication leads to higher organizational commitment and ultimately reduce absenteeism and turnover. Supervisors can motivate their employees by effective and good quality of communication because communication is a powerful tool between immediate supervisor and employee. It can help to enhance the employee's vision about tasks and future direction to contribute in the success of an organization (Eisenberg & Goodall, 2004). Departmental communication plays an important role in job satisfaction and less turnover intentions. Josephson, Lindberg, Voss, Alfredsson, and Vingård (2008) reported that increased turnover and absenteeism among nurses occurred when they are not satisfied with communication with their supervisors. Moreover, the immediate supervisor is an important determinate of an employee’s commitment to the organization as they communicate from top management to the employees about the values and goals of the organization (Downs, Adrian, & Ticehurst, 2002). This communication includes job related tasks, feed back, encouragements, and hearing the subordinates’ personal and occupational problems. So the interaction between employees and managers affirm the employees’ involvement in the organization that reduces the turnover intentions while working in the organization (Anderson & Martin, 1995).

Prior researches showed that a high level of trust in a subordinate supervisor relationship shapes the employee's positive attitude towards the organization. If employees are not effectively communicated or actively involved in decision making process, they will think little of their job and organization. Therefore, an employee who is satisfied with communication and work environment is more committed to his job (Adrian & Ticehurst, 2001). According to the Becker’s (1992) side bet theory, an employee will be committed to an organization when he has high quality supervisor subordinate relationship. On the other hand poor relationship could lead to mistrust which makes employees low committed to their organization and result as turnover intentions (Sias, 2005).

Results of the current study had also confirmed that organizational commitment significantly moderates the relationship of communication satisfaction and turnover intentions. Those nurses who were committed to their organization had less turn over intentions. It is supported by previous researches as Thatcher, Stepina, and Boyle (2003) found organizational commitment as one of the most important antecedent to turnover intention. Similarly, Nogueras (2006) found that organizational commitment was a strong predictor of both intent to turnover and intent to leave the nursing profession. In another study examining organizational commitment and intent to turnover among nurse practitioners, Ferreira (2007) reported that organizational commitment significantly predicts the turnover only for male nurse practitioners.

Findings of the study also confirmed that there is significant positive correlation between work tenure and organizational commitment among nurses. Long period is associated with many benefits such as salary, good pension, high increment, more vacations and furthermore longer they work in an organization, they developed a sense of belongingness and they feel as part of that organization. An employee also psychologically attracted to an organization through feelings such as loyalty, affection, and identification, which strengthen with passage of time and one becomes more committed towards organization. Furthermore, turnover intentions significantly reduced with the increase of work tenure. It is due the reason that the new employees start the experience and they are also strange for the organization so they are less attached while those who spent many years of their life in an organization they developed attachment to the organization (Jahangir & Shokrpour, 2009; Kuokkanen, Leino-Kilpi, & Katajisto, 2003). An organization's productivity can be greatly affected by employees' commitment, low turnover and positive organizational support. It can be concluded that employee's turnover intentions can be reduced by communication satisfaction and creating supportive work environment for making employees happy and satisfactory.

LIMITATIONS AND RECOMMENDATIONS

The sample of nurses who participated in this study may not accurately represent the national nursing population because it has been taken from only two cities of Pakistan. It is recommended to increase and diverse the sample size to achieve more concrete results. Moreover it was decided to take only female nurses because prior literature shows that males are historically underrepresented in the nursing literature(e.g., Goolsby, 2005; Sochalski, 2002). Absence of male representation does not affect the result but in future studies male nurses can also be included to compare gender differences on turnover intentions.

Moreover, it has not been distinguished between turnover intentions and actual turnover in the present study. Turnover intention is a cognitive factor in which one thinks about leaving a job as items of the turnover intention scale showed “plan to look” for job while actual turnover is behavioral factor in which one leaves the job. There could be difference in turnover intention and actual turnover rate of an organization because many employees think to leave the job but they do not do it actually for many internal or environmental reasons.

Economic issue is one of those factors which inhibit to covert employees turnover intentions to actual turnover which was also neglected in this research. Most of the nurses can not leave their jobs when they do not have any good opportunities to get another one especially in countries like Pakistan where unemployment is very common. They keep on continue with their jobs even when they are not satisfied with environment or relationship with their supervisor. In future researches one should consider other factors that influence turnover intentions.

IMPLICATIONS

Results of the current study can be helpful for practicing managers in making strategies to reduce turnover rate among nurses. They should effectively improve the communication system within organizations so that reducing cost of losing employees. In the same way organizational commitment is important for organizations because it seems to boost organizational performance. This is the study that has examined the moderating role of organizational commitment between communication satisfaction and turnover intentions. Cultivating and enhancing organizational commitment and improving communication between supervisor and subordinates can retain employees in organizations.

CONCLUSION

The objective of the study was to investigate the relationship of communication satisfaction and turnover intentions and to explore the moderating role of organizational commitment between these two variables. Results of the study showed there was positive relationship between communication satisfaction and organizational commitment. Communication satisfaction is negatively correlated with turnover intentions and organizational commitment significantly moderates this relation. It has been concluded that those nurse, who are satisfied with the communication at work place which included feed back from supervisor, communication with colleagues, smooth sharing of job and personal problems, are more committed to their organization, Furthermore organizational commitment increased with time. Employees feel more attachment with the organization as time goes because they spent years of their lives in that institute and they have less turnover intentions because they became loyal and satisfied with the organization. Nursing profession is hectic and stressed so they need more comfortable work environment to perform their duties and they also deserve equal right like other employees who are working in other organizations, e.g., wages and benefits, suitable working environment, acknowledgment and promotion opportunities. The current study is valuable in understanding the problems of nurses especially regarding communication and to enhance organizational commitment.

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