Relationships among job satisfaction, organizational affective commitment and turnover intentions of university academicians in Tanzania

Abstract

Universities play a pivotal role in any country’s economic development goal by creating the required human capital, generating and preserving knowledge, and by offering technical advisory services to businesses and communities. Effective and efficient performance of this role depends largely on the quantity and quality of their satisfied and committed academic staff. Universities in Africa, Tanzania in particular, are suffering from low academic staff capacity. Yet such low capacity is further threatened by high rates of turnover. To manage this threat, universities need to manage not only the turnover of their academic staff but also their turnover intentions. Turnover intentions are the best predictor of actual turnover. Managing this threat requires among other things, an understanding of the predictors of turnover intentions. The purpose of this study was to analyze the relationship between two job attitudes (job satisfaction and affective commitment) and the behavioural outcome of turnover intentions. Data was collected through a survey administered on 300 academicians conveniently selected from five public universities in Tanzania and analysed through descriptive statistics, multiple regression analysis, and the Hayes’ Process Tool v.3.4.1. Both job satisfaction and affective commitment statistically negatively predicted turnover intentions, even after controlling for the influence of tenure and education qualifications. Affective commitment significantly but partially mediated the job satisfaction – turnover intentions relationship. It is therefore recommended that universities should have in place work systems that are pro-job satisfaction to reduce turnover intentions among the academicians. Moreover, coupling these efforts with measures capable of enhancing affective commitment adds value in managing turnover intentions.