Skip to main content
SpringerLink
Log in

Investigating the Reasons for Turnover Intention of Workers in the Spinning and Weaving Industries in Iran

  • Original Article
  • Published:
Corporate Reputation Review Aims and scope Submit manuscript

Abstract

Employee turnover causes significant cost to firms, both economically and otherwise. Knowing and understanding the reasons for employee turnover would help firms to reduce the same, and in the process, lessen costs significantly. This study aims to understand the role of various job stressors (i.e., role ambiguity, role conflict, work overload, work–family conflict) in predicting the turnover intention of workers in the spinning and weaving industry. We collected data from 311 workers, belonging to the spinning and weaving industries of the Kashan city in Iran. Then, we analyzed the data using both SPSS© and process macros. Our results suggest that there’s indeed a positive and significant relationship between the job stressors vis-a-vis the workers’ turnover intention. Overall, the findings do have strong potential for both theoretical and practical implications, especially in terms of developing people management interventions for reducing employee turnover.

This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.

Access this article

Log in via an institution

Subscribe and save

Springer+ Basic
$34.99 /Month
  • Get 10 units per month
  • Download Article/Chapter or eBook
  • 1 Unit = 1 Article or 1 Chapter
  • Cancel anytime
Subscribe now

Buy Now

Price excludes VAT (USA)
Tax calculation will be finalised during checkout.

Instant access to the full article PDF.

Institutional subscriptions

Fig. 1

Similar content being viewed by others

References

  • Abbasi, M., S. Yazdanirad, A. Mehri, R. Fallah Madvari, A. Alizadeh, M. Ghaljahi, and M. Falahati. 2020. Noise exposure and job stress—a structural equation model in textile industries. Archives of Acoustics. https://doi.org/10.24425/aoa.2020.135248.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Abdou, A.H., A.A.F. Khalil, H.M.E. Mahmoud, M.A. Elsaied, and A.A. Elsaed. 2022. The impact of hospitality work environment on employees’ turnover intentions during COVID-19 pandemic: The mediating role of work–family conflict. Frontiers in Psychology 13: 890418.

    Google Scholar 

  • Ahmad, A., A. Hussain, Q. Ahmad, and B. Islam. 2017. Causes of workplace stress in textile industry of developing countries: A case study from Pakistan. In Advances in social & occupational ergonomics, vol. 487, ed. R. Goossens. Advances in intelligent systems and computing, 283–294. Cham: Springer.

    Google Scholar 

  • Alblihed, M., and H.A. Alzghaibi. 2022. The impact of job stress, role ambiguity and work–life imbalance on turnover intention during COVID-19: A case study of frontline health workers in Saudi Arabia. International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health 19 (20): 13132.

    Google Scholar 

  • Allen, T.D. 2001. Family-supportive work environments: The role of organizational perceptions. Journal of Vocational Behavior 58 (3): 414–435.

    Google Scholar 

  • Almalki, M.J., G. FitzGerald, and M. Clark. 2012. The relationship between quality of work life and turnover intention of primary health care nurses in Saudi Arabia. BMC Health Services Research 12 (1): 1–11.

    Google Scholar 

  • Almeida, M.G.M.C., and A.F.M. Coelho. 2019. The antecedents of corporate reputation and image and their impacts on employee commitment and performance: The moderating role of CSR. Corporate Reputation Review 22 (1): 10–25.

    Google Scholar 

  • Arasanmi, C.N., and A. Krishna. 2019. Employer branding: Perceived organisational support and employee retention—the mediating role of organisational commitment. Industrial and Commercial Training 51 (3): 174–183.

    Google Scholar 

  • Armenakis, A.A., H.S. Field Jr., W.H. Holley Jr., A.G. Bedeian, and B. Ledbetter Jr. 1977. Human resource considerations in textile work redesign. Human Relations 30 (12): 1147–1156.

    Google Scholar 

  • Ashill, N.J., M. Rod, and T. Gibbs. 2015. Coping with stress: A study of retail banking service workers in Russia. Journal of Retailing and Consumer Services 23: 58–69.

    Google Scholar 

  • Bamel, U., P. Budhwar, P. Stokes, and H. Paul. 2017. Dimensions of role efficacy and managerial effectiveness: Evidence from India. Journal of Organizational Effectiveness: People and Performance. https://doi.org/10.1108/JOEPP-02-2016-0009.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Bamel, U.K., and P. Stokes. 2016. Flexible HR practice. Global Journal of Flexible Systems Management 17 (1): 1–3.

    Google Scholar 

  • Bandyopadhyay, C., and K.B. Srivastava. 2020. HR signals in the context of HRM-firm performance relationship: Development of a conceptual framework. International Journal of Productivity and Performance Management. https://doi.org/10.1108/ijppm-03-2019-0141.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Chadwick, C., and C. Flinchbaugh. 2021. Searching for competitive advantage in the HRM-firm performance relationship. Academy of Management Perspectives 35 (2): 181–207.

    Google Scholar 

  • Chan, X.W., T. Kalliath, P. Brough, O.-L. Siu, M.P. O’Driscoll, and C. Timms. 2016. Work–family enrichment and satisfaction: The mediating role of self-efficacy and work–life balance. The International Journal of Human Resource Management 27 (15): 1755–1776.

    Google Scholar 

  • Chen, M.-F., C.-P. Lin, and G.-Y. Lien. 2011. Modelling job stress as a mediating role in predicting turnover intention. The Service Industries Journal 31 (8): 1327–1345.

    Google Scholar 

  • Chih, Y.-Y., K. Kiazad, L. Zhou, A. Capezio, M. Li, and S.L.D. Restubog. 2016. Investigating employee turnover in the construction industry: A psychological contract perspective. Journal of Construction Engineering and Management 142 (6): 04016006.

    Google Scholar 

  • Dalton, D.R., and W.D. Todor. 1979. Turnover turned over: An expanded and positive perspective. Academy of Management Review 4 (2): 225–235.

    Google Scholar 

  • Darcy, C., A. McCarthy, J. Hill, and G. Grady. 2012. Work–life balance: One size fits all? An exploratory analysis of the differential effects of career stage. European Management Journal 30 (2): 111–120.

    Google Scholar 

  • Darlington, R.B., and A.F. Hayes. 2016. Regression analysis and linear models: Concepts, applications, and implementation. New York: Guilford Publications.

    Google Scholar 

  • Donkor, F., and D. Zhou. 2020. Organisational commitment influences on the relationship between transactional and Laissez-Faire Leadership styles and employee performance in the Ghanaian public service environment. Journal of Psychology in Africa 30 (1): 30–36.

    Google Scholar 

  • Dortok, A. 2006. A managerial look at the interaction between internal communication and corporate reputation. Corporate Reputation Review 8 (4): 322–338.

    Google Scholar 

  • Firth, L., D.J. Mellor, K.A. Moore, and C. Loquet. 2004. How can managers reduce employee intention to quit? Journal of Managerial Psychology. 19: 170–187.

    Google Scholar 

  • Fisher, R.T. 2001. Role stress, the type A behavior pattern, and external auditor job satisfaction and performance. Behavioral Research in Accounting 13 (1): 143–170.

    Google Scholar 

  • Friedman, B.A. 2009. Human resource management role implications for corporate reputation. Corporate Reputation Review 12 (3): 229–244.

    Google Scholar 

  • Garg, S., and P. Agrawal. 2020. Family-friendly practices in the organization: A citation analysis. International Journal of Sociology and Social Policy. https://doi.org/10.1108/ijssp-12-2019-0251.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Gharasi Manshadi, M., A.M. Mosadeghrad, and E. Jaafaripooyan. 2022. Reasons for turnover of hospital managers in Iran: A qualitative study. The International Journal of Health Planning and Management 37 (5): 2869–2888.

    Google Scholar 

  • Gilboa, S., A. Shirom, Y. Fried, and C. Cooper. 2008. A meta-analysis of work demand stressors and job performance: Examining main and moderating effects. Personnel Psychology 61 (2): 227–271.

    Google Scholar 

  • Global Gender Gap Report. 2022. World Economic Form.

  • Griffeth, R.W., and P.W. Hom. 2001. Retaining valued employees. Thousand Oaks: SAGE.

    Google Scholar 

  • Hakro, T.H., A.A. Jhatial, and J.A. Chandio. 2022. Exploring the influence of work overload and job stress on employees turnover intentions. Gomal University Journal of Research 38 (2): 193–204.

    Google Scholar 

  • Hall, J. 2019. The cost of turnover can kill your business and make things less fun. Forbes. Accessed 25 June 2021.

  • Hazeen Fathima, M., and C. Umarani. 2022. A study on the impact of role stress on engineer intention to leave in Indian construction firms. Scientific Reports 12 (1): 1–11.

    Google Scholar 

  • Huang, C., P.-L. Du, L.-F. Wu, J. Achyldurdyyeva, L.-C. Wu, and C.S. Lin. 2021. Leader–member exchange, employee turnover intention and presenteeism: The mediating role of perceived organizational support. Leadership & Organization Development Journal. https://doi.org/10.1007/s12144-021-01825-1.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Itzchakov, G., N. Weinstein, and A. Cheshin. 2022. Learning to listen: Downstream effects of listening training on employees’ relatedness, burnout, and turnover intentions. Human Resource Management. https://doi.org/10.1002/hrm.22103.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Javed, M., M.A. Khan, M. Yasir, S. Aamir, and K. Ahmed. 2014. Effect of role conflict, work life balance and job stress on turnover intention: Evidence from Pakistan. Journal of Basic and Applied Scientific Research 4 (3): 125–133.

    Google Scholar 

  • Ju, B., and J. Li. 2019. Exploring the impact of training, job tenure, and education-job and skills-job matches on employee turnover intention. European Journal of Training and Development 43 (3/4): 214–231.

    Google Scholar 

  • Kavousi, S.E., A. Fani, H. Danaeefard, and S. Nayyeri. 2021. Explaining the causes of employee turnover in Iranian knowledge-based organization and providing solutions: An examination of the role of compensation system. Public Management Researches 14 (53): 89–114.

    Google Scholar 

  • Ketkaew, C., O. Manglakakeeree, and P. Naruetharadhol. 2020. The interrelationships of work-related factors, person-environment fit, and employee turnover intention. Cogent Business & Management 7 (1): 1823580.

    Google Scholar 

  • Koo, B., J. Yu, B.-L. Chua, S. Lee, and H. Han. 2020. Relationships among emotional and material rewards, job satisfaction, burnout, affective commitment, job performance, and turnover intention in the hotel industry. Journal of Quality Assurance in Hospitality & Tourism 21 (4): 371–401.

    Google Scholar 

  • Kumara, J., and S. Fasana. 2018. Work life conflict and its impact on turnover intention of employees: The mediation role of job satisfaction. International Journal of Scientific and Research Publications 8 (4): 478–484.

    Google Scholar 

  • Kusumanegara, I.S., T. Asmony, and S. Numayanti. 2018. Work–family conflict on turnover intention regarding work stress as intervening variable. International Journal of Social Sciences and Humanities 2 (2): 141–154.

    Google Scholar 

  • Lee, I., and J. Cogin. 2022. Formalizing the HRM and firm performance link: The S-curve hypothesis. The International Journal of Human Resource Management 33 (5): 898–929.

    Google Scholar 

  • Lee, Y.W., Y.T. Dai, and L.L. McCreary. 2015. Quality of work life as a predictor of nurses’ intention to leave units, organisations and the profession. Journal of Nursing Management 23 (4): 521–531.

    Google Scholar 

  • Lee, Y.W., Y.T. Dai, C.G. Park, and L.L. McCreary. 2013. Predicting quality of work life on nurses’ intention to leave. Journal of Nursing Scholarship 45 (2): 160–168.

    Google Scholar 

  • Michael, O., and P. Petal. 2009. Job stress and organizational commitment among mentoring coordinators. International Journal of Educational Management. https://doi.org/10.1108/09513540910941766.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Mokarami, H., E. Dortaj, R. Cousins, and T. Rahimi Pordanjani. 2022. Developing the Persian version of the Anticipated Turnover Scale (P-ATS) and measuring its psychometric properties among Iranian industrial workers. Journal of Workplace Behavioral Health 37 (2): 131–145.

    Google Scholar 

  • Montgomery, M. 2011. Does absense of managerial communication negatively influence job satisfaction? A quantitative examination of the correlation between job satisfaction and role conflict and role ambiguity among high-tech employees. Pub No. 3461658. Capella University.

  • Moore, C.S., and R.E. Müller. 2002. The transition from paid to self-employment in Canada: The importance of push factors. Applied Economics 34 (6): 791–801.

    Google Scholar 

  • Mosadeghrad, A.M. 2013. Quality of working life: An antecedent to employee turnover intention. International Journal of Health Policy and Management 1 (1): 43.

    Google Scholar 

  • Nielsen, M.L., R. Rugulies, K.B. Christensen, L. Smith-Hansen, J.B. Bjorner, and T.S. Kristensen. 2004. Impact of the psychosocial work environment on registered absence from work: A two-year longitudinal study using the IPAW cohort. Work & Stress 18 (4): 323–335.

    Google Scholar 

  • Noor, S., and N. Maad. 2008. Examining the relationship between work life conflict, stress and turnover intentions among marketing executives in Pakistan. International Journal of Business and Management 3 (11): 93–102.

    Google Scholar 

  • Palomino, M.N., and F. Frezatti. 2016. Role conflict, role ambiguity and job satisfaction: Perceptions of the Brazilian controllers. Revista De Administração (são Paulo) 51: 165–181.

    Google Scholar 

  • Pinkovitz, W.H., J. Moskal, and G. Green. 1997. How much does your employee turnover cost. Small Business Forum 14: 70–71.

    Google Scholar 

  • Pradana, A., and I. Salehudin. 2015. Work overload and turnover intention of junior auditors in greater Jakarta, Indonesia. The South East Asian Journal of Management 9 (2): 108–124.

    Google Scholar 

  • Putra, I.P.K.S.D., and I.G.M. Suwandana. 2020. Effect of organizational commitment, job stress and work-family conflict to turnover intention. International Research Journal of Management, IT and Social Sciences 7 (2): 30–37.

    Google Scholar 

  • Sainju, B., C. Hartwell, and J. Edwards. 2021. Job satisfaction and employee turnover determinants in Fortune 50 companies: Insights from employee reviews from Indeed.com. Decision Support Systems 148: 113582.

  • Samad, A., M. Muchiri, and S. Shahid. 2021. Investigating leadership and employee well-being in higher education. Personnel Review. 51 (1): 57–76.

    Google Scholar 

  • Scanlan, J.N., and M. Still. 2019. Relationships between burnout, turnover intention, job satisfaction, job demands and job resources for mental health personnel in an Australian mental health service. BMC Health Services Research 19 (1): 1–11.

    Google Scholar 

  • Sheraz, A., M. Wajid, M. Sajid, W.H. Qureshi, and M. Rizwan. 2014. Antecedents of job stress and its impact on employee’s job satisfaction and turnover intentions. International Journal of Learning & Development 4 (2): 204–226.

    Google Scholar 

  • (SIA), S. I. A. R. 2021. Employee turnover cost hits $26511 annually. https://www2.staffingindustry.com/Editorial/Daily-News/Employee-turnover-cost-hits-26-511annually-60005?Cookies=disabled. Accessed 09 Dec 2021.

  • Singh, N., and U. Bamel. 2020. Can transcendence be attained through mindfulness? The mediating role of meaningful work. Journal of Organizational Effectiveness: People and Performance. https://doi.org/10.1108/JOEPP-04-2020-0054.

  • Smith, T.D. 2018. An assessment of safety climate, job satisfaction and turnover intention relationships using a national sample of workers from the USA. International Journal of Occupational Safety and Ergonomics 24 (1): 27–34.

    Google Scholar 

  • Steinmetz, S., D.H. de Vries, and K.G. Tijdens. 2014. Should I stay or should I go? The impact of working time and wages on retention in the health workforce. Human Resources for Health 12 (1): 1–12.

    Google Scholar 

  • Surienty, L., T. Ramayah, M.-C. Lo, and A.N. Tarmizi. 2014. Quality of work life and turnover intention: A partial least square (PLS) approach. Social Indicators Research 119 (1): 405–420.

    Google Scholar 

  • Teh, P.L. 2010. Role conflict as mediator of the relationship between total quality management practices and role ambiguity. Ph.D. thesis, Multimedia University.

  • Van Heerden, J., M. Du Plessis, and J.R. Becker. 2022. Walking the tightrope of job demands and resources: Leveraging work engagement to counter turnover intentions of information technology professionals. Frontiers in Psychology. https://doi.org/10.3389/fpsyg.2022.660308.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Yazdanirad, S., M. Sadeghian, M.J. Naeini, M. Abbasi, and S.M. Mousavi. 2021. The contribution of hypochondria resulting from Corona virus on the occupational productivity loss through increased job stress and decreased resilience in the central workshop of an oil refinery: A path analysis. Heliyon 7 (4): e06808.

    Google Scholar 

  • Yu, J., A. Ariza-Montes, G. Giorgi, A. Lee, and H. Han. 2020. Sustainable relationship development between hotel company and its employees: Linking job embeddedness, job satisfaction, self-efficacy, job performance, work engagement, and turnover. Sustainability 12 (17): 7168.

  • Zhao, L., and H. Rashid. 2010. THE mediating role of work-leisure conflict on job stress and retention of IT professionals. Academy of Information & Management Sciences Journal 13 (2): 25–40.

    Google Scholar 

Download references

Acknowledgements

All authors contributed equally to the conception and design of the study.

Funding

This study received no specific financial support.

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Social Determinants of Health Research Center, Kashan University of Medical Sciences, Kashan, Iran

    Hamid Reza Saberi & Mitra Hannani

  2. Department of Occupational Health, School of Health, Kashan University of Medical Sciences, Kashan, Iran

    Amir Hossein Khoshakhlagh

  3. Social Determinants of Health Research Center, Department of Occupational Health Engineering, Birjand University of Medical Sciences, Birjand, Iran

    Fereydoon Laal

  4. Fire Safety Section of Department of Health, Safety and Environment of Sarcheshmeh Copper Complex, National Iranian Copper Industries Co, Rafsanjan, Kerman, Iran

    Marziyeh Mirzahosseininejad

  5. OB & HRM Group, International Management Institute New Delhi, New Delhi, India

    Umesh Bamel

Authors
  1. Hamid Reza Saberi
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  2. Amir Hossein Khoshakhlagh
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  3. Fereydoon Laal
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  4. Marziyeh Mirzahosseininejad
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  5. Mitra Hannani
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  6. Umesh Bamel
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

Corresponding authors

Correspondence to Amir Hossein Khoshakhlagh or Fereydoon Laal.

Ethics declarations

Conflict of interest

The authors declare that they have no conflict of interest.

Ethical Approval

The medical ethics committee of Kashan University of medical sciences approved this study (approval number: IR.KAUMS.NUHEPM.REC 1398,006).

Informed Consent

In this study, the respondents were obligation-free, and after signing the written informed consent form to participate in the study, they peacefully responded to un-named questionnaire questions. In order to provide the privacy of the participants, the study was strictly anonymous.

Additional information

Publisher's Note

Springer Nature remains neutral with regard to jurisdictional claims in published maps and institutional affiliations.

Supplementary Information

Below is the link to the electronic supplementary material.

Supplementary file1 (DOCX 20 kb)

Rights and permissions

Springer Nature or its licensor (e.g. a society or other partner) holds exclusive rights to this article under a publishing agreement with the author(s) or other rightsholder(s); author self-archiving of the accepted manuscript version of this article is solely governed by the terms of such publishing agreement and applicable law.

Reprints and permissions

About this article

Check for updates. Verify currency and authenticity via CrossMark

Cite this article

Saberi, H.R., Khoshakhlagh, A.H., Laal, F. et al. Investigating the Reasons for Turnover Intention of Workers in the Spinning and Weaving Industries in Iran. Corp Reputation Rev 26, 320–331 (2023). https://doi.org/10.1057/s41299-022-00157-5

Download citation

  • Published:

  • Issue Date:

  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1057/s41299-022-00157-5

Keywords

Search

Navigation