Work-life balance practices and turnover intention: the mediating role of person-organization fit

Abstract

The higher educational institutions in Pakistan are facing challenges to reduce the turnover of their faculty members. To date, research has failed to explore the antecedents of faculty members’ turnover intention, especially in the context of Pakistan. The purpose of this study was to investigate work-life balance practices and person-organization fit as antecedents of faculty members’ turnover intention. This study hypothesized that work-life balance practices and person-organization fit are negatively related to intention to leave the job. Furthermore, the study proposed that person-organization fit mediates the negative relationship between work-life balance practices and intention to leave the job. This study adopted a cross-sectional design and a quantitative approach. The data was collected from a total of 250 faculty members from the public sector colleges in Baluchistan, Pakistan, through self-administered questionnaires. This study used partial least square structural equation modeling (PLS-SEM) for the analysis of measurement and structural model. The results revealed that work-life balance practices and person-organization fit had a direct negative and significant effect on employees' intention to leave the job. Furthermore, the results also showed that person-organization fit mediated the relationship between work-life balance practices and intention to leave the job. This study contributes to work-life balance practices and person-organization fit literature by examining the mediating processes through which work-life balance practices and intention to leave are linked. These findings provide important implications for human resource professionals to reduce the turnover of faculty members. Limitations and directions for future research are discussed.