Organizational learning culture and leader member exchange quality: the way to enhance organizational commitment and reduce turnover intentions

Abstract

Purpose – In this global era every organization aims to retain its key workers through salary, incentives, rewards and recognition. Organizational learning culture and leaders’ support are amongst those aspects that have not been focused on extensively by organizations to retain their key employees. The present study aims to investigate the relationship between organizational learning culture, leader-member exchange quality, organizational commitment and turnover intention. Design/methodology/approach – A total of 415 employees working in Malaysian banks were approached on the basis of convenience sampling. Respondents were asked about leader-member exchange, organizational learning culture, organizational commitment and their intention to leave the organization through a questionnaire-based survey. Findings – Leader-member exchange, organizational learning culture and organizational commitment are found to correlate with each other. Furthermore, structural equation modeling confirms that organizational commitment performs the role of mediator between organizational learning culture and turnover intention. Research limitations/implications – HR managers should know the importance of leaders’ support and learning environment, as these affect employees’ level of commitment, which ultimately reduces their intentions to leave the organization. Limitations are also discussed. Originality/value – The current study elucidates the importance of learning culture for both employers and employees. It produces several unique findings and managerial takeaways for building a better organizational environment for employees to learn and stay with the organization.