Trust, job satisfaction, perceived organizational performance and turnover intention. A public-private sector comparison in the United Arab Emirates
| Pages | 1148-1167 |
| Published date | 06 November 2017 |
| DOI | https://doi.org/10.1108/ER-06-2017-0135 |
| Date | 06 November 2017 |
| Author | Rachid Zeffane,Shaker Jamal Bani Melhem |
| Subject Matter | HR & organizational behaviour,Industrial/labour relations,Employment law |
Trust, job satisfaction, perceived
organizational performance and
turnover intention
A public-private sector comparison in the
United Arab Emirates
Rachid Zeffane and Shaker Jamal Bani Melhem
Department of Management, University of Sharjah, Sharjah,
United Arab Emirates
Abstract
Purpose –The purpose of this paper is to examine and compare the differential impacts of job satisfaction
(JS), trust (T), and perceived organizational performance (POP) on turnover intention (TI) in public and
private sector organizations.
Design/methodology/approach –Draws on a sample of 311 employees from the service sector (129 public
and 182 private) in the United Arab Emirates’(UAE). The main concepts utilized in the study are borrowed
from previous research and further tested for validity and reliability. Four main hypotheses are explored.
Findings –In support of previous research, statistical analysis (t-test) revealed thatpublic sector employees
tend to be more satisfied,more trusting, and have lessintention to leave their organization.Regression analysis
revealedthat public sector employees’TIare most significantly affectedby their perceptions of the performance
of their organization, with JS, work experience (WE) and education (Ed) also having significant effects.
In contrast, privatesector employees’TI was most significantlyaffected by JS and feelings of trust (T).
Research limitations/implications –Although very useful, the present study is limited in scope and
therefore suffers from some limitations. The sample only includes employees from UAE organizations
operating in education, some government institutions and the financial sector. Future research might consider
including employees the health sector and other public organizations such as the immigration/police
departments which play important strategic roles in the UAE economy. Also, future research might consider
extending the scope of the study to include institutions in similar neighboring countries in the region, such as
Qatar and Kuwait.
Practical implications –The findings of this study points to the relative importance of trust, JS and
perceived organizational performance in affecting TI in public and private sectors. These can be considered
as indicators to assist managers in these sectors to better manage/minimize TIs. In particular, the findings
indicate that managers in general (and UAE public sector managers in particular) need to monitor and better
manage not only their employees’JS but also perceptions of the overall performance of the organization.
Originality/value –While research on the influence of JS on TI in both of these sectors has been
abundant over the years, studies examining the impact of trust and perceptions of organizational
performance remain few and are largely lacking. Also, studies on turnover in the UAE (and particularly those
comparing public and private sectors) remain largely lacking. This study and its findings fill this gap and
provide some insights on the differential impact of trust, JS and perceived organizational performance on
employee TIs in public-private sectors, particularly in the UAE context.
Keywords United Arab Emirates, Trust, Job satisfaction, Turnover intention,
Perceived organizational performance, Public/private sector
Paper type Research paper
Introduction
The issue of differing attitudes and behaviors of employees in public vs private
sector employees has been the subject of much debate and controversies for a number of
years (Balfour and Wechsler, 1990; Zeffane, 1994; Vigoda-Gadot and Kapun, 2005;
Hayes et al., 2006; Coomber and Barribal, 2007; Baarspul and Wilderom, 2011; Mihajlov and
Mihajlov, 2016). One of the topics that still preoccupy researchers, and human resource
practitioners alike is that of differences in employee turnover/turnover intentions (TI) in
Employee Relations
Vol. 39 No. 7, 2017
pp. 1148-1167
© Emerald PublishingLimited
0142-5455
DOI 10.1108/ER-06-2017-0135
Received 18 June 2017
Accepted 19 June 2017
The current issue and full text archive of this journal is available on Emerald Insight at:
www.emeraldinsight.com/0142-5455.htm
1148
ER
39,7
these sectors and the reasons behind such attitudes and difference (Pietersen and Oni, 2014).
Research on the underlying reasons for the differences has produced mixed results. For that
reason, research interest in differences in attitudes and behaviors between public and
private sector employees (including TI) has grown significantly in recent years among
practitioners and scholars alike. Practitioners are interested in learning the impact that
various employee attitudes and behaviors may have on the critical human resource
management issues that they are facing (Bright, 2008).
While research on the influence of job satisfaction ( JS) on TI in both of these sectors has
been abundant over the years, studies examining the impact of trust and perceptions of
organizational performance remain few and are largely lacking. Also, studies on turnover in
the United Arab Emirates (UAE) (and particularly those comparing public and private
sectors) remain largely lacking. This is rather surprising given recent reports warning that
the UAE economy suffers from a high rate of voluntary employee turnover (Suliman and
Al kathairi, 2012; Harhara et al., 2015; Khalife, 2016). According to a recent Hays Salary and
Employment Report (2016), 31 percent of the employees in the UAE changed jobs in 2015,
with no less than 50 percent intending to leave their job in 2016. This trend points
to the importance of the issue of turnover in the UAE context and justifies the need for
further research.
This study attempts to fill the above research gaps and examines TIs and three main
attitudinal variables that may affect it (namely, trust, and perceived organizational
performance & JS). The study draws on a sample of 311 employees from the UAE service
sector (129 Public and 182 Private).We also compare the relative impacts of the above three
attitudinal variable on employees’TI in these two sectors.
Literature review and hypotheses
The study of turnover and TIs has been and is still a popular topic in management, human
resource management, and the social sciences in general (Balfour and Wechsler, 1990;
Zeffane, 1994; Vigoda-Gadot and Kapun, 2005; Hayes et al., 2006; Coomber and Barribal,
2007; Mihajlov and Mihajlov, 2016). It has attracted research from all corners of the globe
with serious attempts to identify and explain the reasons for this phenomenon, generally
considered to be undesirable. In many cases, the research focused on identifying
demographic and attitudinal variables that can best explain employees’intentions to quite
their job. More recently, several studies have focused on uncovering commonalities/
differences between public and private sector employees in this regard.
Job attitudes and employees’TIs: public vs private
Studies incorporating job attitudes and TIs have reported mixed results. While some studies
reported greater satisfaction and lesser degrees of TIs in the public sector, others have
pointed to the opposite.
Over the years, some studies revealed that public sector employees tend to be more
satisfied and therefore have much lower intentions to leave their job (Newstrom and
Reif, 1976; Koch and Steers, 1978; Steel and Warner, 1990; Schneider and Vaught, 1993;
Bright, 2008; Stocks and Hardin, 2001; Kumari and Pandey, 2011; Wang et al., 2012) while
others point to the exact opposite (Borges, 2013; Burke and Singh, 2016). For example,
Stocks and Hardin (2001) found that employees in public accounting firms had much higher
JS and lower TIs than those employed in the private sector. Contrarily, Reed et al. (1993)
reported accountants in public practices to be more likely to turnover than accountants
working in private practices. Similarly, Wang et al. (2012) found that public sector
employees in Taiwan tended to report lower satisfaction. However (and interestingly) they
also had much lower intentions to leave than their private sector counterparts.
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Sector
comparison
in the UAE
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