Relationships between commitments to the organization, the superior and the colleagues, and the intention to leave among truckers

Abstract

Purpose The purpose of this study is to use three foci of commitment (to the organization, to the colleagues, and to the superior) to improve employee retention in high turnover work environments. Design/methodology/approach In this study, survey questionnaires measuring affective commitment to the organization, the supervisor‐dispatcher and colleagues were administered to 294 truckers. The two‐step approach was used. While the first step involved a confirmatory factor analysis, the second step used structural equation modeling to test hypotheses. Findings Findings show that the model that best fits the data is the one in which both affective commitments to the dispatcher and to the colleagues affects the intention to leave the organization through affective commitment to the organization. Originality/value Existing research on trucker turnover has neglected to examine the role of psychological variables such as employee commitment. Using field theory premises, this research contributes to the literature on trucker turnover by demonstrating the relevance of using several foci of commitment to predict intention to leave the organization.