Staying Put: Off-the-Job Embeddedness as a Moderator of the Relationship Between On-the-job Embeddedness and Turnover Intentions

This study examined the relationship between two forms of embeddedness and turnover intentions using a sample of 1,189 employees of a government agency and an additional sample of 346 nurses at a hospital. The authors propose that while both on-the-job and off-the-job embeddedness factors are negatively related to turnover intentions, on-the-job embeddedness is more strongly related to turnover intentions. More important, off-the-job factors moderate the relationship between on-the-job embeddedness and turnover intentions such that this relationship is weaker when off-the-job embeddedness is higher. These results highlight the mitigating role of off-the-job factors in helping to retain employees. Implications for researchers and practitioners are discussed.