MEDIATING ROLE OF JOB EMBEDDEDNESS IN THE RELATIONSHIP BETWEEN PERCEIVED ORGANISATIONAL SUPPORT, PERCEIVED CO-WORKER SUPPORT AND EMPLOYEE RETENTION IN MALAYSIAN PRIVATE UNIVERSITIES

Abstract

The shortage of academic staff in private universities is at an alarming stage and would have a huge-impact on educational quality. This study aims to examine the mediating role of job embeddedness (JE) in the relationship between perceived organizational support (POS), perceived co-worker support (CWS) and employee retention (ER) in Malaysian private universities. Numerous studies have been conducted to examine POS, CWS and turnover with on-the-job factors such job satisfaction and job commitment. These two on-the-job factors are the two attitudinal constructs most frequently studied by the researchers. However, the mediating role of JE plays in understanding ER has yet to be completely specified. Stratified sampling technique was used to collect data from 482 academic staff. Partial Least Squares Structural Equation Modelling (PLS-SEM) was used to test all the hypotheses. The findings indicated that JE mediates the relationship between POS and ER partially. However, there is no direct relationship between CWS and ER. ER cannot be increased by providing high CWS directly. It should go through JE as a mediator. This study could contribute fresh-insight for human resource practitioners from private universities to get more effective retention strategies on how to retain staff even if an opportunity arises by emphasizing JE.