The Effect of Perception of Career Development on Retention and Resignation Behaviors: The Mediating Role of the Psychological Contract

Abstract

Purpose – It is aimed to examine the mediating role of psychological contract in the effect of career development perception on stay in job and turnover behavior. Design – The scope of the research is the white-collar employees working in the service enterprises located in the province of Istanbul. The sample group of the research, which has a quantitative design, was selected by the "snowball" sampling method and a 5-point Likert-type questionnaire was applied to the participants. Questionnaire consists one demographic information form and four scales: Psychological Contract Scale, Intention to Stay in Job Scale, Intention to Leave the Organization Scale, and Career Development Scale. The obtained data were subjected to confirmatory factor analysis, correlation analysis between variables, validity and reliability analysis, and regression analysis to be analyzed. SPSS 24.0 and AMOS 24.0 and PROCESS MACRO were used for statistical analysis. Findings – In the correlation analysis, significant and positive relationships were found between the perception of career development and the variables of psychological contract and staying in job, together with their sub-dimensions. In the structural path model analysis, the effect of career development on the intention to stay in job was confirmed, but no statistically significant relationship was found between career development and intention to leave. In the mediation analysis, it has been proven that the psychological contract has a mediating role between the intention to stay in job and career development. Discussion – No statistically significant relationship was found between career development and intention to leave. This result can be tested by other studies.