The Relationship of Organizational Culture, Compensation, Job Satisfaction and Turnover in The Gambia Service Industry

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(1)The Relationship of Organizational Culture, Compensation, Job Satisfaction and Turnover in The Gambia Service Industry. by Francis Jatta. A Thesis Submitted to the Graduate Faculty in Partial Fulfillment of the Requirements for the Degree of MASTER OF BUSINESS ADMINISTRATION Major: International Human Resource Development. Advisor: Chih-Chien Steven Lai, Ph. D. Graduate Institute of International Human Resource Development. National Taiwan Normal University Taipei, Taiwan June, 2012.

(2) ACKNOWLEDGEMENT Firstly, I thank God, the Maker of the Universe for his abundant mercies and favors in enabling me to take up this prestigious academic program and seeing me through. Sincere thanks and appreciation goes to the Government and the friendly people of Taiwan through the TaiwanICDF for their magnanimity in availing me a lifetime opportunity of advancement and security and by extension to the people of the Republic of The Gambia. My profound gratitude goes to the faculty, staff and students of the Graduate Institute of International Human Resource Development (IHRD) most especially my advisor Dr. Chih-Chien Steven Lai (the director) for his meticulous guidance and strong support in enabling me complete this dissertation as well as other related program requirements well before time. Similar appreciation goes to my committee members who provided useful comments and suggestions which aided me most especially Dr. Ted Shir-Tau Tsai. Special thanks go to my mum for her encouragements. To the blessed memory of my beloved Dad Maxim Samba Jatta who passed over from this life December 8, 2010; barely three months into this program. It was his fervent desire that I seek further education anywhere. I would also express thanks and gratitude to my wife - Marie Jatta and my daughter Julia Binetou Jatta. Similar words of gratitude goes to my sister and my brothers especially Maxim M. Jatta for constantly checking on me and assuring me of the family’s constant prayers for my success and wellbeing..

(3) ABSTRACT The phenomenon of employee turnover globally is not anything new and despite numerous studies geared towards identifying the root causes, it remains a formidable challenge. However, the rates it occurs differ from region to region, from industry to industry and from institution to institution. This study conducted in The Gambia looked at the relationship of three work related variables - organizational culture, compensation and job satisfaction to turnover intention in the service industry, a sector currently characterized by high turnover rates. Respondents for the study were selected through purposive sampling and a survey instrument was used to collect the data. The data was analyzed using descriptive statistics, difference inferential statistics as well as associational statistics. The study unveiled compensation and job satisfaction as the chief predicators of turnover in the service industry in the country. Recommendations with reference to the findings were made in order to remedy the situation by paying closer attention to the entire compensation package of the workforce and boosting their overall job satisfaction in order to retain them, and increase their productivity. Recommendations also for subsequent research on the area have been offered to further broaden our understanding on the area. Key words: Employee turnover, organizational culture, compensation, job satisfaction, service industry. I.

(4) TABLE OF CONTENTS Abstract……………………………..……………………………………………………………...I Table of Contents…..……………………………………………………………………………..II List of Tables….............................................................................................................................IV List of Figures…………………………………………………………………………….............V CHAPTER I. INTRODUCTION………………………………………………………………….1 Background of the Study……………………………………………………….…………….1 An Overview of The Gambia Service Industry……………………………….……………...3 Problem Statement……………………………………………………………………………4 Importance of the Study………………………………………………………………………4 Research Purposes……………………………………………………………………………5 Research Questions…………………………………………………………………………...5 Operational Definition of the Key Terms…………………………………………………….6 Delimitations...........................................................................................................….............7 CHAPTER II. LITERATURE REVIEW………………………………….……………...............8 Organizational Culture……………………………………………………………………….9 Compensation...……………………………………………………………………………..15 Job Satisfaction……………………………………………………………………………...19 CHAPTER III. METHODOLOGY……………………………………………………………...26 Research Method……………………………………………………………………………28 II.

(5) Research Procedure…………………………………………………………………............29 Sampling Procedure......……………………………………………………………………..34 Instrumentation Development...……………………………………………………………..35 Data Collection……………………………………………………………………………...37 Data Analysis………………………………………………………………………………..37 CHAPTER IV. RESULTS AND DISCUSSIONS..……………………………………………..40 Descriptive Statistics Analysis………………………………………………………...........40 Relationship between Variables..............................................................................….......... 43 Influence between and among Variables……………………………………………………47 Discussions…………………………………………………………………………………..52 CHAPTER V. CONCLUSIONS AND RECOMMENDATIONS………………………............56 Conclusions………………………………………………………………………………….56 Limitations…………………………………………………………………………………..58 Recommendations…………………………………………………………………………...59 Closing Remarks…..………………………………………………………………………...61 REFERENCES…..........................................................................................................................63 APPENDIX A. LETTER OF CONSENT……………………………………………….............69 APPENDIX B. RESEARCH QUESTIONNAIRE………………………………………...........70. III.

(6) LIST OF TABLES Table 2.1 Operational Definitions of Organizational Culture ………………………………….11 Table 2.2 Operational Definition of Job Satisfaction ……………………………………..........21 Table 3.1 Items of Instrumentation ………………………………………………………..........38 Table 3.2 Data Coding …………………………………………………………………………..39 Table 4.1 Demographics Characteristics of the Study Sample………………………………….42 Table 4.2 One-way ANOVA Analysis of Sample on Turnover Intention………………………44 Table 4.3 Summary of Correlation between Organizational Culture, Compensation and Turnover Intention…………………………………………………………………….46 Table 4.4 Summary of Correlation between Organizational Culture, Compensation and Job Satisfaction…………………………………………….………………………….47 Table 4.5 Summary of Correlation between Job Satisfaction and Turnover Intention………….48 Table 4.6 Simultaneous Multiple Regression Analysis Summary of Organizational Culture, Compensation and Turnover Intention……………………………………………….49 Table 4.7 Simultaneous Multiple Regression Analysis Summary of Organizational Culture, Compensation and Job Satisfaction…………………………………………………..50 Table 4.8 Linear Regression Analysis Summary of Job Satisfaction and Turnover Intention……………………………………………………………………………….51 Table 4.9 Simultaneous Hierarchical Regression Analysis Summary on the Mediating Effect of Job Satisfaction ……………………………………………………………..52 Table 4.10 Summary of Hypothesis Testing Results…………………………………………….53 IV.

(7) LIST OF FIGURES Figure 2.1 The Three Levels of Culture………………………………………………………….13 Figure 3.1 Research Framework…………………………………………………………………28 Figure 3.2 Research Procedure…………………………………………………………………..32. V.

(8) CHAPTER I. INTRODUCTION This section introduces the concept of this academic work and provided the foundation upon which the study was conducted. The chapter contained the background to the study, an overview of the service industry in The Gambia, problem statement, importance of the study, purpose of the research, research questions, and the operational definition of the key terms in the study as well as the delimitation of the study.. Background of the Study In managing any sort of organization that employs people required both skills and knowledge to be able to keep the team or workforce focused, motivated and committed to attain the organizational mission and goals while meeting their needs. Therefore, issues bordering organizational culture, compensation as well as job satisfaction are key factors that cannot be ignored in running and maintaining any modern business or institution. Studies showed that these factors are interconnected and have various effects on employee behaviours in the work place (Gupta & Shaw, 2001). They have been studied in various forms and at various levels in many parts of the world for sometime now. However, the same is not true for most developing countries such as The Gambia where the rate of employee turnover is becoming unbearable (Proceedings of National Educational Statistical Information Systems meeting, 2005). Therefore, this study was conducted in The Gambia, the smallest country on the African mainland, located on the West Coast of Africa. The country with a population of 1.8 million (United Nations [UN], 2012) has a vibrant service industry prominently among these are the hospitality, financial and telecommunication industries. The sector is witnessing some of the biggest movement of its employees from one institution to the other at an unprecedented level in the history of the nation which has some serious consequences to the sector and the nation as a whole (International Monetary Fund country report [IMF], 2011). High turnover rates in any sector are not only a waste of money and quality time in terms of recruiting and training; they also affect the quality of effective service delivery (Kramer & Schmalenberg, 2004; Newman, Maylor, & Chansarkar, 2002). In addition to the high.

(9) cost implications it leaves institutions to grapple with, high turnover can adversely affect operational efficiency, especially for complex processes that require close teamwork and high amounts of assumed knowledge. Where there is continuing instability in the workforce, consequences can include increased stress and tension amongst those remaining employees who have to fill the gaps left by departing employees. It also leads to declining employee morale and decreased productivity due to loss of work group synergy (Battery, 2008; Wai Chi Tai & Robinson, 1998). Therefore, reducing employee turnover in an underdeveloped economy like The Gambia in a period of budget tightening not only in the service industry but across all sectors of the economy and expanding all forms of expectations is a top priority for all serious business leaders. Turnover occurs for many different reasons. Sometimes new jobs attract employees and pull them to leave the old jobs. The situation in The Gambia might also have to do with the unavailability of the human resource to adequately staff the growing amounts of emerging business establishments. The numbers of service industries operating in the country is growing and according to Rankin (2006), the highest rates of turnover are found were unemployment rates is lower and where it is easy for people to get alternative employment. This appears to hold at least for now in the case of The Gambia as individuals who change jobs usually end up been place in better and higher positions in their new organizations. Despite these entire occurrences in the country, there is limited or no extant scholarly and professional literature on this topic on the service industry in The Gambia. That being the case, it would be improper and misleading to assume that what had been found elsewhere especially in the developed economies to be responsible for employee turnover, might not turn out to be the case for The Gambia. The reasons been there exist vast differences in the economic situation and sociocultural beliefs as well as patterns of life and values of the peoples. Against this backdrop, this empirical study is timely and attempts to unveil the real issues at play in The Gambia service industry causing the unprecedented high employee turnover.. 2.

(10) An Overview of The Gambia Service Industry The Service industry pertains to an industry comprised of companies that primarily earn revenue through the provision of intangible products and services. Retrieved from: Encyclopedia, (2011): http://www.britannica.com. They specifically produced no goods but render services to consumers. The Gambia service industry is widely seen as the engine of growth and development in the nation’s development blue-print “Vision 2020”. It is characterized by several key players partly due to the country’s stability and favorable investment opportunities. Unlike most of its neighbors’, The Gambia continued to enjoy stability since its independence in 1965 from British colonial rule (British Broadcasting Corporation [BBC], 2012). It is also a democratic republic with elections held every five years since independence. The service industry in the country is vast and well-established. Some of the key players include the well-established and vibrant financial industry, the telecommunication industry, the hospitality industry, parastatals, amongst others. It contributes 64% to The Gambian Gross Domestic Product (GDP), thus contributing more than any other sector. The industry also employs 25% of the Gambian labor force, 6% being employed by the government (Afrol, 2011). Since the service industry in the country is vast like in most other countries around the world, this study is restricted to one of the top player of the industry - the financial services industry which also happens to be a key sector facing this present phenomenon under study. The financial services is under the supervision of the Central Bank of The Gambia (CBG) and are made up of 13 commercial banks, over 20 FOREX bureaus and a substantial number of microfinance institutions operating across the length and breadth of the country. The ownership of these banks largely reside with foreign investors with the British owned bank, Standard Chartered Bank (Gambia) Limited and a number of Nigerian international banks playing dominant roles (Preliminary Country Paper - The Gambia, 2008). Due to the size of the market, the business atmosphere in the service industry is very tense due to stiff competition amongst players. This is partly precipitated by the size of the market - a population of less than 2 million inhabitants with 13 key players working to increase their market share and their profitability at all costs. In additional, not only does employees in these institutions work under tight regulations and pressure, lengthy hours but must upheld very high professional standards. 3.

(11) Problem Statement The regular and frequent movement of individuals from one institution to the other in the service industry especially on a high scale is a cause for concern as it leads to serious financial burden and needs to be examined. Losing a single key worker can decrease the likelihood of a project’s success and can reduce investor’s confidence in the firm (Lee & Mitchell, 2000). In additional, the continuous loss of talents pose a serious threat to the efficiency and service quality of the service industry posing a lot of delay and inconveniences to numerous customers and could undermined public confident in the sector. Moreover, a high employee turnover serves as negative publicity and could be a source of instability in the minds of the general public as well as the business community on an institution’s viability and state of affairs. Finally, a high level of employee turnover in any organization has potentials to seriously impact the performance of those left behind causing low staff morale, gossips, and ineffectiveness of employees, reduce productivity and ultimately resulting in loss of market share (Battery, 2008; Bingley & Westergaard- Nielsen, 2004; Wai Chi Tai & Robinson, 1998).. Importance of the Study The study adds to the body of knowledge organizational culture, job satisfaction and compensation play in connection to employee turnover especially in the service industry in The Gambia whereby business leaders will get a more accurate picture of the reasons they are losing their employees. In addition, the study is envisaged to create awareness on the issues of employee turnover to management and shareholders in the service industry as well as to the academic community to brainstorm on ways to better address the situation. Finally, the study will enable institutions in the sector to increase their efficiency and overall profitability by reducing the costs associated with recruitment and selection of new employees (Kramer et al., 2004).. 4.

(12) Research Purposes The purpose of this research was to fulfill the followings tasks: 1. To establish the extent organizational culture, compensation as well as job satisfaction contributes to employee turnover. 2. To provide management a more accurate and reflective picture of the causes of employee turnover in the service industry so that better mechanisms are put in place to address the alarming situation. In addition, such information will help institutions to retain and keep their employees productive and committed to attaining their organizational goals. 3. To provide information on the core factors responsible for employee turnover in the developing world where literature on the area is scanty and hard to come by while the problem continues to undermine the region’s development objectives (Proceedings of NESIS meeting, 2005).. Research Questions The research attempts to answer the following questions: 1. In what ways does a positive relationship exist among organizational culture, compensation and turnover intention? 2. Is organizational culture and compensation positively correlated to job satisfaction? 3. In what ways does job satisfaction pose a negative correlation to turnover intention? 4. What mediating roles do job satisfaction play in the relationship between organizational culture, compensation and turnover intention?. 5.

(13) Operational Definition of Key Terms . Turnover: This refers to the rate at which an employer losses an employee (Newman et al., 2002). Simply put is how long employees tend to stay in their various work places. Another definition appropriate for this study was the one given by Rossano (1985) as the “voluntary termination of participation in employment from an organization, excluding retirement or pressured voluntary withdrawal, by an individual who received monetary compensation from the organization”. Employee turnover in this study should not be confused with layoffs, which involved the termination of employees at the employer's discretion in response to business conditions such as reduced sales or a merger with another company.. . Organizational Culture: The norms, values, and beliefs concerning the organization that are shared by members of the organization (Parboteeah & Cullen, 2011). For the purpose of this study this embodied organizational values, norms and mode of operations that guide behavior and attitudes within the organization.. . Compensation: This refers to all forms of financial returns and tangible services and benefits employees receive as part of an employment relationship (Milkovich, Newman & Gerhart, 2011) or a “bundle of value returns” offered in exchange for a “cluster of employee contributions” (Bloom, 1995; Cappelli & Rogovsky, 1994).. . Job Satisfaction: The extent to which people like or dislike their jobs. It is an emotional response towards the components of the job (Spector, 2003). It can also result from the environment in which employees have the ability and desire to provide exceptional service and wanting to work in a pleasant atmosphere. Based on the purposes of this study this definition sums up the concept we want to measure.. . Service Industry: Also known as the tertiary industry includes industries that, while producing no tangible goods, provide service or intangible gains. Retrieved from: Encyclopedia (2011): http://www.britannica.com. In this study, we looked at specifically the financial service industry.. 6.

(14) Delimitations The study was delimited to the investigation of the relationship of organizational culture, compensation, job satisfaction and turnover in the Gambia service industry. Others factors that causes turnover in the industry or are correlated to turnover intention are not within the scope of this study. Secondly, the study participants were exclusively drawn from the financial service industry, one out of the dominant players of the service industry in the country. Since other players would not be included, the researchers were committed working towards obtaining a large response rate for the study which is as well ideal for statistical analysis. In this way, the results of the study could be accurately used to give a more general and holistic picture of what is happening in the industry with regards to turnover. Lastly, due to lack of adequate resources and time the study did not covered all employees in the financial service industry country wide. Therefore, the study is delimited to employees of financial service industry located in the Greater Banjul Area.. 7.

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(16) CHAPTER II. LITERATURE REVIEW This chapter expanded on the previous chapter providing a general overview on the concept of employee turnover globally and then comprehensively reviewing the literature related to employee turnover with particular focus to organizational culture, compensation and job satisfaction. An Overview of Employee Turnover Employee turnover has been defined by Newman and colleagues (2002), as the rate at which an employer losses an employee. Simply put how long employees tend to stay in their various work places. Therefore, the employee turnover to be investigated in this study pertained to voluntary turnover and not including termination or retirement. This definition clearly captured the current situation of the Gambian service industry as the movement of employees from one institution to the other especially those regarded as been skillful is at an unprecedented level (Proceedings of the NESIS meeting, 2005). Therefore, this study looked at the turnover intention of employees employed in the service industry in The Gambia. Turnover intention samples the desire and intent of staffs employed by an entity ready to make a move or change to either another organization or to another unit within the same organization as soon as they get the opportunity. Turnover is considered as a bad sign for the organization as it involves considerable visible and hidden costs. It may even tarnish the image of the organization as a bad employer. According to studies by Bingley & Westergaard-Nielsen (2004) high turnover could cause poor employee morale, ineffectiveness of staff, reduce productivity, weaker work teams and increase cost of training new employees. Also, new employees take time to reach full effectiveness and are likely to be more error-prone than their experienced counterparts. In addition, it results in loss of tacit knowledge that the employees must have acquired during their period of service with the organization. Turnover is particularly harmful in the service industry as relationship building is core to the sustainability of the sector. As a result, employees and customers do enjoy a symbiotic relationship and a high turnover is generally seen as an inhibitor of this relationship. However, in certain instances the literature showed some amount of turnover benefits 9.

(17) organizations positively (Dalton & Todor, 1993). This might happen when a poor performer is replaced by a more skilled employee and when a retired employee is replaced by a younger one. The phenomenon of employee turnover is one of the most mesmerizing and puzzling areas in organizational management (Lee & Rwigema, 2005) and could to some extent be argued to be an inevitable issue in the labor market. It is therefore not quite perplexing that over the year’s researchers and academics have made concerted efforts in identifying the antecedents’ factors that cause turnover in order to assist managers of all sorts of businesses and institutions to institute preventative measures. Research revealed that turnover occurs for various reasons. Many causative factors have been associated with it and various theories have been proposed to unravel the mystery surrounding the behavior of employees. In a large study conducted by Harter (2008) the study pointed out career advancement, pay, lack of job fit and general work environment been the chief factors predicting turnover. It showed that at times new jobs also attract employees and pull them to leave the old. In contrary, employee also pushed to leave job due to dissatisfaction in their present workplace or due to domestic circumstances. Below we take an in-depth review of the existing expert findings and contributions by looking at the variables assumed to have effect on turnover by treating them one after another.. Organizational Culture Organizational culture is increasingly becoming a popular term in organizations as well as in the management field. There is a lot of literature on the relationship between organizational culture and turnover. Most of these writings deal with the management practices which in several situations where the causes of employees quitting their jobs. To have a more accurate understanding of organizational culture, it is appropriate to establish the various definitions that have been assigned to it over the years since the term was coined by Pettigrew in the literature (1979). It must be mentioned that since then no single definition has been universally agreed on as it has been conceptualized in several ways (Sackmann, 1991). The concept has been studied from a variety of perspectives ranging from fields such as anthropology and sociology, to the 10.

(18) applied disciplines of the management sciences. It would be safe to conclude that there exist two schools of thought with regards the concept of organizational culture. The first view organizational culture as implicit in social life being what naturally surfaces as individuals transform themselves into social groups. The second school of thought regards organizational culture as an explicit social product arising from social interaction either as an intentional or unintentional result of behavior. Some of the definitions over the years by scholars are listed below: Table 2.1. Operational Definitions of Organizational Culture Author(s). Definitions. Parboteeah & Cullen, The norms, values, and beliefs concerning the organization that are 2011. shared by members of the organization.. Louis , 1980. A set of understandings or meanings shared by a group of people that are largely tacit among members and are clearly relevant and distinctive to the group which are also passed on to new members.. Allaire & Firsirotu,. A system of knowledge, of standards for perceiving, believing,. 1984. evaluating and acting… that serve to relate human communities to their environmental settings.. Trice & Beyer, 1993. Any social system arising from a network of shared ideologies consisting of two components: substance - the networks of meaning associated with ideologies, norms and values; and forms - the practices whereby the meanings are expressed, affirmed, and communicated to members.. Pettigrew, 1979. A pattern and beliefs, symbols, rituals, values, assumptions that evolve and are shared by the members of the organization.. Uttal, 1983. A system of shared values (what is important) and beliefs (how things work) that interact with an organization’s members, organizational structures, control systems to produce behavioral norms.. Deal, 1986. The human invention that creates solidarity and meaning and inspires commitment and productivity. 11.

(19) Perhaps, the best known definition of organizational culture was the one given by the renowned MIT professor of Psychology, Schein (2004) when he defined it as a pattern of shared basic assumptions that was learned by a group as it solved its problems of external adaptation and internal integration, that has worked well enough to be considered valid and, therefore, to be taught to new members as the correct way to perceive, think, and feel in relation to those problems. What tends to unite these several definitions of organizational culture over the years is an emphasis on rituals, beliefs, values, amongst others, shared among members of the organization (Hatch, 1997). Therefore, for the purpose of this study, we broadly conceptualize organizational culture as a process of interacting relationships between underlying assumptions, values, beliefs, artifacts, and symbols that are communicated within all organizational functions. Hence, organizational culture could be regarded as the normative cohesive factor that holds an organization together. This therefore implies the more business leaders understand organizational culture the implications will be favorable as they will be able to motivate their employees and keep them productive. Various scholars had always viewed organizational culture as an obscured and an abstract concept. In an earlier work, Schein (1988) proposed three fundamental levels which set more clarity on the meaning of organizational culture. The figure 2.3 depicts these three levels of culture from the very visible to the invisible aspect.. 12.

(20) Behavior and. Visible organizational structures and processes. Artifacts. Espoused Values. Underlying. Strategies, goals, philosophies. Unconscious, taken for granted beliefs and thoughts.. Assumptions. Figure 2.1. The three levels of culture Source: Schein, 1988. The first level “behavior and artifacts” are regarded as the most visible level observable. It consists of behavioral patterns and outward manifestations of culture at various degrees. It may also tell us what a group is doing, but not why. The second level “Espoused values” refers to an organization’s values, principles and visions. These are the values that help an organization to create their own image and brand. It underlies and to an extent determines behavior, but they are not directly observable, as behaviors are. These aspects are learnt and pass on to others as they join the organization. The last level “Underlying Assumptions” is regarded as the deepest level and to really understand culture we need to get here. Schein asserted that this level emerged from values “until they become taken for granted and drop out of awareness”. Most at times the values of organizations are elements formulated based on the founders philosophy that is later expounded, shared and taught to members as the organization prospers and are generally taken for granted. According to the works of Parboteeah and Cullen (2011); Schein (2004), organizational culture can therefore be characterized as comprising behavior, values and beliefs. Behavior is the observable aspect and consists of patterns and outward manifestation of an organizational culture. On the other hand, values underlie and to a greater extent determine organizational behavior and 13.

(21) may not be quite visible while beliefs centered on conviction at a deeper level on values of an entity. From these studies, these three components could broadly and concisely be captured by four parameters namely organizational goals, job design, employee welfare and supervision, and integrity which are appropriate for this study. Therefore, in order to accurately and fully exploit the research agenda, a review of the mentioned parameters follows: Organizational Goals According to Aguinis (2009) “the purpose of setting goals is to formalize statements about what the organization hopes to achieve in the medium to long-range period”. They can be a source of motivation and provide employees of all levels with a more realistic target for which to work towards. Studies found out that the positioning of appropriate organizational goals influence employee retention and job performance. On the contrary, failure of putting in place clear cut organizational goals has potentials to result to turnover. In the study conducted by Kim, Leong, and Lee (2005), they found out that organizational direction and support had an important impact on employee overall commitment. This claim has received several support from many empirical studies such as Chew, Girardi, and Entrekin (2005); Cho, Woods, Jang, and Erdem (2006); Milman and Ricci (2004). According to Becker and Huselid (1999), organizational culture creates competitiveness since it changes employee behavior by making them act consistently with the firm’s desired corporate goal, thereby influencing employee retention. Job Design Organizational culture also embodies job design and according to the extensive work of Werner and DeSimone (2009), it pertains to the complete “development and alteration of the components of a job (such as the task one performs, and the scope of one’s responsibilities) to improve productivity and the quality of the employee’s work life”. The same authors indicated that when tasks and functions posse’s elements that meet employee’s personal development feelings of “responsibility, meaningfulness, and knowledge” results; workers are better satisfied and gave their utmost. An employee’s personal values, career goals, and plans for the future must fit with the larger organizational culture and the demands of the job. This is because the more an employee’s personal values, career goals and plans for the future fits in an organization, the higher the likelihood that an employee will feel professionally and personally connected to an organization 14.

(22) and attempt giving their best (Mitchell, Holtom, Lee, Sablynski, & Erea, 2001). A reversal is a common cause of turnover studies revealed. Employees who do not experience job fit tend to leave slightly sooner than employees who fit their job. Proper job fit refers to an employee’s perceived compatibility or comfort with the organization and with the work environment (Mitchell et al., 2001). Other studies support the relationship between employees experiencing job fit and their decision to remain in the organization (Werbel & Gilliland, 1999). Employee Welfare and Supervision Organizational culture that treats people with respect retains its people and studies have shown the most common reason people quit their jobs lies with their dissatisfaction with their supervisors. According to research conducted by Kinicki and Williams (2008); Phillips and Connell (2003), organizational culture is the most often cited reason for turnover in most industries including strained relationships with the boss or co-workers, unfair treatment, and harassment. These studies further reports that if the workforce feels that the organization is responsible and takes the right interest in their wellbeing, they are in return more likely to commit themselves in providing better services and going the extra mile in meeting clients expectations. This will certainly translate into greater satisfaction among the organization’s clients and overall improve the workforce’s performance, thereby making them less likely to quit their jobs. Employees wants to feel recognized for their contributions and this component has a strong bearing with the organizational culture. Another study by Kerr and Slocum (1987) pointed organizations with a strong culture that emphasis values such as teamwork, security and respect for individual members able to attract and retain loyal employees. Moreover, the development of shared values improves the work environment and productivity by strengthening personal effectiveness, corporate loyalty and pride, teamwork and above all ethical behavior (Kouzes & Posner, 2002). The study continued to show that organizations with these cultural values perform better than their competitors in terms of growth and profitability. Integrity Integrity may mean different things to various individuals based on various situations. However, this study focuses on the issue of the integrity of the employee and its bearing at the organizational level in creating and fostering a culture of integrity. It embodies integrity pertaining to the policies and leadership beliefs and philosophy existing in an organization. Such 15.

(23) an organizational culture has to emanate from the top and be seen as a tool in the conduct of activities of the organization as it fosters trust and boost efficiency. According to Duggar (2010) an organizational culture that promotes integrity is bound to be “innovative, collaborative, constructive, and transparent, with high employee morale, valued customer loyalty and strengthen partnerships”. On the contrary, an organizational culture of low integrity the researcher continued leads to high employee turnover, an atmosphere of suspicion and disrespect. These therefore call for the involvement of the corporate leadership to set light on the features of the environment appropriate for the particular business entity. It is largely assumed that all aspects of an organizational culture are beneficial for the growth of an organization which might not be the case. Certain aspects of an organization’s culture may pose adverse threats on its functioning. Therefore, it is prudent business leaders identify components of their organizational culture that are contributing to their bottom line and also promoting employee welfare. Secondly, in the event of a strong national culture ingrained in some employees, studies have not shown how these affect individuals in organization. This study endeavored to exploit fully these vital areas not treated or fully covered in previous studies.. Compensation Even though much research has been conducted on compensation it has often been viewed as a dependent variable rather than the core object of interest (Gerhart & Milkovich, 1992). A number of scholars defined it as a “bundle of value returns” offered in exchange for a “cluster of employee contributions” (Bloom, 1995; Cappelli & Rogovsky, 1994). Simply put it refers to all forms of financial returns, tangible services and benefits employees receive as part of an employment relationship (Milkovich, Newman & Gerhart, 2011). They pointed out how people view their compensation affect how they behave and that it is seen as the core of any employment arrangement. It is therefore not surprising that Dulebohn and Werling (2007) noted the reason why most people work was because they needed money to cater for their needs and if this was not forthcoming or satisfactory they are bound to look elsewhere. Compensation is a long established management practice to get employees put in their best at work and numerous studies have addressed the impact it has on turnover and retention (Becker & Huselid, 1999; 16.

(24) Guthrie, 2001; Milman & Ricci, 2004; Walsh & Taylor, 2007). It is expected to boost employees’ effort as well as performance. Compensation comes in a variety of ways and forms and it is one of the factors if properly utilized have potential impacts on employee retention and curbing turnover rates. According to a study by Zani, Rahim, Junos, Samano, Ahmad, Merican, Saad, and Ahmad, (2011) compensation can be divided into two categories namely; financial and non-financial rewards. Below we take a much closer look at the two main ways employees are compensated. Financial Rewards Financial rewards or simply money is a payment of monetary values in the form of direct monetary gain such as allowances, salary increases and bonuses (Mathauer & Imhoff, 2006). Financial rewards have been identified over the years as the “most critical outcome of organizational membership for employees” (Gupta & Shaw, 2001). This is because the more people value pay and the more highly they are paid, the more satisfied they will be and the more likely they will remain with the organization. It can be regarded as the most powerful and influential reward in the workplace globally and it is always used to encourage and keep employees in organizations (Woodruffe, 2006). It also has a significant impact on job satisfaction as it is largely the reason why people work in the first place. The study by Broadbridge (2002), in the UK indicated the main reason why employees work for a firm or organization was for the purpose of pay, but at the same time it was also a reason for leaving as the rates of pay were relatively low. Financial rewards do not only help people attain their basic needs but it is also instrumental in satisfying upper level needs such as esteem and selfactualization. The findings of Vroom (1964) in his celebrated expectancy theory, states that money even in the long run has the ability to motivate and enable an individual to satisfy personal goals. On the contrary, there are studies that failed to lend support to what Vroom had found and argued that employees are not only motivated by money. The first of such was advanced by Elton Mayo in his research known as the Hawthorne studies (Dickson, 1973). The result found that human relations and understanding behaviors were more motivating and rewarding than money. Similarly, the study by Kohn (1993), entitled Why incentive plan cannot work, indicated that higher financial rewards does not result to better productivity but instead it only has a short 17.

(25) term positive effect on the workforce and becomes ineffective in retaining the workforce in the longer term. The study observed financial rewards as not effective in shaping employees attitudes and behavior in the longer term. As a result, the study feared using financial rewards will pose more troubles for an organization in the future as employees tend to seek further financial rewards which may not be available and could trigger turnover. The findings of this study were reechoed by Darling, Arn and Gatlin (1997), when they stated financial rewards on the workforce has a short-lived effect on motivating the workforce. Some other studies such as that of Turner (2006), conducted on factory workers found that the relationship between financial rewards and performance was not significant, however when he conducted a similar study on the service industry, the finding turned out to be positively significant. Other researchers such as Kontodimopoulos, Paleologou and Niakas (2009) found that financial rewards were the strongest motivating factor for the employee to keep on giving their best at work. Similarly, Manolopoulos (2008), in his research on the service industry in Greece compared the extrinsic reward and intrinsic reward employees receive and found out that extrinsic ones were more motivating than intrinsic rewards. Furthermore, a research conducted by Islam and Ismail (2008), asked employees to rank the factors that motivate them the most to work and stay with an organization and the respondents indicated that money was the best motivating factor. Non-Financial Rewards Non-financial rewards are incentives provided to an employee other than direct transfers of extra monetary pays such as holidays, recreational activities, recognition, career advancement, work autonomy, compliments, and health care benefits offered to employees and their immediate families (Mathauer & Imhoff, 2006; Woodruffe, 2006). In a study on why employees tend to stay longer with their employers Lord (2002), found the key factors to be work autonomy, career advancement, appropriate treatment and accomplishment. The study showed these qualities make the employees to find pleasure in their jobs and increase their overall performance. Similarly, Mathauer and Imhoff (2006) indicated that non-financial rewards such as praises and recognition from management for good works boost employees moral, increase productivity and reduces turnover as employees feel appreciated and valued in the organization. This has a long term effect on the employees and Milman and Ricci (2004) concluded that the most significant retention predicators included intrinsic fulfillment and working conditions rather than monetary rewards. Similarly, the research conducted by Walsh and Taylor (2007) showed that although 18.

(26) compensation and work-life balance are important, it is the absence of opportunity for professional growth and development that affects management retention and turnover. Dissatisfaction with the compensation package such as promotional opportunities had shown to have a stronger relationship with turnover than workload or pay (Shields & Ward, 2001). In a study among nurses in a hospital, the results indicated that perception of few promotional opportunities; low decision making latitude and poor communication were predictors of intent to leave (Hayes, O’Brian, Duffield, Shamian, Buchan, Hughes, Heather, Laschinger, North & Stone, 2006). The study continued to show career development and lifelong learning activities promote job satisfaction, increase the retention and enable continued provision of high quality service. In a similar vein, promotional opportunities contribute to retaining employees and motivating them to perform, thus reducing costs of training, recruitment and turnover. Moreover, employees perceive their remuneration as an indication of what they are worth to the organization (Nel, Werner, Haasbroek, Poisat, Sono & Schultz, 2008). The researchers Darling, et al., (1997) indicated that money was at one time considered the best instrument to motivate the workforce to be productive but today due to its shortcomings, non-financial rewards of high intrinsic recognition value have proven to be much more long lasting and effective to retain and motivate the talents in an organization. A more recent study by Cho, et al., (2006), found that organizations providing better salaries and incentive plans to employees are more likely to experience lower turnover rates among non-managerial employees. The researchers then theorize that a firm would further reduce its turnover rate if it applies reward system in the form of competitive salaries and incentive plans across all the employees in the organization. Numerous research studies found that highly competitive wage systems promote employee commitment and thus results in the attraction and retention of a superior workforce (Becker & Huselid, 1999; Guthrie, 2001). Studies in this area further noted that employees will remain with an organization as long as it serves their interest to do so better than the alternatives available to them elsewhere. Belief that pay is unfair may be as a result of job search which convinces the employees that their current employment arrangements are not attractive relative to alternatives in the market. This establishes a link between pay and retention. If the company continues to ignore the importance of an equitable payment structure, it will continue to lose more staff especially the most skillful and productive ones. The question which then follows is whether it may be losing its best staff because they have the skills and abilities to obtain jobs which attract 19.

(27) higher wages elsewhere. Base on the above review, it is categorically clear that the provision of better compensation packages results to the attraction and retention of superior workforce and also reduces turnover (Becker & Huselid, 1999; Cho, et al., 2006; Guthrie, 2001). We therefore postulate that; . There is a positive relationship among organizational culture, compensation and turnover intention.. . Similarly, due to the roles of each independent variable, it is observed that organizational culture and compensation are influence by job satisfaction and are therefore positively correlated.. Job Satisfaction Job satisfaction is one of the most widely discussed phenomenon’s on the job behaviors of employees worldwide. It is not the same as motivation, although it is clearly linked (Shiraz & Riaz, 2011). It reflects the degree of fulfillment and pleasure an employee feels towards his or her job (Spector, 2003). It has proven to be an essential factor for organizations, as Robbins, Millett, Cacioppe and Waters-Marsh (1998) found that presence of positive satisfaction with a job offers significant outcomes like reduced absenteeism, increased effectiveness, and reduced intentions to leave the organization. The workforce is believe to be the most vital asset playing pivotal role in the development and performance of organizations and their overall behavior need to be taken care of to ensure productivity and organizational commitment. Best performing and satisfied workforce offer higher returns and help organizations to achieve desired outcomes. Job satisfaction has a direct effect on organizational commitment, motivation, absenteeism, deviant behavior, turnover, organizational citizenship behavior, role performance and life satisfaction of the employees (Kreitner & Kinicki, 2006). Table 2.2 below gives a summary of some of the common operational definitions of job satisfaction:. 20.

(28) Table 2.2. Operational Definitions of Job Satisfaction Author(s) Spector, 2003. Definitions Job satisfaction is the extent to which people like or dislike their jobs, or, with a global approach, as the employees’ feelings and emotions towards their work experiences.. Smith, Kendall & Hulin,. It is an emotional response towards the components of the job: pay,. 1969. work itself, promotion, coworkers, supervision, and customers in the work situation. Locke & Henne, 1986. It is pleasurable or positive emotional state that was resulting from the job experiences and the job appraisal of the employees at work.. Mckenna, 2000. An individual’s evaluation of how well the job meets the personal expectations and needs.. Herzberg, Mausner &. Is associated with an employee’s interest in the work, pay, and the. Synderman, 1959. opportunity to gain achievement, recognition, responsibility and /or advancement.. Schermerhorn, Hunt &. The degree to which individuals feel positively or negatively about. Osborn, 2004. their jobs.. Job satisfaction could also be explored with a facet approach as the attitude of employees towards various aspects of their job. Taris and Feij (2001) describe two aspects of values: intrinsic and extrinsic. Intrinsic values refer to immaterial aspects of the job, such as job variety and independence, while extrinsic values refer to material work aspects, such as salary and opportunity for promotion. Job satisfaction is said to increase when intrinsic work values are met (Hegney, Plank & Parker, 2006; Taris & Feij, 2001). Poor recruitment strategies have huge potentials to lead to job dissatisfaction and subsequently lead to turnover as certain employers deliberately lure job seekers with lucrative packages which they end up not meeting. As soon as this newly employed staffs come to notice management. 21.

(29) failure to meet their promises and expectations, they tend to involve in mischievous activities or resign earlier than expected. Turnover is observer to be higher in environments where employees feel they have been taken advantage of, undervalued and inadequately compensated. In the study by Nauta, Van Vianen, Van der Heijden, Van Dam and Willemsen (2009), they indicated unrealistic expectations were among the reasons several employees quit their jobs soon after taking them. When these expectations were not met, employees feel cheated and try to leave at all cost. A number of studies (Hegney et al., 2006; Taris & Feij, 2001) indicated that the level of job satisfaction of employees is mainly a function of variables such as individual factors, job factors as well as situational factors. Below we take a closer look as to what studies have gathered with regards these above-mentioned factors.. Individual Factors Individual factors such as age, background, and personality could have an effect on employee turnover. Studies reveal that there is an inverse relationship between age and turnover. Grobler, Warnick, Carrel, Elbert and Hartfierd (2006), stated that younger employees with little seniority who are not quite content with aspect of their jobs have the greatest probability to quit. The relationship between age and turnover may be based on a number of influences. Younger employees may have more entry level access, more job opportunities and fewer family responsibilities, making job mobility easier and more convenient for them. An individual’s personality such as open-mindedness, tolerant, positive outlook and emotional stability has a major role in their ability to find satisfaction in their job and stay focus. Personality determines the person’s unique adjustment to their environment (Alberts & Motlatla, 1998) and their inability to adjust could lead to frustration, poor performance and subsequently turnover. Many studies (Caligiuri, 2000; Timmerman, 2006) revealed that individuals with high positive personality formed better social relationships than their counterparts with low personality. Personality variables may influence turnover through a variety of paths. Trait affectivity, for example, may influence the perception of the work environment and lead people to believe a job has negative or positive qualities that would not be present in other jobs. Research has also indicated that there may also be positive factors that initiate people’s job change orientations. People select those activities that they feel they are capable of doing (Deci & Ryan, 2000). They may feel more confident regarding specific tasks in an organization, which 22.

(30) is the typical task-related conceptualization of self-efficacy (Woods & Bandura, 1989). A study conducted by Nauta, et al., (2009) found out that employees who were satisfied with their jobs felt less urge to change their current work situation to perform different tasks or to move to another job outside their organization than employees who reported lower job satisfaction. Those employees who in fact aimed to leave their jobs were less sensitive to push and pull motives if they were satisfied with their career. If employees perceive the workplace as less safe because of management problems, they are more likely to be dissatisfied and leave. People who feel unsafe at work also have higher intention to quit (Hall, 2001). Likewise studies reveal that employees who do not experience job fit tend to leave slightly sooner than employees who fit their job (Mitchell et al., 2001). Job Factors Studies continued to reveal that the nature of the job could lead to dissatisfaction which results to turnover. A consistently heavy workload increases job tension and decreases job satisfaction, which in turn, increases the likelihood of turnover (Hayes, et al., 2006). Some employees find jobs in the service industry too demanding such as in the financial and hospitality industry hence causing them stress. Some may get stressed by the long hours that it takes various transactions to be completed while others may simply find it stressing to cope with the demands of the clients (Malone, 2003). When stress becomes so overwhelming, most employees may find themselves quitting. Supervision is another moderately important source of job satisfaction. There seems to be two dimensions to supervisory style. One focused on employee centeredness and this is measured by the degree to which a supervisor takes a personal interest in the employee’s welfare. The other dimension is participation, as illustrated by managers who allow their employees to participate in decisions that affect their job (Luthans, 1998). The nature of the work group will have an effect on job satisfaction. Friendly and cooperative workers are a modest source of job satisfaction to individual employees. The researcher further stated that the work group serves as a source of support, comfort, advice and assistance to the individual worker and that a good work group makes the job more enjoyable. Many people enjoy working with a minimum of supervision. In order to give people a sense of control, they should be empowered to take responsibility for as much of their job as they can handle. At the same time, this will make the manager’s job easier. 23.

(31) Autonomy is evident when employees experience a sense of ownership and control over their jobs. When they have a say in how things are done employees feel more responsible, they show more initiative in their work, get more done and enjoy work more (Alberts & Motlatla, 1998). People with strong career orientation may place less emphasis on social relations (Nel, et al., 2008). If work supervision is not handle with care it could create stain relationship which will force one of the parties to look elsewhere where they are more comfortable. The decision for people to leave their jobs does not necessarily depend on only individual and job factors, but on situational factors as well. Situational Factors The study by Nauta et al., (2009) highlighted two motives for turnover: push and pull. Push motives are linked to dissatisfaction with one’s current work situation while, pull motives pertains to available opportunities on the external labor market. For example, Van Dam (2005) argued that whether one intends to leave will also depend on the state of the external labor market, such as the demand for one’s occupation and skills and the number of job openings. Economic growth provides a lot of avenue for turnover especially amongst skilled employees. This is due to the fact that some of these new positions provide better packages that translate to promotion. Iverson and Pullman (2000) indicated that the availability of jobs outside the organization increases the job mobility and that the supply and demand created by the labor market either restricts or increases the chances of employee’s movement. These implies that the greater the job opportunity, the greater the tendency for voluntary turnover. General economic conditions have an important bearing on the overall availability of jobs. In some instances an organization may have a high rate of turnover not because employees are dissatisfied with any part of the job, but because there are better job opportunities elsewhere. It is noted that turnover is at its highest when jobs are plentiful. However, where the situation is one of high levels of unemployment the employee turnover figure inevitably goes down as there is not enough job choice. The supervisory or management style used in an organization could also lead to employee turnover. No one enjoys working for a manager who is inconsiderate and authoritarian. The Auckland University study by Gardiner and Parata (1998) cited marginalization, adverse stereotypes and employees’ consistent frustration with the incompetent management as the 24.

(32) factors that prompted their departure from the institution. This reflects how critical the relationship between manager and employees is for retention. Dissatisfaction with any part of one’s job or with the management could force an individual to look elsewhere for an alternate job. Studies over the years have provided ample evidence that job dissatisfaction at any level causes intended and actual job changes (Griffeth, Hom, & Gaertner, 2000), whereas job satisfaction causes employees to be less willing to quit (Van Dam, 2005). Van Dam added when there is a high degree of participation, integration and commitment in the core work group, employee turnover will be lower. High-performing employees who are not given positive feedbacks might leave the organization because they are not been recognized and because their high skill level may make them more employable outside the organization (Jackofsky, Ferris, & Breckenridge, 1986). It is relatively rare for people to leave jobs in which they are happy even when they are offered higher salary elsewhere. A study conducted by Hendrie (2004), in a retail outlet found company policy been responsible for high employee turnover. The reasons advanced included no career prospects, employees been expected to work too many extra hours and staffs views on issues not considered by management. Based on the above literature review especially on the findings on Mitchell et al., (2001) supported by others (Kinicki & Williams, 2008; Philips & Connell, 2003) we postulate that: . Job satisfaction is negatively correlated to turnover intention.. . Job satisfaction will mediate the relationship between organizational culture, compensation and turnover intention.. To sum up, it is clear from the review of the literature that researchers have been attempting to identify leading-edge indicators of turnover. Turnover tends to be higher in environments where employees feel they are taken advantage of, where they feel undervalued or ignored, and where they feel helpless or unimportant going by the bulk of existing literature on the subject. Low rates of job satisfaction would usually translate into turnover. It is also clear that many employees look for the type of jobs in which they could enjoy a balance between their work and personal lives. Fewer employees are willing to work on excessive period of hours, cope with unusual working conditions, or tolerate highly stressful and demanding situations. They want 25.

(33) time for more involvement in social networks as well as family activities. They therefore seek for organizations that provide the appropriate work and life balance they consider appropriate (Brady, 2002). Although this relationship still applies in many circumstances, in several situations satisfied employees leave for a variety of other reasons; satisfaction data alone are not necessarily a valid leading-edge indicator. There exist positive factors that make people change jobs. At times people select those actions or activities that they feel they are capable of doing best (Deci & Ryan, 2000). However, the situation needs to be properly investigated as the reasons prompting turnover may not necessarily be the same in several situations. Compensation could be an influencing factor as Milkovich, et al., (2011) stated that how people view compensation affect how they behave. Compensation could prompt people to change jobs by simply going after jobs that offer better than their current remunerations. Whether employee turnover decisions are prompted by their organizational culture, compensation or by job satisfaction, this study anticipated to unveil the real causes of this unfortunate situation in the service industry in The Gambia. There may be some understanding as to the reasons for turnover based on studies done in other geographical locations however, no two problems may necessarily be the same or be caused by the same factors. Based on our knowledge there exists no study published that explored the causes of turnover in The Gambia service industry especially with these variables and we are keen to establish the role played by these variables in the current Gambian situation. Finally, the variables under study are highly connected in several ways. It is impossible to study one with regards to employee turnover intention without running into the other. However, that does not necessarily imply that they are basically the same and has equal impact in influencing employee turnover. Their respective roles from the review of literature are not the same. It is anticipated that this study will unveil the extent each variable played in causing employee turnover in the service industry.. 26.

(34) CHAPTER III. METHODOLOGY This chapter contained the methodology that was adopted for the study. It comprised of the research design and framework, population and sampling procedure, instrumentation, validity and reliability of the research instruments, data collection procedure, data analysis as well as the evaluation of the research methods. The design was however, strongly influenced by the research questions and by the findings from the review of the literature that are contained in chapters one and two respectively. The study was an explanatory quantitative research work as the intention was to provide credible and trustworthy explanations on the factors behind the high employee turnover in The Gambia service industry using a survey research method. According to Babbie (2011), surveys may be used for explanatory analysis and are essential in studies that have individuals as units of analysis. The data was collected using a questionnaire containing closed-ended questions in the Likert’s scale format where the respondent selected from a list of answers.. Research Framework and Hypothesis The study was conducted in The Gambia and attempted to dissect and establish the relationship between organizational culture, compensation, job satisfaction and turnover intention in the country’s service industry. As indicated earlier, employee turnover in the sector is currently at a record’s high. The research framework below is the product of the literature review on the subject as well as the research questions. The study was conducted within the framework and the variables it contained served as the focal points for the study. It comprised of the independent variables, a mediating variable as well as a dependent variable. The dependent variable was employee turnover intention in The Gambia service industry. The purpose was to diagnose the three-work related parameters namely; organizational culture, compensation and job satisfaction that could influence employee turnover intention.. 27.

(35) Organizational Culture. H4. H2. Job Satisfaction. H3. H1. Turnover Intention. Compensation. Figure 3.1. Research Framework Research Hypothesis As a result of the review of literature on the research topic and with the aid of the research purposes, the following hypotheses were formulated. They served as the focal point for the study and are as follows: Hypothesis 1: There is a positive relationship among organizational culture, compensation and turnover intention. Hypothesis 2: Organizational culture and compensation are positively correlated to job satisfaction. Hypothesis 3: Job satisfaction is negatively correlated to turnover intention. Hypothesis 4: Job satisfaction will mediate the relationship between organizational culture, compensation and turnover intention.. 28.

(36) Variables The independent variables for the study were organizational culture, compensation and job satisfaction. In addition, job satisfaction also served as the mediating factor between organizational culture, compensation and employee turnover intention. The theoretical research framework presented in Figure 3.1 above attempts to capture the relationship between organizational culture, compensation and job satisfaction in determining employee turnover and was carefully formulated after a review of current materials on the phenomenon. Based on the researchers knowledge of the industry, environment and culture, we postulated that organizational culture and employees compensation if strategically not handle properly has immense potentials to result to turnover which is been indicated by our first hypothesis (H1). In additional, we believe organizational culture and compensation shared some sort of relationship with employees’ job satisfaction. Against this backdrop, we anticipate that organizational culture and compensation do have a positive relationship with job satisfaction and that is being indicated by our second hypothesis (H2). This is a crucial relationship because we believed even if an organization’s culture as well as the level of compensation is poor or not really good but the employees are contended with their situations, turnover would not pose a serious challenge and this is indicated by our fourth hypothesis (H4). Therefore, job satisfaction is negatively correlated to turnover intention which is implied in our third hypothesis (H3).. Research Method This study investigated the relationship of three work-related variables, organizational culture, compensation and job satisfaction in influencing turnover in The Gambia service industry took the form of an explanatory quantitative study as the purpose was to explain the causes of employee turnover with respect to these key variables. Instruments developed and used by previous researchers with high reliability scales were used for the purpose of data collection. Since the population for the study was large and diverse, the study chose a sampling approach that enabled the researchers access a sample group where most was collected and learnt. Upon the collection of the data, statistical analysis followed suit in order to determine the underlining. 29.