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BOTHMA,F.C.&ROODT,G.(2012).Thevalidationoftheturnoverintentionscale.ProceedingsofthePanPacificConferenceXXIX,24–27May,Haikou,China.pp.231-235.(ISBN1-93...

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The validation of the Turnover Intention Scale

FC Bothma BothmaFC@telkom.co.za

G Roodt* groodt@uj.ac.za *corresponding author

PO Box 524, Auckland Park, 2006,

Department of Industrial Psychology and People Management

University of Johannesburg, South Africa

ABSTRACT

Much has been published about the retention of staff in the

recent past. While turnover intentions as a construct is

attracting increased research attention, there are seemingly

not many valid and reliable scales around to measure

turnover intentions. This study therefore focuses on the

validation of a shortened, 6-item version of the Turnover

Intention Scale (TIS-6). Several facets of validation will be

investigated, namely the reliability, as well as the construct,

predictive and discriminant validity of the scale. The study

was conducted amongst 2429 employees of an ICT sector

company as part of the first author’s doctoral thesis. The

results of the study indicate that a shortened version of the

TIS could measure turnover intentions reliably (α = .80)

and validly. Leavers and stayers scored significantly

different on the TIS-6 and it also established significant

differences in respect of 8 of the 10 other theoretical

variables used in the study.

INTRODUCTION The retention of staff is considered to be a pressing people

issue and consequently much has been published about it in

the recent past [23; 26; 34; 39; 53]. Turnover intention

(intentions to stay or leave the organisation) is an important

criterion variable in similar type of studies. The challenge

and importance of this study therefore is to investigate if

the TIS-6 can serve as a valid and reliable criterion variable

in future studies.

Although turnover intention is covered well in the

literature, the need remains to validate turnover cognition

scales [55]. The motivation for validating the shortened

version of the TIS-6 is that most other scales only use a

limited number of scale items. [43] observed that various

researchers have only used single item scales [28; 36] with

obvious metric limitations. According to [43] only a

limited number of other studies have used more than three

items in their instruments [11; 25; 41]. The main research

question of this study is: Is the TIS-6 a reliable and valid

scale? The objectives of the study are to investigate: (1)

the reliability; (2) the construct (factorial) validity; (3) the

predictive validity; and (4) the discriminant validity of the

TIS-6.

Turnover intention is seldom precisely defined in reported

studies. This is probably because people perceive the term

to be self-explanatory. Many researchers [29; 47; 48; 62]

argued that turnover intention is the final decision step

before a person actually leaves a workplace. Turnover

intention can be described as an individual’s behavioural

intention (conation) to leave the employ of the organisation

[35]. In this study the definition of [64] is used, who define

turnover intention as: “…the conscious and deliberate

willfulness to leave the organisation” (p. 262). The TIS

was developed as a conation (intention) of psychological

activities as conceptualised by [24].

Behavioural intention is a reliable determinant of actual

behavior [31; 49]. This implies that turnover intention can

be used as a valid proxy for actual labour turnover [31; 49;

64]. Turnover is the result of a coping strategy used by

employees to escape the current situation. It can be

permanent, when employees leave the employment

institution, or it can be characterised by horizontal mobility

when employees seek and accept transfers to other

departments [32]. [64] referred to turnover as “…the last in

a sequence of withdrawal cognitions…” (p. 262).

The decision to leave is influenced by many factors.

Perceived chances and ease of finding another job,

especially in tough economic conditions, the role of

mobility cognitions as well as individual differences in

search behaviour all contribute to an individual’s turnover

intention [2; 3; 4; 12; 13; 15; 19; 20; 31; 38; 44; 47; 56;

67].

The Job Resources-Demands (JDR) Model [7; 8] provided

a plausible explanation why individuals may choose to

leave an organisation. In most studies that used the JDR

model, the path to turnover intentions is from job demands

that cause burnout. An indirect relationship between job

demands and turnover intentions is therefore proposed.

This idea is based upon studies which found that job

demands stimulate exhaustion (the opposite of

engagement), which causes turnover intentions [7; 8; 22;

58; 60]. These studies also indicated that the absence of

job resources was related to disengagement, which

increased turnover intentions. The finding that the absence

of job resources stimulated turnover intentions was also

supported in a study that did not use the JDR model [2].

The turnover phenomenon has significant cost

consequences for any organisation. Losing highly skilled

technical employees disrupts organisational functioning,

service delivery and administration. It also contributes to

hiring and training costs [53; 63]. These mentioned

consequences provide a sound rationale for this study. The

research design of the study is presented next.

RESEARCH DESIGN

Research approach An empirical, quantitative research approach was followed

where a cross-sectional field survey was conducted that

generated primary research data. Correlational data

analysis techniques were applied in the study, providing

plausible explanations for relationships in an ex post facto

way.

Research method

Participants and sampling

A census-based approach (where all members in the

sampling frame had an equal chance to participate) was

followed to survey the heterogenic population, up to middle

management (N = 23 134) in the employment of a large

South African Information and Communication

Technologies (ICT) sector company over a period of one

month. The response rate of 11% yielded a sample of 2 429

usable questionnaires.

Most participants were male (63.2%). The majority of

participants (44.1%) are white followed by black (26.3%),

coloured (16.3%) and Asian/Indian groups (13.3%). The

mean age of the participants was 40.07 years. Many were

from operational levels (54.9%) and were stationed in the

corporate region (24.9%) of the company. Of the

participants, 40.7% had a Matric or lower qualification,

followed by 26.9% that possessed a National or National

Higher Diploma.

Measuring instruments Turnover Intention Scale. Turnover intention (intention to

leave or stay) was measured with a 15-item scale initially

developed by [52]. Following literature recommendations

[49], behavior intention should be measured within a

reasonable time-frame, and for this study a six-month

period [49] was used. A total of six items were adapted

from [52]’s TIS scale. Owing to space limitations no

sample items will be provided here for this scale or for the

scales below. [30] reported a Cronbach alpha of .91 for the

15-item version of the TI scale. [43] and [44] in their study

reported a Cronbach alpha of .895 for a 13-item version of

the scale. The reliability of the TIS-6 is however unknown.

Alienation Scale. Personal alienation (AL) was measured

with a five-item scale [9; 33]. The measure used in this

study was originally an 18-item measure, developed by

[33] to measure work alienation. [10] performed a principal

components analysis with a varimax rotation to assess the

factor structure of the alienation scale. [7] reported a

Cronbach Alpha of .80 for AL.

Helping Behaviour Scale (OCB). Organisational Citizen

Behaviour (OCB) was measured with a six-item Helping

Behaviour Scale [65]. [65] reported Cronbach Alphas for

the helping behaviour scale in a range from .95 to .88.

Maslach Burnout Inventory – Human Services Survey

(MBI-HSS-20). The MBI-HSS-22 was the original

instrument used by researchers to measure burnout in

occupations providing human services [46]. This

measurement was later adapted to measure job burnout of

occupations not focused on providing human services. The

MBI-General Services (MBI-GS) burnout dimensions are

slightly broader conceptualised and renamed as exhaustion,

cynicism and reduced professional efficacy [46]. This

instrument is copyright protected. To measure job burnout

for this study, the Maslach Burnout Inventory - Human

Services Survey (MBI-HSS-20) was used [27; 45; 66] with

three sub constructs labelled emotional exhaustion (eight

items), depersonalisation (five items), and reduced personal

accomplishment (seven items). Items 12 and 16 were

excluded due to consistent findings of cross-loadings in

previous studies [27]. A Spanish study [27] yielded

Cronbach alphas of .85 for emotional exhaustion, of .58 for

depersonalisation and of .71 for reduced personal

accomplishment.

Utrecht Work Engagement Scale (UWES). The UWES-17,

the instrument used in most work engagement (WE)

research, was used. The 17-item instrument is composed of

three sub constructs namely vigour (six items), dedication

(five items) and absorption (six items) [61]. Reliability

analysis of the UWES [60] yielded Cronbach alphas for

four samples ranging from .82 to .75 for vigour, from .90 to

.88 for dedication, and from .77 to .70 for absorption.

Task Performance Scale. Task performance (PER)

assessment by supervisors was measured with a nine-item

adapted scale [54; 68]. [54] reported a Cronbach alpha of

.91 for PER.

Work-based Identity Scale. Although previous attempts

were made to measure work-based identity (WI) [6; 16; 17;

18] no suitable measurement was found that complied with

the requirements of the theoretical definition of WI in this

study. To measure the facets of WI (selected for this

study), namely work-role centrality, person – organisation-

fit, organisational, job, career, occupation and work

involvement, different scale items were sourced and

adapted to fit the 7-point intensity response scale anchored

at extreme poles [6; 37; 40; 42; 51; 57]. The initial scale

consisted of 36 items that were compiled from these

abovementioned authors’ scales. [14] reported a Cronbach

alpha of .95 for the 28 items finally included in the WI

scale.

Research procedure

The Universal Resource Locator (URL) of the online

survey was initially sent by e-mail to 50 employees,

randomly selected from the target population for a pilot

study. No problems were identified in completing the

survey, except that it took on average about 75 minutes to

complete. Two doctoral studies were covered in the same

survey. The URL was then sent via e-mail to potential

participants requesting their participation. The successful

completion of the questionnaire by the participant activated

the last survey instrument, in-role job performance, to be

completed by the supervisor. Weekly e-mail reminders

were sent out to the target population asking and reminding

them to participate. Participation was voluntary and no

incentives were provided to enhance participation.

Statistical analysis

The Statistical Consultation Service (Statcon) of the

University of Johannesburg used the SPSS programme to

conduct the statistical analysis on the data in two phases.

The first phase consisted of descriptive statistical analyses,

the factor and reliability analyses, and the calculation of

correlations between all the variables. The second phase

consisted of inferential statistical analyses, namely

independent sample t-tests [50].

RESULTS

A factor and reliability analysis was conducted on the TIS-

6. A single factor was extracted with an overall reliability

of α = .80. Item loadings ranged between .36 and .81 on

the single extracted factor and item reliabilities ranged

between .73 and .81. These findings confirmed the

factorial validity as well as the reliability of the TIS-6.

The data profiles of the 84 employees who resigned from

the ICT company over the four-month period after the

survey was conducted, were compared with the data

profiles of the 88 employees drawn randomly from the

sample (n = 2,429) who stayed with the company.

Independent sample t-tests were conducted to compare the

different variable scores of the stayers and leavers. The

following analyses provide evidence that the turnover

intention score can be used as a proxy for actual labour

turnover. The guidelines of Cohen (1988, pp. 284 - 287)

were followed to calculate the effect size for independent-

sample t-tests, expressed as partial Eta-squared where .01;

.06; or .14 respectively indicates small, medium, or large

effect.

There was a significant difference in the turnover intention

scores of leavers (M = 5.14, SD = 1.26), compared to

stayers (M = 4.13, SD = 1.28; t(170) = 5.21, p < .01 (two-

tailed)). The difference in the means (mean difference =

1.01, 95% CI: 0.63 to 1.39) has a large effect (ηp2 = 0.14).

This finding supports the predictive validity of the TIS-6.

There was a significant difference in the work-based

identity scores of leavers (M = 4.16, SD = 1.22) and stayers

(M = 4.96, SD = 0.92; t(170) = -4.84, p < .01 (two-tailed)).

The difference in the means (mean difference = -0.79, 95%

CI: -1.12 to -0.47) has a moderate effect (ηp2 = 0.12).

There was a significant difference in the personal

alienation scores of leavers (M = 4.85, SD = 1.40) and

stayers (M = 4.12, SD = 1.37; t(170) = 3.44, p < .01 (two-

tailed)). The difference in the means (mean difference =

0.73, 95% CI: 0.31 to 1.14) has a moderate effect (ηp2 =

0.07).

There was a significant difference in the reduced personal

accomplishment (BO1) scores of leavers (M = 3.92, SD =

0.98) and stayers (M = 4.26, SD = 1.06; t(170) = -2.18, p <

.05 (two-tailed)). The difference in the means (mean

difference = -0.34, 95% CI: -0.65 to -0.03) has a small

effect (ηp2 = 0.03).

There was a significant difference in the emotional

exhaustion (BO2) scores of leavers (M = 3.06, SD = 1.36)

and stayers (M = 2.19, SD = 1.42; t(170) = 4.07, p < .01

(two-tailed)). The difference in the means (mean

difference = 0.86, 95% CI: 0.45 to 1.28) has a moderate

effect (ηp2 = 0.09).

There was a significant difference in the depersonalisation

(BO3) scores of leavers (M = 1.93, SD = 1.31) and stayers

(M = 1.48, SD = 1.23; t(170) = 2.32, p < .05 (two-tailed)).

The difference in the means (mean difference = 0.45, 95%

CI: 0.07 to 0.83) has a small effect (ηp2 = 0.03).

There was a significant difference in the vigour (WE1)

scores of those who resigned (M = 3.96, SD = 1.38) and

stayers (M = 4.73, SD = 1.00; t(151) = -4.24, p < .01 (two-

tailed)). The difference in the means (mean difference = -

0.78, 95% CI: -1.14 to -0.41) has a moderate effect (ηp2 =

0.09).

There was a significant difference in the dedication (WE2)

scores of leavers (M = 3.60, SD = 1.78) and stayers (M =

4.60, SD = 1.21; t (170) = -4.32, p < .01 (two-tailed)). The

difference in the means (mean difference = -1.00, 95% CI: -

1.46 to -0.54) has a moderate effect (ηp2 = 0.10).

There was a significant difference in the absorption (WE3)

scores of leavers (M = 3.86, SD = 1.43) and stayers (M =

4.59, SD = 0.97; t(170) = -3.94, p < .01 (two-tailed)). The

difference in the means (mean difference = -0.73, 95% CI: -

1.10 to -0.36) has a moderate effect (ηp2 = 0.08). These

findings above support the discriminant validity of the TIS-

6.

There was no significant difference in the helping

behaviour scores of leavers (M = 5.27, SD = 1.13) and

stayers (M = 5.51, SD = 0.95; t(170) = -1.57, p > .05 (two-

tailed)). The difference in the means (mean difference = -

0.25, 95% CI: -0.56 to 0.06) was non-significant (ηp2 =

non-significant).

There was no significant difference in the task performance

of leavers (M = 5.51, SD = 1.07) and stayers (M = 5.76, SD

= 0.93; t(154) = -1.57, p > .05 (two-tailed)). The difference

in the means (mean difference = -0.25, 95% CI: -0.57 to

0.07) was non-significant (ηp2 = non-significant).

The discussion of the results follows in the next section.

DISCUSSION

The research objectives of the study were to evaluate the

reliability, the factorial, predictive, and discriminant

validity of the TIS-6. This study will add to the unitary

validity and reliability information of the TIS-6 and

contribute towards establishing its credibility for future use

in the scientific community.

The findings of the study can be summarised as follows:

An exploratory factor analysis (EFA) established that the

TIS-6 is a one-dimensional construct, thereby confirming

the construct [more specifically the factorial validity (refer

to Allen & Yen, 1979)] of the scale. The scale reliabilities

with items deleted (ranging between .73 and .81) and the

overall reliability (α = .80) of the TIS-6 are acceptable.

In order to establish the predictive validity of the scale the

TIS-6 mean score differences for those who resigned were

compared to a randomly selected group who stayed. The

obtained mean score differences were significant and the

effect size was large. The predictive validity of the scale is

hereby established to be used as a proxy for actual

turnover.

In order to establish the discriminant validity of the scale,

independent sample t-tests were conducted to establish

whether the different variable mean scores of leavers and

stayers differed significantly. Significant mean score

differences were found in eight of the ten remaining

variables with effect sizes ranging between moderate and

small. The discriminant validity of the TIS-6 is confirmed.

These results show that the TIS-6 is a reliable and valid

measure to assess turnover intention and to validly predict

actual turnover behaviour as was suggested by [31] and

[49].

Turnover intention in this study relates to a number of other

variables such as personal alienation; the three dimensions

of work engagement (vigour, dedication and absorption);

the three dimensions of burnout (reduced personal

accomplishment, emotional exhaustion, depersonalisation)

and not only to the suggested chain of resources and

demands [7; 8; 22; 58; 60].

The TIS-6 can therefore be used in business and academic

research to validly and reliably assess turnover intention or

to predict actual turnover.

A limitation of the study is that the TIS-6 was only applied

in a single organisation and in a single country setting. A

strength of the study was however that it was conducted

across different culture groups in the South African

context. A suggestion for future research may be to

compare the scores of the TIS-6 across different culture

groups. There may be a possibility that culture groups

respond differently to antecedents leading to turnover

decisions.

REFERENCES

(The full reference list is available upon request)