Organisational support and employee commitment on turnover in a high-risk occupation

Purpose: Retaining automated teller machine (ATM) and cash-in-transit (CIT) employees in a CIT organisation in South Africa is challenging. Despite the belief that employees will remain with their organisation in a poor economy, ATM and CIT employees’ high turnover intentions persist. The study aimed to empirically investigate perceived organisational support (POS) and organisational commitment (OC) as predictors of turnover intentions among employees of a selected CIT company in South Africa. Design/methodology/approach: The study employed an explanatory survey design, quantitative approach and convenience sampling technique to draw 151 research participants for the investigation. Hypotheses were tested through regression and correlation analyses. Findings/results: The POS showed a positive rather than negative relationship with employees’ turnover intentions, suggesting that the more managers support ATM and CIT employees, the higher their turnover intentions may be. This seeming anomaly may be explained by the high-risk working conditions in the CIT industry. Furthermore, the results indicated that affective commitment is the most critical predictor of turnover intentions, followed by normative and continuance commitment. Practical implications: As the results revealed inconsistencies, more studies should be conducted to clarify the concept of organisational support and improve safety and staffing plans, including the formulation and implementation of professional training programmes and the provision of tailored organisational support. Originality/value: This study contributes to the literature on employee turnover intentions in the CIT industry by generating new findings in relation to the investigation of the perceived impact of organisational support and employee commitment on turnover intentions.