Editorial summary. This is our text summary of an article published by plos. Charts, figures, and the author’s full voice are at the original — read it there .
Editorial verdict
Methodologically sound regional study with credible SEM findings, but limited generalizability beyond Oman's public sector; the core mediation finding — that career growth reduces turnover primarily through organizational commitment, not directly — is specific and replicable in design.
Executive summary
This study examines how career growth influences turnover intention among employees in Oman's public sector, with organizational commitment serving as a mediating variable. The authors argue that career growth alone is insufficient to reduce attrition and that its effect operates primarily through enhancing employee commitment. Surveying 329 valid respondents across 38 government ministries using a five-point Likert scale, the study applied structural equation modeling (SEM) via AMOS to test ten hypotheses. Career growth was found to significantly and positively influence all three dimensions of organizational commitment — affective (β=0.344), continuance (β=0.512), and normative (β=0.498). However, career growth showed no statistically significant direct effect on turnover intention (β=-0.063, p=0.526). Affective commitment (path coefficient: -0.414) and continuance commitment (-0.161) significantly reduced turnover intention, while normative commitment did not reach significance (-0.091, p=0.081), attributed in part to Islamic and cultural values shaping obligation-based retention differently. Affective and continuance commitment were confirmed as partial mediators. The study contributes an empirical extension of Meyer and Allen's three-component model to the underexplored Middle Eastern public sector context.
Key insights
- 1Career growth has no statistically significant direct effect on turnover intention (β=-0.063, p=0.526); its influence on retention operates indirectly through organizational commitment.
- 2Affective and continuance commitment serve as significant partial mediators between career growth and turnover intention, while normative commitment does not — a finding the authors link to Islamic and cultural values in Oman that shape obligation-based retention differently from Western contexts.
- 3Employees in Oman's public sector reported dissatisfaction with promotion speed despite valuing continuous knowledge development, suggesting a structural gap between career growth expectations and institutional delivery.
Practical takeaways
- HR strategies in Oman's public sector targeting turnover reduction may produce stronger outcomes by focusing on building organizational commitment — particularly affective and continuance forms — rather than relying on career advancement programs alone.
- Measurement instruments validated in this study (31 variables, Arabic-translated, Cronbach's Alpha = 0.822) provide a replicable tool for HRM research in the GCC public sector context.
Frameworks mentioned
Meyer and Allen's Three-Component Model of Organizational Commitment
A model distinguishing affective (emotional attachment), continuance (cost-based), and normative (obligation-based) dimensions of organizational commitment, applied here as mediating variables between career growth and turnover intention.
Social Exchange Theory
Used to frame the reciprocal relationship between employer-provided career growth opportunities and employee commitment and retention behaviors.
References
- Weng et al. (2010).Career growth and organizational commitment (career growth and affective commitment/turnover).
- Karavardar (2014).Turnover intention in audit firms.
- Swailes and Al Fahdi (2011).Voluntary turnover in Oman's public sector from an Islamic values perspective.
- Meyer, Allen, and Smith (1993).Three-component model of organizational commitment.
- Weng and McElroy (2012).Organizational career growth and affective commitment and turnover.
- Batt (2002).HR practices and quit rates.
- Allen and Meyer (1990).Measurement of affective, continuance, and normative organizational commitment.
- Newman et al. (2011).Training perceptions and turnover intentions in multinational firms.
- Vandenberghe et al. (2007).Continuance commitment and turnover moderated by negative affectivity.
- Sonia (2012).Relational and economic antecedents of organizational commitment.
Source & Provenance
plos
Not specified
Not specified
Research Study
Middle East
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