i ASSESSMENT OF TURNOVER INTENTIONS AND EMPLOYEE COMMITMENT AMONG TEACHERS OF THE GHANA EDUCATION SERVICE IN THE BOLGATANGA MUNICIPALITY CHARLES AGOMAH AFEBIA JUNE, 2016 University of Ghana http://ugspace.ug.edu.gh i UNIVERSITY OF GHANA ASSESSMENT OF TURNOVER INTENTIONS AND EMPLOYEE COMMITMENT AMONG TEACHERS OF THE GHANA EDUCATION SERVICE IN THE BOLGATANGA MUNICIPALITY BY CHARLES AGOMAH AFEBIA (10107066) THIS THESIS IS SUBMITTED TO THE UNIVERSITY OF GHANA, LEGON IN PARTIAL FULFILLMENT OF THE REQUIREMENT FOR THE AWARD OF MPHIL ORGANIZATION AND HUMAN RESOURCE DEGREE JUNE, 2016 University of Ghana http://ugspace.ug.edu.gh ii DECLARATION I hereby declare that this thesis is the outcome of research that I have conducted towards the award of a Master of Philosophy Degree in Human Resource Management, and that to the best of my knowledge, this thesis has not previously, in its entirety or in part been submitted in any University for the award of a degree except where due acknowledgement is made and referenced in the text. Charles Agomah Afebia Student (10107066) Signature……………………………………Date………………… University of Ghana http://ugspace.ug.edu.gh iii CERTIFICATION This work was submitted in accordance with the guidelines of supervision of thesis laid down by the School of Graduate Studies, University of Ghana, for examination with approval from my supervisor. Dr. Olivia Anku-Tsede Supervisor Signature……………………………….Date……………… University of Ghana http://ugspace.ug.edu.gh iv DEDICATION This thesis is dedicated to my wife, Miss Eunice Sadia Abaah and my lovely daughter, Frances Maria Adolyine Afebigya. University of Ghana http://ugspace.ug.edu.gh v ACKNOWLEDGEMENT I am very grateful to the Almighty God for the grace to finish the programme. It is not by my intelligence that I have gotten to this level. I also wish to thank my supervisor Dr. Olivia Anku- Tsede for the endurance and patience shown me. You read my thesis several times and made valuable suggestions that has culminated in the final outcome of this thesis. You offered useful guidance during my thesis write up. Additionally, I am extremely grateful to Believe Quarcoo for the time you devoted in reading and scrutinizing my work. I further wish to extend my profound gratitude to Kingsley Saa-Touh Mort for the support during my MPhil programme. You stood by me and offered the needed help. I wish to also register my profound gratitude to Madam Beatrice Abiire, the former Headmistress of Zuarungu Senior High School, who is currently on retirement for her wonderful support during my academic pursuit. And to my elder brother, Edward Afebia, I would like to thank you for your wonderful encouragement and the direction you provided in my life. Similarly, I am greatly indebted to my wife, Abaah Sadia Eunice and my daughter, Afebigya Adolyine Frances Maria who gave me the needed support. I finally, wish to thank my entire family and friends for the love and prayers extended to me. University of Ghana http://ugspace.ug.edu.gh vi TABLE OF CONTENTS DECLARATION ................................................................................................................... ii CERTIFICATION................................................................................................................ iii DEDICATION ...................................................................................................................... iv ACKNOWLEDGEMENT .................................................................................................... v TABLE OF CONTENTS ..................................................................................................... vi LIST OF TABLES ................................................................................................................ ix LIST OF FIGURES ............................................................................................................... x ACRONYMS ......................................................................................................................... xi ABSTRACT ......................................................................................................................... xii CHAPTER ONE .................................................................................................................... 1 INTRODUCTION ................................................................................................................. 1 1.1 Background to the Study .................................................................................................. 1 1.1.1 Study Context ................................................................................................................... 4 1.2 Statement of the Problem ................................................................................................. 6 1.3 Objectives of the Study .................................................................................................... 8 1.3.1 Specific Objectives ........................................................................................................... 9 1.4 Research Questions .......................................................................................................... 9 1.6 Significance of the Research ............................................................................................ 9 1.7 Scope of the Study.......................................................................................................... 10 1.8 Structure of Thesis ......................................................................................................... 10 CHAPTER TWO ................................................................................................................. 12 LITERATURE REVIEW ................................................................................................... 12 2.1 The Concept of Turnover ............................................................................................... 12 2.2 Concept of Turnover Behaviour ..................................................................................... 13 2.2.1 Withdrawal Behaviour ................................................................................................... 13 2.2.2 Turnover Intention.......................................................................................................... 13 2.2.3 Commitment ................................................................................................................... 14 2.3 Theoretical Literature ..................................................................................................... 15 2.3.1 Sequential Turnover Model (Mobley, 1977).................................................................. 15 2.3.2 The Three Component Model of Commitment .............................................................. 18 2.4 Empirical Literature ....................................................................................................... 19 2.4.1 Determinants of Turnover Intentions ............................................................................. 19 University of Ghana http://ugspace.ug.edu.gh vii 2.4.2 Effects of Turnover Intentions on Organizations ........................................................... 27 2.4.3 Measures to reduce turnover intentions among Teachers .............................................. 34 2.5 Conceptual Framework .................................................................................................. 38 CHAPTER THREE ............................................................................................................. 39 RESEARCH METHODOLOGY ....................................................................................... 39 3.1 Research Design ............................................................................................................. 39 3.2 Study Area ...................................................................................................................... 39 3.3 Target Population ........................................................................................................... 40 3.3.1 SHS District Profile - 2014-2015 school year data, Bolgatanga Municipality .............. 40 3.4 Sample size determination and Justification .................................................................. 42 3.5 Sampling Techniques ..................................................................................................... 43 3.6 Sources of Data Collection ............................................................................................. 43 3.7 Data Collection Instrument and Procedure for Data Collection .................................... 44 3.8 Validity and reliability of instrument ............................................................................. 44 3.9 Data Handling and Analysis ........................................................................................... 46 3.10 Ethical issues .................................................................................................................. 47 Conclusion .................................................................................................................................... 47 CHAPTER FOUR ............................................................................................................... 48 DATA ANALYSIS AND DISCUSSION OF FINDINGS ................................................ 48 4.1 Demographic characteristics of respondents .................................................................. 48 4.1.1 Age of respondents by gender.............................................................................................. 48 4.1.2 Marital Status by Gender................................................................................................ 49 4.1.3 Education Level of teachers by Gender ......................................................................... 50 4.1.4 Religious affiliation of respondents by gender .............................................................. 51 4.1.5 Educational Level teachers teach by gender .................................................................. 52 4.1.6 Duration in the teaching field ......................................................................................... 53 4.1.7 Gender of Respondents .................................................................................................. 54 4.2 Determinants of Turnover Intentions ............................................................................. 54 4.2.1 Teaching as a stepping stone for future careers ............................................................. 54 4.2.2: Ban on extra classes by GES .............................................................................................. 56 4.2.3 Non-payment of salary arrears ....................................................................................... 57 4.2.5 Medical allowances ........................................................................................................ 59 4.2.6 Special Allowances for Mathematics and Science Teachers ......................................... 60 University of Ghana http://ugspace.ug.edu.gh viii 4.2.7 Introduction of retention allowance for teachers............................................................ 61 4.2.9 Other factors that influence turnover intensions among teachers .................................. 63 4.3 Effects of Turnover Intentions on Employee Commitment .......................................... 67 4.3.1 Performance of other jobs outside normal employment as Teachers ............................. 67 4.3.2 Distribution of teachers who prepare lesson notes/scheme of work before teaching by levels in public schools ................................................................................................................. 68 4.3.3 Coverage of syllabus in a term ....................................................................................... 69 4.3.4 Occupational commitment as predictors of turnover intentions .................................... 70 4.3.5 Organizational commitment as predictors of turnover intentions ........................................ 72 4.4.1 Measures to reduce turnover intentions among teachers ............................................... 75 4.4.2 Actions to be taken by institutions to overcome turnover intensions ............................ 79 CHAPTER FIVE ................................................................................................................. 82 SUMMARY, CONCLUSION AND RECOMMENDATIONS ....................................... 82 5.1 Summary ........................................................................................................................ 82 5.1.1 Determinants of turnover intensions .............................................................................. 82 5.1.2 Effects of turnover intentions on commitment ............................................................... 82 5.1.2.1 Teachers commitment to the Profession (Occupation) .................................................. 82 5.1.2.2 Teachers Commitment to the Organization (GES) ........................................................ 83 5.1.2.3 Other Effects .................................................................................................................. 83 5.1.3 Measures needed to reduce turnover intentions among teachers in the Bolgatanga Municipality .................................................................................................................................. 83 5.1.4 Institutions that should take action to reduce turnover intentions .................................. 84 5.2 Conclusion ...................................................................................................................... 84 5.2.1 Policy and Practice Implications of the Study ............................................................... 86 5.2.1.1 Implications for Human Resources Management .......................................................... 86 5.2.1.2 Implications for the Ministry of Education. ................................................................... 86 5.3 Recommendations .......................................................................................................... 87 5.4 Direction of Future Studies ............................................................................................ 90 BIBLIOGRAPHY ................................................................................................................ 91 QUESTIONNAIRE ........................................................................................................... 111 University of Ghana http://ugspace.ug.edu.gh ix LIST OF TABLES Table 3.2: SHS Municipal Profile -2014-2015 school year data, Bolgatanga Municipality 41 Table 4.1: Age of respondents by gender 49 Table 4.2: Marital status of respondents by gender 50 Table 4.3: Education level of respondents by gender 51 Table 4.4: Religious affiliation by gender 52 Table 4.5: Level respondent teaches by gender 52 Table 4.6: Duration of service of respondents by gender 53 Table 4.7: Distribution showing teachers who see the teaching profession as a stepping stone to their future career by gender 55 Table 4.8: Distribution showing ban on extra classes by GES as determinant for turnover intentions by gender 57 Table 9: Distribution showing the non-payment of arears constituting a determinant for leaving the profession by gender 58 Table 10: Distribution showing responsibility allowance by gender 59 Table 11: Distribution showing medical allowance for teachers as a determinant for your intension gender 60 Table 4.12: Distribution showing the introduction of special allowances for by gender of respondents 61 Table 13: Distribution showing teacher’s retention allowance by gender 62 Table 4.14: Distribution showing accommodation allowance as a determinant for turnover intension to leave the Service by gender 63 Table 4.15: Mean and standard deviation analysis on the set of factors that determine turnover intentions of Municipality 67 Table 4.16: Distribution showing performing other jobs outside your normal employment as a teacher 68 Table: 4.17: Distribution showing preparation of lesson notes/scheme of work before teaching 69 Table 4.18: Distribution showing whether teachers covered all the syllabus with the students before they move to the next class 70 Table 4.21: Measures to reduce turnover intentions among teachers 75 Table 4.22: Distribution showing institutions that need to take action to overcome turnover intentions among teachers 81 University of Ghana http://ugspace.ug.edu.gh x LIST OF FIGURES Figure 2.1: Sequential Turnover Model 17 Figure 2.2: Conceptual Framework 38 Figure 4.1: Gender distribution of respondents 54 University of Ghana http://ugspace.ug.edu.gh xi ACRONYMS BECE Basic Education Certificate Examination EMIS Management Information Systems GES Ghana Education Service GNAT Ghana National Association of Teachers HND Higher National Diploma JHS Junior High School NAGRAT National Association of Graduate Teachers NCTAF National Commission on Teachings and Americas Future OCB-O Organisational Citizenship Behaviour directed towards the Organisation POS Perceived Organisational Support PTA Parent Teachers Association SHS Senior High School SMC School Management Committee WASSCE West African Senior Secondary Certificate Examinations University of Ghana http://ugspace.ug.edu.gh xii ABSTRACT Teacher turnover is a phenomenon that has assumed a global dimension, requiring more attention from all stakeholders in Ghana. This study examined the factors that influence turnover intentions, the effects of turnover intentions on teachers’ commitment to Ghana Education Service (GES) and the teaching profession and how to reduce turnover intentions among teachers in the Bolgatanga Municipality. The study adopted a survey research design. A total sample of two hundred and fifty four respondents were recruited from public basic and senior high schools in the Bolgatanga Municipality. A structured questionnaire was developed to collect the data. A comparative analysis was conducted between male and female teachers in respect of their turnover intentions while similar analysis was conducted between senior and basic schools to assess the effects of turnover intentions on teachers. Data was analyzed using version 20 of the Predictive Analytics Software (PASW), formerly SPSS. The findings indicate that more male teachers than female teachers view teaching as a stepping stone to other professions. Thus, while male teachers are more likely to quit teaching, female teachers in the Municipality are less likely to quit. Low salaries, delay in promotions, and the lack of incentives were ranked as factors most likely to influence turnover intentions. Affective commitment was found to be higher than normative and continuance commitment with respect to occupational commitment to the profession. This means teachers in the Municipality showed obligation, loyalty to the teaching profession and shared in the norms of the profession thus, making teachers in the Municipality to record low turnover intentions. With regard to organizational commitment, normative and continuance commitment correlated high with teacher’s commitment to GES as an organization. The findings indicate that teachers demonstrated attachment to the GES because of obligation and loyalty and expressed reluctance to leave for pragmatic reasons including; lack of alternative jobs, study leave and retirement benefits associated with GES. The findings suggest that in order to reduce turnover intentions University of Ghana http://ugspace.ug.edu.gh xiii among teachers; increased salaries, payment of full salary arrears, accommodation allowances, and medical allowances would have to be paid to teachers. The Fair Wages and Salaries Commission, the Controller and Accountant general department have been identified as key stakeholders to work to reduce turnover intentions. It is recommended that the Municipal Directorate should court Non- Governmental Organisations in Education and private individuals as well as philanthropist to consider establishing incentive packages to reward hardworking teachers in the Municipality. It is further recommended that government must proactively address the concerns of teachers especially those that relate to compensation. Also, government must not seek to justify its inability to address the concerns of teachers based on their numbers. If this trend is not checked by successive governments, more trained teachers would consider quitting the teaching profession. University of Ghana http://ugspace.ug.edu.gh 1 CHAPTER ONE INTRODUCTION The chapter commences with a background to the study, sharing insights on issues of turnover intentions on employee commitment among teachers. The context of the study is stated and the statement of the problem defined. The objectives of the study have been outlined and the research questions stated. The significance of the study, scope of the study are all stated. The chapter concludes with the structure of thesis. 1.1 Background to the Study Teacher turnover is a phenomenon that has assumed a global dimension thus, requiring critical attention from all stakeholders of education. It is a problem not only in developing countries such as Ghana but in advanced countries like United States of America and Britain as well (Sam, Effah & Osei-Owusu, 2014). The British Broadcasting Corporation described education attrition and turnover as having become a national crisis (BBC News Online, 2001; as reported in Xaba, 2003). Additionally, the National Commission on Teachings and Americas Future (NCTAF) in 2011, revealed that almost a third of all new teachers leave the classroom after three years and close to fifty percent leave after five years. Kain (2011) reports of the teacher dropout rate in the United States to be regrettably getting out of control. He notes that teacher turnover has increased to 50 percent over the past fifteen years, and the national teacher turnover rate has risen to 16.8 percent. Kain (2011) further observes that in urban schools, it is more than 20 percent, and in some schools and districts, the teacher dropout rate is higher than the student dropout rate. Additionally, the Bureau of Labour Statistics (2012) in the United States highlights that employee turnover is a major challenge for both employees and organizations. The Bureau (2012) notes that for organizations, employee turnover increases the University of Ghana http://ugspace.ug.edu.gh 2 costs both directly (through recruitment, selection, training) and indirectly (in the form of lost knowledge and reduced productivity). The Bureau in 2011 estimated the average monthly turnover rate in the United States to be 3 percent, of which some 49 percent was voluntary (Bureau of Labour Statistics, 2012). The Bureau further makes the point that before an employee formally quits a job, turnover intentions are likely to affect that employee’s performance and, by extension the organization. In Africa, particularly Nigeria, it has been argued that reducing turnover intention will minimize turnover and of course, work withdrawal. A survey on turnover intentions among employees in Nigeria’s oil industry indicates that turnover intentions among employees diminished and employees preferred to stay and be committed to their organization when they perceived rewards to be fairly distributed and policies and procedures made clear and consistently applied, as well as interaction between superior and subordinates being cordial, fair and just (Oluwafemi, 2010). Similarly, Mampane (2012) reports that about 20,000 teachers leave the classroom every year in South Africa. He for instance, cites an instance where the Minister of Basic Education appearing before the Parliament of South Africa, mentioned that 24,750 teachers left the teaching profession between 2005 and 2008. And that even though South Africa needs 20 000 graduate teachers every year, they are only able to produce 8000 teachers annually. Mampane (2012) chronicles a number of factors responsible for teachers leaving the classroom in droves. First, he argues that workload on the hands of educators is one critical challenge facing the teaching profession in South Africa. He cites the example of teachers being required to serve on committees. These committees, he intimates range from Learners-Teacher Support Material, Sports, Fundraising, to Exam. His contention is that these committees take away valuable time of teachers. Another salient reason advanced by Mampane (2012) which he argues is a contributory factor to turnover intentions University of Ghana http://ugspace.ug.edu.gh 3 among teachers in South Africa is that a greater proportion of educators suffer from work related stress. He cites that a significant number of teachers absent themselves from work due to psychological factors, fatigue, physical illness which is often necessitated by work overload. Again, lost prestige is one other reason leading to the mass exodus from the teaching profession. His observation is that the teaching profession no longer enjoys the prestige that existed before 1990. He particularly makes the point that issues about teachers are casually glanced over and not given the necessary attention. In addition, Bennell and Akyeampong (2007) also reported that in Eritrea, 66% of middle school teachers in government schools hold basic qualification, while in Malawi, about nearly two-thirds (61.5%) of teachers in secondary schools are qualified to teach at the primary school level. They posit that these flows result in significant attrition of primary teachers. They also report that in the Gambia, the entry into the course which allows primary teachers to upgrade to secondary level is almost half the annual output of newly trained primary teachers ( Bennell & Akyaempong, 2007). Likewise, Sam, Effah, and Osei-Owusu (2014) state that teacher retention is one critical area that requires attention in Ghana as the country is also grappling with high teacher turnover rate. A survey commissioned by the Ghana National Association of Teachers (GNAT) and the Teachers and Educational Workers Union (TEWU) on teacher attrition in 2009, revealed a very high teacher attrition rate in the country. The findings showed that the Ghana Education Service (GES) estimated that about 10,000 teachers leave the classroom every year for other professions (GNAT & TEWU, 2010). While some leave with permission to study with or without pay, others go on secondment, retire or just leave to take up non-teaching jobs. According to the report, about 3,000 University of Ghana http://ugspace.ug.edu.gh 4 teachers leave the classroom annually to pursue further studies. About 9,000 teachers come out from the Colleges of Education every year to join the Service (GNAT & TEWU, 2010). According to the director of Labour Research and Policy Institute of the Trades Union Congress (TUC) of Ghana, 50 percent of the teachers that were interviewed expressed the intention to quit teaching before they retire. Among the sampled respondents, about 24.8 percent of those who expressed the intention to quit said so for reasons of higher pay. Another, 59.8 per cent expressed the intention to quit in order to seek improved conditions of service while, 6.5 per cent) of teachers expressed the intent of changing their profession. Above all, nearly another tenth (8.9 per cent) of teachers just wished to quit the profession for other reasons. The high rate of teacher turnover impacts negatively on overall school performance, whereas high-performing schools are distinguished by stability and continuity of teaching. (Lawrence, 1999) as cited in Effah and Osei- Owusu (2014) made the argument that teaching has traditionally been characterized as an occupation with a very high turnover rate. This finding confirms the situation in Ghana where the Colleges of Education, produce so many teachers every year yet, there is still shortage of teachers because they are not retained in the profession (MOE, 2010, GES, 2009, 2011, 2012). Sam et al. (2014) have argued that the high rate of teacher attrition affects school improvement efforts and eventually distorts the stability and continuity of teaching. 1.1.1 Study Context The study was conducted in the Bolgatanga Municipality of the Upper East Region of Ghana. The Bolgatanga Municipal Education Directorate (2014) performance in the Basic Education Certificate Examination has persistently declined over the years. For example, the pass rate for 2009 was 52.2 percent but declined to 34.3 percent in 2010, then increased slightly to 34.6 percent in 2011. It again rose marginally to 39.6 percent in 2012. Some of the challenges highlighted to be University of Ghana http://ugspace.ug.edu.gh 5 confronting education in the Municipality include: inadequate funds for supervision, lack of trained teachers, large class sizes, lack of funds for in-service-training for teachers, absenteeism of pupils and teachers especially on market days and during farming season, inadequate furniture for pupils and teachers, and the general lack of community participation in school activities. For the purpose of this study, the Bolgatanga Municipality was selected because the Ghana Living Standards Survey (GLSS 6, 2014) suggests that Greater Accra has the highest figure of 79.6 percent literacy rate, other urban areas also recorded 65.1 percent literacy rates, while areas in rural savannah recorded the lowest literacy rates (30.0%) in the country. From the foregoing, it is obvious that Bolgatanga Municipality falls within rural savannah with the lowest literacy rates (GLSS6, 2014). The then Upper East Regional Minister Dr Ephraim Avea Nsoh, bemoaned the falling standards of education in the region. He stated that education was a right and, therefore, required stakeholders to put in place prudent and workable measures to improve on the sector. Therefore on Wednesday, June 11 2014, he inaugurated a seven-member committee charged with the responsibility to identify strategies that could improve the situation in the region. Also, a study conducted by Yuornuo (2013) on teacher supervision practices in basic schools in the Bolgatanga Municipality, found that 39.2 percent circuit supervisors identified lateness as a major challenge associated with teacher supervision, 30.8 percent of head teachers mentioned the lack of motivation as a critical challenge associated with teacher supervision while another 73.3 percent of head teachers reported that teachers lacked teaching/learning materials when supervised whereas 68.2% of circuit supervisors made the same claim. Going by the findings of University of Ghana http://ugspace.ug.edu.gh 6 this study, an interesting obvious research gap is whether these findings have a negative impact on teacher 6 turnover intentions in the Bolgatanga Municipality? Thus, this study sought to find answers to this interesting research gap. Furthermore, the study was conducted in the Bolgatanga Municipality primarily based on the researcher’s personal observation of teachers leaving the profession. As a teacher in the region, the researcher observed that over the past decade I have been working in Bolgatanga Municipality, a considerable number of teachers have left the profession. I therefore wanted to find out how widespread teacher turnover intentions are in the Bolgatanga Municipality. Besides, this study was also situated within the context of being a follow-up on the findings of previous research studies (Yuornuo, 2013; Agebure, 2013; GSS, 2010) that critically appraised the education sector in the Bolgatanga Municipality. This study would therefore be useful to policy makers in the design of teacher retention strategies on the need to improve teaching and learning in the Bolgatanga Municipality. After reviewing literature on turnover intentions it has come to light that there is no comprehensive research on turnover intentions in the Bolgatanga Municipality. This study therefore examined turnover intentions among teachers in the Bolgatanga Municipality. The study population targeted all public Senior High and Basic Schools in the Bolgatanga Municipality. 1.2 Statement of the Problem Teachers constitute an indispensable segment of the population in the development agenda of Ghana. Teachers remain one of the most crucial components of an educational system. It is the teachers’ duty to design and deliver instruction to students who constitute the future. Findings of University of Ghana http://ugspace.ug.edu.gh 7 several studies (Belogolovsky and Somech, 2010; Burns and Carpenter, 2008; Duyar, Normore & 2012; Oplatka, 2012) indicate that extra-role performance (ERP) of teachers is essential for the effectiveness and improvement of schools. Adu (2005) as cited in Effah and Osei-Owusu (2014) have posited that teachers are the bedrock for all human learning, and represent the hub around which individual citizens are made to realize their full potential to serve their nations. Caillods (1989), as cited in Ariko and Simatwa (2011) maintains that the art of teaching is a developmental process, and it involves a complex set of skills, many of which can only be well polished on uninterrupted job experience, hence the issue of teacher turnover impacts negatively on teaching and learning. In the era of globalisation, turnover intention is a persistent problem in organizations and is common in every type and size of organization and at every organizational level (Blau, 2000). The Ghana Education Service is obviously not an exception. Ghana’s education sector has recorded a high rate of teacher turnover. Quansah (2003) as cited in Cobbold (2007) reports a shortage of 40,000 trained teachers in basic schools, with 24,000 of these vacancies filled by untrained personnel. Taking a critical look at the careers of some prominent Ghanaians such as Dr. Kwegyir Aggrey, Dr. Kwame Nkrumah and Dr. K. A. Busia, as teachers, it can be argued that the teaching profession had in the past attracted some brilliant intellectuals in the country (Sam, Effah & Osei- Owusu, 2014). In those days, the classroom became the ultimate place for some brilliant students to exhibit their academic prowess in the teaching profession. The economic benefits and the social prestige enjoyed by teachers in times past served as motivating factors in attracting many people into the teaching profession and retaining them. However, the current situation is totally different as the teaching profession appears to have individuals who show some dissatisfaction. Students who enter the teaching profession nowadays do not take it as a lifelong career (Sam et al, 2014). University of Ghana http://ugspace.ug.edu.gh 8 Koomson (2005) as cited in Effah and Osei-Owusu (2014) points out that some teachers find themselves in the teaching profession due to lack of other job opportunities while others also consider teaching as a “stepping stone or a spring board” to enter other professions. He further posits that such teachers leave the teaching profession upon the least chance of opportunity they get elsewhere thus, continuously creating the cycle of teacher shortages in our schools. The issue of teacher shortage is therefore a terrible educational challenge in Ghana. This is because the process of training and recruiting teachers is quite a long, expensive and uncertain process. It is therefore crucial to safeguard the exit of the few existing teachers by school management. The problem of teachers leaving the classroom continues to increase every year (GNAT, 2009; Bame, 1991). What is crucial is that notwithstanding the so much money being spent by government on training and recruiting teachers, little or no attention is paid on their retention. For example, the Ghana Education Service, of the Upper East Region (2014) contend that when teachers are given study leave mostly with pay, they succeed to study courses that have no bearing on the curricular of schools. They therefore end up shifting to other sectors, thereby leaving the educational sector to wallow in its problems. Given the above context, the compelling questions to ask are: what is the driving force of teachers leaving the GES? Is there a relationship between turnover intentions and teacher commitment?” This study therefore sought to determine how issues on turnover intentions affect teachers’ commitment in the Bolgatanga Municipality. 1.3 Objectives of the Study The objective of the study is to empirically examine turnover intentions and employee commitment among teachers of the Ghana Education Service (GES) in the Bolgatanga Municipality. University of Ghana http://ugspace.ug.edu.gh 9 1.3.1 Specific Objectives Specifically, the study sought to: i. Identify the factors that influence teachers’ turnover intentions in the Bolgatanga Municipality. ii. Examine the effect of turnover intentions on employee commitment to organisation (Ghana Education Service). iii. Examine the effect of turnover intentions on employee commitment to occupation (teaching profession). iv. Identify measures to reduce teacher turnover intentions in Bolgatanga Municipality. 1.4 Research Questions The research questions of the study include the following: i. What factors influence turnover intentions among teachers in the Bolgatanga Municipality? ii. How do turnover intentions of teachers affect their commitment to the organisation (GES)? iii. How do turnover intentions of teachers affect their commitment to occupation (the teaching profession)? iv. What measures could be implemented to reduce turnover intentions among teachers in the Ghana Education Service (GES) in the Bolgatanga Municipality? 1.6 Significance of the Research It is intended that findings from this study will provide some significant value to GES labour retention policies. In terms of policy relevance, the findings will go beyond the corridors of academic publications and knowledge contribution and contribute to policy formulation in education. It is the intention that findings would have far reaching implications for GES in the Bolgatanga Municipality. So far, there is no comprehensive study on turnover intentions and its University of Ghana http://ugspace.ug.edu.gh 10 impact on teacher commitment in the Bolgatanga Municipality. It would be interesting to find out whether there is any relationship between turnover intentions and teacher commitment in the Bolgatanga Municipality. The study adopted a quantitative research design which gives opportunity for quantitative description of trends, attitudes, or opinions of a population by studying a sample of that population. The results of this study will therefore help to make a generalisation based on the target population. In Ghana, research (GLSS, 2014; UNDP, 2007) reveals that northern Ghana lags behind in many national indicators and education is no exception. 1.7 Scope of the Study The study focused on issues of turnover intentions and employee commitment among teachers of the Ghana Education Service in the Bolgatanga Municipality. Public schools were considered suitable for the research because of poor academic performance of students as compared to the private schools. It can be argued that high turnover of teachers can negatively affect school performance. 1.8 Structure of Thesis The study report is organized into five main chapters. Chapter One includes the background to the study, providing national and international trends on the subject matter of turnover intentions in organizations with particular emphasis on education. In addition, the statement of the problem, the objectives and research questions of the study are presented. Chapter Two presents empirical and theoretical literature on turnover intentions and employee commitment. Chapter Three focuses on research methodology including the research design, sample description. The sample selection for the study, as well as the various data collection procedures employed for the study are outlined. University of Ghana http://ugspace.ug.edu.gh 11 Chapter Four deals with analysis and discussion of findings while Chapter Five looks at the summary of key findings, conclusion, recommendations, and suggestions for future research. University of Ghana http://ugspace.ug.edu.gh 12 CHAPTER TWO LITERATURE REVIEW The literature review is a critical component of the research process and begins by reviewing relevant literature to guide the scope of the inquiry on the influence of turnover intentions on employee commitment. For this study, existing literature related to concepts of the study are examined and used to build on the conceptual framework. The section starts with the identified concepts which includes the concept of turnover and employee commitment. The literature looks at the relationship between turnover intentions and employee commitment. Models are also explained. In this study, Mobley’s (1977) decision model and the three-component commitment model are utilised to explain and provide understanding to the various research questions. Furthermore, the conceptual framework of the study is provided. 2.1 The Concept of Turnover The concept turnover has been defined differently by different scholars. Price (2001), Thwala, Ajagbe, Long, Bilau, and Enegbuma (2012) defined turnover as movement of individuals across the boundaries of an organization. Petriglieri (2011) on the other hand recognizes it as the result of a coping strategy used by employees to escape the current situation. Morrell, Loan‐Clarke and Wilkinson (2001) defined voluntary turnover as “voluntary cessation of membership of an organization by an employee of that organization.” The contrary is conceptualized as “involuntary turnover and it is defined as “movement across the membership boundary of an organization, which is not initiated by the employee” (Price, 1977:p. 9 cited by Perez, 2008). The study investigates voluntary turnover which is initiated by the employee by terminating the employer- employee relation in the form of resignation. Furthermore, Kirpal (2004) argues that turnover is permanent, when employees leave the employment institution, or it can be characterized by horizontal mobility when employees seek and accept transfers to other departments. Joo (2010) University of Ghana http://ugspace.ug.edu.gh 13 contends that turnover is caused when employees are dissatisfied with the organization-wide policies; when they have low level of organizational commitment; and organizational learning culture and Leader Member Exchange (LMX) quality. It becomes a conduit for an organization to keep its dynamic staff by ushering in new employees with diverse knowledge, personalities, skills, and attitudes. It creates avenues for organizations to reduce cost through salary savings, and at the same time introduce more productive workers to replace marginal workers 2.2 Concept of Turnover Behaviour 2.2.1 Withdrawal Behaviour Withdrawal behavior refers to certain aspects of behavior that have been initiated by employees when they become physically or psychologically disengaged from the organization. Psychological behaviours refers to actions such as passive compliance, presentism and burnout. On the other hand, physical behaviours lead to tardiness, absenteeism and turnover (Carraher & Buckley, 2008 cited from Pinder, 2008). Turnover behaviour is identified as the result of shared cognition by organizational members that influence their decisions regarding job movement. Abelson (1993) established that turnover culture creates the condition for which individual’s hop from one job to the other is seen as an acceptable behaviour. He argues that social influences create a fertile ground for the employee to terminate his extended association with the organization. 2.2.2 Turnover Intention Turnover intention as put forward by Sager, Griffeth and Hom (1998) refers to attitudinal; thinking of quitting, decisional; intention to leave, and behavioral; searching for a new job proceeding deliberate turnover. Lee (2008) also describes turnover intentions as the subjective perception of an organizational member to quit the current job for other opportunities while Lee, and Jimenez University of Ghana http://ugspace.ug.edu.gh 14 (2011) later defined the concept as the relative strength of an individual’s intent to leave the organization. Actual turnover normally precedes turnover intention which refers to an individual's intention to leave, which can refer to the intention to leave the organization one is working for or to quit one's profession and move to a different career pathway (Tett & Meyer, 1993). On the contrary, Kim, Lee, and Carlson (2010) view “turnover intent as an individual’s intention to voluntarily leave the organization” (p. 592). Similarly, Garrison, Wakefield, Harvey, and Kim (2010) see turnover intent as “the cognitive processes resulting in one’s desire/motivation to leave an organization” (p. 110). Also Cho, Johanson and Guchait (2009) refer to turnover intent as “a conscious and deliberate desire to leave an organization within the near future” (p. 374). Turnover intention has therefore been seen as a conscious will to look for a job outside the current organization (Tett & Meyer, 1993) and this conscious will to look for a job elsewhere is believed to have a detrimental effect on the organization (Chen, Ployhart, Thomas, Anderson, & Bliese, 2011). In this study, turnover intention is operationally defined as an employee’s intention to quit his/her current organization (GES) and intention to quit teaching (profession). 2.2.3 Commitment Le, Schmidt, Harter, and Lauver (2010) and Harrison, Newman and Roth (2006) argue that commitment construct is redundant while Cappelli (2000) and Baruch (1998) consider it irrelevant. However, Meyer (2009) sees the commitment construct differently and indeed considers it important because commitment is more relevant today because organizations need a committed workforce than ever. Commitment thus, take many forms; commitment to goals, teams, projects, career, or values may be more important to the organization and/or the employee Management Review on work commitment (Morrow, 2001). Commitment is considered as an organizational behavior topic, but, also central to human resource. Martin (2007:19) defines management University of Ghana http://ugspace.ug.edu.gh 15 organisational commitment as the “relative strength of an individual’s identification with an involvement in a particular organization.” Martin (2007) further suggests that organization commitment has the following characteristics: identifying with an organization and its goals and values (identification); a strong desire to maintain investment with the organization (loyalty); and willingness to work extra hard on behalf of the organization (involvement). Additionally, organizational commitment refers to a multidimensional psychological attachment of the employees toward their organization (Davenport, 2010). Labatmediene, Endriulaitiene and Gustainiene (2007) and Kwon and Banks (2004) have revealed that understanding organizational commitment can support an understanding of how “intention to leave” is related to commitment. For this reason, Allen and Meyer (1990) suggest that individuals who are committed to their organizations show less intention to exit the organization because they want to stay. In lieu, organizational commitment has been defined as the bond between a person and the employing organization (Allen & Meyer, 1990). The bond is to the overall organization and not to the job, work group, or profession. The operational definition for commitment in the study is an employee’s commitment to the organization (GES) and commitment to occupation (profession). 2.3 Theoretical Literature In this study, some models have been utilised to explain and provide understanding to the various research questions. 2.3.1 Sequential Turnover Model (Mobley, 1977) Mobley (1977) initiated the first psychological approach in the turnover decision model that has often been cited. He proposed a model of employee turnover which was based on several hypotheses that establish a relationship between job satisfaction and quitting as presented in Figure 2.1. The model is referred to as a sequence of cognitive actions which the employee begins by University of Ghana http://ugspace.ug.edu.gh 16 evaluating his or her current job. This model will be used to explain the sequence of cognitive actions that occur to teachers as they perform their duties. This stems from the fact that most individuals and in the specific case of teachers, perceive their job as one that is poorly paid as often said in Ghana, ‘the reward of the teacher is in heaven’, a situation that often makes teachers to compare their job to other jobs. According to the model, any negative thoughts leads to job dissatisfaction and subsequent thoughts of quitting the job as in the specific case of the teaching profession. Thus, in Ghana, when teachers tag their profession as being poorly paid, as lacking prestige in modern times, these situations often lead to job dissatisfaction. This job dissatisfaction according to Mobley (1982) often triggers a search for alternative jobs but the individual will first have to do an evaluation of the cost of quitting the job. Some of the issues that will engage the mind of the individual and in the case of teachers include: Are there stable jobs, how much time, energy and resources will the individual spend looking for the job, can the individual find a more rewarding job than his or her current job (teaching as in the case of teachers? These ideas in turn, will then inform the individual’s search intention, followed by an actual search and a comparison of the current job (teaching profession as in the case of teachers) vis-a-vis the found job alternatives. In effect, the individual comes to a firm conclusion of an intention to quit or stay which will lead to either actual turnover or retention. Mobley (1982) further posits that if people find out that the cost for quitting is high, then they will do less thinking about quitting and therefore show a more passive behaviour. But, Mobley, on the other hand argues that if the cost of quitting is not high, and there are jobs available, this situation University of Ghana http://ugspace.ug.edu.gh 17 will trigger a turnover intention and turnover. Mobley (1977) therefore shows a major step of linking job dissatisfaction to turnover. Figure 2.1: Sequential Turnover Model ~ Source: Sequential turnover model; Mobley (1977) Evaluation of the Existing job Job satisfaction/dissatisfaction Search for alternatives Intentions of search for alternatives Expected utility of search and cost of quitting Comparison of alternatives vs present job Comparison of alternatives vs present job Evaluation of alternatives Intention to quit/stay Quit/stay Comparison of alternatives vs present job University of Ghana http://ugspace.ug.edu.gh 18 2.3.2 The Three Component Model of Commitment The three-component model comprises affective, continuance, and normative commitment (Allen & Meyer, 1990; Meyer & Allen, 1991 & 1997) has been extensively examined in the organizational setting. These three forms, labeled affective, continuance, and normative commitment, respectively, are referred to as components of organizational commitment. The affective component is defined as employees’ emotional attachment to, identification with, and involvement in the organization. The continuance component is defined as the perception of costs associated with leaving the organization. Finally, the normative component refers to employees’ feelings of obligation to remain with the organization. As such, the Three Component Model (TCM) ties together three separate streams of earlier commitment research (Becker, 1960; Buchanan, 1974; Kanter, 1968; Mathieu & Zajac, 1990; Mowday, Porter & Steers, 1982; Salancik, 1977; Wiener, 1982; Wiener & Vardi, 1980). Common to these three streams is the notion of a “psychological state that links an individual to an organization (i.e., makes turnover less likely)” (Allen & Meyer, 1990, p. 14). To date, the three-component conceptualization of organizational commitment can be regarded as the dominant model in organizational commitment research (e.g., Bentein, Vandenberg, Vandenberghe; Stinglhamber, 2005; Cohen, 2003). Although research has concentrated on employees' commitment to their organizations, research also established that employees' commitments in the workplace might involve multiple additional foci (Meyer et al., 1993). Among these various additional foci of commitment, employees' occupations are by far the most clearly established, and occupational commitment has been found to follow a similar three-component structure (Meyer et al., 1993). For this reason, Meyer, Allen and Smith (1993) included a second dimension, affective, continuance and normative commitment to the occupation, career or profession as a whole making the model a 3×2 model of commitment. University of Ghana http://ugspace.ug.edu.gh 19 They argued that organizational and occupational commitments are distinct constructs, with each contributing to the understanding of, and ability to predict work behavior. Interestingly, this model was found to be generalizable to Asian countries (Snape, Lo, & Redman, 2008). Meyer and Allen's (1991) tripartite model of commitment (McInerney, Ganotice Jr, King, Marsh & Morin (2015) was used to predict teachers’ turnover intentions in the Hong Kong. Teachers in the Bolgatanga Municipality may be committed to the teaching profession and GES for a number of reasons. For some they are committed because they believe that when they leave the service it will be difficult to find a job or they might lose their retirement benefit. Others share the same values with the organization and identify with them. There will be final group that can be attached to the profession and GES because of feelings of obligation, loyalty and duty. It will be interesting to establish the reasons for teachers’ commitment to their profession and GES in the Municipality. It was found to be valid and reliable and can be utilized to predict teacher turnover intentions in the Bolgatanga Municipality. 2.4 Empirical Literature 2.4.1 Determinants of Turnover Intentions There are a number of studies on turnover intentions. Sam, Effah and Osei-Owusu (2014) studied teacher retention and attrition in Ghana. The study identified the factors that make teachers to develop the intentions to leave to include: low salaries of teachers, poor conditions of service for teachers, low status (prestige) for the teaching profession and the lack of incentives associated with the job. This study solely made use of a qualitative descriptive approach. The question to ask is whether the study can adequately generalize the findings because the sample size was small. Is the use of a qualitative approach comprehensive enough to address the of turnover intentions on employees commitment among teachers in Bolgatanga? Dysvik and Kuvaas (2010) used a cross- Thinking of quitting University of Ghana http://ugspace.ug.edu.gh 20 sectional survey for employees representing more than 400 organizations from industrial sectors, found intrinsic motivation as the strongest predictor of turnover intention. Likewise, an exploratory study of predictors and impact on turnover intentions by Lai and Kapstad (2009) found that turnover intention is best predicted by intrinsic motivation followed by career system satisfaction. Relatedly, Rehamn (2012) make the point that organization turnover can trigger job dissatisfaction, lack of trust and the lack of intrinsic motivation. This motivation influences turnover when the organization cannot satisfy their workers with intrinsic rewards and consequently the workers leave the unrewarding job (Sinha, 2012). Kim (2015) indicated that both intrinsic motivation and self-sacrifice significantly influenced the turnover intention of local revenue officers. On the other hand, other variables such as extrinsic motivation, social support, and other public service motivation were not significantly related to turnover intention directly. On the contrary, Yurchisin, Park and O’Brien (2010) found that employee intention to leave was triggered by both intrinsic job satisfaction and commitment. Intrinsic job satisfaction was both directly related to intention to leave and indirectly related to intention to leave through employee– store commitment. Employees who are satisfied with and committed to their current job tend to be less likely to voluntarily resign from their current position which in turn, tends to reduce employee turnover in the storeIn connection, Olusegun (2012) examined the influence of motivation on turnover among Library Personnel in South West Nigeria and found some relationship exist between turnover intentions and job motivation. He further revealed that opportunities for better pay was a critical factor in turnover intentions. Ngala (2010) considered retention measures of graduate teachers in the Ghana Education Service and concluded that 58 percent disagreed with University of Ghana http://ugspace.ug.edu.gh 21 the statement that teaching is rewarding and 24 percent extremely disagreed that the profession is rewarding. Also, the lack of appreciation by GES to recognize and treat teachers based on their level of education was highlighted as influencing 70 percent turnover of teachers. Additionally, 54 percent of the respondents see lack of housing facilities as very much influencing graduate teachers’ termination of appointment with GES and only a few 2.4 percent held a contrasting view that it does not influence. Furthermore, graduate teachers cited the non-existence of medical care to affect their turnover by 47.2 percent while 42.8 percent were of the view that lack of free medical care extremely influence graduate teachers departure from the GES. Above all, 57.6 percent of the respondents said that prestige very much influences their intention to leave the service and 42.4 percent said that it may influence. Also, Cobbold (2015) reported that 50 percent of the 890 respondents intended leaving teaching before they retired. The reasons they advanced for leaving included to seek improved conditions of service 59 percent, higher pay 24.8, change of profession 6.5 percent and other reasons 8.9 percent. Nouri and Parker (2013) investigated career growth opportunities and employee turnover intentions in public accounting firms. The results revealed that when the employee believes that the firm is able to provide career growth opportunities, the employee reciprocates with increased commitment to the firm which eventually leads to lower turnover. Results from a survey of junior auditors in several accounting firms support the proposed model. Results of the current study has recommended that one way for accounting firms to increase commitment and reduce turnover of junior employees is to focus on their career development.Job satisfaction has been abundantly discussed in the literature to be a determinant of turnover intentions. For instance, Mbah and University of Ghana http://ugspace.ug.edu.gh 22 Ikemefuna (2012) on job satisfaction and employees’ turnover intentions in Nigeria found higher satisfaction with pay to be associated with lower employee turnover intention. Other findings of the study included the fact that the higher the satisfaction with nature of work the lower the employees expressed the intention to leave. What this means is that satisfaction with nature of work was negatively related to turnover intention and the higher the satisfaction with supervision the lower the employee turnover intention. Similarly, Jadoo, Aljunid, Dastan, Tawfeeq, Mustafa, Ganasegeran and Aldubai (2015) have reported that job satisfaction has the highest impact on turnover intention. Indeed, a comparative study of conditions for turnover intentions from China, Jordan, Turkey, and the United States that examined the relationship between job satisfaction and turnover intentions Ford Jr, Chen, Kalyanaram and Bhagat (2012) found that job satisfaction and turnover intentions were partially mediated by organizational commitment. But slightly arguing to the contrary, Ohana, and Meyer (2010) insist that beyond job satisfaction, occupational commitment, management supervision, work design and relationship with others instead of salary or pay are stronger predictors of individual turnover intensions. According to Mathieu, Fabi, Lacoursière, Raymond (2016) job satisfaction have not got a direct significant predictive effect on turnover intentions. Rather, job satisfaction is able to predict organizational commitment which, in turn, negatively predicts turnover intentions. Also, commitment mediates the relationship between job satisfaction and turnover intentions. Consistent with findings of previous studies, Miller (2010) posits that the behaviours of school leaders’ and its relationship to employees play a major role in the issue of turnover intentions. In a study by Fuentes (2011) in Davao, found that school commitment, years of service and burnout positively predicted turnover intentions among secondary teachers in private institutions, while of Chavez (2012) reported that teachers who have experienced greater support from the institution have University of Ghana http://ugspace.ug.edu.gh 23 higher job satisfaction and commitment, and therefore show lesser degree of burnout. Similarly, Blomme, Rheede and Tromp (2010) in the hospitality industry found moderate to strong correlations between job content, development opportunities, work atmosphere, autonomy and promotion opportunities. To buttress job satisfaction and the intension to leave, a study among information technology (IT) professionals’ intention to quit their jobs in Turkey, revealed that intention to quit one’s job was greatly influenced by job satisfaction and organizational commitment; role ambiguity and job stress as these factors exert negative indirect effects on such intentions (Calisir, Gumussoy & Iskin, 2011). Moreover, Joo (2010) indicated that organizational commitment accounted for 40 per cent of the variance in turnover intention of employees. In addition, Scott, Brown, Susomrith and Sitlington (2014) found both organizational factors (rosters, supervisors, managers, and company culture) and personal factors (career goals and family circumstances) as factors influencing turnover intentions. But, it has been agreed by Weng and McElroy (2012) that employees with a high turnover intention are more likely to consider their current organization as an obstacle to their career development and success due to various reasons, for instance promotion, bottlenecks, and unfair salary payments. Demographic factors have been identified by the literature as determinants of turnover intentions. For example, in a study on job satisfaction and turnover intentions among Iraqi doctors, Jadoo, Aljunid, et al. (2015) found significant associations between turnover intention, and demographic variables such as age, gender, marital status, and work-related variables like positional tenure, working hours, internal displacement, unsafe practice, and managerial efficiency. In a similar vein, Perez and Mylene (2008) examined ‘Turnover Intent’ and found that age had a negative relationship with turnover intent. What this means is that older employees showed a less University of Ghana http://ugspace.ug.edu.gh 24 intent to leave. Thus, the longer an individual was employed, the less likely the employee harbored an intention to leave. On the other hand, Yui-tim Wong, Yui-Woon Wong and Chi-sum Wong (2015) examined an integrative model of turnover intentions which sampled 247 employees. They found turnover intention and most of its antecedents were significantly correlated. Perceived organizational support (POS) was negatively related to turnover intention; affective commitment was negatively related to turnover intention; and turnover intention was negatively related to job performance. Other findings were POS and affective commitment are negatively associated with their level of turnover intention. Both POS and affective commitment were significantly and negatively related to turnover intention. Paille, Bourdeau and Galois (2010) agree that when employees feel supported, they accept to remain with the organization (low intention to leave) and cooperate in the form of OCB-O. Also, the findings has supported the notion that trust contributes to understanding how POS is linked to outcomes through satisfaction. Cho, Johanson and Guchait (2009) found that perceived organizational support and organizational commitment decreased intent to leave while only perceived organizational support had a positive impact on intention to stay. Nour and Parker (2013) have concluded that when the employee believes that the firm is ready to provide career growth opportunities, the employee reciprocates with increased commitment to the firm which leads to lower turnover. The researchers further suggested that one way for the accounting firms to increase commitment and reduce turnover of junior employees is to place emphasis on their career development. Perryer, Jordan, Firns and Travaglione (2010) observed that there was some interaction between perceived organisational support (POS) and organizational commitment which is a significant predictor of turnover intention. Employees with low levels of commitment, but high levels of University of Ghana http://ugspace.ug.edu.gh 25 support from the organization, are less likely to leave the organization. Bagraim (2010) found affective commitment to the organisation was a significant predictor of the organizationally salient outcomes of turnover intentions and boosting behaviours. Gender has been noted to be a useful predictor of turnover. Steenbergen and Ellemers (2009) found that both affective and continuance organizational commitment predicted turnover intentions but only continuance organizational commitment was much stronger to predict actual turnover in that turnover intentions are relatively strongly influenced by feelings toward the organization, whereas for actual turnover decisions the costs associated with leaving the organization and an experienced lack of alternatives outside the organization come to play a more important role. Hundera (2014) explained the factors affecting academic staff turnover intentions and the moderating effect on gender in the University of Haramaya and found the effect of overall satisfaction on intention to leave was much stronger among female academic staff than the male counterparts. But, on the contrary, Asamoah, Doe and Amebge (2014) examined the effect of employee turnover on the performance and competiveness of banks in Ghana and found no significant gender influential factor on turnover intentions. It will be interesting for this study to explore the gender factor as an influential factor further. Another salient determinant of turnover intention in the literature is the issue of job performance. Bajwa Yousaf and Rizwan (2014) in examining employee turnover intention in the services sector of Pakistan reports that job performance was found to be the most important factor on employee turnover. Workplace environment and employee job satisfaction had significant influence on employee turnover intentions. A somewhat similar study by Asamoah, Doe and Amebge (2014) on the effect of employee turnover on the performance and competiveness of a purposively University of Ghana http://ugspace.ug.edu.gh 26 selected fifteen banks in Ghana. They found banks with lower employee turnover to be performing better and more competitive compared with banks with high employee turnover. The crux of the findings were that highly motivated employees had lower turnover intentions than those less motivated. Further employees in higher ranking jobs had lower turnover intentions than employees in low ranking jobs. In trying to establish the effect of turnover intentions on employee performance, findings have concluded that employees with less concern about current work are more likely to have less productive work performance (Goodwin et al., 2011, Yi, Nataraajan & Gong, 2011). This may give rise to management attention as well. Also, when employees perceive that their contributions have been shown some appreciation by the organization, they feel an obligation and want to reciprocate it by showing high willingness to work in the future (Al-Sakarnah & Alhawary, 2009; Chen & Eldridge, 2011; Perryer, Jordan & Firns, 2010; Riggle, et al., 2009). Poor performers have the tendency to quit even after controlling for job satisfaction and turnover intentions, indicating that they are more susceptible to engage in unplanned quitting. On the other hand, good performers were slightly more likely to intent to quit after controlling for job satisfaction (Zimmerman & Darnold, 2009). Chan, Mai and Hup (2015) revealed that career adaptability was negatively linked to turnover intentions. Career adaptability on the other hand, was positively correlated to career satisfaction and career satisfaction was negatively correlated with turnover intentions (TI). Above all, career satisfaction mediates the linkage between career adaptability and turnover intentions. Brown, Hyatt and Benson (2010) examined consequences of the performance appraisal experience and found that employees with low quality performance appraisal experiences (relative to those with mixed and high quality performance appraisal experiences) were more likely to be dissatisfied University of Ghana http://ugspace.ug.edu.gh 27 with their job, be less committed to the organisation and more likely to be contemplating leaving the organisation. Having a critical analysis of the determinants of turnover intentions, one can conclude that both intrinsic and extrinsic factors have been mostly highlighted as factors that promote turnover intentions. Job satisfaction, job motivation, low salaries, poor conditions of service have featured prominently as factors. Also, largely, the studies on turnover intentions have concentrated on profit-making services but teaching is a social service. How were the sample size determined so that they can pass the test of generalizability? Despite substantial research, why employees decide to leave their organization is still an intriguing question to ask and seek answers in this study. 2.4.2 Effects of Turnover Intentions on Organizations A study commissioned by Vale´au, Mignonac and Turnau (2013) to investigate the relationships between Volunteers’ Commitments to Organizations and Beneficiaries and Turnover Intentions, concluded that affective, normative and continuance commitment, were all negatively associated with turnover intentions. They also reported that organisational affective commitment (AC) moderated the relationships of the commitment to beneficiaries’ components with turnover intentions. While, an exploratory study on turnover intention among private sector employees by Yin-Fah, Foon, Chee-Leong and Osman (2010) employed a survey of 120 respondents, reported a significant negative relationship between organizational commitments and turnover intention in the study, positive relationship between job stress and turnover intention and a negative relationship between job satisfaction and turnover intention in the study. They further revealed that demographic background of respondent mediated the relationship between organizational commitments, job stress, job satisfaction and turnover intention. This was basically an exploratory study seeking to understand the issues. The study is limited in focus and cannot have an in-depth University of Ghana http://ugspace.ug.edu.gh 28 understanding of the issues under investigations. Earlier studies have come to the conclusion that organizational commitment is negatively correlated to turnover intentions (Addae & Parboteeah, 2008). Vandenberghe, Bentein and Stinglhamber (2004) found that organizational commitment had an indirect effect on turnover through intent to quit. Another study by Weng and McElroy (2012) which examined organizational career growth, affective occupational commitment and turnover intentions, concluded that turnover intentions are negatively related to affective occupational commitment. Age was negatively correlated with turnover intentions. Dwivedula and Bredillet (2010) found that one’s continuance commitment towards the organization and profession are moderately related. There was also a moderate negative correlation between affective professional commitment and continuance professional commitment. Individuals who are affectively committed to their profession seek to be more involved with the profession by keeping up with the information on the profession, and would perceive it as the main focus in their lives. Kaur Sahi and Mahajan (2014) confirmed that affective, continuance and normative commitments have a significant impact on employees’ occupational commitment (OC). Also, commitment influences attitudes, subjective norms and perceived behavioural control, thereby affecting the behavioural intentions (BI) of the employees. Furthermore, studies by (Fiorito et al., 2007; Wright and Bonett, 2002; Allen & Meyer, 1996) have concluded that employees’ commitment predicts significant variables such as performance and intention to quit. Research has concluded that lack of organizational commitment has often resulted in increase in turnover rate and turnover intentions; poorer performance thus affecting organizational efficiency and effectiveness negatively (Becker, Billings, Eveleth & Gilbert, 1996; Kuean et al, 2010). University of Ghana http://ugspace.ug.edu.gh 29 Other studies have made the argument that turnover can negatively affect the organization’s productivity and create many problems for the organization such as having to hire new employees which attracts advertisement cost, cost of temporary employee and cost of selection which affects organization’s productivity (Rehman, Kari, Rafiq & Mansoor, 2012). Staufenbiel and Ko¨nig (2010) looked at a model for the effects of job insecurity on performance, turnover intention, and absenteeism. They revealed that job insecurity resulted in reduced work attitudes and this eventually led to a reduction in performance and an increase in absenteeism and turnover intentions. On the contrary, the data showed some evidence for opposing effects as all direct paths from job insecurity to performance, turnover intention, and absenteeism were in the opposite direction than the indirect effects. Dixit and Bhati (2012) found that the employees Commitment (Affective, Normative, continuous) are significantly related to sustained productivity in Auto component industry. Findings also revealed that there exists positive relationship between the three commitments- affective, and sustained productivity of the organization. A survey conducted by the Harvard Business School (2010) found that more than 30 % of high performers do not feel emotionally linked to their organization. It went further to indicate that there is a decrease in US high performers’ organizational commitment over the years. Keeping high performers committed is therefore a complex challenge that has not yet been fully met (Martin & Schmidt, 2010). In addition, Sahi and Mahajan (2014) research on employees’ organizational commitment and its impact on their actual turnover behavior through behavioural intentions found that affective, continuance and normative commitments had stronger influence employees’ organizational commitment (OC). Also, commitment influences attitudes, subjective norms and perceived behavioural control, which affects the behavioural intentions (BI) of the employees. A comparative study in Hong Kong involving teachers commitment and turnover intentions by University of Ghana http://ugspace.ug.edu.gh 30 McInerney, Ganotice Jr, King, Marsh and Morin (2015) used a total of 1060 Hong Kong teachers from 15 primary and 15 secondary schools. They found that Meyer and Allen's (1991) tripartite model of commitment is valid and reliable and can be utilized to predict teacher turnover intentions in the Hong Kong context affective commitment to the occupation (employee's positive emotional attachment to the occupation) was the most highly endorsed commitment. Other findings were strong positive affective commitment is related to reduce turnover intentions among workers. The findings show that high level of continuance commitment (CC) to organization is related to higher levels of turnover intention, while the high level of CC to occupation is related to lower turnover intention among the sampled teachers. Finally, both commitment to the organization and commitment to the occupation negatively predicted turnover intentions even when controlling for demographic variables. The researchers concluded that the three-component model of commitment can be applied to the African context. Yousaf, Sanders and Abbas (2015) reported that affective organizational commitment and affective occupational commitment were positively related to each other. But, affective organizational commitment was negatively related to organizational turnover intention and this relationship was moderated by affective occupational commitment. Also, affective occupational commitment was negatively related both to occupational and organizational turnover intention. Also, Adenguga, Adenuga and Ayodele (2013) indicate that there is a significant relationship between each dimensions of organizational commitment and turnover intentions. Likewise, Satyawadi, Joshi and Shadman (2013) study on who stays with you? Factors predicting employees’ intention to stay found that Affective Commitment, Normative Commitment and Goal Clarity were the best predictors of employees’ intention to stay or leave the organization. There was consensus among the authors on the three commitment dimensions. They however, differed on the issue of University of Ghana http://ugspace.ug.edu.gh 31 goal clarity. A similar work on turnover intentions and organizational citizenship behaviours by Kim and Chang (2014) established that occupational and organizational commitment of employees were found to have stronger influence on turnover intentions. Also, occupational commitment, however, was found to have a positive relationship with turnover intentions Yet, Newman, Thanacoody and Hui (2011) studied the effects of perceived organizational support (POS) and intra-organizational network resources on turnover intentions among 437 Chinese employees of five multinational services sector. Their findings were that perceived organizational support was positively related to affective organizational commitment, which in turn was negatively related to turnover intentions. Other studies argued that employees with high scores in affective commitment to the organization are strongly motivated to contribute to the goals of the organization because they deem them as their own goals (Tatlah et al., 2011; Meyer and Allen, 1997; Shore & Tetric, 1991). Al-hussami et al. (2011) investigated the relationship of faculty members’ commitment to their sense of job satisfaction, perceived organizational support, job autonomy, work load and pay in the Faculty of Nursing at University of Jordan and found three factors: job satisfaction, perceived support and age, which significantly related to faculty members’ commitment. Alniacik, Cigerim, Akcin and Bayram (2011) research results established that perceived organizational reputation has a positive correlation with organizational commitment and job satisfaction whereas it has a significant negative correlation with turnover intentions. On the contrary, when they are jointly included in a multiple regression analysis, perceived corporate reputation surprisingly exerted a positive effect on turnover intentions. On the other hand, Ishihara, Ishibashi, Takahashi and Nakashima (2014) found significant correlation related to Newly Graduated Nurses’ (NGN) intention to leave the workplace and nursing. In addition, nurses were less likely to leave their University of Ghana http://ugspace.ug.edu.gh 32 workplaces if the leadership style of the nurse managers or immediate supervisors included rewards to the staff like “praise and recognition for a job well done” as well encouragement for strong teamwork. Again, Ahmad, Bashir et al. (2012) revealed that job satisfaction is significantly and negatively correlated with turnover intention. Also job stress has significant negative relationship to turnover intention. Findings indicated that, employees who experience more job stress has more intention to quit. Then again, Yin-Fah, Foon, Chee-Leong and Osman (2010) exploratory study on turnover Intention among private sector employees, sampled total of 120 respondents. Their findings indicated that there was a significant negative relationship between organizational commitments and turnover intention. Also there was a positive relationship between job stress and turnover intention and a negative relationship between job satisfaction and turnover intention. Rajendran, Muthuveloo, and Raduan Che Rose (2005) revealed that organizational commitment leads to positive organizational outcomes. Additionally, Komal Khalid Bhatti, Samina Nawab (2011) posited that job satisfaction has a significant impact on high employees’ commitment and productivity. Tarigan and Ariani (2015) studied Job satisfaction, organizational commitment, and turnover intention, sampled of 206 employees and found that job satisfaction was positively related to organizational commitment, organizational commitment is negatively related to turnover intention. But, organisational commitment was an important variable than job satisfaction in determining turnover intention. Urbonas, Kubilienė, Kubilius and Urbonienė (2015) assessed the effects of pharmacists’ perceived organizational support, organizational commitment and turnover intention on provision of medication information at community pharmacies in Lithuania and concluded that commitment to organizations directly and negatively affected job turnover intention. Also, Respondents who had feelings of higher levels of support from their organizations University of Ghana http://ugspace.ug.edu.gh 33 expressed a higher commitment to their organizations by providing more consistent medication information to patients. Other studies have found a relationship between organizational commitment and turnover intention (Calisir, Gumussoy, & Iskin, 2011; J.B. Deconinck & Johnson, 2009; Meyer, Stanley, Herscovitch, & Topolnytsky, 2002; Ng & Sorensen, 2008; Rutherford, Park, & Han, 2011; Smith, 2005). However, Griffeth, Robinson, Allen and Lee (2012) examined dual commitment and their relationships with turnover intentions. They established that analysis of variance provides support that individuals who are dually committed have significantly higher intentions to stay within the organization than those who are uncommitted or unilaterally committed. In addition, Faloye (2014) investigated organisational commitment and turnover intentions among Nigerian paramilitary organization and concluded that almost all the selected respondents have affective commitment to their organisation. The rates expressed for continuance commitment were above average but low when compared with the rates expressed for affective commitment. The selected officers believed that emotionally, socially, and economically they have invested a lot in their organization. Similarly, Yousaf, Sanders and Abbas (2015) reported that affective organizational commitment and affective occupational commitment were positively related to each other. Affective organizational commitment was negatively related to organizational turnover intention. Also, affective occupational commitment was negatively related both to occupational and organizational turnover intention. The hypothesis, however, could not gain support as affective organizational commitment did not moderate the affective occupational commitment-occupational turnover intention relationship. University of Ghana http://ugspace.ug.edu.gh 34 Perryer, Jordan, Firns and Travaglion (2010) studied turnover intentions of employees from Australian public sector organization and found interaction between POS and organizational commitment to be significant predictors of turnover intentions. Finally, employees with low levels of commitment but high levels of support from the organization are less likely to leave the organization. On the other hand (Babakus et al., 2008) revealed that there is a negative correlation between intrinsic motivation and organizational turnover in that when employees are not internally satisfied their focus will be to change their job. Aladwan, Jordan, Bhanugopan and Fish (2013) found that the three factors within the organizational commitment (affective, continuance and normative commitment) were highly correlated. But, Shah (2011) found that independent variables such as job satisfaction, organizational commitment and job promotion have positive and significant relationships to dependent variables. Furthermore, career adaptability was positively correlated to career satisfaction and finally that career satisfaction was negatively correlated with turnover intentions. Education was said to be positively correlated with career goal progress, professional ability development, and affective occupational commitment negatively correlated with turnover intentions (Beukes & Botha, 2013; Bosman et al., 2005; Simons & Buitendach, 2013). 2.4.3 Measures to reduce turnover intentions among Teachers It is common knowledge that identifying and dealing with the antecedents of turnover intentions is an effective way of reducing actual turnover. One of the antecedent factors of turnover and turnover intentions is identified as organizational commitment (Tumwesigye, 2010). Ghosh, Satyawadi, Joshi and Shadman (2013) revealed that turnover intentions will reduce when there is provision of opportunities for employee development, freedom for employees to do their best, employee loyalty all serve to determine the degree of employee engagement (EE), which has a University of Ghana http://ugspace.ug.edu.gh 35 significant impact on employees’ intention to stay. Additionally, the compensation and reward system must meet the expectations of employees and should also be directly linked to performance. Fair salaries must be equal to the market rate so that it will help in reducing turnover intentions. The organization must design its orientation programmes that will allow new entrants to quickly adapt to its culture and understand what is expected of them. There should be a transparent communication flow, opportunities for self-expression and freedom to innovate must all enhance occupational commitment. Ensuring goal clarity, autonomy, competitive compensation, and affective and normative commitment can go a long way in checking employee turnover and making the organization an employer of choice. Moreover, Asamoah, Doe and Amebge (2014) research on the effect of employee turnover on the performance and competiveness of banks in Ghana, advanced measures to reduce turnover intentions. These include conditions of service should be improved to prevent resignations in banks, management attitude should be directed at improving wages and reward systems which look more appealing to bank workers, management should consider motivation to retain employees as it boosts their morale towards work. Promotion for employees which could be based on long-service or educational background and finally channels of communication should be flexible enough so that employees feel at ease with management. Furthermore, Laureani and Antony (2010) investigated measures to reduce employees' turnover in transactional services and found that recruiting people that best fit the organisation will eventually reduce the high first-year turnover. It is argued that an existing employees were more likely to be familiar with the company’s structure, culture and expectations as the employee would have talked about them. Provision of incentives, a bonus scheme must be put in place. Finally, a comprehensive University of Ghana http://ugspace.ug.edu.gh 36 review of the training and orientation for new entrants to the organization. Also, Cobbold (2015) identified measures to reduce turnover intentions: teacher retention policies and strategies must be an integrated and interrelated processes of selecting and training prospective teachers, posting them to schools after training, going through a socialisation process to usher them into the profession and ensuring their continuing professional development in multiple ways because teachers wish to develop their knowledge and skills throughout their career. In addition, teacher retention strategies must aim at making teaching intrinsically more attractive by recognizing and integrating the altruistic values beginning teachers bring into training. Most of the recommendations to reduce turnover intentions are essentially unrelated to teaching, thus can these recommendations actually reduce turnover intentions among teachers in Bolgatanga? But, a study by Masemola (2011) studied organisational commitment and job satisfaction and recommended that improving employees’ organizational commitment, remunerate employees according to the market rate, improvement of supervision, employment of qualified staff for the job were critical to retain employees. Others include improving employees’ intention to stay, motivate employees through performance rewards (i.e. reward performance, praise good workers), Pay employees market-related salaries and improvement of working conditions. Rizwan, Arshad, Munir, Iqbal and Hussain (2014) investigated determinants of employees’ intention to leave, a study from Pakistan. They found that the existence of organizational commitment and job satisfaction will lead to a reduction in the intention to leave the organization. Also, when the level of commitment to organization by employees is high, turnover intension is low. Job satisfaction has been identified in many studies to reduce turnover intention (Bertelli, 2006; Bright, 2008; Cotton & Tuttle, 1986; Kim, 2005; Lee & Jimenez, 2011; Moynihan & Landuyt, 2008; Cho & Lewis, 2012; Lee & Whitford, 2008; Pitts et al., 2011). Galletta, Portoghese and University of Ghana http://ugspace.ug.edu.gh 37 Battistelli (2011) argued that when an employee is given the opportunity of responsibility and freedom to develop own work activities can induce the sense of identification and attachment to work environment that will in effect reduce turnover intention. The research highlighted the importance of intrinsic motivation to promote affective commitment. Furthermore, the affective commitment completely mediates the relationship between intrinsic motivation and turnover intention. It is suggestive that employees that are intrinsically motivated towards their own work, develop a sense of identification and attachment to their organization that in turn is negatively related to turnover intention. A study by McInerney, Ganotice, King, Marsh and Morin (2015) recommended that to reduce turnover intentions, school administrators should provide teachers with a working environment that enhances the development and maintenance of teachers, to maintain and enhance teachers' affective commitment, it is essential to nurture the formation of teachers' belief that the organization values their contribution and it cares about their well-being. School leaders need to demonstrate a strong commitment to teachers' overall personal and career development and create an emotionally safe environment where teachers feel affirmed and valued. Even though, the study essentially looked at turnover intentions of teachers, unfortunately the recommendations might not be applicable in other geographical settings where cultural issues can have an impact on findings. It is suggestive from the literature that measures to reduce turnover intentions are multi-faceted and cannot be reduced to one single factor. The measures must be tailored to industry specific to be able to address the problem. It must also be argued that the measures should be comprehensive and well-coordinated. Nevertheless, large volumes of the studies have adopted the quantitative approach and it was carried out in different cultural settings. Will the findings confirm what University of Ghana http://ugspace.ug.edu.gh 38 pertains in previous studies? To this end, there is a call for the quantitative research approach to investigate the issue. 2.5 Conceptual Framework Based on the literature that has been reviewed, a conceptual framework has been created for the study. The conceptual framework shows a direct relationship between turnover intentions and employee commitment. It has been developed consistent with the research questions. The model indicates turnover intentions as the independent variable and employee commitment as the dependent variable. Figure 2.2: Conceptual Framework Source: Author’s Construct (2016) University of Ghana http://ugspace.ug.edu.gh 39 CHAPTER THREE RESEARCH METHODOLOGY This chapter is concerned with the procedures that were adopted to undertake the research. The research methodology include; research design, research population, sampling techniques and sample size, data collection instruments and method and analysis and ethical considerations. 3.1 Research Design The study sought to assess turnover intentions among teachers in the Bolgatanga Municipality. The study adopted a survey research design which allows for a quantitative description of trends, attitudes, or opinions of a population by studying a sample of that population. This design involved a cross-sectional survey through the use of structured questionnaires for data collection. The intention of this design was to allow generalization of findings to the study as suggested by Babbie (1990). The survey design was found to be effective as it enabled information to be collected from a large sample of teachers in the Bolgatanga Municipality. 3.2 Study Area The Bolgatanga Municipality is located in the Upper East Region and is bordered to the north by the Bongo District, to the south by Talensi District, east by Nabdam District and to the west by the Kassena-Nankana Municipality and Kassena Nankani West District. The Bolgatanga Municipal Assembly occupies a land area of 729sq km. The climate of the area is tropical with two distinct seasons, specifically wet season (May to October) and a dry season (November-April). The Municipality is divided into three (3) administrative zones known as Zonal Councils. They are Bolgatanga, Zuarungu and Sumbrungu-Sherigu Zonal Councils. University of Ghana http://ugspace.ug.edu.gh 40 The population of the Municipality was recorded as 131,550 with 52.3% being female while the male population was 47.7% (2010 Population and Housing Census). The economy of the Bolgatanga Municipality has been categorized into three major sectors such as primary, secondary and tertiary. The primary sector of the municipality is predominantly agricultural in nature. The secondary sector comprises Small-Scale Industrial Enterprise activities while the tertiary sector engages in the provision of services. There are some deposits of gold in some parts of the Municipality. The area produces many crops like groundnuts, shea nuts, dawadawa, soya beans, handicrafts, basket weaving, and leather work. All these contribute to employment in the Municipality. The Municipality has a lot of tourist attractions like Tanzui Shrine, the Craft Village, the smock market and some festivals like Adakoya and Naba Yeska (The Municipal Assembly’s Composite Budget, 2013). 3.3 Target Population The target population for this study comprises all teachers in the public schools, all head teachers in the public schools and the Municipal Directorate of Education. There are 10 circuits for the basic schools and four senior h