UNIVERSITY OF GHANA DEPARTMENT OF PSYCHOLOGY OCCUPATIONAL STRESS AND JOB EMBEDDEDNESS AMONG PERSONNEL OF THE GHANA NAVY: THE MODERATING ROLES OF JOB SATISFACTION AND COMMITMENT BY JUSTICE ACKAM 10497943 THIS THESIS IS SUBMITTED TO THE UNIVERSITY OF GHANA, LEGON IN PARTIAL FULFILLMENT OF THE REQUIREMENT FOR THE AWARD OF MPHIL IN INDUSTRIAL AND ORGANIZATIONAL PSYCHOLOGY DEGREE. 2022 University of Ghana http://ugspace.ug.edu.gh i 6th January, 2022 10th January, 2022 10th January, 2022 DECLARATION I, Justice Ackam, declare that this thesis is the outcome of my study conducted under the objective supervision of Dr Ernest Darkwah and Dr Joana Larry-Afutu. All references to other people’s work have been appropriately acknowledged. The current study has never been submitted to any university in any manner, in whole or in part for the purpose of receiving a degree. …………………………………….. DATE: ……………………………… JUSTICE ACKAM (STUDENT) ……………………………………… DATE: …………………………… DR ERNEST DARKWAH (PRINCIPAL SUPERVISOR) ………………………………………. DATE: …………………………….. DR JOANA LARRY-AFUTU (CO-SUPERVISOR) University of Ghana http://ugspace.ug.edu.gh ii DEDICATION This project is in honour of my family especially to my dad, Mr David Tetteh Ackam, my mom, Madam Agnes Adukwei Allotey and my wonderful sister Miss Belinda Kweki Ackam. I also dedicate this project to personnel of the Ghana Navy. University of Ghana http://ugspace.ug.edu.gh iii ACKNOWLEDGEMENT I thank the almighty God for the undeserved favour, wisdom, and strength bestowed upon me throughout my life. Gratitude goes to my supervisors Dr Ernest Darkwah and Dr Joana Larry- Afutu, for their patience, time, guidance, contribution and support towards supervising me effectively throughout this project work. Appreciation also goes to faculty at the department of psychology for their contribution in teaching us to become better psychologists. A special thank you to Prof Charity Akotia and Dr Eric Delle for their support. I would also like to thank the Ghana Navy and all the personnel/ratings who made themselves available to participate in the study. A big thank you to Lt Cdr F. K. Kutsoati (Commanding Officer, SAS), Lt Cdr Abraham A. Teye and Lt Cdr Ernest Ofori for their immense assistance, advice and support. For the encouragement and unflinching support, I would like to express gratitude to my divisional clerks and instructors at ENC and SAS respectively, my intake (BT 74) as well as players and officials of the Ghana Navy soccer team (Dolphins FC). Finally, my appreciation goes to all my friends and course mates I studied with during my training at the Department of Psychology, University of Ghana. God bless you all. University of Ghana http://ugspace.ug.edu.gh iv TABLE OF CONTENTS DECLARATION ............................................................................................................................. i DEDICATION ................................................................................................................................ ii ACKNOWLEDGEMENT ............................................................................................................. iii TABLE OF CONTENTS ............................................................................................................... iv LIST OF TABLES ....................................................................................................................... viii LIST OF FIGURES ........................................................................................................................ x LIST OF ABBREVIATIONS ........................................................................................................ xi ABSTRACT .................................................................................................................................. xii CHAPTER ONE ............................................................................................................................. 1 INTRODUCTION ....................................................................................................................... 1 1.1 Background of the Study ................................................................................................... 1 1.1.1 Occupational Stress and Job Embeddedness .................................................................. 7 1.1.2 Job Satisfaction and Job Embeddedness ...................................................................... 11 1.1.3 Organizational Commitment and Job Embeddedness .................................................. 13 1.2 Problem Statement ........................................................................................................... 15 1.3 Rationale of the Study ..................................................................................................... 16 1.4 Aims and Objectives of the Study ................................................................................... 18 1.5 Relevance of the Study .................................................................................................... 18 CHAPTER TWO .......................................................................................................................... 20 LITERATURE REVIEW .......................................................................................................... 20 2.1 Introduction ..................................................................................................................... 20 2.2 Theoretical framework .................................................................................................... 20 2.2.1 Job Demand Resource Model (JD-R) ........................................................................... 20 University of Ghana http://ugspace.ug.edu.gh v 2.2.2 Conservation of Resource Theory (COR) .................................................................... 24 2.3 Review of Related Studies ............................................................................................... 25 2.3.1 Occupational Stress and its Relationship with Job Embeddedness .............................. 25 2.3.2 Job satisfaction and its moderation effect..................................................................... 32 2.3.3 Organizational commitment and its moderation effect ................................................ 39 2.4 Statement of Hypotheses ................................................................................................. 45 2.5 Operational Definitions ................................................................................................... 47 CHAPTER THREE ...................................................................................................................... 48 METHODOLOGY .................................................................................................................... 48 3.1 Introduction ..................................................................................................................... 48 3.2 Research setting ............................................................................................................... 48 3.3 Research Design .............................................................................................................. 49 3.4 Population ........................................................................................................................ 49 3.5 Sample ............................................................................................................................. 50 3.6 Sampling Technique ........................................................................................................ 53 3.7 Inclusion and Exclusion Criteria ..................................................................................... 53 3.8 Instruments/Materials/Measures ...................................................................................... 53 3.8.1 Job Embeddedness ........................................................................................................ 54 3.8.2 Occupational Stress ...................................................................................................... 54 3.8.3 Job Satisfaction ............................................................................................................. 55 3.8.4 Organizational Commitment ........................................................................................ 56 3.9 Procedure ......................................................................................................................... 56 3.9.1 Pilot Study .................................................................................................................... 57 3.9.2 Main Study ................................................................................................................... 58 3.9.3 Ethical Considerations .................................................................................................. 58 University of Ghana http://ugspace.ug.edu.gh vi CHAPTER FOUR ......................................................................................................................... 60 RESULTS.................................................................................................................................. 60 4.1 Introduction ..................................................................................................................... 60 4.2 Preliminary Analysis ....................................................................................................... 60 4.2.1 Normal Distribution Analysis ....................................................................................... 60 4.2.2 Reliability Analysis ...................................................................................................... 61 4.2.3 Descriptive Analysis ..................................................................................................... 61 4.2.4 Pearson Correlations among Variables ......................................................................... 62 4.3 Hypothesis Testing .......................................................................................................... 63 4.3.1 Test of Hypothesis 1 ..................................................................................................... 64 4.3.2 Test of Hypothesis 2 ..................................................................................................... 65 4.3.3 Test of Hypothesis 3 ..................................................................................................... 67 4.3.4 Testing of Hypothesis 4 ................................................................................................ 72 4.3.5 Testing of Hypothesis 5 ................................................................................................ 77 4.3.6 Summary of Findings ................................................................................................... 81 CHAPTER FIVE .......................................................................................................................... 84 DISCUSSION ........................................................................................................................... 84 5.1 Introduction ..................................................................................................................... 84 5.2 Discussion of findings ..................................................................................................... 85 5.2.1 The relationship between Occupational Stress, Job Attitudes (Job Satisfaction and Organizational Commitment), and Job Embeddedness ......................................................... 85 5.2.2 Comparison among the predictor variables (Occupational Stress, Job Satisfaction, and Organizational Commitment) on their relationship with Job Embeddedness ....................... 89 5.2.3 Job Satisfaction and Organizational Commitment as moderators in the relationship between Occupational Stress and Job Embeddedness. .......................................................... 92 5.3 Implication of the study ................................................................................................... 95 University of Ghana http://ugspace.ug.edu.gh vii 5.4 Limitations of the Study ................................................................................................ 106 5.5 Recommendations ......................................................................................................... 108 5.6 Conclusions ................................................................................................................... 111 REFERENCES ........................................................................................................................ 113 APPENDICES ......................................................................................................................... 129 University of Ghana http://ugspace.ug.edu.gh viii LIST OF TABLES Table 1 Summary of Demographic Characteristics of the Sample……………………………51 Table 2. Summary of Reliability Statistics obtained for the Scales in Pilot Study……………57 Table 3. Descriptive Statistics and Reliability Indices of the Study Variables………………..61 Table 4. Summary of Pearson Correlation Matrix of the Relationship between Study Variables……………………………………………………………………….62 Table 5. Outcomes of Standard Multiple Regression Analysis for Occupational Stress, Job Satisfaction, and Organizational Commitment as Predictors of Job Embeddedness………………………………………………………………………….64 Table 6. Standard Multiple Regression Analysis for Occupational Stress and Job Embeddedness……………………………………………………………….…….........65 Table 7. Standard Multiple Regression Analysis for Job Satisfaction and Job Embeddedness...66 Table 8. Standard Multiple Regression Analysis for Organizational Commitment and Job Embeddedness…………………………………………………………………….…….66 Table 9. Outcomes of Hierarchical Multiple Regression Analysis for Occupational Stress, Job Satisfaction, and Organizational Commitment as Predictors of Job Embeddedness………………………………………………………………………..…68 Table 10. Findings of Hierarchical Multiple Regression Analysis for the dimensions of Occupational Stress, Job Satisfaction and Organizational Commitment as predictors of Job Embeddedness………………………………………………..…..70 Table 11. Outcomes of the Regression Analysis from Process Macro for Job Satisfaction on the Relationship between Occupational Stress and Job Embeddedness………………...….74 University of Ghana http://ugspace.ug.edu.gh ix Table 12. Summary of conditional effects of the predictor at values of the moderator………....75 Table 13. Summary of the Regression Analysis from Process Macro for Organizational Commitment on the Relationship between Occupational Stress and Job Embeddedness…………………………………………………………………….....78 Table 14. Summary of conditional effects of the predictor at values of the moderator………....79 University of Ghana http://ugspace.ug.edu.gh x LIST OF FIGURES Figure 1. The Job Demands-Resource Model…………………………………………………22 Figure 2. Job Demand Resources Model based on Additive Effects………………………….23 Figure 3. Model showing hypothesized relationships between study variables……………….46 Figure 4. Path diagram of the moderating model……………………………………………...73 Figure 5. The Moderation Effect of Job Satisfaction on the relationship between Occupational Stress and Job Embeddedness………………………………………..76 Figure 6. Path diagram of the moderating model………………………………………………77 Figure 7. The Moderation Effect of Organizational Commitment on the relationship between Occupational Stress and Job Embeddedness……………………………...80 Figure 8. Summary of observed relationship among study variables………………………….82 University of Ghana http://ugspace.ug.edu.gh xi LIST OF ABBREVIATIONS AC : Affective Commitment AFR : Armed Forces Regulation AWOL: Absence without Leave CC : Continuance Commitment COR : Conservation of Resource ENC : Eastern Naval Command FOF : Flag Officer Fleet GAF : Ghana Armed Forces HR : Human Resource ILO : International Labour Office JD-R : Job Demand Resource JE : Job Embeddedness JS : Job Satisfaction NAVTRAC : Naval Training Command NC : Normative Commitment NHQ : Naval Headquarters OC : Organizational Commitment OS : Occupational Stress WNC : Western Naval Command University of Ghana http://ugspace.ug.edu.gh xii ABSTRACT The Ghana Navy over the last few decades has recorded some early voluntary release and Absence without Leave (AWOL) incidences. These turnover behaviours do not only affect the service but affects the Ghana Armed Forces (GAF) and the entire nation and therefore needs critical attention from high command and policymakers. This study investigated the relationship between occupational stress and job embeddedness and the possible roles that job attitudes (job satisfaction and organizational commitment) play in this relationship among personnel/ratings of the Ghana Navy. Four hundred and fifty-six (456) personnel were sampled from the units and commands of the Ghana Navy. The study used the quantitative cross-sectional design in which personnel were required to respond to items on a set of questionnaires measuring demographic factors, occupational stress, job satisfaction, organizational commitment and job embeddedness. Pearson Correlation analysis, Standard Multiple Regression Analysis, Hierarchal Regression and Regression analysis using Haye’s Process Macro (for assessing the moderation effects) were used for analyzing the statistical data. The results indicated that occupational stress, job satisfaction and organizational commitment recorded significant positive relationship with job embeddedness with organizational commitment strongly predicting job embeddedness compared to job satisfaction and occupational stress. Furthermore, it was indicated that job satisfaction and organizational commitment played a moderating role in the relationship between occupational stress and job embeddedness such that the relationship was enhanced at higher level of the moderators. The findings and implications were discussed and recommendations were made for future research. University of Ghana http://ugspace.ug.edu.gh 1 CHAPTER ONE INTRODUCTION 1.1 Background of the Study Over the past few decades, organizational researchers have been involved in investigating elements that influence organizational productivity. One factor constantly confirmed to affect productivity is the issue of turnover (Tariq & Riaz, 2013). The concept of turnover has been defined differently by scholars. Turnover simply refers to the quitting of employees from an organization and according to Petriglieri (2011), it is a coping method used by employees to get out of their current situation. Employees tend to leave their jobs for reasons including unavoidable reasons (illness, death, family issues), advancement (for promotions and better pay), escape (from people, working conditions, and stress), and unmet needs and expectations (Aamodt, 2016). Other researchers have indicated more security, harassment, poor relationships with leaders and colleagues, and lack of re-organization as potential reasons workers quit (Irabor & Okolie, 2019). According to Branham (2012), 89% of managers believe money is the reason employees leave, whiles employees who left for other reasons represent 88%. Turnover can be either “voluntary or involuntary” (Hom & Griffeth, 1995), as well as “functional or dysfunctional” (Watrous et al., 2006). Turnover has been identified to be very harmful to organizations and has been confirmed to be very costly thereby posing difficult manpower problems to different organizations because of investments made by these organizations in their employees over a long period. Straw (1980 cited in Murnieks et al., 2011) also indicated myriad negative aspects of turnover such as the cost of hiring and training replacements or disruptions to operations and productivity. Cascio (2000), University of Ghana http://ugspace.ug.edu.gh 2 indicated a direct cost of employee departure to include “separation cost, replacement cost, and training cost”. Furthermore, there are indirect costs like poor customer service, migration of customers along with employees, effect on other employees, effect on morale, loss of diversity, loss of leadership, loss of knowledge, reduced productivity and a potential gain of competitors. According to Spector (2012), recruiting and selection can be laborious and costly while for other jobs, a very long period of training and orientation might be mandatory before workers can function. In the military, turnover is a phenomenon that has assumed a global dimension and requires critical attention from the military hierarchy and policymakers. Military personnel leaving their work is a growing problem that threatens the operations of the security sector globally and in Ghana, early voluntary release and Absence without Leave (AWOL) are all turnover behaviours that are encountered and recorded in naval and other military establishments quite frequently. Out of these, AWOL is frowned upon and punishable if personnel fall victim to it, however, this does not deter some personnel from engaging in such punishable behaviour. Art. 15.01 of the Armed Forces Regulations (AFR) Vol 1 indicates that the release of personnel may be due to the following reasons; misconduct, inefficiency, medically unfit, voluntary retirement, and compulsory retirement to promote economy or efficiency. According to Hom et al. (2010), “there are two main ways to voluntarily leave the military. First, one can simply not reenlist at the end of a contract period. Secondly, one can wait to become fully vested (i.e., stay in the military for some required number of years to become eligible for retirement benefits) and retire”. These are consistent with what transpires in the Ghana Armed Forces. Lytell and Drasgow (2009) indicated that military personnel leave their job due to comparisons of the military to civilian lifestyle. Jetten and Gelooven (2000) in their study of the Royal Netherlands Army indicated that 57% of personnel University of Ghana http://ugspace.ug.edu.gh 3 occasionally considered searching for a job outside the RNLA and almost a quarter (23%) indicated that they have applied for a job outside the RNLA within the past year. Results showed that from 2010 to the early part of 2019, the total number of ratings1 that left the Ghana Navy due to AWOL and early voluntary release amounted to a total of 134 (Ghana Navy HQ, Admin Department). This does not only damage the reputation of the service but comes with a great cost both to the service and the country since personnel leaving the armed forces very early could create a serious concern for the country’s defence. “From the organization’s perspective, it takes substantial time, money, and effort to recruit new personnel, and such loss often disrupts the regular operations of the military as well as fosters low workforce morale” (Mabuza & Dodd, 2020). Recruitment and hiring can be a major cost according to Spector (2012) since in the Ghana Navy, a long period of training and investments are required to equip personnel with the necessary skills i.e., from standard military training, basic naval training, sea training, and to other special qualification training before personnel can be fully productive to execute the mandate of the Ghana Navy. Pandit (2008) indicated that the military is faced with a draining battle which includes failure to entice qualified individuals to join, and those already serving are pursuing early withdrawal in huge numbers. According to Dechawatanapaisal (2018), “employee retention is an issue of strategic importance for today’s organizations”. A major question that always challenges researchers and practitioners is “What makes people stay?” A critical issue in organizations is employee retention and predominantly that of professional or skilled employees. Retention is an organizational tactic 1 Ratings refer to non-commissioned officers or personnel of other rank status of the Navy. University of Ghana http://ugspace.ug.edu.gh 4 to be competitive, with the existing human resources to achieve productivity and power so most countries make retention of military personnel their number one priority. Researchers and practitioners continue to request investigations on knowledge and improved comprehension of workers’ attitudes, to identify which factors influence their decision to stay with an organization. Interestingly, study attention is gradually moving away from why workers leave the organization and toward why workers stay in the organization (Zhang et al., 2012; Zainuddin & Noor, 2019). It should also be noted that “the opposite of turnover intention is intent to stay” (Costen & Salazar, 2011 cited in Sow et al., 2016). Work engagement, job immersion, job satisfaction, organizational commitment, work engagement (Holtom & O’Neill, 2004), stress (Griffeth et al., 2000; Podsakoff et al., 2007) and intention to leave (Griffeth et al., 2000) that over the years dominated the turnover models are all factors that explain reasons employees stay or depart. However, while the models were successful in detecting predictors of turnover, they only explain a small fraction of employee retention. An emerging approach to this problem has been proposed by Mitchell et al., (2001) who presented the idea of Job Embeddedness (JE). As proposed by Moses (2012), the concept of job embeddedness has been accepted by researchers because it provides a unique approach to turnover (examining why workers stay instead of why they depart). “Embeddedness is the idea that individuals can become enmeshed in their surroundings and situation to such an extent that they have a difficult time separating from it” (Ng & Feldman, 2009). The construct of “embeddedness describes the forces that influence turnover decisions, focusing on the aspects of fit and structural ties and relationships” (Allen, 2006). Job embeddedness has received unique attention in organizational behaviour due to the new and valuable theory it provides to help describe how workers interaction with their work setting and conditions affect their attitudes and behaviour. University of Ghana http://ugspace.ug.edu.gh 5 Rather than preventing employees from leaving for other organizations, job embeddedness focuses on maintaining them in the organization. Job embeddedness according to this notion distinguishes it from earlier models for forecasting turnover. As a result, several empirical research have followed this study path and discovered that workers who are more enmeshed in their jobs have a lower propensity to attrition (Mitchell & Lee, 2001; Crossley et al., 2007; Holtom et al., 2008). According to Mitchell et al. (2001), “job embeddedness is the collection of forces that motivate employees to stay with their organizations”. They referred to the phenomenon as a desire of being fixated, a “stuckness” to the job, or “a net or a web in which an individual can become stuck”. Lee et al., (2004), describe job embeddedness as “staying rather than leaving and represents a large range of ideas that influence a person to stay”. Thus, it is a retention or “anti-withdrawal” concept. Yang et al. (2011) defined it “as an overall construct conceptualized as the combined forces that keep a person from leaving his or her job” whiles Robinson et al. (2014) indicated job embeddedness as the “state of mind in which an employee decides to stay within the organization due to the certain organization related deciding factors”. According to Mitchell and Lee (2001), job embeddedness remains the status quo in the organization and as for most people, it is not regarded as a choice process but the forces that hold them from leaving or engaging in that choice process. Job embeddedness represents factors that anchor personnel to the organization, and the happier they feel about their work, the less likely they will look elsewhere. Job embeddedness when enhanced brings lots of benefits to the organization. It is considered a boon for the organization to reduce turnover (Marasi, et al., 2016), boost morale, strengthen commitment, increase resilience, improve work relationships, as well as increase well-being and job satisfaction within the organization. University of Ghana http://ugspace.ug.edu.gh 6 Job embeddedness is categorized as “on the job embeddedness (JEon) and off the job embeddedness (JEoff)”. On the job embeddedness or organizational embeddedness is the internal constraint that influences retention in the organization and off the job embeddedness also known as community embeddedness indicates external factors that make individuals stay in the organization wherever they live (Gonzalez et al., 2018). Mitchell et al. (2001) claimed that job embeddedness addresses three situational facets, each of which is considered both on- and off-the-job. These dimensions are fit, link and sacrifice. “Fit is the perceived compatibility or comfort with one’s organization or community. Links on the other hand are the formal or informal connections one has with other entities at work or in the community such as people, groups, places, things, or activities. Lastly, sacrifice refers to the perceived material or psychological costs associated with leaving one’s current job or community” (Clinton et al., 2012). The military’s focus on providing a lifestyle rather than merely a job, the deep bonds formed between coworkers, and the military’s largely unique working experience and network of support services are all extremely relevant for the faces of job embeddedness which is the fit, link and sacrifice (Clinton et al., 2012). Studies have established that the organizational facets of job embeddedness are directly related to HR practices and job attitudes which are organization-related factors (Allen, 2006). As a result, the ambit of this current study is on job embeddedness in the workplace, also known as on the job embeddedness or organizational job embeddedness. Despite the increasing number of knowledge in job embeddedness research, researchers still have a lot to offer and advocate for more pragmatic findings, predominantly on how job embeddedness develops so that a link between workers and organizations can be established (Marasi et al., 2016). It is therefore imperative to further examine factors that influence job University of Ghana http://ugspace.ug.edu.gh 7 embeddedness and their respective roles, which preceding research has not yet carefully investigated (Dechawatanapaisal, 2018). “The military environment has been discussed as a rich context in which to study aspects of human resource management because of its size, diversity of personnel, and global scope” (Smith et al., 2008 cited in Clinton et al., 2012) and job embeddedness within the military setting is a highly pertinent concept (Clinton et al., 2012). 1.1.1 Occupational Stress and Job Embeddedness Occupational stress remains one of the most important workplace health hazards for all workers globally (Rehman et al., 2012). Stressors and their severity in the military are crucial prerequisites for projecting a thorough comprehension of military occupation stress, for implementing measures necessary for stress reduction, for augmenting productivity-enhancing solutions and improving soldiers’ wellbeing (Campbell & Nobel, 2009). “Stress is an unpleasant psychological process that occurs in response to environmental pressures” (Robins & Judge, 2015). Taylor (2018) indicated that the study of stress has helped identify the pathways by which stress leads to poor health. Although stress is seen to play a negative role in the health of people it also improves an individual’s accomplishment at the workplace, improves motivation, satisfaction, and performance (Matthewman et al., 2009). It is indicated that workers may seem that they are better equipped to handle some stressful situations and then completely collapse when faced with others. Researchers have identified two main types of stressors namely hindrance stress and challenge stress. According to Webster et al. (2010) hindrance stressors are perceived as barriers to goals that cannot be overcome through hard work and dedication. They deplete motivation and lead to exhaustion and burnout. It is also indicated that hindrance stressors can lower team performance and increase psychological withdrawal (Pearsall et al., 2009). Example of hindrance stressors include role ambiguity, office politics, and University of Ghana http://ugspace.ug.edu.gh 8 red tape. Challenge stressors on the contrary are those that motivate workers to work harder and be resilient by supporting personal, emotional and material goods. Example of challenge stressors include large workload, time pressure, high level of responsibility among others. Workers will therefore work harder when stressed if they believe that the increased stress will lead to a raise, a promotion or a sense of achievement. Webster et al. (2010) stated that both hindrance and challenge stressors can cause strain but challenge stressors can provide positive outcomes. Legg (2018) also indicated that stress (good stress/eustress) had its benefits which include improvements in cognition and alertness, helping one to escape from unpleasant situations, and making one tough. Occupational stress on the organizational level is associated with workers performance, reduction in attention, focus and judgement skills, reduction in employees’ morale, motivation, quality of working life, job attitudes, and “may lead to increased burnout and physical, mental, and emotional exhaustion, absenteeism and intention to leave workplace” (Mosadeghrad, 2014). Osipow and Spokane (1984 cited in Norris, 2004) stated that significant sources of problems in the workplace are role stressors. According to McKensey (2017), military personnel have some of the most challenging tasks and often have little resources to accomplish those tasks. “The military occupation involves many risks and stressors to include combat exposure, potential death and injury, witnessing others being injured or killed, uncertainty, powerlessness, boredom, heavy workload, and dangerous training activities” (Alford & Cuomo, 2009). According to the Director-General Armed Forces Medical Services (2002), unique stressors affecting soldiers include stressors during training ( loss of emotional support from family and friends, new rigid discipline framework, demanding nature of physical training, lack of privacy, constant onus to compete and qualify for the next stage, inability to address problems at home due to preoccupation with training), stressors during University of Ghana http://ugspace.ug.edu.gh 9 peacetime (improper or poor interpersonal relations, domestic problems related to marital life, health problems of family members, insecurity of family members, children’s education, property disputes, financial problems, inadequate response by civil administration to the problems of service personnel) and stressors in the field (separation from family members, adverse or demanding climatic conditions, isolation, long tenures, unknown enemy in counter-insurgency areas, uncertainty of life, difficult living conditions, fatigue). The life of military personnel is inherently tough, and the coming together of these domestic and vocational pressures can easily become overwhelming. Most studies on stress among military personnel have involved those with combat exposure with little research on personnel during peacetime. According to Campbell and Nobel (2009), “the military’s traditional mission of warfighting has expanded to include multiple new tasks (e.g., assisting natural disaster victims, delivering humanitarian aid, peacekeeping, nation-building, etc.) and these new military undertakings have substantially added to the likelihood that soldiers at all levels will experience stress during their service tours”. The stress levels among military personnel are likely to be eminent even during this peacetime due to the routine military environment. According to Pflanz (2001 cited in Sharma, 2015), the negative impact on the mental health and wellbeing of military personnel can be attributed to occupational stress arising from routine military work activities. Researchers have examined stress mainly from the standpoint of psychological effects perspective, categorizing distinct stressors based on the psychological impact they have on a person. However, there is evidence of the influence of occupational stress on some behaviours and attitudes of individuals. For example, a survey conducted by Zhao and Humayun (2010) examined that stressors at the workplace impacted the retention of workers in a University of Ghana http://ugspace.ug.edu.gh 10 large global bank. Aamodt (2016) also indicated that an increase in job stress results in lower job satisfaction and commitment and increases the probability of employees skipping work. Though occupational stress can be examined in a composite or global form, researchers are steadily growing more familiar with facet measures of the construct currently owing to the appreciation that workers outcomes are precipitated by the different facets of occupational stress. For example, workers who feel their working condition is poor may elicit behaviours that may differ from those who experience work overload. Also, some dimensions of occupational stress like work overload and work-family conflict have been explored to have a link with job embeddedness. A study conducted by Karatepe (2013) indicated that “heavy workload and conflicts in the work-family interface, coupled with emotional exhaustion impeded retention and result in poor service delivery” of workers. Thus, work overload coupled with work-family conflict influenced emotional enervation which resulted in workers experiencing low job embeddedness and having impoverished performance. Workload demands, limited growth opportunities, personal/family difficulties, and working conditions will be the focus of stress in this study. These facets of work experience were utilized in a study by Remondet and Hansson (1991) to investigate work-related pressures to control among workers. Reduced control in these areas was linked to “increased job stress, generalized stress, depression, injuries on the job, absenteeism, decreased job involvement, less job satisfaction,” and poor performance (Remondet & Hansson, 1991). No matter the forms it takes, there is a lot of research that links occupational stress which is subjective among workers to outcomes and behaviours including organizational commitment, turnover, and counter-productive behaviours (Lemire & Rouillard, 2005). However, what has not been so eagerly researched is the type of stress and its unique association with job embeddedness. University of Ghana http://ugspace.ug.edu.gh 11 1.1.2 Job Satisfaction and Job Embeddedness Research evidence on job satisfaction and its outcomes abound. One main task organization researchers perform is evaluating employee attitudes about their jobs and determining ways to improve them. One of the most studied variables according to Spector (2012) is job satisfaction and Sanjeev (2016) indicated that the importance assigned to job satisfaction studies have been because a job is part of our identity. Turnover as a problem facing the military has the propensity to rise when soldiers are disgruntled and when there is mistrust between them and their leaders which could jeopardize the general security of the nation (Cole, 2014 cited in Mabuza & Dodd, 2020). Workers level of job satisfaction is a reflection of how they feel in general and with specific areas of their jobs. Simply put, “job satisfaction is the extent to which people like their jobs” (Spector, 2012). Job satisfaction according to scholars remains critical to efficient human resource management and is complicated by cultural differences globally, as well as differences in individual requirements and jobs (Hauff et al., 2015). Considering it as attitudinal, there has been a recent consensus in considering job satisfaction to be a tripartite model consisting of cognition (belief) about the study object, affective experience with the object, and behavioural intentions regarding the object (Sanjeev, 2016). Most researchers have differentiated the attitude of job satisfaction into its affective and cognitive components. The affective component is an overall satisfaction measure and the cognitive component is a measure of facets relating to the job like pay, supervision and other facets. Additionally, job satisfaction may be divided into two categories based on the employee's level of feelings, according to Mueller and Kim (2008). First is an overall feeling about the job and second is about specific aspects of the job like pay or co-worker relation etc. The study of attitude also throws up the additional challenge as the behavioural outcome of an attitude is always University of Ghana http://ugspace.ug.edu.gh 12 not exactly predictable (Sanjeev, 2016). Therefore, organizational changes have been a common feature of modern organizations, including the military, as prevailing situations necessitate frequent strategizing for the military to reach the standard and be operative. The global and facet approach to the study of job satisfaction are regarded as the two fundamental approaches to the phenomenon according to Spector (2012). The former views job satisfaction as a single, overarching emotion toward the workplace, whereas the latter approach focuses on specific components of the job such as pay, supervisors, coworkers, working environment, and the work itself. It’s worth noting that both of these work-related attitudes are complex. Employees may be content with one aspect of their job (for example, compensation), but not with another (for example coworkers). Several organizational important consequences are regarded to be the result of job satisfaction or dissatisfaction (Spector, 2012). These comprise job performance, counterproductive behaviours, turnover behaviour, and overall life satisfaction. Job satisfaction is also related to a wide array of workplace behaviours including organizational citizenship behaviour, presentism, and improved productivity. Some behaviour outcomes due to job satisfaction also have a significant influence on the well-being of workers. For example, dissatisfied employees, report greater physical symptoms, such as insomnia and stomach upset, than those who are satisfied. Job dissatisfaction has also been linked to unpleasant feelings including anxiety and despair. (Bowling & Hammond, 2008). The belief that satisfied workers are more likely to remain in the organization than disgruntled workers has been a basic belief for years though only recently has a study begun to ask questions on the relationship between job satisfaction and job embeddedness. Despite all these, studies have found a link between the influences of job satisfaction on job embeddedness. Workers satisfaction and retention according to Irabor and Okolie (2019), are University of Ghana http://ugspace.ug.edu.gh 13 the most important aspects of an organizations success and survival. They indicated that a workplace that creates an atmosphere that entices, inspire, and retain exceptional workers are better placed to be successful in today’s competitive sphere of business, which demands quality and cost- effectiveness. Job satisfaction and retention remain some of the main concerns of organizations as the majority find it easy to identify and recruit candidates for employment rather than to satisfy and retain them. Motlou et al. (2016), in their study concluded that safe working conditions, effective communication, fair treatment, remuneration, promotion opportunities, growth opportunities, and getting along with colleagues enhance retention of employees in the organization. Although research reveals that there is a link between job satisfaction and job embeddedness, evidence on the relevance of job satisfaction also suggests that different facets of job satisfaction may cause distinct employee outcomes, such as job embeddedness. Job satisfaction and its impact on employee output have been well researched, however, how it relates to job embeddedness have not been so keenly researched. 1.1.3 Organizational Commitment and Job Embeddedness Organizational commitment is very valuable and has a successful impact on the successful performance of any organization. It is a very popular attitudinal variable in the work environment. It is closely linked to job satisfaction, but it differs in that it focuses on an individual’s commitment to the organization rather than whether they like or detest their job (Spector, 2012). Based on current research, no human characteristics and constructs have a greater impact on organizational outcomes than organizational commitment (Cater & Zabkar, 2009, cited in Valae & Rezaei, 2016). Organizational commitment, according to Meyer and Allen (1997), is the psychological state that links the individual to the organization. It may be used to assess employee loyalty to an University of Ghana http://ugspace.ug.edu.gh 14 organization’s mission and vision, as well as to determine who departs and who stays (Ayalew, 2015). Military duty is very difficult since it requires not only more dedication and commitment to assigned responsibilities and tasks but also pride in service and ethical professional behaviour. “A sense of patriotism and pride in military service is often part of the military socialization process. Thus, commitment to the military may act as a buffer from the strains experienced in the military, making voluntary separations from the service less likely to occur” (Lytell & Drasgow, 2009). Because of the specific challenges and experiences that come with military work, organizational commitment may be more important in the military than in civilian populations (Kewley et al., 2017). Outcomes of organizational commitment are akin to job satisfaction. These include performance, tardiness, turnover behaviours, organizational citizenship, and counterproductive behaviour. The study of organizational commitment has taken two perspectives—the global and the composite. From the global perspective, organizational commitment is identified as the acceptance of an organization’s objectives, willingness to work hard, and desire to remain in the organization (Spector, 2012). Meyer and Allen (1997) established a composite method that incorporated affective commitment (emotional attachment to the organization), continuance commitment (the cost of leaving the organization), and normative commitment (obligation to remain with the organization). Studies have validated the link between organizational commitment and job embeddedness. Employees who have a strong feeling of organizational loyalty or connection are less likely to engage in withdrawal behaviours even when they are dissatisfied, according to Robins and Judge (2015). Thus, it appears employees are willing to make sacrifices for the organization University of Ghana http://ugspace.ug.edu.gh 15 even though they are dissatisfied with their jobs. Chip (2019) in her study indicated that all three dimensions of organizational commitment are related to employee retention. She concluded that organizational commitment fosters low turnover and absenteeism and contributes towards higher productivity. Other researchers also found out that, to increase the commitment level of workers, certain measures need to be put in place to enhance commitment which will lead to retention as well. A study conducted by Naqvi and Bashir (2015) proposed that factors like compensation, training and development, and supervisor support were all significantly related to the organization commitment which therefore led to the retention of workers in an IT firm. Although several studies have been carried out on organizational commitment and its outcome, literature is normally centered on corporate institutions with little concentration on the military establishment. In view of this, the impact of organizational commitment on personnel's work embeddedness in the Ghana Navy must be addressed. 1.2 Problem Statement The organizational cost of employee attrition is very high, and it is not shocking that organizational researchers are focusing on employee retention in today’s organizations. Over the years, occupational stress and job attitudes such as job satisfaction and organizational commitment are among the primary issues that determine whether employees will stay or leave (Heritage et al., 2016; Cheng and Chang, 2014; Peachey et al., 2014). Because the propensity to leave on the part of the employees now reflects the relatively new concept of Job Embeddedness (JE), the assumption is that factors that are associated with employee turnover may also be associated with job embeddedness. However, little empirical work has been done to exactly know how these factors are associated with job embeddedness in different work populations across established University of Ghana http://ugspace.ug.edu.gh 16 different contexts (Besich, 2005). In other words, much regarding job embeddedness including the factors that precipitate it is still unknown (Nguyen et al., 2017). While researchers have supported the job embeddedness construct and linked it to a variety of individual and group-level determinants in, for example, US organizations (Lee et al., 2004; Mallol et al., 2007; Sekiguchi et al., 2008), its relevance and functionality in other contexts are mostly unknown (Peltokorpi, 2012). In the specific case of the Ghana Armed Forces, less is known about the factors associated with job embeddedness and the roles that common predictors such as job stress and work attitudes play in the embeddedness of military personnel. This leaves some research-based interventions more difficult to develop as some personnel issues remain essentially unaddressed. The existing study has demonstrated an association between some factors (occupational stress, job satisfaction, organizational commitment) on job embeddedness. Despite the evidence, there is little known regarding how the different dimensions of these predictors comparatively predict job embeddedness. Such details are important for intervention design and policy-making prioritizing. This research is therefore proposed to contribute to the existing literature by shedding light on the predictive relationships that exist between occupational stress, job satisfaction, organizational commitment, and job embeddedness. The study will go even further, looking into how these job attitudes affect the link between occupational stress and job embeddedness. 1.3 Rationale of the Study Despite the consequences that are precipitated by occupational stress, job satisfaction, organizational commitment, and job embeddedness on workers, the possible links between these factors and the unique influences of their facets seem not so much investigated. As a result, the literature is unclear on the precise relationships that exist between occupational stress, job attitudes University of Ghana http://ugspace.ug.edu.gh 17 (job satisfaction and organizational commitment), and job embeddedness. There is also minimal evidence regarding the various characteristics of occupational stress, job satisfaction, and organizational commitment in determining job embeddedness. These characteristics make it difficult for the organization to devise solutions that will effectively address the impact of these issues on organizational productivity. The current research seeks to explore how occupational stress and its dimensions as well as job attitudes (job satisfaction and organizational commitment) influence the job embeddedness of personnel of the Ghana Navy. Additionally, the study examines how job satisfaction and organizational commitment will moderate the degree to which occupational stress is linked to job embeddedness. Thus, the study will focus solely on how these predictors affect personnel decision to stay in the Ghana Navy regardless. Productivity and performance disparities of the Ghana Navy are not only affected by the lack of resources to operate but could be influenced by the lack of resources needed to enhance retention of personnel. As the Ghana Navy goes through complex transformations in operational requirements and expectations, it is important to also address issues like early voluntary release and AWOL incidences that have potential cost implications toward the achievement of their goals. The current study will not only add up to existing knowledge on job embeddedness but be a resource to help provide research-based interventions and recommendations on enhancing retention strategies of personnel/ratings. Thus, these findings will provide a better understanding of personnel retention challenges for the Ghana Navy and other organizations. The Ghana Navy, the Ghana Armed Forces (GAF), the Ministry of Defense, and other stakeholders involved would therefore be better equipped for resolving psychological, attitudinal, behavioural and other outcomes that are reliant on the link between these study variables. University of Ghana http://ugspace.ug.edu.gh 18 1.4 Aims and Objectives of the Study The general objective of the study is to examine the association that exists between occupational stress, job attitudes (job satisfaction and organizational commitment), and job embeddedness among personnel/ratings of the Ghana Navy. The following goals are specifically outlined. 1. To assess the relationship between occupational stress and job embeddedness as well as between job attitudes (job satisfaction and organizational commitment) and job embeddedness (JE) of personnel/ratings. 2. To examine the predictive ability of occupational stress, job satisfaction, and organizational commitment and their dimensions on Job Embeddedness of ratings. 3. To explore the moderation effect of job satisfaction on the relationship between occupational stress and Job Embeddedness. 4. To examine the moderation effect of organizational commitment on the relationship between occupational stress and Job Embeddedness. 1.5 Relevance of the Study Understandably, stress is ubiquitous in most organizations including the military even during peacetime due to its routine, regimental nature, and other factors. This has had an impact on retaining personnel and has affected the smooth administration of the Ghana Navy over the past few decades. Even though a recognizable amount of study has been conducted on job embeddedness, more needs to be done to highlight the challenges and improve on retaining personnel in the Ghana Navy and the GAF. The key strength of this research is to add up to the pool of knowledge on job embeddedness in a sensitive organization like the military which will University of Ghana http://ugspace.ug.edu.gh 19 help in policy formation for all stakeholders in the GAF. The study will provide empirical evidence and bring to the attention of the Ghana Navy on how occupational stress, job satisfaction, and organizational commitment individually and collectively precipitate organization embeddedness among personnel/ratings and consequently equip the service with the needed resources to enhance smooth retention. Thus, this exposition will go a long way in guiding the high command2 to look for avenues to better the situation not only to reduce stress and enhance job attitudes but better the situation for the retention of naval personnel. 2 High command refers to personnel that consist of the most senior officers in a countries Armed Forces. University of Ghana http://ugspace.ug.edu.gh 20 CHAPTER TWO LITERATURE REVIEW 2.1 Introduction As well as explaining the theoretical framework under consideration, this chapter provides a thorough overview of investigations that have been linked to this current study and their findings. The proposed hypotheses are outlined along with a conceptual model of the relationship between variables’ relationships. 2.2 Theoretical framework Increasing developments of theories have emerged as a result of focusing research efforts on occupational stress, job attitudes (job satisfaction and organizational commitment), and their link with job embeddedness. Two important theories that were reviewed to serve as the framework for explaining the study’s outcome were the Job Demand Resource Model and the Conservative of Resource Theory. 2.2.1 Job Demand Resource Model (JD-R) The Job Demand Resource Model according to Bakker and Demerouti (2007) can be applied to a variety of organizations. It is broadly used in occupational stress research and has been developed to explain how employees’ circumstances affect their job outcomes and well-being. When it comes to analyzing the relationship between job features and employee well-being, this model is currently the most often utilized paradigm in occupational health psychology today (Lesener et al., 2019). The JD-R model is grounded on the premise that every job has unique University of Ghana http://ugspace.ug.edu.gh 21 qualities that can be classified as demands or resources, and that these characteristics influence crucial job outcomes. To improve productivity and retention, the model can be used as a conceptual framework for workplace monitoring. The JD-R model is a motivational process model in which individuals are motivated to behave to conserve and grow their resource base by both demands and resources acting simultaneously (Bakker & Demerouti, 2007). The impact of job demands differs from the impact of job resources. Job demands are noted for limiting an employee's resource availability leading to depletion of energy while job resources assist employees in developing their resource base and enabling resource gain, according to this concept. Demerouti et al. (2001), referred job demands to those “physical, psychological, social, or organizational aspects of the job that require sustained physical or psychological (cognitive and emotional) effort or skills and are therefore associated with certain physiological and psychological costs”. Examples are role conflicts, harassment, bureaucracy, negative change, family work/ work-family conflict, interpersonal conflicts, emotional demands (Schaufeli, 2017), time and work pressure, unfavourable physical environment, and quantitative workload (Lesener et al., 2019). When job demands are high, the model assumes that extra effort is required to meet work goals and avoid poor performance. “Job resources refer to those physical, psychological, social, or organizational aspects of the job that are functional in achieving work goals, reduce job demands and the associated physiological and psychological costs and stimulate personal growth, learning, and development” (Demerouti et al., 2001). The organization of work (e.g. role clarity, participation in decision making), the levels of the organization (e.g. career opportunities, job security, pay), the level of the task (skill variety, task identity, task significance, autonomy, University of Ghana http://ugspace.ug.edu.gh 22 performance feedback), interpersonal and social relations (e.g. supervisor and co-worker support, team climate), are where job resources can be identified in the organization. According to Schaufeli (2017), two fundamental psychological processes (dual process): the stress process and the motivational process are incorporated in the JD-R model (see Figure 1). Firstly, undesirable outcomes such as sickness, absenteeism, poor performance, lack of organizational commitment and hampered workability can result from stress which is exacerbated by high job expectations and lack of resources. Secondly, work outcomes such as organizational commitment, intention to stay for the long term, extra-role behaviour, employee safety, and superior work performance that are indicative of adequate resources are triggered by the motivational process. Figure 1 shows pictorial evidence of the Job Demands Resource Model. Figure 1. The Job Demands-Resource Model Job Demands Strain Organizational Outcomes Motivation Job Resources + + - + - University of Ghana http://ugspace.ug.edu.gh 23 Most researches indicating evidence for the dual-process in this model have been based on subjective analysis of job demands and resources. Thus, empirical evidence is supportive of the concept that job demands are related to strain and job resources are related to motivation (Bakker & Demerouti, 2007). When these processes are considered together (additive effects), it may be concluded that when job demands and resources are high, employees will experience strain and motivation, and at the lowest level, employees will experience no motivation or strain. As a result, the high demands coupled with low resources condition precipitates high strain and low motivation while the low demands and high resources condition leads to low strain and high motivation (see Figure 2). The JD-R model as a result can be utilized as a guiding theoretical framework to develop the association between occupational stress and job embeddedness and regarding job attitudes (job satisfaction and organizational commitment) as moderators of the effects of occupational stress interface on job embeddedness. Figure 2. Job Demand Resources Model based on Additive Effects Low Strain High Motivation High Strain High Motivation High Strain Low Motivation Low Strain Low Motivation Low High Demands Low High R es o u rc es University of Ghana http://ugspace.ug.edu.gh 24 2.2.2 Conservation of Resource Theory (COR) Employees' attempts to earn, protect, keep, and increase personally valued resources are explained by Hobfoll's (1998) COR theory, which is founded on psychosocial theories of human motivation. By focusing on the resources of individuals and groups, the theory provides a complete framework for understanding the impact of assessment on emotions and performance. Thus, it explains why people attempt to acquire, retain, protect and develop what they perceive to be valuable resources. Humans' basic motive, according to COR theory, is to build, protect, and nurture their resource pools to safeguard themselves and the social relationships that support them. The concept outlines a plan for preventing resource depletion, protecting existing resources, and obtaining the resources required to engage in appropriate conduct. Resources (valued characteristics, conditions) to the individual or in a social context can be both internal and external or tangible and intangible (Dechawatanapaisal, 2018). According to COR theory, there is a positive association between the degree to which a person is immersed in their social circle and the resources available to them. Because increased resource availability makes it easier for employees to replace or substitute resources in the workplace, it improves their ability to coordinate their job demands. “Resource replacement refers to the replenishment of lost resources, whereas resource substitution refers to the finding of other resources to replace those that are lacking” (Hobfoll, 2001). Positive outcomes follow the accumulation and replenishment of resources, and to gain or create additional resources, employees may also invest towards it (Hobfoll, 2001). Alternatively, once resources are reduced, undesirable consequences (e.g., higher stress, increased desire to leave) emerge. That is, insufficient resources are linked to negative outcomes, whereas appropriate resources for dealing with a given situation are linked to favorable outcomes. According to Hobfoll and Ford (2007), University of Ghana http://ugspace.ug.edu.gh 25 people work to obtain resources they lack, preserve those they do have, guard resources when they are endangered, and develop resources by situating themselves so that their resources can be put to the best use possible. Consistent with the COR theory, personnel/ratings characteristics (sex, unit, educational level, satisfaction and commitment level etc) may be attributable to one’s available resource. In that, personnel with more resource may be able to better cope with stress in the organization. The model helps throw more light on the study because it indicates that personnel who feel their resources are being threatened by stress at the workplace may resort to use up their resource reserve in order to counter the impending situation. The COR theory was also used in this study to explain a condition of resource abundance that can be obtained from organizational resources to enhance job embeddedness. 2.3 Review of Related Studies Researchers have been conducting studies around the job embeddedness phenomena to point out the reasons that drive its existence as well as its repercussions since the identification of retention influence the organization and employee wellness. Several studies that have been researched over the years with regards to factors that influence job embeddedness and the consequences such factors have on the organization gave the idea for making certain predictions in this current study. There have also been some studies that have developed moderation hypotheses and examined how specific aspects like job resources and attitudes, could moderate the effects of variables that are commonly associated with job embeddedness. 2.3.1 Occupational Stress and its Relationship with Job Embeddedness In a bid to throw light on the prevalence of occupational stress in the Ghanaian work context, Godwin et al. (2016) explored this endemic problem among nurses in Ghana. Stress is indicated to be a health problem in some occupations which decreases workers efficiency. The University of Ghana http://ugspace.ug.edu.gh 26 healthiness of organizations and workers health is a major challenge globally which is precipitated by work stress. Using a purposive sampling technique and a self-administered questionnaire, 73 nurses from the nursing and midwifery department in the St Dominic Hospital in Akwatia, Ghana participated in the study. The study examined that the prevalence of stress emanates from insufficient motivation and staffing levels, handling a larger number of patients, absence of breaks/shifts, and problematic patients. The researchers however proposed major occupational stress management strategies including exercises, relaxation, meditation, and going on breaks to tone down the prevalence of stress in the hospital. A similar study was conducted by Dartey-Baah et al. (2020) to examine occupational stress and its association with job satisfaction as well as its effects among some bankers. Because the banking industry is known for having demanding schedules and being under a lot of pressure, it is logical to look into how this setting affects employees stress levels and work attitudes. Using a cross-sectional survey, the researchers collected data from 122 tellers (N = 122) across four banks in Accra, Ghana. It was indicated tellers in these banks were few since banks are shifting to the use of automated teller machines. Testing for hypotheses using the required test (correlation, independent t-test and standard multiple regression), findings revealed occupational stress had a negative impact on job satisfaction and explained about 16% of the variations in job satisfaction, thus, tellers are more likely to exhibit counterproductive behaviours such as job dissatisfaction due to work-related stress. Sample size, gender disparity and the study and the analytical design were some limitations in their study which should be considered by future researchers for effective generalizability and establishment of better relationships among study variables. Organizations in Ghana suffer from inadequate staffing, long working hours, exposure to toxic working conditions, and outdated and poor functioning equipment which are linked to the University of Ghana http://ugspace.ug.edu.gh 27 occupational stress of workers. In examining occupational stress, (Ashong et al., 2016) deployed a quantitative design and purposive sampling method to select 190 radiographers in some selected hospitals in Ghana. Results in their study indicated that most radiographers experienced either moderate or high levels of stress at their workplace with consequences including sick absence, depression and job dissatisfaction. As a result of the possible adverse costs of stress and the growing number of females in the labour force and executive positions, study on work-related stress has been critical to both organizations and individuals. Sackey and Sanda (2009) in their study, investigated the influence of occupational stress on the mental health of Ghanaian professional women. Using both questionnaires and interviews, data from 170 respondents were collected from 25 organizations in Accra which had substantial numbers of managerial females who were randomly selected. The finding of their study indicated that mental health was significantly related to stress. Thus, the more stressors the females experienced, the more propensity of experiencing mental ill-health. Despite the growing concern about workplace stress and employees leaving the organization, Owusu and Nkyi (2021) investigated the impact of workplace stress and burnout on turnover intentions among Senior High School teachers in the Cape Coast Metropolis, Ghana. Using a descriptive approach with 542 teachers, the Pearson Product Moment Correlation Coefficient and Regression analysis were used for the analysis. Results of their study showed that both occupational stress and burnout had a statistically positive significant impact on turnover intention with occupational stress having a more predictive ability on turnover intention. This means that when individuals stress at the workplace rise, so do their intentions to leave the organization. University of Ghana http://ugspace.ug.edu.gh 28 To identify and explore the influence of job stress on job satisfaction among personnel of the Ghana Police Service, Gyamfi (2014), conveniently sampled 335 personnel in his study. The convenient sampling technique was employed because police work involves more movements in and out of stations and therefore the technique involves the use of the available subjects in the stations. The dimensions of job stress on job satisfaction used in the study were role ambiguity, physical environment, role overload, supervisor support and coworker support. After the analysis, results showed a significant and negative relationship between role overload and job satisfaction as well as a significant positive association between coworker support and job satisfaction among Ghana Police officers. The other facets did not prove significant in the analysis. Based on the results, it was suggested that to improve job satisfaction in policing, it is necessary to take a critical look at job roles and improve social support among police officers. However, the limitations of the research included the consideration of only a few job stressors and the use of the correlational study which does not help develop inferences based on causality. One way to handle the issue of turnover is to create interventions that facilitate retention and ameliorate stress in the organizations. Such techniques necessitate a deep grasp of workplace characteristics that inspire employees to stay on the job. Given this, AbuAlRub and Al-Zaru (2008) researched job stress, job performance and intention to stay at work among nurses in Jordan. The sample of their study conveniently carried out involved 206 participants who completed a structured questionnaire. The correlation analysis indicated that there was a significant negative link between job stress and the level of intention to stay. As a result, nurses with a lower degree of workplace stress had a stronger intention to continue at work than nurses with a higher level of job stress. University of Ghana http://ugspace.ug.edu.gh 29 The observations made by AbuAlRub and Al-Zaru were confirmed in a study by Sharif et al. (2016) who examined the effect of job stress and intention to stay of personnel of the Emergency Medical Services (EMS). Using the descriptive-analytical study, 200 employees (N = 200) were selected using the stratified sampling technique. Data analyses produced results that indicated that there was an inverse correlation between stress and intention to stay in employees and a positive correlation between dimensions of job stress. In a study to explore occupational stress and turnover intention, Mosadeghrad (2013) employed cross-sectional research and a validated questionnaire to collect data from 296 nurses in Isfahan, Iran. Inadequate compensation, workplace inequality, work overload, staff shortages, lack of promotion, job insecurity, and a lack of management assistance were recognized as important contributors to workplace stress. Additionally, workplace stress was significant and positively related to turnover intention. Kaewboonchoo et al. (2014) obtained evidence that suggests that job stress is an important variable that explains intent to stay. The researchers used a self-administered questionnaire for data collection from 514 female nurses who had worked full time for at least a year. Multiple linear regression analysis was conducted to find factors connected to intent to stay at work using the Job Content Questionnaire (Thai version). According to their findings, 17.5% and 22.4% of employees reported significant levels of stress and poor willingness to continue at work respectively. Only supervisor support was significantly associated with intention to stay at work among nurses with stressful jobs, while coworker support was strongly correlated with intent to stay at work among nurses with active jobs. Karatepe (2013) evaluated the aforementioned relationships using structural equation modeling (SEM) on data collected from 110 full-time frontline hotel workers and their managers. University of Ghana http://ugspace.ug.edu.gh 30 Work overload, work-family conflict, and family-work conflict were examined as mediators of emotional exhaustion on workplace embeddedness and job performance in the study. Results of SEM demonstrated that work overload, work-family conflict, family-work conflict were important determinants of emotional exhaustion. As a consequence of the study, emotional exhaustion had an unfavourable impact on job embeddedness and job performance. Apart from supporting the mediating hypothesis, the data indicated that all standardized direct and indirect effects were statistically significant, supporting all hypotheses. Emotional exhaustion according to the findings decreased job embeddedness and tampered with high-quality service delivery performance. Additionally, employees who were emotionally exhausted showed discomfort as an affective response and were less enmeshed in their jobs. Vong et al. (2018) also examined the moderating effect of organizational climate in the association between work stress and intent to stay in their research in Macua’s business community in China. During the data gathering process, a non-probability sampling design was utilized. Results indicated that stress at the workplace was significant and inversely associated with intent to stay which implies that as job stress rises, the propensity of workers to remain with the organization reduces. Additionally, moderation analysis was conducted and it came out that organizational climate moderated the link between job stress and intent to stay. Using a schematic representation to illustrate this effect, the organizational climate was split into two exhaustive subgroups (perceived positive organizational climate and perceived negative organizational climate) based on the respondent evaluation. In both subgroups, there was a significant inverse association between job stress and intent to stay, with the perceived negative organizational climate having a significant negative effect and the perceived positive organizational climate having a weak and non-significant correlation. Based on these findings, stressed workers who University of Ghana http://ugspace.ug.edu.gh 31 identified a negative or unsupportive organizational climate had a significantly lower willingness to stay with their employers than similarly stressed individuals who highlighted a positive or supportive organizational climate. Their findings supported widely held beliefs that workplace stress has a negative impact on employees' intent to stay, whereas a supportive organizational climate encourages employees to stay. Not all stressors are recognized to be harmful (hindrance stressors) and yield negative outcomes. Some stressors (challenge stressors) have been identified to be a motivator and precipitates positive outcomes. In a study of 696 learners, LePine et al. (2004) investigated challenge and hindrance stress and their relationships with exhaustion, motivation to learn, and performance. The researchers found that stress associated with challenges in the learning environment has a positive relationship with learning performance e and that stress associated with hindrances in the learning environment had a negative relationship with learning performance. They also found evidence that both forms of stress were positively related to exhaustion, and exhaustion, and exhaustion was negatively related to learning performance. Furthermore, hindrance stress was negatively related to motivation to learn and challenge stress was positively related to motivation to learn, and motivation to learn was positively related to leaning performance. However, to the extent that the Job Demand Resource model explains how occupational stress and its dimensions affect organizational outcomes, it is rational to expect in this current study that occupational stress experienced by personnel/ratings will influence their job embeddedness. As a result, this prediction is made in the current study in the hopes that establishing this fact will aid and give more explanation to this issue. University of Ghana http://ugspace.ug.edu.gh 32 2.3.2 Job satisfaction and its moderation effect “Most studies assume that employee retention strategies can affect job satisfaction; therefore, organizations that need to retain their employees need to adopt policies and practices that lead to satisfaction on the job” (Ahmed et al., 2009 cited in Kwenin et al., 2013). Job satisfaction may influence not only productivity but also have an interaction between other elements like stress and job embeddedness. Studies have found a link between the influences of job satisfaction on employee retention. For example, a study conducted by Chiang et al. (2005) in the hotel industry investigated the impact of job satisfaction on intent to stay. The results showed that job satisfaction and training had a relationship with intent to stay with job satisfaction appearing to be the only significant positive predictor of intention to stay. A study by Lee and Lee (2008) on job satisfaction, organizational immersion, and recognition on internal marketing of the Contract Foodservice Management Company employees revealed that an organizations immersion is heavily influenced by job satisfaction and high internal marketing. The study proposed delegation of power, supporting management, training, welfare, compensation which were likely to heighten organizational immersion and job satisfaction of employees. Mrayyan (2005) in her research on job satisfaction and retention among nurses, aimed at identifying comparing both public and private variables of Jordanian nurses job satisfaction and retention. She was motivated to conduct her research on the basis that there was little research on job satisfaction and retention in Jordan. Using a descriptive design guided by surveys, the study used 438 nurses who were conveniently sampled. Findings of the study showed that nurse job satisfaction was correlated with nurse retention. Results of the study indicated that nurses were moderately satisfied in their jobs with nurses in private hospitals having more satisfaction than in University of Ghana http://ugspace.ug.edu.gh 33 public hospitals. Nurses in private hospitals according to the results anticipated to retain their jobs longer than nurses in public hospitals. The researcher reiterated that there were few variables in the retention study and therefore tools need to be expanded to cover a wider range of variables that may affect nurse retention. Since the study was cross-sectional, it only provided a snapshot of health workers perspectives on the study variable at one point in time making it difficult to examine the causal relationships between variables. It was recommended that authorities to increase motivation and job satisfaction should emphasize an in serving training, supportive supervision, career development, enabling environment through listening to and acting on staff problems and priorities as well as encouraging team building. Job satisfaction and motivation have been recognized as critical factors for workers retention and turnover in countries with low and middle-income levels. In a study to identify the effects of health worker motivation and job satisfaction on turnover intention, Bonenberger et al. (2014) used a cross-sectional study and sampled 256 health workers from several staff categories (nurses, doctors, pharmacists, allied health workers) in three districts of the Eastern Region in Ghana. Findings indicated that 69% of respondents reported turnover intentions whiles job satisfaction and motivation were significantly linked with turnover intention with higher levels of both reducing the risk of health workers having turnover intentions. “Several studies have been carried out on employee retention in developing countries. Studies have been focused on health and teaching staff especially in Ghana” (Dovlo, 2003 cited in Enu-Kwesi et al., 2014). A study by Enu-Kwesi et al. (2014) to assess the determinants of employee retention adopted a quantitative research design specifically a correlational design to explain the relationship between factors that influence retention based on a sample of 98 banking staff of the Ghana Commercial Bank (GCB) in Kumasi. Findings indicated that two factors University of Ghana http://ugspace.ug.edu.gh 34 (policies and job satisfaction) emerged as the most statistically significant predictors of employee retention. It was, therefore, suggested that concerning policymaking, management of GCB (Kumasi branch) should focus on the review of the existing benefits available like gain sharing and employee recognition schemes. High occurrence of agitation for improved pay and other conditions are experienced by workers in Ghana. A study was conducted by Addai et al. (2018) to assess the influence of job satisfaction and organizational justice as predictors of turnover intentions among teachers in the Offinso South District of Ghana. 114 teachers were conveniently selected to complete the survey. Results indicated that job satisfaction and organizational justice negatively correlated with turnover intentions. Additionally, pay which is a facet of job satisfaction had a more predictive ability to turnover intention. In a study to investigate the relationship between job satisfaction, distributive justice and absence legitimacy, Addae and Boso (2020) drawing from the institutional theory, employed a convenience sampling technique to collect data from 298 workers in private and public manufacturing and service sectors in Ghana. It was established that job satisfaction and perceived distributive justice were significantly related to absence legitimacy. Employees who felt unfairness and dissatisfaction with their occupations were more inclined to see absenteeism as acceptable behaviour. The study contributed to absenteeism research and additionally examined the cognitions associated with the behaviour which offered insight into how workers perceptions of the legitimacy of absences affect attitudinal factors such as job satisfaction. Employee retention has been influential in Human Resource Management activity and this helps the organization in its quest to be productive. Kwenin et al. (2013) assessed the influence of job satisfaction, human resource policies and rewards on workers intention to stay with Vodafone University of Ghana http://ugspace.ug.edu.gh 35 Ghana Limited. Data was collected using both primary (semi-structured questionnaire) and secondary sources (document review through organizational reports and company magazines). 136 workers took part in the study and results indicated that job satisfaction, reward and human resource policies had a positive and statistically significant association with employee retention. With the moderation effect of job satisfaction, studies conducted by Darat et al. (2017) aimed to examine the impact of occupational factors on salesperson deviance. Due to the mixed and unclear result of the effect of job embeddedness on counterproductive work behaviours, job satisfaction was additionally explored in the relationship. The study resulted in an interaction effect being observed in job embeddedness and satisfaction on organizational deviance. Thus, job satisfaction moderated the relationship between job embeddedness and organizational deviance such that high job satisfaction weakened the association between job embeddedness and organizational deviance according to the researchers’ findings. Managerial implication provided by the researchers indicated that sales managers should employ proactivity in ameliorating salesperson deviant behaviours which could be achieved through a variety of methods including assertive communication, effective mentoring, and providing realistic job previews before hiring to enhance salespersons satisfaction. A study was conducted by Dechawatanapaisal (2018) to examine the associations between HR practices, organizational job embeddedness, job satisfaction, and quit intention. Evaluating the interaction effect of job satisfaction on the job embeddedness, turnover associations as well as the perception of HR practices as predictors of embeddedness in the organization was the aim of the research. The investigation found a substantial positive association between all HR procedures and job embeddedness after collecting data from 1,028 accountants in various disciplines from one of Thailand's major firms. In addition, regression analysis was utilized to examine the moderation University of Ghana http://ugspace.ug.edu.gh 36 effect of job satisfaction and job embeddedness on turnover. When the interaction terms between job embeddedness and job satisfaction were added to the equation, the findings revealed that job satisfaction moderated the association between organizational embeddedness and quit intention such that the relationship was weakened when job satisfaction was high. The result of the moderation effect, therefore, supported the hypothesis stated by the researcher that job satisfaction moderates the inverse association between organizational job embeddedness and quit intention. The interaction term was further examined through the slope analysis and results also showed that organizational job embeddedness and quit intention reduced when job satisfaction was high. In other words, less-integrated employees who are dissatisfied with their jobs are more likely to express the desire to leave. However, when it came to intention to leave, there was no difference among highly enmeshed workers. This backs up the COR theory, which states that employees are driven to preserve key resources and will respond to a shift in job satisfaction. Employees may feel less tied to their current organization as their job satisfaction declines, and they may be inclined to leave to avoid further deterioration. Supportive leaders are those who are aware of their tasks and can motivate and monitor their subordinates efficiently. “Supportive leaders create a conducive working environment to enhance respect, trust, cooperation, and emotional support” (Draft, 2005 cited in Khalid et al., 2012). As part of their research, Khalid et al. (2012) looked at the moderating influence of supportive leadership on the connection between work stress and job performance. Using the convenience sampling technique and a well-developed questionnaire, completed data was collected from 169 employees from four educational institutions comprising section heads, coordinators, teachers, and other administrative staff serving in those institutions. According to the findings, supportive leadership had a detrimental impact on occupational stress and job University of Ghana http://ugspace.ug.edu.gh 37 performance. Evidence from the results also indicated that supportive leadership had a moderation effect on the relationship between job stress and job performance such that supportive leadership buffered the link between stress and performance in the organization. As a result of their research, job satisfaction toward favorable working settings, as well as supervisors that give the necessary support and resources, buffered and minimized workplace stress and improved performance. Healey and McKay (2000) investigated the links between nursing work-related stressors and coping methods, as well as their effects on nurses' job satisfaction and mood disturbances. The researchers also wanted to see if job satisfaction could buffer the stress–mood link. Using a sample of 129 qualified Australian nurses, data was collected using open-ended standardized questionnaires. Ethical clearance was obtained from both the University and hospital ethics committee after which participants' consent was obtained before participation in the research. Using the Statistical Package for the Social Sciences (SPSS), to run the analyses, the combined predictor variables in the coping humor analysis accounted for only 9% variance, and no main or buffering effects for humor coping on the relationship between stress and mood disturbance were found. A significant main impact for job satisfaction was found in the work satisfaction analysis, but there was no interaction effect with stress because the combined predictor factors only accounted for 17% of variance. Lower levels of stress and mood disturbances were as a result of higher levels of job satisfaction according to the study result, but a closer look at the impact of job satisfaction on the relationship between stress and mood disturbance revealed a major but not a moderating effect. However, when combined with higher levels of stress, being satisfied with one's job does not seem to be enough to counteract the negative emotional effects of stress. Job satisfaction was examined in a similar study by Woo et al. (2017) as a moderator in the relationship between burnout and scholarly productivity among counselling faculty in the United University of Ghana http://ugspace.ug.edu.gh 38 States. The sample size was 251 full-time faculty members working in counselling faculty at American universities, with 62.5% of them being female and 37.5% being male. Participants were recruited via e-mail after Institutional Review Board approval. After controlling for some confounding variables, hierarchical regression was used to examine the moderator effect of job satisfaction on the relationship between burnout and scholarly productivity. Assumption testing was followed by the hierarchical multiple regressions test for conditions. Results indicated that the relationship between job satisfaction and academic productivity does not significantly affect the degree of academic productivity beyond the confounding variables. However, it does indicate that job satisfaction may have an interaction with burnout. There was an additional 4.3% variance in scholarly productivity due to burnout and work satisfaction interaction after dealing with the confounding variables. When other variables were taken into account, the burnout and work satisfaction relationship was found to be a significant predictor of scholarly productivity. Burnout was found to be a major predictor of scholarly production, whereas work satisfaction attenuated the association between burnout and scholarly productivity. Although job satisfaction may not lead to a high level of academic productivity, it still moderated and buffered the impact of job burnout on scholarly productivity. The recommendation proposed by the researcher indicated that future research should address the longitudinal study, diversity, the effects of other demographic confounding variables (gender, job setting, and tenure status), and other variables that influence productivity, such as personality characteristics. Nonetheless, the evidence presented in these studies about putative links between job satisfaction and job embeddedness provides an empirical foundation for investigating these relationships. As a result, the current study focused on expanding on these past studies' underpinnings, with the idea that job satisfaction would be linked to job embeddedness. The study University of Ghana http://ugspace.ug.edu.gh 39 also aimed to find out if job satisfaction could moderate the relationship between job stress and job embeddedness. 2.3.3 Organizational commitment and its moderation effect Individuals with higher levels of commitment according to Meyer and Allen (1991) have a stronger sense of belonging and an improved motivation to achieve their goals. This explains why they tend to remain loyal to an organization. The success of organizations depends on the commitment levels of employees’ desire and willingness to contribute towards the organization. Thus, committed employees have the desire and willingness to contribute to the success of an organization. The facets of organizational commitment which is affective, normative and continuance commitment all contribute to strengthening the likelihood that employee will remain in the organization. Employees with strong affective bonds remain because they want to do so. Normatively committed workers stay because they feel obligated to, while strong continuance committed workers stay because they feel compelled to. High employee turnover rates, along with periodic strikes by Ghanaian workers, have become a major challenge that requires immediate solutions. In their study, Mensah and Kosi (2016) examined the influence of organizational commitment on turnover intentions of medical laboratory scientists in some health facilities in Ghana. 141 subjects were drawn from various public health institutions. Using standardized instruments, results revealed that organizational commitment significantly predicted turnover intentions. Additionally, the dimensions of organizational commitment were tested against turnover intention and the result indicated that continuance and normative commitment had a positive and negative significant contribution to turnover intentions respectively. Affective commitment, on the other hand, did not appear to be a University of Ghana http://ugspace.ug.edu.gh 40 major predictor of turnover intentions. A major challenge in the study was a result of a small sample size of participants which could limit the generalizability of the research. Employee retention is influenced by a variety of factors that have an impact on employee loyalty to the company. To assess the relationship between retention and organizational commitment, Gyamfi (2019) in his study sampled 120 faculty members from public universities in Ghana. Using the quantitative and cross-sectional design, results disclosed that the commitment of the faculty members to their institutions was high and associated with retention. It was also discovered that the level of organizational commitment and faculty salary had a positive and significant link. Female faculty members also recorded more satisfaction with a higher normative commitment. In a study to examine the impact of organizational commitment on job satisfaction and employee retention, Anis et al. (2011) utilized the non-probability sampling method and collected data from 320 frontline employees from six pharmaceutical companies in Pakistan using