Job Insecurity and Turnover Intentions among Banking Sector Employees: The Moderating Role of Organizational Support and Ethical Leadership

Purpose - Job insecurity exerts a significant impact on turnover intentions among employees. The association may be partly due to the influence of organizational support and the ethicality of leaders. However, there is a shortage of studies on the ameliorating role of organizational support and ethical leadership in the nexus between job insecurity and turnover intentions. Thus, the purpose of this study is to examine the nexus between job insecurity and turnover intentions among banking sector employees. The moderating role of organizational support and ethical leadership on the underlying relationship was assessed to achieve this. Design/methodology/approach – One hundred and sixty (160) banking sector employees were conveniently selected to participate in the study. The sample consisted of female (n = 92) and male (n = 68) employees, ranging from 23 to 49 years. Standardized measures were used in soliciting respondents' demographic characteristics, perceived job insecurity, ethical leadership, organizational support, and turnover intentions. Data were analyzed using regression analysis. Findings – Results revealed a significant positive correlation between perceived job insecurity and turnover intentions. Organizational support and ethical leadership also moderated the association between job insecurity and turnover intentions. The influence of job insecurity on turnover intentions minimizes when management provides the needed support and favorable climatic conditions. Originality/value – In general, the study highlights the importance of organizational support and ethical leadership in lessening the impact of job insecurity on turnover intentions

Juvenile Delinquency in Ghana: A Qualitative Study of the Lived Experiences of Young Offenders in Accra

In this study, I explored the perceived circumstances which make adolescents become involved in juvenile delinquency. The meanings which they make out of their delinquent behaviours were also of great interest. Using a semi-structured interview guide, the lived experiences of six (6) young offenders were collected. Following a Narrative Analysis of the young offenders lived experiences, six (6) main themes emerged as the circumstances which made them become involved in delinquency: religiosity and morality, deviant peer association, substance use and delinquency, the functioning of the nuclear family, Inadequate extended family support, apathy in schooling and lastly labeling by neighbours. As a meaning making platform, the participants saw their delinquent behaviours as a means to an end. Another construed meaning of delinquency in this study was that, proceeds from ill gotten gains amounted to ‘bitter’ money. The training process through which the young offenders who premeditated their acts went through was observed to be an apprenticeship model where each trainee (young offender) had a ‘big-man’ (a master) and a mentor (trainer). These finding were interspersed with relevant theories and literatures for a thorough discussion, with their implications for intervention and future research clearly emphasized

Employee Retention in Institutions of Higher Learning: A Study of Some Selected University Colleges in Ghana

The study investigated the issue of employee retention across private tertiary institutions in Ghana with a focus on Senior Members of some selected university colleges in the Ashanti Region. The mixed-method approach was used in a descriptive survey design. In all, 111 respondents were selected from four university colleges using purposive and convenience sampling methods. Interview guide and questionnaire were relied upon in collecting data for the study, with frequencies, percentages, Kruskal-Wallis test and thematic analyses as analytical tools. The study observed that the expectations of Senior Members before accepting employment in the selected institutions include getting a high salary, better working conditions, more training opportunities, career development opportunities, a favourable working environment as well as obtaining some form of recognition and appreciation in the institutions. Again, several factors such as better remuneration, care and concern from employers, more training and development opportunities, better promotion system, conducive working environment, and increased employee engagement influenced retention of Senior Members in the institutions. However, no significant differences were observed in the views of Senior Members (academic and non-academic) of the selected institutions on the factors influencing employee retention. The study recommends that HR Units of the selected universities should effectively collaborate with the HRM experts of the universities to design fair and proper training and development programs to motivate employees to stay in the organizations. Keywords: Employee retention, tertiary institutions, human resource management, Ghana DOI: 10.7176/JEP/13-5-06 Publication date: February 28th 202

Facilitators of tertiary students' entrepreneurial intentions: Insights for Lesotho's national entrepreneurship policy

This study provides insightful information to guide the Lesotho government's drive to address rising youth unemployment. Through quota sampling technique, this study selected 930 students from 31 departments at National University of Lesotho. Grounded in the theory of planned behaviour (TPB), the study examined the facilitators of students' entrepreneurial intentions using mean, standard deviation, mean rank, correlation, and Mann-Whitney U test. Structural equation modelling was used to determine the relationship between the three components of TPB (attitudes, perceived behavioural control, and subjective norm), and students' entrepreneurial intention. The findings show that attitudes and perceived behavioural control were positive predictors of entrepreneurial intention while subjective norm was a negative predictor. The major findings indicate that students from Business and Management Development, Business Administration, Economics, Nutrition, and Pharmacy departments had higher entrepreneurial intentions, with postgraduate students (at master level) having higher entrepreneurial decisions than undergraduate students. Policy, practice, and research implications are teased out from the findings to improve entrepreneurial education

Adaptation of the Wound Healing Questionnaire universal-reporter outcome measure for use in global surgery trials (TALON-1 study): mixed-methods study and Rasch analysis

BackgroundThe Bluebelle Wound Healing Questionnaire (WHQ) is a universal-reporter outcome measure developed in the UK for remote detection of surgical-site infection after abdominal surgery. This study aimed to explore cross-cultural equivalence, acceptability, and content validity of the WHQ for use across low- and middle-income countries, and to make recommendations for its adaptation.MethodsThis was a mixed-methods study within a trial (SWAT) embedded in an international randomized trial, conducted according to best practice guidelines, and co-produced with community and patient partners (TALON-1). Structured interviews and focus groups were used to gather data regarding cross-cultural, cross-contextual equivalence of the individual items and scale, and conduct a translatability assessment. Translation was completed into five languages in accordance with Mapi recommendations. Next, data from a prospective cohort (SWAT) were interpreted using Rasch analysis to explore scaling and measurement properties of the WHQ. Finally, qualitative and quantitative data were triangulated using a modified, exploratory, instrumental design model.ResultsIn the qualitative phase, 10 structured interviews and six focus groups took place with a total of 47 investigators across six countries. Themes related to comprehension, response mapping, retrieval, and judgement were identified with rich cross-cultural insights. In the quantitative phase, an exploratory Rasch model was fitted to data from 537 patients (369 excluding extremes). Owing to the number of extreme (floor) values, the overall level of power was low. The single WHQ scale satisfied tests of unidimensionality, indicating validity of the ordinal total WHQ score. There was significant overall model misfit of five items (5, 9, 14, 15, 16) and local dependency in 11 item pairs. The person separation index was estimated as 0.48 suggesting weak discrimination between classes, whereas Cronbach's α was high at 0.86. Triangulation of qualitative data with the Rasch analysis supported recommendations for cross-cultural adaptation of the WHQ items 1 (redness), 3 (clear fluid), 7 (deep wound opening), 10 (pain), 11 (fever), 15 (antibiotics), 16 (debridement), 18 (drainage), and 19 (reoperation). Changes to three item response categories (1, not at all; 2, a little; 3, a lot) were adopted for symptom items 1 to 10, and two categories (0, no; 1, yes) for item 11 (fever).ConclusionThis study made recommendations for cross-cultural adaptation of the WHQ for use in global surgical research and practice, using co-produced mixed-methods data from three continents. Translations are now available for implementation into remote wound assessment pathways