CHAPTER I

INTRODUCTION
 CHAPTER-I

INTRODUCTION

EXIT INTERVIEWS are conducted with the departing employees, just

before they leave. From the employer's perspective, the primary aim of the exit
interview is to learn the reasons for the person's departure, on the basis that criticism
is a helpful driver for organizational improvement. Good exit interviews should also

yield useful information about the employer and their organization, to assess and
improve all aspects of the working environment, culture, processes and systems,
management and development, etc., many employers ignore the opportunity that exit

interviews offer, chiefly because exit interviews have not been practiced in the past,

and starting them is a difficult initiative to undertake, given the potentially

subjective and 'fuzzy' nature of the results; the time involved; and the unspoken
corporate urge to avoid exposure to criticism. Exit interviews are nevertheless a

unique chance to survey and analyse the opinions of departing employees, who

generally are more forthcoming, constructive and objective than the staff who are

still in their jobs and therefore exit interviews is just as important as the procedures

one uses while hiring. Handled in a professional way, exit practices can be

constructive, useful and improve its environment and above all improve the

retention. In this context, the present research attempts to understand the

effectiveness of exit interview among the IT employees and how it contributes for

future HR strength.

1.1 NEED FOR EXIT INTERVIEWS

Exit Interviews are designed to help management determine the actual reason

behind a person's detachment from the company. The exit interview can provide

positive reinforcement of the company's desire to remain in contact and to develop

 the relationship further regardless of their employment status. The purpose of exit

interviews includes: Uncovering possible organizational issues, managing transition,

managing knowledge, managing relationships professionally and providing feedback

and suggestions on how to improve in the organization.

1.2 CRITERIA TO CONDUCT EXIT INTERVIEW

Exit interviews are normally conducted by the HR team. However to ensure

neutrality and confidentiality, the organization can choose to use a computerized

survey or outsource the process to a professional agency. The former option has its

inherent limitations and is unable to capture softer issues & nuances critical to the

process. More and more HR Managers are today opting to outsource the Exit

Interview process to professional companies who have the skills and trained

personnel, bandwidth to conduct exit interviews and deliver qualitative and timely

inputs.

1.3 ADVANTAGES OF EXIT INTERVIEWS

Exit interviews in themselves may accomplish little, except an opportunity to

create a 'warm fuzzy' indication of corporate concern - or an opportunity for a

complaint session. However, this is how the information from the exit interview is

processed and action, that is important. This information can be used to improve

employee retention/reduce employee turnover with both immediate and long-term

effects. Immediate effects include reducing costs of replacement, saving time and

_improving organizational performance. All of which contribute to the long-term

effect of improving profitability and returns to stakeholders. To consider the benefits

in detail.

Reducing costs of recruitment and retraining -The research shows that

employee turnover can cost organizations 1.5 times annual salary, with which

2
average turnover at approximately 11 per cent, can have a considerable impact on

the bottom line.

Saving time - Unnecessary time spent dealing with replacing and re-training

is reduced - as well as the flow-on effect of time spent re-creating the corporate

culture, patching up the dynamics of the team and redistributing the workload left by

the departing employee.

Saving time and money on potential productivity losses - What happens

when a key person leaves - with a major job due for delivery next week. Lost time,

lost productivity, and possibly lost orders and lost customers can be the long-term

result of this situation.

Determining the real reasons for people leaving - Exit interviews are a

useful diagnostic tool for uncovering underlying hidden agendas - and may

contribute to reversing the employee's decision if appropriate.

Minimizing the risk of litigation - It is increasingly important to ensure that

all possible processes have been covered in the termination process to minimize any

risk of future litigation by the departing employee.

Collecting key information for the job description - The person who has

hands on experience can be the best source of information for improving and

clarifying the job description and required skills and capabilities. This improved

understanding will in turn contribute to reduce future employee turnover and

improving induction and succession planning.

Future business concentration - Management saves time to concentrate on

the organization's current and future business rather than spending time with

departing employees or recruiting and retraining.

3
 Identifying and managing trends and underlying organizational issues -

Exit interviews are an excellent source for identifying underlying organizational

issues, which may be the cause of high employee turnover, and then managing the

outcomes.

Reviewing overall recruitment and selection process - Exit interviews

may identify that the departing employee was not the right person for the job in the

first place or that the manager may not have good management skills and may need

more training.

Quantifying measurement systems - An organization may be convinced

that it has expert performance measurement and feedback systems in place. But exit

interviews could identify that these are not as good as they think. Exit interviews can

help quantify where improvements have had a positive impact as well as identifying

where other improvements are needed.

Enhance morale and staff satisfaction - Other staff knows that the

organization is concerned about the departing employee's welfare and perceive that

concern for the welfare of employees in general - a very positive effect. The exit

interview can also confirm that the employee is departing on good terms and will

carry a favourable attitude towards the organization in the future.

1.4 CAUSES FOR EXIT INTERVIEWS

1.4.1 Job Involvement

Job involvement has emerged as an important variable in organizational

research. It has drawn the attention of management scientist and organizational

psychologists. This variable is being studied with different prospective in the

organization. It has a great importance and significance in organizational

development. Large numbers of studies have been conducted to see the job

4
involvement among organizational employees. Blakely, G., Andrews, M., &

Moorman defined job involvement as "the degree to which a person identified

psychologically with his/her work or the importance of work in his/her total self

image". A person's psychological identification with his work may be an outcome of

his early socialization process during which the individual may internalized the

values about the goodness ofwork 1• Becker, T. E., Meyer, J.P., & Vandenberghe

describe job involvement as a cognitive state of uni-dimensional psychological

identification from a motivational approach and job involvement as individual's

perception or belief that he is identified with his/her job. He further clears the

difference between job and work. He stated "a job means an individual's present

work, while work means work in genera". Similar job involvement definition of

kanungo were presented by Barling, J., Wade, B. & Fullagar have proposed four

definitions for job involvement. These were "the job is of critical importance in

personallife",2 "the individual will be actively involved in his/her own job" and the

individual will be cognise to the influence of personal performance into self esteem

and, "the congruence between work performance and self concept". They further

suggest that whenever these four definitions are satisfied, the individual will be

involved in his/her own job. 3

1.4.2 Importance of Job Involvement

For the purpose of this study the importance of Job involvement will be

regarded as the result that can be expected or hoped for by improving the levels of

Blakely, G., Andrews, M., & Moonnan, R. (Winter2005). The Moderating Effects of Equity
Sensitivity on The Relationship Between Organizational Justice and Organizational Citizenship
Behaviors. Journal ofBusiness & Psychology, 20(2),259-273.
Barling, J., Wade, B. & Fullagar, C. (1990). Predicting Employee Commitment to Company and
Union: Divergent Models. Journal ofOccupational Psychology, 63: 49--61.
Becker, T. E., Meyer, J. P., & Vandenberghe, C. (2004). Employee Commitment and
Motivation: A Conceptual Analysis and Integrative Model. The Journal of Applied Psychology,
89(6), 991-1007.

5
job insecurity, job satisfaction and psychological well being of employees. As

commitment is perceived as a positive organizational phenomenon with its positive

influence on the behaviour and work outcomes of employees, it will remain as one

of the most popular management issues in the years to come. This can be the result

of the shielding effect of commitment for surviving employees from the stress of

downsizing and re-engineering.

The question of an organization not needing some of its employees anymore

is a complicated and ethical dilemma for managers. Consequently, the managers

typically face uncertainty and complexity in their work during such strategic

changes as downsizing and quality improvement.

Solinger, O.N., Van Olffen W., Roe. identified the following important

aspects of organization commitment:

• It improves employee's performance. Committed employees are assumed to

be motivated to work hard and put in more effort than less committed

employees.

• It fosters better superior-subordinate relationships.

• It enhances organizational development, growth and survival.

• It improves the work environment.

• It negatively influences withdrawal behaviour such as turnover, lateness and

absenteeism.

• It has a positive impact on employees' readiness to innovate and create.

Fostering employee commitment in today's fast changing environments is

essential. Managers have a great challenge to maintain an employee's level of

6
commitment regardless of the challenges of uncertainty, e.g. fear of losing their job
and fear of taking self-responsibility. Managers are responsible for change and they
act as change-agents. High levels of commitment are expected from them and they
are implicitly viewed as committed to change4 . According to Walton (1985), Job
involvement affects the method of supervision in an organization. Successful
organizations depend on a superior level of performance, a level that requires deep
commitment not just obedience of employees.

Based on the above-mentioned aspects, it can be deduced that a high level of

Job involvement can enhance an employee's level of motivation and produce the

required behaviour, while undesired behaviour such as turnover and absenteeism can

be reduced. Managers have a great responsibility to create an environment that will

enhance employee's level of Job involvement. With aspects such as downsizing and

restructuring, levels of job insecurity will be experienced. The challenges face by the

managers therefore would be to make sure that commitment of the remaining

employees remains higher irrespective of the ongoing changes5•

1.4.3 Multidimensional Approach of Job Involvement

This is the most recent approach and various researchers seem to prefer the

multidimensional approach to the single dimensional approach to job involvement.

It assumes that job involvement does not develop simply through emotional

attachment, perceived costs or moral obligation, but through the interplay of all the

mentioned components of job involvement. The multidimensional approach of job

involvement comprises affective, continuance and normative commitment.

4
Solinger, O.N., Van Olffen W., Roe. (2008). Beyond the three-component model of
organizational commitment. Journal of Applied Psychology, 9 I( I): 70-83.
Van Scotter, J.R. and Motowidlo, S.J.(l996)'1nterpersonal facilitation and job dedication as
separate facets of contextual performance', Journal of Applied Psychology,85:526-535.

7
 Affective commitment is concerned with the extent to which the individual
identifies with tie organization. Continuance commitment, on the other hand, is
more calculative. It concerns the individual's need to continue working for the
organization. Normative commitment is committed to the organization. This implies
people stay with the organization because they want to (affective), because they
need to (continuance), or because they feel they ought to (normative).

Allen and Meyer (1990) suggest that the levels of all three types of

commitment are related to the relationship between the individual and the
organization. The strength of each of them, however, is the influence of different

factors. Affective commitment to the organization is influenced by the extent to

which the individuals' needs and expectations about the organization are matched by

their actual experiences which links with the perceived reciprocal obligations of the

psychological contract (McDonald & Makin, 2000). It is the individual who

identifies with the organization. Continuance commitment, on the other hand, is

determined by the perceived costs of leaving the organization. Normative

commitment is a perceived obligation to stay with the organization. It is based on

social exchange theory, which suggests that a person receiving a benefit is under a

strong normative obligation to repay it in some way 6.

The advantage of the multidimensional approach is that a more realistic

reflection of the nature of the employee-employer relationship, according to the

perceptual experience of the employee is presented and the conflict between

commitment and its effect on the employee's relationship with the organization is

emphasized.

In this section the vanous approaches of job involvement have been

discussed. Based on the literature review, it is clear that the aforementioned

6
Ibid

8
 approaches of commitment play a major role in causing job involvement since
employees' attitude and behaviour and norms are crucial for organizational
effectiveness. Also, having high levels of job involvement can enhance employees'
job satisfaction and might counteract the effects of job insecurity. Hence, the
importance of job involvement will be reviewed in this next section.

1.5 RELEVANT THEORETICAL MODELS FOR UNDERSTANDING

JOB INVOLVEMENT

Relevant models for understanding the relationship between job

f

involvement, its antecedent and outcome variables include Expectancy Theory,

Integrated Theory, the Motivational Approach and Causality Theory,

Multidimensional Model Yoshimura .

1.5.1 Expectancy Theory

Expectancy Theory suggests that administrators should make good use of

personal expectancy to inspire employees. This is based on the rudimentary concept

that inclination for an individual's action is determined by possible expected results

and the relationship between the results with the action adopted. To take a different

approach, job involvement for an employee is determined by his/her expectancy

level, which results in incentives for action. The results of this interaction are

displayed in Figure 1. If expectations are lower than the inducement provided by the

organization, job Involvement will increase. On the other hand, when expectations
are higher than the inducement provided by the organization then job involvement

will decrease.

1.5.2 Integrated Theory Model

Rabinowitz and Hall (1977) reviewed and integrated previous research in

this field and used this basis to develop three major conceptualizations. For

9
Rabinowitz and Hall (1977), job involvement is related to three classes of working
variables, the dispositional, approach held by the individual, the situational
determined approach held and the influence of the interaction between these
approaches. In this model no single class of variables shows a stronger relationship
to job involvement than any other. That is, dispositional and situational variables are
abutting equally important in explaining job involvement. 7

In the dispositional approach, job involvement in viewed as dependent on

individual personalities. The influence Exerted by some stable personal

characteristics such as age, gender, marital status, external and internal control

features, job seniority, dwelling locations, the intensity of high-level work demands

in terms of time and responsibility, and the Protestant work ethic will ensure

individuals hold different work attitudes and behaviors. Two such work attitudes are

job involvement and job satisfaction. The individual is thought to own a certain

amount of desire or value, and the demand or value will drive them to work harder
or impede them from job involvement.

Job involvement is also a personal characteristic, and thus it is never changed

easily within an organization. In a situation-determined approach, job involvement

can be viewed as the personal attitude towards the particular job. In this

conceptualization, job involvement will be affected by leadership style, the

opportunities the individual has to be involved in decision-making, social factors,

job features and other conditional influences. Values are thus internalized with job

attitude.

Rabinowitz and Hall ( 1977) Psychological Flexibility, Act and Organizational Behaviour.
Journal of Organizational Behaviour, 26( 1/2), 25- 54.

10
 The interaction between disposition and situational approaches is labeled the

dispositional situation. In this approach, personal characteristics and the

environment in interaction are used to explain personal work attitudes and

behaviors. When personal characteristics and the situation reach congruence, the

individual will develop high job involvement.

1.5.3 Motivational Approach

The motivational approach of Kanungo (1982) integrates the different

approaches to job involvement, including both psychological and sociological

factors, using the basic concept that job involvement is affected by the potential for

personal socialization experience and the likelihood that the work environment can

satisfy personal demand.

Kanungo (1982) hypothesizes that employee perceptions concerning a job's

potential to satisfy their needs and their needs represents a more proximal influence

on job involvement. Kanungo contends that individuals develop a beliefs that a job's

context potentially provides an opportunity for them to satisfy their most important

future needs. Consequently, job involvement depends on employees' needs (both

extrinsic and intrinsic), as well as their perceptions of the job's potential to satisfy

those needs 8•

1.5.4 Causality Theory Model

The causality theory of job involvement theory proposed by Brown (1996)

incorporates the findings of previous research. This model includes antecedents (i.e.,

personality variables-concept of work ethic), the pivotal mediator role of job

involvement, and its consequences such as organizational commitment. This model

8
Kanungo (1982) Building Organizational Commitment; The Socialization of Managers in Work
Organizations. Administrative Science Quarterly, 19(4); 533-547.

11
also depicts the relationships between job involvement and organizational

commitment. In addition, work ethic is shown to play a significant role in job

involvement. In swnmary, the antecedents and products of job involvement have

been extensively studied. Available evidence supports the argument that personal

and situational factors and strong influences on job involvement. Job involvement is

also an important factor in other work related attitudes, and is linked to work

behaviours9 .

1.5.5 Multidimensional Model of Job Involvement

Yoshimura (1996) presented a multidimensional model of job involvement

in his conceptual model he stated that the job involvement is not uni-dimensional

concept, job involvement concept consist of three dimension viz., emotional job

involvement, cognitive job involvement and behavioural job involvement.

Emotional job involvement indicates how strongly the worker is interested in his/her

job or how much the worker likes his/her job. Cognitive job involvement indicates

how strongly the worker wants to participate in his/her job related decision making

or how important the job is in his/her whole life. And behavioural job involvement

indicates how often the worker usually takes extra-role behaviour such as taking an

evening class to enhance job related skills or thinking about the job after leaving the

office. As shown in the figure below.

9 Brown (1996) Building Organizational Commitment: A Multifirm Study. Journal of

Occupational Psychology, 63(3): 245-261 .

12
 Emotional job involvement Attachment
Interest
liking
Cognitive job involvement Psychological state
Self esteem
Active participation
Behavioral job involvement Behavioral intention
Extra-role behavior
Voluntary learning

This multidimensional model of job involvement helps us to understand how

job involvement has evolved and how the concept has changed over the time.
Yoshimura (1996) further in his multi-dimension model of job involvement

classified the antecedents of job involvement into three categories namely;

individual personality variables, organizational variables and non-organizational

variables.

According to this model the individual variable which affect the job

involvement are classified as individual personality such as locus of control, growth

needs, working values and the way of being socialized, and individual career such as

career stage and successful job experience. Organizational variables are those

variables which affect job involvement are work related variables such as job type,
job characteristics and human resource management and organizational attitude

variable such as job satisfaction, organizational satisfaction, and organizational

commitment. And the non organizational includes non-organizational involvement

and family involvement.

13
1.6 THEORIES OF JOB SATISFACTION

1.6.1 Affect Theory

Edwin A. Locke's Range of Affect Theory (1976) is arguably the most

famous job satisfaction model. The main premise of this theory is that satisfaction is

determined by a discrepancy between what one wants in a job and what one has in a

job. Further, the theory states that how much one values a given facet of work (e.g.

the degree of autonomy in a position) moderates how satisfied/dissatisfied one

becomes when expectations are/aren't met. When a person values a particular facet

of a job, his satisfaction is more greatly impacted both positively (when expectation

are met) and negatively (when expectation are not met), compared to one who

doesn't value that facet. To illustrate, if employee A values autonomy in the

workplace and employee B is in different about autonomy, then Employee A would

be more satisfied in a position that offers a high degree of autonomy and less

satisfied in a position with little or no autonomy compared to employee B. This

theory also states that too much of a particular facet will produce stronger feelings of

dissatisfaction the more a worker values that facet 10•

1.6.2 Dispositional Theory

Another well known job satisfaction theory is the dispositional theory. It is a

very general theory that suggests that people have innate dispositions that cause

them to have tendencies toward certain level of satisfaction regardless of one' s job.

This approach became a notable explanation of job satisfaction in light of evidence

that job satisfaction tends to be stable over time and across careers and jobs.

Research also indicates that identical twins have similar levels of job satisfaction.

10
Federico, & V. (1996). Relationship between Communication Satisfaction and Organizational
Commitment in Three Guatemalan Organizations, 33(2), 11-1140.

14
 A significant model that narrowed the scope of the dispositional theory was

the core self- evaluations Model, proposed by Timothy A. Judge in 1998. Judge

argued that there are four Core self-evaluations that determine one' s disposition

toward job satisfaction: Self esteem, General self-efficacy, Locus of control and

Neuroticism. This model states that self esteem (the value one places on his self) and

general efficacy (the belief in one's own competence) leads to higher work

satisfaction. Having an internal locus of control(believing one as control over his/her

own life, as opposed to outside forces having control) leads to higher job

satisfaction. Finally, lower levels of neuroticism lead to higher job satisfaction 11 •

1.6.3 Two-Factor Theory (Motivator-Hygiene Theory)

Frederick Hertzberg's two factor theory (also known as Motivator

Hygiene Theory) attempts to explain satisfaction and motivation in the workplace.

This theory states that satisfaction and dissatisfaction are driven by different factors-

motivation and hygiene factors, respectively. Motivating factors are those aspects of

the job that make people want to perform, and provide people with satisfaction.

These motivating factors are considered to be intrinsic to the job, or the work carried

out. Motivating factors include aspects of the working environment such as pay,

company policies, supervisory practices, and other working conditions.

While Hertzberg's model has stimulated much research, researchers have

been unable to reliably empirically prove the model, with Hackman & Oldham

suggesting that Hertzberg's original formulation of the model may have been a

methodological artifact. Furthermore, the theory does not consider individual

differences, conversely predicting all employees will react in an identical manner to

changes in motivating/hygiene factors.

II Ibid

15
 The following table presents the top six factors causing satisfaction and the
top six factors causing dissatisfaction, listed in the order of higher to lower
importance.

1.6.4 Factors Affecting Job Attitudes

Leading to Satisfaction Leading to Dissatisfaction

• Achievement • Company Policy

• Recognition • Supervision
• Work itself • Relationship w/Boss
• Responsibility • Work condition
• Advancement • Salary
• Growth • Relationship w/Peers

1.6.5 Vie Theory

This theory is derived from the expectancy model of Vroom by Porter and

Lawler (1968). In addition to three basic components of valence, instrumentally and

expectancy this model incorporates abilities and traits, role perception, intrinsic and

extrinsic rewards, and the perceived equity of the rewards. The model assumes that,

for an effort to translate into a desired level of performance, the person must have

the ability to perform well (abilities and traits), and he must understand the demands

of his job (role clarity). The model acknowledges that people work for both extrinsic

rewards, such as money and promotions, and intrinsic rewards, such as pride in

one's work and a sense of accomplishment. The model also assumes that the level of

performance a person attains will affect the level of rewards he perceives to be

equitable. Specifically, if a person expends a great amount of effort that culminates

in high performance levels, he will perceive that he deserves a substantial reward.

16
1.7 Conceptualization of Job Satisfaction

According to Hirschfeld (2000), job satisfaction has been conceptualized

and operationalised as both a global construct and a multifaceted construct. One

advantage of multidimensional measures of job satisfaction is that the components

may relate differently to other variables of interest in a manner that advances the

science and practice of industrial-organizational psychology. The short form of the

Minnesota Satisfaction Questionnaire (MSQ) (Weiss et al., 1967) is a popular

faceted measure that is often used in job satisfaction research. The MSQ short form

can be used to measure two distinct components of job satisfaction namely intrinsic

job satisfaction and extrinsic job satisfaction. Intrinsic job satisfaction is how people

feel about the nature of the job tasks themselves while extrinsic job satisfaction is

how people feel about aspects of the work situation that are external to the job tasks

or work itself (Hirschfeld, 2000). Brown (1996) indicated through meta-analysis

that intrinsic job satisfaction is more strongly related to job involvement than

extrinsic job satisfaction. Also, the results of Moorman's (1993) study suggest that

intrinsic job satisfaction has an affective basis whereas extrinsic job satisfaction

does not. 12

According to Judge et al. (1994), job satisfaction is a function of the balance

between work role inputs, that is, what the individual puts into the work role

(e.g. education) and work role outcomes, that is, what is received from the role

(e.g. pay). As outcomes received relative to inputs invested increase, job satisfaction

is hypothesised to increase. Bobbins (1998) defines job satisfaction as an

individual's general attitude toward his or her job. A job requires interactions with

co-workers and immediate supervisors, following organizational rules and policies,

12
Babu, Rama Mohan (1992). "Job Satisfaction, Attitude Towards teaching, Job Involvement,
Efficiency of towards Teaching and Perception of Organisational Climate of Teachers of
Residential and Non-residential Schools", Fifth Survey of Educational Research, N.C.E.R. T.,
Vol. II, p.l467.

17
meeting performance standards and living with conditions that are conducive. This

means that an employees' assessment of how satisfied or dissatisfied he or she is

with his or her job is a complex summation of a number of discreet job elements.

There is no commonly agreed upon theoretical generalisation, which

explains job satisfaction (Visser, Breed & Van Breda, 1997). Luthans (1995)

define job satisfaction as a pleasurable or positive emotional state resulting from the

appraisal of one's job or job experience. Job satisfaction is a result of employee's

perception of how well their job provides those things, which are viewed as
13
important.

From the preceding definitions, Visser et al. (1997) identified the following

common elements related to the definition of job satisfaction:

• Employee satisfaction is an attitude or feeling which is based on the

assessment of the conditions of employment.

• These reactions and perceptions are individualistic in nature.

• Attitudes and situations can change and due to the fact that they pertain to a

particular context and content, the attitudes of individuals concerning

satisfaction are time bound. Job satisfaction is a multidimensional concept

consisting of affective, cognitive and conative dimensions. There seems to be

general consensus among researchers that job satisfaction can be viewed as a

multidimensional concept encompassing individual's general attitude towards

14
work or to specific facets of the work.

Weiss and Cropanzano (1996) defined job satisfaction as the process

whereby employees seek to achieve and maintain correspondence with their

13
rbid
14
Bhandari, R.A. & Patil, N.H. (2009). "Job satisfaction of women teachers", Edutracks, 8 ( II ):
42-44.

18
environment. Job satisfaction is an attitude or internal state, which is associated with

achievement, recognition, challenging work, responsibility, success and happiness

(Boden, 1998; Mullins, 1995; 1996). Job satisfaction is defined as an attitudinal

output which forms the criteria for job security, since the result of the internal

assessment between the real outcome and the ideal outcome would indicate whether

employees' needs are satisfied by their jobs.

In terms of the present study, the measurement of overall or general

satisfaction is preferred to the measurement of specific components hence opting for

the overall satisfaction instrument constructed by Weiss et at. (1967). Since job

satisfaction has been defined according to the literature, and the commonalities

between various definitions have been identified including the differentiation made

between overall and component measures of job satisfaction, the focus of the next

section will be on the importance of job satisfaction in terms of this study.

1.7.1 Importance of Job Satisfaction

Job satisfaction is an important construct because of its relevance to the

physical and mental well-being of employees (Khwela, 2001). As work is an

important aspect of people's lives, job satisfaction is important because of its

implications to job related behaviours such as productivity, absenteeism or turnover

(Robbins, 2001). Milkovich and Boudreau (1997) indicated in their research that

organizations in general, prefer employees who are satisfied with their work because

it makes for a better work environment, which has overall a positive effect on

production. They indicated that job satisfaction should be pursued due to the

following reasons:

19
 • Employees are sources of information and abilities.

• Employees relate with others and customers which makes for better

production because they continuously search for improvement in work

methods.

• Employees find solutions for problems and present creative and innovative

ideas in terms of problem resolution.

• Employees are empowered to make better decisions.

• Employees provide feedback to organizations, which prevents stagnation,

and provides opportunities for growth.

Job satisfaction is an indicator of how much pressure and stress an individual

can handle in a position. If the employees are enjoying their jobs, they are more

likely to be more effective in handling the daily stressors they experience (Luthans,

1989). If employees are more satisfied with their job they are more likely to work

harder, complain less, show up on time and treat customers and co-workers with

respect (Testa, 2001).

For the purpose of this study, job satisfaction is an important construct

because one of its determinants, job security, if viewed negatively, could present ill

effects to both the employer and the employee. Also, an increase in job satisfaction

will stimulate increased Job involvement and in turn job security.

Happy employees are perceived as productive employees and as a result the

sensitivity to the wellness of employees would be regarded as one of the important

factors to improve job satisfaction for the benefit of both the organization and its

employees (Robbins, 2001). Job satisfaction is important for management

(Luthans, 1995). A satisfied work force could translate into higher productivity due
to fewer disruptions caused by absenteeism or good employees quitting, fewer

20
incidences of destructive behaviour, as well as tower medical and life insurance

costs (Luthans, 1995).

In thls section, the importance of job satisfaction has been discussed, and

various aspects, serve as an important drives to enrich job satisfaction have been

covered. The following section is going to focus on the various causes of job

satisfaction.

1.7.2 Causes of Job Satisfaction

Various definitions of the construct job satisfaction have shown that there are

different variables that determine job satisfaction. Weiss et al. (1967) identified

twenty different dimensions underlying job satisfaction, which specify its causes.

However, it appears that there are five dominant areas of job satisfaction within

which causes of job satisfaction are specified (Furnham, 1997; Kreitner &

Kinicki, 1998; Robbins, 1998). Furnham (1997) stated that each of these dominant

areas is very complex but their complexity could be simplified by the following

description:

• Need satisfaction - This area states that an employees' needs satisfaction

experienced depends on the opportunities the work provides to an individual

to satisfy his own needs.

• Value attainment - This area can be regarded as the opportunity that is

given to the employee to work according to his values.

• Generic component - This model postulates that job satisfaction is the

function of both personal and generic factors. Robbins (1998) refers to this

model as consisting of self-image and the ability to handle stress.

21
 • Challenging work - Employees choose more challenging work and tasks

that give them opportunities to develop skills in a variety of levels. Freedom

in the work situation is also important, as well as the degree of freedom

which is received.

• Supportive working conditions Robbins (1998) mentions that friendly and

supportive colleagues lead to a greater level of job satisfaction. The more

workers are satisfied with their job which indicate that they are also happy

with their social interaction.

• When referring to the actual causes of job satisfaction the following aspects

should be taken into consideration (Noe, Hollenbeck, Gerhart & Wright,

1997).

• Job satisfaction is a function of worthiness (values) and it differs from

employee to employee.

• Employees' expectations should be emphasised. Job satisfaction of

employees would also depend on their external environment (external locus

of control) and their control over the circumstances influencing it (internal

l~cus of control).

• Perception of job satisfaction is individualistic and unique in nature and is

15
not necessarily an accurate reflection ofreality •

Other causes that can have an effect on job satisfaction are health, age,

ambitions, social status, political beliefs and social activity. Mullins (1996) grouped

and listed the following causes that affect job satisfaction of employees in certain

conditions:

IS
Ibid

22
1.7.3 Causes Affecting Job Satisfaction

Causes Description
Individual Personality, education, intelligence and abilities, marital
status and age.
Social Relationship with co-workers, opportunities for interaction,
group working and norms.
Cultural Underlying attitudes, beliefs and values
Organizational Policies and procedures, employee relations, nature of the
work, leadership styles and management systems.

Environmental Economic, social, technical and governmental influences.

From the above-mentioned it is clear that there is no singular cause of job

satisfaction but that there are many causes. These causes are continuously

interacting with each other. However, in the current study job satisfaction would be

measured in general terms. In the following section different approaches to job

satisfaction will be discussed.

1.7.4 Approaches to Job Satisfaction

Based on the literature review there are three approaches that cause job

satisfaction, i.e. dispositional, situational and interactional. The dispositional

approach contends that work attitudes such as job satisfaction are determined by

unique individual traits (Hackman & Oldman, 1980). According to Roberts and

Foti (1998) and Strumpfer et al. (1998), the situational approach to job satisfaction

maintains that attitudes are influenced by external influences such as job design and

supervisors. This finding was supported by Hackman and Chdham (1980) in that

the situational approach refers to external conditions impacting on job satisfaction

such as the nature of the job and leadership traits of the supervisor. Khwela (2001)

mentioned that the interactional approach could be viewed as the combination of the

dispositional approach in determining attitudes and actions of individual employees.

23
The interactional approach views the individual and situation as central issues
concerning the outcomes of work, i.e job satisfaction. For the purpose of this study,
the following approaches will be mentioned: work, organizational, social and
biographical determinants 16•

Work determinants can influence the job satisfaction of employees, namely,

task variety, recognition and feedback, autonomy, achievement, responsibility,

creativity, activity, and utilisation of abilities. The organizational determinants that

can influence the job satisfaction of employees are promotion, compensation,

working conditions, organizational policy and procedures, work stress and job

security. Job security is an organizational determinant will be elaborated on because

of its relevance and job insecurity has been selected as the independent variable for

this study.

The question of job security is fundamental to job satisfaction since the

unlimited changes to which employees are exposed could impact on both employee

and employer. It is assumed that organizations could unknowingly harm it by

engaging in unduly change activities, which creates feelings of job insecurity. A lack

of understanding of such activities and the resulting job insecurity leads to the

development of an alienated workforce, deprivation of Job involvement and a

reluctance to do more than the minimum input (Hunt, Chonko & Wood, 1995). In

addition, attitudinal reactions towards job insecurity i.e. intentions to quit, reduced

job satisfaction and Job involvement, were found to be related to job insecurity.

16
Ibid

24
 1.8 STATEMENT OF THE PROBLEM

An "Exit Interview" is a structured process where the departing employee

can openly discuss their reasons for leaving their job. They can review their
employment history with the organization smoothly and professionally work

through transition details. Employees that leave each have grounds for making their

career choices. Exit Interviews are designed to help management determine the

actual reason behind a person's detachment from the company. The aim is to

· provide people a comfortable environment where they can provide frank and honest

answers on topics regarding the department, team, manager and company. Most of

the research in the Information Technology (IT) sector has addressed only specific

problems related to its environmental analysis like challenges, growth and

opportunities, the problem of attrition, the HRM systems, and issues of job stress,

job satisfaction, individual performance etc. The few studies that have canvassed

employee perceptions of their work have either relied upon very small samples or

upon small numbers of workers spread across a larger number of organizations. But

till now no study has undertaken regarding exit interview among the IT employees

in Chennai city. Therefore the present study has undertaken to find out the

effectiveness of exit interview among the IT employees in Chennai city.

1.9 SCOPE OF THE STUDY

The present study has been carried out in Chennai City. The research has

been undertaken to examine the Effectiveness of Exit Interview among IT

(Information Technology) employees in Chennai City. The scope of the present

research is very wide.

25
 1.10 SIGNIFICANCE OF THE STUDY

The significance of the study lies in the blowing up of the IT industry in the

recent years. Where on one hand the sector is growing with leaps and bounds, on the

other the employee turnover has been alarmingly high, thus costing a lot to the

company. The middle level and low level employees are victims of dearth of

motivation and employee satisfaction also seems to be flourishing. The study is an

attempt to assess the patterns of attrition in IT and analyze the relationship among

employee motivation, job satisfaction and employee retention, so as to utilize

employee motivation to retain employees in an organization. Thus, not only is it

-
~

significant for academicians but also for professionals who can exploit it to control

the employee turnover.

1.11 OBJECTIVES OF THE STUDY

The objectives of the study are as follows:

1. To examine the reasons for job quit intention among IT professionals in selected

IT Companies in Chennai City;

2. To examine the work environment factors influence on job satisfaction among

the IT professionals in selected IT Companies in Chennai City;

3. To map out the influence of socio-economic variables on Job mobility among IT

professionals in selected IT Companies in Chennai City;

4. To assess the role and influence of pecuniary benefits on Job mobility among IT

professionals in selected IT Companies in Chennai City;

5. To examine gender dimension on Job mobility among IT professionals m

selected IT Companies in Chennai City;

26
6. To assess the employers strategies on job mobility among IT professionals in
selected IT Companies in Chennai City.

1.12 STATEMENT OF HYPOTHESES

The study is based on the formulation of the following hypotheses. The

validity of them has been tested with the available data and through appropriate
statistical analysis.

1. There is no significant influence of work environment variables on Job

satisfaction and Quit intention of the IT professionals in the study area.

2. Work environment are not the determinant of Job Quit intention of the IT

professionals in the study area.

3. There is no significant difference between male and female IT employees in

job mobility.

4. There is a significant difference between married and unmarried IT

professionals in Job mobility.

5. There is a no correlation exists between recognition and incentive for the job

and the job satisfaction of the employees in the study area.

6. Financial and environment factors didn't primarily influence the employee

engagement practice and involvement among the employees of the IT

professionals in the study area.

1.13 METHODOLOGY

Research Methodology is a way to systematically solve the research

problem. It contains various steps that are adopted by a researcher in studying

research problem along with the logic behind them.

27
Nature of the study

The present study's ultimate objective is to examine the Effectiveness of Exit

Interview among the IT employees in Chennai City.

Research Design

Research type Descriptive and Analytical Research

Employees' of lnfonnation Technology
Population
Companies in Chennai city.
Sample size 600

Sampling Method Simple convenience random sampling

Research Method Survey
Data type Primary Data
Research instrument Questionnaire

Data Source

The data was obtained from both primary and secondary sources. In

explorative stage of the study, the secondary data were collected in the fonn of

review of literature to familiarize the researcher with the various aspects of the study

from different sources like journals, magazines, books, research papers, internet,

newspapers and reports. The primary data was collected from the employees' who

are working in the infonnation technology companies in Chennai city by using

structured questionnaire.

Sample Size

The researcher distributed 600 questionnaires usmg simple convenience

random sampling method for collecting the infonnation from the respondents in the

study area. The data has been collected from the exit employees of Infosys, CTS,

TCS, IBM, HCL, Verizon, Syntel, Wipro, Accenture, HP and Tech Mahindra. The

28
researcher approached the exit employees of who came out from the organizations,
and requested them to fill the structured questionnaire to generate the response to the
listed objectives.
Sampling Method

Simple convenience random sampling technique was used for the purpose of
this research.

Period of the Study

The field study was conducted from March 2015 to December 2015.

Pilot Study

The Pilot study was made from 60 respondents from Information

Technology companies in Chennai City. The Pilot study is to check the reliability
and feasibility of the questions as well as the statements included in the
questionnaire. The Cronbach's Alpha method was adopted to check the normality as

well as the reliability of the statements in Likert's five point scale. The result

showed that the statements included in the questionnaire possess a high reliability of

86.3 Percent, with Cronbach's Alpha co-efficient 0.863. It led to the conclusion that

the statements posed to the employees of Information Technology companies in

Chennai city were highly reliable and understandable while expressing their opinion

in free and fair manner for final study.

1.14 METHODS OF ANALYSIS

The data collected for the study are analyzed by using SPSS package version

21. The analysis can broadly be categorized under two parts namely

1. Descriptive Analysis
2. Inferential Analysis

29
 In descriptive analysis, percentage method is adopted to analyze the

demographic profile of the respondents and other data relevant to the objectives of

the study.

In inferential analysis, the relationships between the variables are established

in the form of hypothesis, and these hypotheses are tested by using the following

statistical tools:

)> One sample t-Test

)> Independent t-Test

)> Analysis ofVariance (ANOVA)

)> Duncan Multiple Range Test

)> Friedman Test

)> CFA

)> Chi-square Test

)> Regression Analysis

)> Structural Equation Modeling

1.15 LI'MITATIONS OF THE STUDY

Considering the time and cost factor to the study "Effectiveness of Exit

Interview: A Study with Special Reference to Chennai" was conducted among the

employees of Information Technology companies in Chennai city. Due to the nature

of the sample, the results may not be true representative of the population of

Information Technology companies in India. The limitations of the study include the

subjective measurement of effectiveness of the exit interview among the IT

employees in Chennai, which may not reflect the true and exact performance of the

organisation. Further human resource constraints were also responsible for these

limitations.

30
1.16 SCHEME OF CHAPTERIZATION

Chapter I: Introduction

Chapter I deals with the introduction about Exit Interview, Criteria to

conduct the Exit Interview, Advantages of Exit Interviews, Causes for exit

interviews, Relevant theoretical models for understanding Job Involvement,

Theories of job satisfaction, Conceptualization of Job Satisfaction, Statement of the

Problem, Scope of the Study, Significance of the Study, Objectives of the Study,

Statement of Hypotheses, Methodology, Methods of Analysis, Limitations of the

Study and Scheme of Chapterization.

Chapter II: Review of Related Literature

The Chapter II explores the previous research works on the Effectiveness of

Exit Interview among the Information Technology Employees and its Inference.

Chapter III: Profile and Development of Information Technology Companies

In this chapter evolution of Information Technology companies in India and

in Chennai City are discussed. The Profile of the selected information technology

companies in Chennai city and development of their quality of work life were

explained.

Chapter IV: Exit Interview and its Effectiveness: A Study with Special
Reference to Selected IT Companies in Chennai City

Chapter IV deals with the survey analysis which is divided into two parts,

namely descriptive analysis and inferential analysis. In descriptive analysis, various

demography factors of the respondents were analysed and under inferential analysis,

testing of hypotheses through various statistical tools like t-test, F- test, ANOVA,

Correlation, Multiple Regression Analysis, Confirmatory Factor Analysis and

Structural Equation Modelling were used to fulfill the objectives of the study.

31
Chapter V: Summary of Findings, Suggestions and Conclusion

The concluding chapter summarizes the findings of the study and gives out

the suggestions suitable for the improvement of the implementation of exit interview

of IT Companies in Chennai City, researcher's view on the scope for the further

research and the conclusion.

In the forgoing pages a brief introduction of a Exit interviews, its needs and

Causes, Theories and Methodology has been discussed. In this context the next

chapter deals with the Review of Related Literature.

32