Why Employees Plan to Leave: The Role of Psychological Safety and Leadership Behavior in Shaping Turnover Intention in Pakistan
DOI:
https://doi.org/10.56976/rjsi.v7i1.353Keywords:
Asst. CAM Engr, Air Eagle (Pvt) Ltd, Karachi,Sindh, Pakistan.Abstract
The present study investigates the prediction of post-pandemic employees’ turnover intention in Pakistan by two psychosocial workplace factors: psychological safety and leadership behavior. There has been an increasing number of quit intentions in Pakistan’s labor market even when alternative employment with strong job security is not available, indicating that the quitting decision is no longer only pay- or promotion-driven but increasingly climate- and treatment-driven. Based on the Job Demands–Resources (JD-R) model, this paper conceptualizes psychological safety and leadership behavior as critical job resources that can buffer pressure and reduce perceived need to leave among employees. Psychological safety is understood to be an employee’s belief that he/she can raise concerns, admit mistakes, ask for support without fear of punishment or humiliation, while leadership behavior reflects fairness, respect, clarity support provided by supervisors. The study adopted a quantitative, cross-sectional survey design. Data were collected from full-time employees working within high-turnover sectors in Pakistan, including pharmaceutical, IT, and education services. SmartPLS 4 was used to test the structural model. Both psychological safety and leadership behavior have a negative, statistically significant relationship with turnover intention: when speaking feels safe and leadership is seen as respectful and protective, the urge to resign declines. The model explains 42% of the variance in turnover intention. These two psychosocial factors alone meaningfully account for nearly half of the decision to consider leaving. These findings position retention as a psychosocial and relational issue, not only a transactional or financial one. It further argued that in high power-distance cultures such as Pakistan, protecting dignity, voice, and fairness is central to talent stability. The study offers direct implications for leadership development, voice culture, and HR policy in Pakistan and similar developing economies.
References
Ahmed, S., & Baig, F. (2023). Leadership integrity and trust in post-pandemic organizations. Pakistan Business Review.
Ali, A., & Shahbaz, M. (2023). Post-COVID work stress, work-life balance, and turnover intentions: Evidence from Pakistani professionals. Journal of Managerial Sciences, 17(1), 56–74.
Allen, D. G., Shore, L. M., & Griffeth, R. W. (2003). The role of perceived organizational support and supportive human resource practices in the turnover process. Journal of Management, 29(1), 99–118.
Allen, T. D., French, K. A., Dumani, S., & Shockley, K. M. (2021). Meta-analytic examination of work and family support interventions. Journal of Applied Psychology, 106(3), 477–501. https://doi.org/10.1037/apl0000479
Anwar, S., Haider, M., & Ijaz, M. (2022). Impact of job stress on turnover intentions: The mediating role of work-life balance. International Journal of Contemporary Business Studies, 13(2), 22–33.
Arain, G. A., & Hameed, Z. (2023). Psychological safety and innovation in South Asian teams. Management Research Review, 46(1), 78–96.
Arshad, R., Naz, S., & Nisar, Q. A. (2022). Impact of transformational leadership on employee turnover: A study of Pakistani SMEs. Journal of Management and Research, 9(2), 1–16.
Bass, B. M., & Riggio, R. E. (2006). Transformational leadership (2nd ed.). Mahwah, NJ: Lawrence Erlbaum Associates.
Chin, W. W. (1998). The partial least squares approach to structural equation modeling. In G. A. Marcoulides (Ed.), Modern methods for business research (pp. 295–336). Mahwah, NJ: Lawrence Erlbaum Associates.
Cho, Y. J., & Lewis, G. B. (2012). Turnover intention and turnover behavior: Implications for retaining federal employees. Review of Public Personnel Administration, 32(1), 4–23.
Cohen, J. (1988). Statistical power analysis for the behavioral sciences (2nd ed.). Hillsdale, NJ: Lawrence Erlbaum Associates.
Cook, I. (2021). Who is driving the Great Resignation? Harvard Business Review.
Deci, E. L., & Ryan, R. M. (2000). The "what" and "why" of goal pursuits: Human needs and the self-determination of behavior. Psychological Inquiry, 11(4), 227–268.
Demerouti, E., Bakker, A. B., Nachreiner, F., & Schaufeli, W. B. (2001). The job demands–resources model of burnout. Journal of Applied Psychology, 86(3), 499–512. https://doi.org/10.1037/0021-9010.86.3.499
Edmondson, A. C. (1999). Psychological safety and learning behavior in work teams. Administrative Science Quarterly, 44(2), 350–383. https://doi.org/10.2307/2666999
Farooq, S., & Aslam, H. (2021). Frameworks for HR resilience in South Asia: A post-COVID review. Asian Journal of HRM, 5(2), 22–35.
Fornell, C., & Larcker, D. F. (1981). Evaluating structural equation models with unobservable variables and measurement error. Journal of Marketing Research, 18(1), 39–50. https://doi.org/10.1177/002224378101800104
Greenhaus, J. H., & Allen, T. D. (2011). Work–family balance: A review and extension of the literature. In J. C. Quick & L. E. Tetrick (Eds.), Handbook of occupational health psychology (2nd ed., pp. 165–183). Washington, DC: American Psychological Association.
Griffeth, R. W., Hom, P. W., & Gaertner, S. (2000). A meta-analysis of antecedents and correlates of employee turnover: Update, moderator tests, and research implications for the next millennium. Journal of Management, 26(3), 463–488.
Hackman, J. R., & Oldham, G. R. (1975). Development of the Job Diagnostic Survey. Journal of Applied Psychology, 60(2), 159–170. https://doi.org/10.1037/h0076546
Hair, J. F., Hult, G. T. M., Ringle, C. M., & Sarstedt, M. (2017). A primer on partial least squares structural equation modeling (PLS-SEM) (2nd ed.). Thousand Oaks, CA: Sage Publications.
Hair, J. F., Risher, J. J., Sarstedt, M., & Ringle, C. M. (2019). When to use and how to report the results of PLS-SEM. European Business Review, 31(1), 2–24. https://doi.org/10.1108/EBR-11-2018-0203
Henseler, J., Ringle, C. M., & Sarstedt, M. (2015). A new criterion for assessing discriminant validity in variance-based structural equation modeling. Journal of the Academy of Marketing Science, 43(1), 115–135. https://doi.org/10.1007/s11747-014-0403-8
Hom, P. W., Mitchell, T. R., Lee, T. W., & Griffeth, R. W. (2012). Reviewing employee turnover: Focusing on proximal withdrawal states and an expanded criterion. Psychological Bulletin, 138(5), 831–858.
Imran, M., Akhtar, S., & Zahid, M. (2022). Organizational support and retention strategies during COVID-19 in Pakistan. Pakistan Journal of Commerce and Social Sciences, 16(1), 1–14.
Iqbal, A., Asif, M., & Saeed, M. (2022). Psychological safety and employee retention in hybrid work environments: Empirical evidence from Pakistan. Journal of Behavioral Sciences, 32(1), 45–59.
Jiskrova, G. K. (2022). The Great Resignation: A response to a deteriorated quality of working life? Journal of Public Health, 44(3), e545–e546.
Kakar, N. (2023). Psychological climate in South Asian workplaces: A post-pandemic perspective. Workplace Mental Health Journal, 15(2), 89–104.
Kline, R. B. (2015). Principles and practice of structural equation modeling (4th ed.). New York: Guilford Press.
Malik, M. S., & Ahmed, I. (2021). Workplace stress and employee disengagement: A post-COVID examination. Pakistan Journal of Business and Management, 9(1), 35–49.
Mobley, W. H. (1977). Intermediate linkages in the relationship between job satisfaction and employee turnover. Journal of Applied Psychology, 62(2), 237–240.
Nawaz, M., Khan, A., & Saeed, R. (2021). Work–life conflict and mental well-being during the COVID-19 era: A study of Pakistani professionals. Asian Economic Review, 63(4), 87–105.
Newman, A., Donohue, R., & Eva, N. (2017). Psychological safety: A systematic review of the literature. Human Resource Management Review, 27(3), 521–535. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.hrmr.2016.11.003
Nunnally, J. C., & Bernstein, I. H. (1994). Psychometric theory (3rd ed.). New York: McGraw-Hill.
Rahman, M., Siddiqui, F., & Iqbal, S. (2023). Leadership style and employee attrition in the post-pandemic IT sector of Pakistan. Asian Journal of Management Sciences, 11(2), 88–103.
Rai, A., & Maheshwari, S. (2021). Exploring the psychological contract post-COVID: Implications for employee engagement. Indian Journal of Industrial Relations, 56(4), 700–715.
Rehman, S. U., Younas, A., & Latif, S. (2022). Hybrid work and the psychological contract: An emerging HRM challenge in South Asia. Journal of Human Capital Development, 14(3), 102–117.
Ringle, C. M., Wende, S., & Becker, J.-M. (2015). SmartPLS 3. Boenningstedt: SmartPLS GmbH. Retrieved from https://www.smartpls.com
Rubenstein, A. L., Eberly, M. B., Lee, T. W., & Mitchell, T. R. (2018). Surveying the forest: A meta-analysis, moderator investigation, and future-oriented discussion of the antecedents of voluntary employee turnover. Personnel Psychology, 71(1), 23–65.
Salas-Vallina, A., Alegre, J., & López-Cabrales, Á. (2022). Vitality at work: Exploring the role of positive leadership and organizational climate. Journal of Business Research, 139, 805–814. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jbusres.2021.10.041
Shafique, M., Zameer, H., & Khan, M. (2021). Exploring the relationship between job autonomy and employee engagement: A study from Pakistan’s public sector. Journal of Business and Social Review in Emerging Economies, 7(2), 367–375.
Tett, R. P., & Meyer, J. P. (1993). Job satisfaction, organizational commitment, turnover intention, and turnover: Path analyses based on meta-analytic findings. Personnel Psychology, 46(2), 259–293.
World Bank. (2022). World Development Report: Employment and Development.
Yukl, G. (2013). Leadership in organizations (8th ed.). Upper Saddle River, NJ: Pearson Education.
Zameer, H., Siddiqui, H. A., & Akram, F. (2021). Employee autonomy and commitment in the public sector: Evidence from Pakistan. Public Administration and Policy Journal, 10(3), 211–228.
Downloads
Published
How to Cite
Issue
Section
License
Copyright (c) 2025 Batool Naz
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License.
