Performance, satisfaction and intention to remain in organizations: Individual to contextual predictors

Abstract

The growing importance of human capital to the success of organizations has increased the efforts to learn what companies can do to attract and retain employees capable of helping them succeed. This paper investigated what individual, organizational and contextual variables predicted competent performance, job satisfaction, and intention to remain in the organization. Participants were 262 Brazilian professionals, who answered a survey online containing measures to assess individual (sociodemographic data, personality, and moral forces), organizational (labor data, contractual, constituent, calculative and behavioral forces), and contextual aspects (perceptions about the labor market, perceived employment opportunities, and nomative forces). Their mean age was 35.4 years (SD = 8.74) and 63% were men. Three independent hierarchical linear regression analyses were conducted. Results indicate that: individual aspects were the best predictors of competent performance; organizational variables only predicted Job satisfaction, and that individual, organizational, and contextual variables predicted intention to remain. We conclude that, although different variables predict performance, satisfaction and retention of professionals, the calculative force predicts these three variables. We recommend, therefore, that evidence-based management enable clear career dialogues between employees and organizational representatives, in order to retain valuable professionals and promote satisfactory experiences in organizations.