Exploring Factors that Impact Employee Turnover in Branches: Case Study of a Kuwaiti Private Bank

The Kuwaiti banking system is relatively diverse, comprising several commercial banks. The emergence of banking organizations in the country makes the nation a worthy hub for service industry employees. Employees’ job satisfaction is vital for the successful operation of organizations in the service industry. This research tries to bridge a gap in banking literature by identifying the variables impacting staff turnover at a private Kuwaiti bank. The researchers used a quantitative questionnaire distributed through Survey Monkey to reach a sample size of 234 employees from a total of 680. Herzberg’s Two-Factor Motivation-Hygiene Theory and Steer and Mowdy Model underpin this deductive research. Data was analysed using SPSS and Smart PLS. This study included a total of 36 hypotheses with 8 independent variables namely advancement and personal growth, supervision, coworker relations, pay and wages, recognition and achievements, nature of work, responsibility, and alternative job opportunities. The study includes one dependent variable—employee turnover and 2 moderating variables, employee satisfaction and organizational citizenship respectively and demographics as a moderator. It is worth mentioning that only gender was tested since it was the only demographic variable that showed reliability and validity to employee turnover. Results show that advancement and personal growth do not impact employee turnover. Moreover, organizational commitment is not a mediating variable and does not mediate any relationship between the independent variables and employee turnover. As for employee satisfaction, it mediates the relationship between all independent variables and turnover, except for advancement and personal growth and responsibility.