Moderating effect of Employee Personality on the relationship between Work Factors and Retirement intentions outcome among Ritired Civil Servants in selected Counties in Kenya

Abstract

All employees are expected to exit employment relationship upon attaining mandatory retirement age, however some employees opt to exit employment relationship earlier while others leave employment relationship long after retirement age, a scenario attributed to work factors. The purpose of this study was to investigate the moderating effect of employee personality on the relationship between work factors and retirement intentions outcome among civil servants in Kenya. The objectives of the study were: to determine the effect of job characteristics on retirement intentions outcome, to evaluate the effect of physical work environment on retirement intentions outcome, to analyze the effect of organizational justice on retirement intentions outcome and to examine the moderating effect of employee personality on the relationship between these work factors and retirement intentions outcome. The study was grounded on continuity theory of retirement. It targeted 6447 retired civil servants drown from five counties in the Kenya Kenya. A sample size of 397 computed using a scientific formula and drawn proportionately in relation to population in each of the five counties was used in the study. Self-constructed interview schedule and questionnaire were used to gather data after its reliability was established through test-retest method. The study covered the period January 2009 and December 2013. Logistic regression was used to test the hypotheses of the study. The findings revealed that job characteristics, physical work environment and organizational justice were significantly influencing retirement intentions outcome without personality moderating. The introduction of personality as a moderator led to only job characteristics remaining as a significant determinant of retirement intentions outcome while physical work environment and organizational justice ceased to significantly influence retirement outcome. Individually the different dimensions of personality were found to have significant influence as moderators except when agreeableness was moderating between organizational justice and retirement intentions outcome. It was concluded that the five dimensions of personality individually significantly moderates the relationship between the three selected work factors and retirement intentions outcome of civil servants, while personality’s cumulative attribute did not moderate the relationship between physical work environment and retirement intentions outcome. The study recommends that further study be done beyond three work factors and non work factors with personality of retirees still being incorporated to moderate the relationship.