Does the Morale Impact on Employee Turnover Intention? An Empirical Investigation in the Indian Steel Industry

India’s steel sector has experienced high employee turnover in the last couple of years due to the complex business environment, such as market competition, technology up-gradation, changes in business process, and management practices. This study is first of its kind in Indian literature to address the influence of employee morale on turnover intention in the context of the Indian steel industry. The study uses statistical software packages such as SmartPLS 2.0 and IBM SPSS 20 to analyze and validate the conceptual framework. Confirmatory Factor Analysis (CFA) and Structural Equation Modelling (SEM) were used to evaluate the model with a sample size of 386 male employees of steel firms in Chhattisgarh state, the central part of India. The study makes a twofold contribution. First, it explores the influential morale factors that explain employee turnover and measure the extent of its influence on employee turnover intention. Second, it suggests that steel firms should support their human resources either in the form of management, supervisor and co-worker support or through offering material reward and career development opportunities or reducing workload by assigning appropriate task that enhances employee morale and reduces their turnover intention within the firms.