Thesis
It’s not you, it’s me: The development of organisational commitment in Fly-in-Fly-out (FIFO) workers. A comparison between permanent and temporary employees
Masters by Coursework, Murdoch University
2020
Abstract
The Australian mineral resources industry has experienced unprecedented levels of employee turnover for the past decade, particularly in their Fly-In-Fly-Out (FIFO) workforces. Given the boom and bust nature of the industry, organisations utilise alternative staffing arrangements, such as temporary agency workers or contractors, to gain flexibility and a competitive advantage. The remote nature of this work requires individuals to spend time away from support networks, such as family and friends and look to their organisation to support their social and emotional needs. Without having these needs met, individuals are likely to leave; with contractors demonstrating the highest turnover. Looking at permanent employees and contractors, this study examined a model to investigate the effects of Perceived Organisational Support (POS) and Perceived Supervisor Support (PSS) on the development of affective, normative and continuance commitment and their consequent relationships to turnover intent. Participants were 683 FIFO workers (contract employees accounted for 28.6%) who voluntarily completed an anonymous online or paper survey. Using structural equation modelling, affective commitment fully mediated the pathway to turnover intent from POS and PSS for both contractors and employees. Affective commitment was also negatively related to turnover intent for both groups. Contrary to expectations, the commitment variables predicted turnover intent differently for each group, however, POS was the same for both groups. Affective and normative commitments mediated the relationship between PSS and turnover intent, for employees only. Research and practice implications are discussed.
Keywords: Fly-In Fly-Out, FIFO, Contractor, Temporary Agency Worker, Labour Hire, Organisational Commitment, Perceived Organisational Support, Perceived Supervisor Support
Details
- Title
- It’s not you, it’s me: The development of organisational commitment in Fly-in-Fly-out (FIFO) workers. A comparison between permanent and temporary employees
- Authors/Creators
- Vanessa Moore
- Contributors
- Graeme Ditchburn (Supervisor)
- Awarding Institution
- Murdoch University; Masters by Coursework
- Identifiers
- 991005544537907891
- Murdoch Affiliation
- School of Allied Health
- Language
- English
- Resource Type
- Thesis
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