Should I stay or should I go: how pay secrecy influences turnover intentions

Summary

The research paper "Should I stay or should I go: how pay secrecy influences turnover intentions" by Rodrigue and Cox (2024) explores the intricate relationship between an organization's pay communication practices, specifically pay secrecy, and employees' intentions to leave. The study aimed to expand existing literature on pay communication by investigating the direct and indirect impacts of pay secrecy on turnover intentions, introducing several mediating variables. It specifically analyzed how pay secrecy and organizational trust affect key employee attitudes that are directly linked to an employee's decision to stay or leave an organization. The methodology involved collecting data from a sample of 496 participants, who were recruited through Mechanical Turk. To analyze the proposed hypotheses, the researchers utilized structural equation modeling (SEM), a robust statistical technique suitable for examining complex relationships between observed and latent variables. This approach allowed for a comprehensive understanding of how various factors interact to influence turnover intentions. The findings unequivocally demonstrate that pay secrecy positively influences turnover intentions. This indicates that as pay information becomes more concealed within an organization, employees are more likely to consider leaving their jobs. Crucially, the study uncovered that this relationship is not direct but is double-mediated. Organizational trust plays a central role, acting as a key intermediary. Specifically, pay secrecy negatively impacts organizational trust, which in turn leads to increased organizational cynicism, greater organizational disidentification, and reduced job embeddedness. These negative attitudinal outcomes collectively strengthen an employee's intention to depart. All hypotheses formulated within the study, detailing these complex mediating pathways, received empirical support. The practical implications of these findings are substantial, suggesting that organizations should actively pursue greater pay openness. By moving away from pay secrecy, companies can mitigate employee distrust, reduce cynicism, enhance feelings of being valued and connected to the organization (job embeddedness), and ultimately lower turnover intentions.