The Preventive Role of Transformational Leadership and Trust in the Leader on Employee Turnover Risk of Myanmar Migrant Workers in Thailand:

The Moderating Role of Salary and Job Tenure

Abstract

This research investigated the contribution of transformational leadership to the turnover intention of Myanmar migrant workers in Thailand. Trust in the leader was proposed as the mediator to explain the association between transformational leadership to turnover intention. Data was collected from 736 Myanmar employees from two manufacturing plants. The results from the partial least squares regression revealed that the Myanmar migrant workers who perceived that the top management of their company possessed the characteristics of transformational leadership tended to have lower turnover intention. This association was significantly mediated by trust in the leader. Moreover, the moderating effect analysis showed that the contribution of transformational leadership and trust in the leader to turnover intention were significantly moderated by the level of salary and the length of job tenure of the Myanmar migrant workers. The findings from this study also suggested that the leadership style of top management is an essential factor in reducing the risk associated with high turnover.