Investigating the relationships between leadership style and personnel turnover intention in it companies in Iran

Abstract

IT personnel are critical to IT Companies because of their knowledge and experiences in the very fast changing nature of technology. Turnover can be a crisis for all companies in any industry, especially for IT industry, because losing an employee can cause financial as well as non financial problems. This study examines the relationship between style of leadership; namely transformational and transactional leadership and turnover intention in IT Companies in Iran. The study was performed based on survey method using MLQ questionnaire according to Full Range Leadership Model. A number of current employees of respondent Companies (N=83) completed this questionnaire. Correlation analysis was done on the data gathered from questionnaire based on 95% of confidence. Findings of this study indicate that the transformational leadership has a significant relation in decreasing personnel turnover intention. Among the four factors of transformational leadership style, Individual consideration was proven to be the most important factor. The findings of this research could help Managers in IT Companies to choose the right leadership style in order to decrease the employees' turnover intention.