Examining the Impact of Autocratic Leadership and Perceived Organizational Support on Employee Turnover and Workforce Retention: The Mediating Role of Affective Commitment in Pakistan’s Twin Cities

Abstract

This paper investigates the impact of autocratic leadership and perceived organizational support on employee turnover and workforce retention, with affective commitment serving as a mediating variable. The focus of this quantitative study is on middle management employees working in the twin cities of Pakistan (Islamabad and Rawalpindi) to explore the influence of command and control leadership style on behavior and organizational outcome. Since Pakistan is a unique socio cultural context having hierarchical norms and high power distance, the study has provided implications on how the leadership dynamics and support systems can either reduce or increase turnover intentions. The study presented an empirical evidence that proved the theoretical relations between autocratic leadership style, psychological security and organisational commitment using structured Likert scale questionnaires. The results indicate that perceived organizational support and affective commitment is vital in curbing employee turnover and workforce retention. Although the autocratic leadership crisis did not have much direct effect, it was less pronounced in employees who have more emotional attachment to an organization. The insights will help in coming up more effective human resource strategies and leadership programs especially in a culturally ranked setting as in Pakistan.