Author(s): Teo Hui Yang, Abidah Binti Saad, Nagwan AlQershi
Employee retention in Government hospitals in Malaysia has become a concern due to more employees leaving for the private healthcare sector. Many factors have contributed to this phenomenon, such as salary discrepancy, work-life balance, working environment and job satisfaction. The objective of this study is to examine the mediating effect of job satisfaction on the relationship between the influencing factors and employee retention on medical doctors in government hospitals in Johor. Through this study, the relationship between the influencing factors and employee retention in government hospitals in Malaysia was explored and analyzed, while the mediating effect of job satisfaction was determined. By analyzing the factors that influence employee retention, this study aims to provide a guide for the government to handle the employee retention issue, and perhaps, help in introducing more effective retention strategies. The independent variable is working environment and the mediating variable is job satisfaction in this study. This is a cross-sectional research using the quantitative and descriptive method. Data was collected through an online questionnaire distributed to respondents to test the significance of the study. Results indicate that the working environment has no direct relationship with employee retention, but has a significant effect on job satisfaction. Also, job satisfaction has a significant effect on employee retention. Finally, the findings of this study show that the working environment predicts employee retention indirectly through job satisfaction.