Author(s): Carole Serhan, Haritini Tsangari
Fresh graduates retention is a key ingredient of labor market effectiveness and well-built instruments are necessary to identify its determinants. This study develops an extended version of the widely used Hackman and Oldham’s “Job Diagnostic Survey”, identifying and aiming to bridge its theoretical gaps. The new, 135-item “Modified Job Diagnostic Survey for Retention” implements an integrated framework, with additional “core job dimensions”, “experienced psychological states” and “individual differences”, while incorporating a new scale on “labor market conditions”, to assess the effect of “personal/work outcomes” on retention. Its psychometric properties are tested, using a sample of 630 respondents. Construct validity is evaluated using exploratory factor analysis (EFA) with Promax rotation. Face validity is examined through reviews by a panel of experts. Reliability of the instrument is estimated with Cronbach’s alpha coefficients. The significance of the new instrument is highlighted by filling the void in research involving redesigning jobs while taking into consideration, for the first time, the effect of labor market conditions on fresh graduates’ affective and personal work outcomes. The construct validity shows that it has a five-factor structure where all items are reliable indicators of their corresponding factors. The reliability of the five scales is satisfactory, with acceptable values of Cronbach’s alpha (ranging from 0.656 to 0.901). Thus, the new instrument is a strong, valid and reliable tool for studies on the retention of fresh graduates.