The Mediating Effect of Affective Commitment on the Relationship between Competence Development and Turnover Intentions: Does This Relationship Depend on the Employee’s Generation?

The main objective of this investigation was to study the effect of organizational competency development practices on turnover intentions and whether affective commitment explains this relationship. Another of the study’s objectives was to test whether these relationships vary according to the generation to which the participant belongs. The study sample consisted of 2123 participants working in Portuguese organizations. The results indicate that organizational competency development practices (training, individualized support, and functional rotation) negatively and significantly affect turnover intentions and that affective commitment mediates this relationship. However, these relationships vary according to the participant’s generation. For Generation Y and Generation X, this mediating effect is found in all dimensions of organizational competency development practices. For the baby boomer generation, there is only a mediating effect of affective commitment in the relationship between individualized support and turnover intentions. These results indicate that human resources should consider the generation to which the participant belongs when implementing competency development practices.