Formal mentoring support, person–environment fit and newcomer's intention to leave: Does newcomer's uncertainty avoidance orientation matter?

Abstract

Purpose

The purpose of this study is to investigate how and why formal mentoring support reduces newcomers' intention to leave from the perspective of uncertainty reduction theory.

Design/methodology/approach

Time-lagged data were collected from two sources, mentors and newcomers, and 193 paired data sets were included in the analysis.

Findings

The results showed that formal mentoring support was positively related to newcomers' person–organisation fit (P–O fit) and person–job fit (P–J fit). In addition, P–O fit and P–J fit mediated the relationship between formal mentoring support and newcomers' intention to leave. Moreover, newcomers' uncertainty avoidance orientation strengthened the relationship between formal mentoring support and perception of fit, and it strengthened the indirect effect between formal mentoring support and newcomer's intention to leave, via the perception of fit.

Originality/value

This study enhances our understanding of the underlying mechanism between formal mentoring support and newcomers' intention to leave. Moreover, it demonstrates that uncertainty avoidance orientation is an important boundary condition during the process of organisational socialisation. The findings also contribute to the organisational socialisation and the mentoring literature by providing evidence from a blue-collar sample.

Citation

Cai, Z., Wu, D., Xin, Y., Chen, Y. and Wu, H. (2020), "Formal mentoring support, person–environment fit and newcomer's intention to leave: Does newcomer's uncertainty avoidance orientation matter?", Personnel Review, Vol. 49 No. 8, pp. 1749-1767. https://doi.org/10.1108/PR-05-2018-0171