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In a highly competitive globalised environment, the innovation behaviour of employees plays a key role in the economic viability and competitive advantage of organisations. In this context, developing the understanding of innovation work behaviour is important for the field of individual innovation and this is the focus of the study. The paper aims to discuss this issue.

Data were collected using a survey from 549 employees in organisations operating in four major business centres in South Africa.

On-the-job embeddedness was positively and significantly related to innovation behaviours by employees in organisations operating in diverse industries. Consistent with the view that small organisations have a “behavioural” innovation advantage over larger organisations, the size of the organisation moderated the positive relationship between on-the-job embeddedness and innovation behaviours. On-the-job embeddedness was more positively related to innovation behaviours in small organisations than in larger organisations.

Employees who are highly embedded in their jobs (but not necessarily their communities) are more likely to enact innovation behaviours than employees who are not similarly embedded. Human resource management professionals and line managers can potentially foster employee innovation behaviours through adopting strategies aimed at positively influencing the fit, links and sacrifice dimensions of on-the-job embeddedness.

The study contributes to theoretical and empirical expansion of job embeddedness (JE) by examining: how work and non-work forces that attach employees to their organisations influence their propensity to enact innovation behaviours; and how organisation size moderates the relationship between JE and innovation behaviours. The results will help managers who wish to foster innovation.

There is an absence of research examining job embeddedness in SMEs. Results of job embeddedness studies may not apply to SMEs, because the process of managing a SME differs from that of the large firm. The purpose of this paper is to examine relationships between on-the-job embeddedness, as well as each of its sub-dimensions, and turnover intentions; and group cohesion, on-the-job embeddedness and turnover intentions.

Data were collected from 147 employees in SMEs located in Perth, Western Australia and 350 employees from SMEs operating in four business centres in South Africa. After invariance testing, data from the two countries were combined to increase statistical power of the analysis.

On-the-job embeddedness and each sub-dimension were negatively related to turnover intentions. Group cohesion was positively related to composite on-the-job embeddedness. Findings suggest that while group cohesion on its own does not reduce turnover intentions, it does contribute to development of on-the-job embeddedness that, in turn, reduces turnover intentions.

Future research should control for the effects of external influences on turnover intentions. Findings imply that managerial actions related to antecedents of group cohesion could foster the on-the-job embeddedness of employees.

This study is perhaps the first that tests the operation of on-the-job embeddedness in SMEs located in two countries. The conceptual arguments for links between each of the sub-dimensions of on-the-job embeddedness and turnover intentions are based on distinctive characteristics of SMEs and can serve as a theoretical foundation for future research on embeddedness in SMEs.

The purpose of this paper is threefold: first, to examine the job embeddedness (JE)-turnover intentions relationship in large and small organisations; second, to investigate how employee perceptions of each dimension of JE may differ in large and small organisations; and third, to determine if work group cohesion moderates the JE-turnover intentions relationship.

Using a short form of the original JE questionnaire, data were collected from 549 employees in organisations located in four major business centres in South Africa. Participants were from organisations in diverse industries.

JE predicted turnover intentions in large organisations, but not in small organisations. Contrary to expectations, employees in small organisations perceived that they would sacrifice more benefits than employees in large organisations if they were to quit. Results suggest that work group cohesion moderates the JE-turnover intentions relationship.

Further research is needed to determine how JE operates in different size organisations and in urban and rural small organisations.

In small organisations, building group cohesion and persuasively communicating benefits of working in a small organisation can help to embed employees.

This study responds to calls for further JE research in a wider range of national contexts. It contributes to a more nuanced understanding of the three dimensions of JE by investigating how employee perceptions of each dimension differ in large and small organisations. The study also responds to appeals for research that examines moderators of the JE-turnover relationship by exploring work group cohesion as a potential moderator.