Investigation of Organisational Commitment and Employee Turnover Intention in Telecommunication Firms in Taraba State

Understanding the relationship between organisational commitment and employee turnover intention is essential for retention management in telecommunications firms, particularly in underserved North East Nigerian markets such as Taraba State. This study investigated the relationship between the three components of organisational commitment (affective, normative, and continuance) and employee turnover intention among 180 employees of MTN, Airtel, and Glo operations in Taraba State. Data were collected through validated questionnaires administered to network operations, sales, and customer service staff. Correlation analysis and binary logistic regression were employed to assess the commitment-turnover relationship. Results showed that affective commitment was the strongest negative predictor of turnover intention (beta = -0.56, p < 0.001), while continuance commitment was also a significant negative predictor (beta = -0.31, p < 0.01). Normative commitment was not statistically significant in the presence of the other two components. Overall, 44% of sampled employees expressed moderate to high turnover intention within the next 12 months, driven primarily by salary dissatisfaction and perceived limited career growth. Job satisfaction fully mediated the affective commitment-turnover intention relationship. The study concludes that affective commitment is the most protective factor against turnover in Taraba State telecommunication firms and recommends employee engagement programmes targeting emotional attachment to the organisation through meaningful work assignments and leadership quality improvement in North East regional telecom operations. Keywords: organisational commitment, employee turnover, telecommunications, Taraba State, affective commitment