Exploring the Impact of IT Capability Maturity on Sustainable Talent Retention in Knowledge Organizations with the Mediating Roles of Work-Life Balance and Job Embeddedness

Abstract

This paper explores the correlation between the maturity of IT capabilities, work-life balance, job embeddedness, and sustainable retention of people in digitally intensive organizations. The results based on the structural equation modeling (SEM) and the survey data of the employees in IT-enabled and knowledge-intensive industries have shown that IT capability maturity has a positive effect on the work-life balance (β= 0.52, p < 0.001), which consequently positively influences job embeddedness (β= 0.55, p < 0.001). In its turn, job embeddedness has a very strong impact on sustainable talent retention (β = 0.62, p < 0.001). Further mediation analysis suggests that IT capability maturity is linked to work-life balance through work-life balance as a mediator of the relationship between the two concepts (β =0.29, p < 0.001), and job embeddedness is linked to work-life balance through work-life balance as an intermediary between the two concepts (β = 0.34, p < 0.001). As these findings point out, digital systems are vital in providing an environment that promotes the well-being of employees, which leads to long-term organizational commitment. The study offers useful data on the role that organizations can play to utilize mature IT competencies to enhance employee retention through better work-life balance, as well as increased job embeddedness. Future studies are needed to overcome the limitations of the present research, such as being a cross-sectional design, and focus on the impact of IT capability maturity on retention outcomes in the long-term using longitudinal data. Also, other industries can be added to the sample in future research, and the moderating variables that have leadership, organizational culture, and employee digital literacy can be examined in the IT capability-retention relationship. The exploration of these variables in other cultures and organizational settings would provide a wider perspective on the processes that promote sustainable talent retention in digitally transformed settings.