Project – Psychological Contract Breach and Employee Turnover Intention: A Study of Selected Private Hospitals in Abuja Municipal Area Council

CHAPTER ONE

INTRODUCTION

1.1 Background to the Study

The effectiveness of any healthcare organisation depends substantially on the quality, stability and commitment of its workforce. Hospitals are labour-intensive organisations in which doctors, nurses, pharmacists, laboratory scientists, administrative personnel, medical technicians and other workers must coordinate their activities to provide safe and timely healthcare services. Unlike many other organisations, hospitals require employees to demonstrate professional competence, emotional commitment and continuity because interruptions in staffing can affect service delivery and patient outcomes. Consequently, employee retention has become an important human resource management concern, particularly in environments where skilled healthcare workers have alternative employment opportunities. The problem is particularly relevant in Nigeria, where the healthcare sector has experienced shortages and increasing concerns about the retention and migration of qualified professionals. Fashola and Aderibigbe (2025) observed that the Nigerian healthcare sector has faced significant turnover challenges among medical professionals and argued that psychological and organisational factors, beyond monetary considerations, are important in understanding employee retention. This suggests that hospital management must pay attention not only to salaries and other economic benefits but also to the quality of the employment relationship between workers and their organisations.

One important concept for understanding the employment relationship is the psychological contract. Unlike the formal employment contract, which consists of written and legally enforceable terms, the psychological contract refers to employees’ beliefs concerning the reciprocal obligations that exist between themselves and their organisations. These obligations may include expectations concerning fair treatment, career development, job security, recognition, training, promotion, workload, management support and organisational concern for employee welfare. Rousseau (2001) explained that psychological contracts are built around employees’ perceptions of promises and mutual obligations within the employment relationship. When employees believe that an organisation has fulfilled its obligations, trust and positive work attitudes may develop; however, when employees perceive that promised or expected obligations have not been fulfilled, a psychological contract breach may occur. Morrison and Robinson (1997) distinguished the perception of breach from the emotional experience of violation, explaining that employees may experience feelings such as disappointment, anger and betrayal when they conclude that an organisation has failed to fulfil its obligations.

Psychological contract breach is particularly important because employees do not respond only to formal organisational policies; they also respond to whether the organisation has met the expectations that employees have developed about their employment relationship. Breach may occur when an employee believes that promised salary increases, promotion opportunities, training, recognition, job security, work-life support or other obligations have not been delivered. In healthcare organisations, such perceptions may arise from excessive workloads, inadequate staffing, delayed benefits, limited career progression, inconsistent management practices or differences between promises made during recruitment and employees’ actual working conditions. When such discrepancies persist, employees may perceive the organisation as unreliable or unfair. Turnley and Feldman (2000) found that psychological contract violations were associated with intention to quit and other negative employee behaviours, with unmet expectations and job dissatisfaction partly mediating these relationships. Similarly, Zhao et al. (2007), in a meta-analysis of psychological contract breach and work-related outcomes, found that breach was associated with several negative employee outcomes, including turnover intentions, and demonstrated that affective reactions and attitudes help explain how breach influences employee responses.

Employee turnover intention is another important organisational behaviour construct closely related to the psychological contract. Turnover intention refers to an employee’s conscious or deliberate consideration or intention to leave the organisation in which he or she currently works. It does not necessarily mean that an employee has already resigned, but it represents an important psychological stage in the withdrawal process. Mobley (1977) proposed that employee withdrawal is a process involving psychological and behavioural stages between dissatisfaction and actual turnover. In the healthcare sector, turnover intention is particularly concerning because replacing trained professionals can be expensive and time-consuming, while the departure of experienced workers can increase workloads for remaining staff and potentially affect organisational performance. Recent evidence from hospital nursing research similarly shows that perceived psychological contract breach can increase turnover intention, reinforcing the importance of honouring organisational obligations to healthcare workers (Al-Hussami et al., 2026).

The Nigerian healthcare environment makes the relationship between psychological contract breach and turnover intention especially significant. Nigerian health workers operate within an environment characterised by concerns about remuneration, working conditions, career development, workload, organisational support and opportunities for professional advancement. In addition, the migration of health professionals, commonly discussed in Nigeria through the term “Japa”, has intensified concerns about the ability of healthcare organisations to retain qualified employees. Fagbenro, Yusuff, and Ariyo (2025) investigated psychological contract breach and turnover intention among Nigerian health workers and found that psychological contract breach was positively associated with turnover intention; their study further examined organisational climate as a mediating factor in the relationship. Similarly, Balogun, Elisha, and Uye (2025) found a positive relationship between psychological contract breach and turnover intentions among healthcare workers in Nigeria and reported that organisational cynicism played a mediating role. These findings demonstrate that employee decisions to leave healthcare organisations cannot be understood exclusively in terms of wages or external employment opportunities; perceptions of how organisations fulfil their obligations can also be important.

The issue also has important implications for private hospitals, which constitute an important component of healthcare provision in Nigeria. Private hospitals operate in a competitive environment and must balance patient care, employee management, financial sustainability and service quality. Their ability to retain competent workers may therefore depend on how employees perceive management practices and the overall employment relationship. When employees perceive that promises concerning promotion, training, compensation, workload, recognition or welfare have not been honoured, they may experience dissatisfaction and reduced organisational attachment, potentially increasing their desire to seek alternative employment. Umar and Ringim (2015), in a study of Nigerian employees in private organisations, examined psychological contract factors and employee turnover intention and highlighted the importance of the psychological contract in understanding turnover intention in private-sector organisations. More recent evidence from Nigerian healthcare research further demonstrates that perceived contract breach and feelings of violation are significantly associated with employee retention among medical doctors, indicating that psychological factors within the employment relationship deserve attention in healthcare management.

Abuja Municipal Area Council (AMAC) provides an important setting for examining this issue because Abuja is a major administrative, commercial and healthcare centre with numerous public and private healthcare institutions serving residents, workers and visitors. Private hospitals in the Federal Capital Territory operate within an environment where qualified healthcare employees may have opportunities to move between organisations or seek employment elsewhere. This makes employee retention an important management concern, especially where workers perceive a gap between what their organisations promise and what they actually provide. Although previous Nigerian studies have established relationships between psychological contract breach and employee turnover or retention among healthcare workers, there remains a need for context-specific investigation of employees in selected private hospitals in Abuja Municipal Area Council. Existing studies have examined medical doctors in selected regions or healthcare workers in public hospitals and other settings, but findings from those contexts cannot automatically be assumed to apply to employees of private hospitals in AMAC. Fashola and Aderibigbe (2025) specifically recommended greater attention to psychological and organisational factors affecting healthcare employee retention in Nigeria, while Fagbenro et al. (2025) demonstrated the importance of psychological contract breach in understanding turnover intention among Nigerian health workers. Therefore, examining psychological contract breach and employee turnover intention among workers in selected private hospitals in AMAC is necessary to provide evidence that can assist hospital managers in developing appropriate employee retention strategies.

1.2 Statement of the Problem

The Nigerian healthcare sector depends heavily on the availability and stability of competent healthcare workers, yet employee turnover and the intention to leave remain significant human resource concerns. When experienced healthcare employees leave their organisations, hospitals may experience increased recruitment and training costs, loss of institutional knowledge, increased workload for remaining employees and possible disruptions in service delivery. The problem becomes more serious when turnover intention develops before actual resignation because employees who are psychologically preparing to leave may become less committed or less engaged with their current organisations. Fashola and Aderibigbe (2025) observed that the Nigerian healthcare sector has faced significant turnover challenges among medical professionals and noted that previous explanations of turnover had often focused on monetary considerations while giving less attention to psychological factors. This creates a need to investigate non-financial aspects of the employment relationship that may influence employees’ decisions to remain with or leave healthcare organisations.

A major problem is that healthcare employees may develop expectations concerning what their organisations owe them beyond the formal terms contained in written employment contracts. Employees may expect fair treatment, reasonable workloads, career development, promotion, recognition, training, adequate organisational support and fulfilment of promises made by management. When employees perceive that these obligations have not been fulfilled, they may experience psychological contract breach. Morrison and Robinson (1997) explained that perceived failure by an organisation to fulfil obligations can produce feelings of betrayal and other negative emotional responses. Such reactions may subsequently affect job satisfaction, organisational commitment and willingness to remain with the organisation. Zhao et al. (2007) found through meta-analytic evidence that psychological contract breach is related to several negative work outcomes, including turnover intentions. Thus, where hospital employees repeatedly perceive that organisational promises or obligations are not being honoured, the resulting dissatisfaction may contribute to an increased intention to leave.

The problem is particularly relevant to healthcare organisations because employees may have substantial professional mobility. Doctors, nurses, pharmacists, laboratory professionals and other skilled health workers can potentially move to competing private hospitals, public institutions, international organisations or employment opportunities outside Nigeria. Consequently, a private hospital that fails to manage employee expectations may face difficulty retaining experienced personnel. Evidence from Nigeria supports this concern. Balogun et al. (2025) found that psychological contract breach was positively related to turnover intention among healthcare workers, while Fagbenro et al. (2025) reported that psychological contract breach was associated with turnover intention among Nigerian health workers and examined organisational climate as a mechanism through which this relationship operates. Furthermore, Fashola and Aderibigbe (2025), using data from 362 Nigerian medical doctors, found that perceived breach and feelings of violation were significant predictors of employee retention. These findings indicate that the employment relationship itself may be an important source of turnover-related behaviour in Nigerian healthcare organisations.

Despite these findings, there is still insufficient context-specific evidence concerning the relationship between psychological contract breach and employee turnover intention among workers in selected private hospitals in Abuja Municipal Area Council. Much of the available Nigerian evidence has focused on public hospitals, medical doctors, or healthcare workers in particular states and regions. For example, Balogun et al. (2025) examined healthcare workers in public hospitals in Ondo State, while Fashola and Aderibigbe (2025) focused on medical doctors in teaching hospitals in southwestern Nigeria. These studies provide valuable evidence, but the organisational environment of private hospitals in AMAC may differ in terms of management practices, employment conditions, remuneration structures, career opportunities and employee expectations. Therefore, the specific extent to which psychological contract breach influences turnover intention among employees of selected private hospitals in AMAC remains an empirical question. Without such evidence, hospital administrators may continue to address employee turnover primarily through financial incentives while overlooking psychological and relational factors that may contribute to employees’ desire to leave. This study therefore seeks to examine the relationship between psychological contract breach and employee turnover intention among employees of selected private hospitals in Abuja Municipal Area Council.

1.3 Purpose of the Study

The general purpose of this study is to examine the relationship between psychological contract breach and employee turnover intention among employees of selected private hospitals in Abuja Municipal Area Council.

The specific objectives are to:

1. examine the extent to which employees of selected private hospitals in AMAC perceive psychological contract breach;
2. identify the major forms of psychological contract breach experienced by employees in selected private hospitals in AMAC;
3. examine the level of employee turnover intention among workers in selected private hospitals in AMAC;
4. determine the relationship between perceived psychological contract breach and employee turnover intention

1.4 Research Questions

The following research questions will guide the study:

1. To what extent do employees of selected private hospitals in AMAC perceive psychological contract breach?
2. What are the major forms of psychological contract breach experienced by employees in selected private hospitals in AMAC?
3. What is the level of employee turnover intention among workers in selected private hospitals in AMAC?
4. What relationship exists between perceived psychological contract breach and employee turnover intention?

1.5 Research Hypothesis

The following null hypothesis will be tested at a 0.05 level of significance:

H₀: There is no significant relationship between psychological contract breach and employee turnover intention among employees of selected private hospitals in Abuja Municipal Area Council.

1.6 Significance of the Study

This study is expected to be significant to management of private hospitals because it will provide evidence concerning the possible influence of perceived unmet organisational obligations on employees’ intention to leave. Hospital managers may use the findings to review their human resource practices, particularly in relation to promises concerning promotion, training, remuneration, recognition, workload, career development and employee welfare.

The study will also be useful to healthcare employees because it draws attention to the psychological dimension of the employment relationship. Understanding psychological contract breach may help employees and managers identify sources of dissatisfaction and establish clearer expectations concerning employment obligations.

The findings may be useful to human resource managers and administrators in private hospitals by providing information that can support the development of employee retention programmes. Such programmes may include transparent communication, realistic job previews, fair promotion procedures, professional development opportunities, recognition systems and mechanisms for addressing employee grievances.

The study may also be valuable to healthcare policymakers and professional regulatory bodies because employee turnover can affect the stability and effectiveness of healthcare institutions. Evidence from the study may assist policymakers in understanding that employee retention is influenced not only by financial conditions but also by organisational and psychological factors.

Finally, the study will contribute to academic knowledge in human resource management, organisational behaviour, industrial psychology and healthcare management. It may provide a basis for future researchers who wish to investigate psychological contract breach, employee turnover intention, employee retention, organisational commitment, job satisfaction and related workplace behaviours within the Nigerian healthcare sector.

1.7 Scope of the Study

The study will focus on psychological contract breach and employee turnover intention among employees of selected private hospitals in Abuja Municipal Area Council (AMAC), Abuja, Nigeria.

The study will examine employees’ perceptions of psychological contract breach in areas such as:

• remuneration and benefits;
• promotion and career advancement;
• training and professional development;
• job security;
• workload and working conditions;
• recognition and appreciation;
• management support; and
• organisational promises and obligations.

The dependent variable is employee turnover intention, which will be considered in terms of employees’ thoughts about leaving, intention to search for another job, willingness to leave the present organisation and likelihood of leaving when alternative employment becomes available.

The study will be limited to selected private hospitals located within Abuja Municipal Area Council. It will focus on employees rather than patients and will not attempt to examine actual employee turnover records across all hospitals in Abuja. The geographical limitation to selected private hospitals in AMAC is intended to make the study manageable while providing a specific organisational context for examining the variables.

1.8 Operational Definition of Terms

Employee: A person employed by an organisation to perform assigned duties in exchange for remuneration and other employment benefits.

Employee Retention: The ability of an organisation to keep competent employees within the organisation for a sustained period.

Employee Turnover Intention: An employee’s conscious or deliberate intention, plan or willingness to leave the organisation where he or she is currently employed.

Healthcare Worker: A person who provides professional, clinical, technical, administrative or support services within a healthcare organisation.

Private Hospital: A healthcare institution established and operated by a private individual, group, organisation or corporate body rather than directly by the government.

Psychological Contract: An employee’s beliefs concerning the reciprocal promises, obligations and expectations between the employee and the employing organisation (Rousseau, 2001).

Psychological Contract Breach: An employee’s perception that the organisation has failed to fulfil one or more obligations that the employee believes the organisation promised or was expected to fulfil (Morrison & Robinson, 1997).

Psychological Contract Violation: The emotional response, such as disappointment, anger, frustration or betrayal, that may arise when an employee perceives that the organisation has failed to fulfil important obligations.

Turnover: The movement of employees out of an organisation through resignation, dismissal, retirement or other forms of separation.

Organisational Obligation: A perceived responsibility or commitment that employees believe their organisation owes them as part of the employment relationship.

Abuja Municipal Area Council (AMAC): One of the Area Councils within the Federal Capital Territory of Nigeria and the geographical setting within which the selected private hospitals for this study will be located.

1.9 Organisation of the Study

The study will be organised into five chapters.

Chapter One will present the introduction, background to the study, statement of the problem, purpose of the study, research questions, research hypothesis, significance of the study, scope of the study, operational definition of terms and organisation of the study.

Chapter Two will focus on the review of related literature. It will examine the conceptual review, theoretical framework and empirical review relating to psychological contract breach and employee turnover intention.

Chapter Three will present the research methodology. It will discuss the research design, population of the study, sample and sampling technique, instrument for data collection, validity and reliability of the instrument, method of data collection and method of data analysis.

Chapter Four will present and analyse the data collected from respondents. The research questions and hypothesis will be addressed using appropriate descriptive and inferential statistical techniques.

Chapter Five will present the summary of findings, conclusion and recommendations. It will also provide suggestions for further studies.

Project – Psychological Contract Breach and Employee Turnover Intention: A Study of Selected Private Hospitals in Abuja Municipal Area Council