Formal development opportunities and withdrawal behaviors by employees in small business and medium-sized enterprises

This study explores direct and indirect relationships between involvement in formal training and development events, employee attitudes and withdrawal responses including turnover intentions and neglectful behavior for those employed in small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs). Questionnaire data were obtained from 185 staff employed in a diverse range of SMEs. Our results suggest that employees that participate in more training and development events are less likely to be considering leaving their employer and less likely to engage in neglectful behavior. However, the analysis revealed that the effects of participation in formal training and development are fully mediated by perceptions of organizational support and job satisfaction. In contrast to results from studies in large organizations, affective commitment was not found to be an influential determinant of employee exit intentions or neglect.