The Effect of Role Overload and Interactional Justice on Turnover Intention in the Auditors of Public Accounting Firms in Thailand

Abstract

noneThe high turnover rate of the auditor has been considered an important matter in the public accounting firms worldwide for decades, which tends to be caused by professional characteristics. The purpose of this study is to explore the relationship between the perception of role overload among audit professions and turnover intention. Further, the perceived interactional justice by the supervisor, as moderator is investigated whether it can buffer the negative effect of role overload on turnover intention. The research examined the relationship in the Thailand environment by collecting data from 210 auditors who are working in the Big Four public accounting firms. The quantitative research approach and survey-based methodology were adopted to test the hypotheses with SPSS 23.0 as a data analysis tool to analyze and interpret the result. The study finds that auditor who faces role overload is more likely to think about leaving, while perceived interactional justice leads to lower turnover intention. Results also reveal a significant moderating effect of interactional justice on the relationship between role overload and turnover intention. Overall, the findings provide a better understanding of the factors shaping turnover intention which of interest to the public accounting employer to improve working conditions to increase retention rate.