International Journal of Advanced Engineering Application

Managerial Coaching, Role Clarity, and Frontline Employee Turnover: Evidence from Organised Retail Chains in India

Author(s):Anjali Krishnamurthy, Rohit Vardhan Despande

Affiliation: XLRI Xavier School of Management, Jamshedpur, India

Page No: 20-25

Volume issue & Publishing Year: Volume 3, Issue 7, 2026/07/04

Journal: International Journal of Advanced Engineering Application (IJAEA)

ISSN NO: 3048-6807

DOI:

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Abstract:
Frontline employee turnover in India's organised retail sector exceeds 45% annually, imposing substantial recruitment, training, and lost-productivity costs on retail chains operating on thin margins. While compensation has traditionally been treated as the primary turnover lever, emerging evidence from the services management literature suggests that managerial coaching behaviour — structured, developmental feedback delivered through regular one-on-one interaction — may be a more cost-effective retention lever than incremental pay increases. This study examines the relationship between store manager coaching frequency, employee role clarity, job satisfaction, and turnover intention across 64 stores of a national apparel retail chain, using a two-wave survey of 612 frontline employees (sales associates and cashiers) combined with store-level HR turnover records spanning an 18-month panel that includes a phased rollout of a structured coaching programme. Structural Equation Modelling confirms that coaching frequency is positively associated with role clarity (β = 0.46, p < 0.001), which in turn predicts job satisfaction (β = 0.51, p < 0.001) and reduced turnover intention (β = -0.39, p < 0.001), with the direct path from coaching to turnover intention substantially attenuated once role clarity and job satisfaction are included, indicating near-full mediation. Quasi-experimental panel analysis of the coaching programme rollout shows a divergence in turnover trajectories between treated and control stores beginning approximately two months after implementation, with treated stores showing 30-month annualised turnover of 19% versus 34% in control stores. Effects are strongest in the North region and weakest in the East, a heterogeneity pattern that qualitative interviews attribute to inconsistent regional implementation fidelity and varying store manager span-of-control ratios.

Keywords: managerial coaching, role clarity, job satisfaction, employee turnover, retail management, frontline employees, SEM, India, span of control, retention

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