Employee poaching and turnover intention investigation model at five famous universities in Medan City

Orientation: Turnover intention and faculty poaching have become serious challenges to sustaining the quality of higher education, particularly in developing countries. Factors such as financial rewards and cultural openness patterns are suspected to influence these phenomena. Research purpose: This study aims to examine the effects of financial rewards and cultural openness patterns on turnover intention and poaching susceptibility among tenured lecturers at five famous universities in Medan, Indonesia. Motivation for the study: The study is motivated by the increasing incidence of poaching experienced lecturers, which results in the loss of valuable academic talent. This issue calls for a better empirical understanding of its causal factors to support more effective lecturer retention strategies. Research approach/design and method: Adopting a quantitative explanatory research approach, data were collected from 471 tenured lecturers using a structured survey. The relationships among variables were analysed using structural equation modelling. Main findings: The results reveal that financial rewards have a significant influence on turnover intention and poaching susceptibility. In contrast, cultural openness patterns show no significant effect on either outcome. Practical/managerial implications: These findings highlight the importance of competitive and sustainable compensation policies in reducing turnover intentions and susceptibility to poaching. University administrators can use these insights to design more effective retention strategies. Contribution/value-add: This study enriches the human resource management literature by providing new empirical evidence on turnover and poaching dynamics in higher education within the context of developing countries, particularly Indonesia.