The impact of knowledge distance on turnover intention of millennial employees: from the perspective of Mianzi

Purpose The reasons for turnover intention of millennial employees show intergenerational differences and gradually have become a hot topic in the field of management. From the perspective of knowledge management, this paper aims to explore the mechanism of individual knowledge distance on the turnover intention of millennial employees. Based on the social comparison theory and the person-environment fit theory, this study discusses the moderation role of individual perception of organizational innovation climate in this model by integrating social and cultural factors into the cognitive behavior model, and empirically tests the impact of individual knowledge distance on the turnover intention of millennial employees. Design/methodology/approach In this paper, 585 valid questionnaires were collected from the millennial employees, and the moderated intermediary model was empirically tested by using hierarchical regression analysis and conditional process analysis. Findings The results show that the knowledge distance between individuals has a significant positive impact on the turnover intention of the millennial employees; the ability-based Mianzi stress has a significant positive impact on the turnover intention of the millennial employees; in organizations with a high innovation climate perception, the ability-based Mianzi stress partially mediates the positive impact of the knowledge distance between individuals on the turnover intention; the organizational innovation climate perception positively moderates the influence of individual knowledge distance on ability-based Mianzi stress, and the boundary condition of ability-based Mianzi stress is discussed, which shows that knowledge distance can induce ability-based Mianzi stress only when individual are able to perceive organizational innovation climate. Originality/value This study explores the influence mechanism between knowledge distance and employee turnover intention from the perspective of Mianzi, which is a supplement and enrichment to the study of millennial employees’ turnover intention. It enlightens managers to take effective measures to reduce the negative impact of knowledge difference among millennial employees in the process of actively creating innovation climate in the organization. Because Western countries also have face problems, the conclusion of this study is also of practical significance to managers in Western countries.