How does organizational sacralization affect healthcare professionals' work engagement and turnover intentions through perceived organizational support?

Purpose - In recent years, the migration of healthcare professionals from developing countries to developed countries has accelerated. Turkiye is one of the countries negatively affected by the migration of healthcare professionals. This study aims to test the mediating effect of perceived organizational support (POS) on the impact of organizational sacralization (OS) on work engagement (WE) and turnover intention (TI) in a sample of healthcare professionals in Turkiye. Design/methodology/approach - The study used a quantitative method. In line with its purpose, a cross-sectional study was conducted among 490 healthcare professionals. Findings - According to the findings, OS has a significant effect on WE (beta; 0.684, p < 0.01), TI (beta; -0.760, p < 0.01) and POS (beta; 0.760 p < 0.01). In addition, POS does not statistically affect TI. However, POS mediates the relationship between OS and WE (beta;WE 5 0.684, beta;WE 5 0.298; p < 0.001). Lastly, the mediator role of POS in relation to OS and TI has also been tested and the analysis results show that there is no significant effect. Originality/value - In recent years, the effect of POS on WE and TI has been investigated. In some of these studies, it is seen that POS does not affect TI. Among the findings of this study, it was concluded that POS does not affect TI in a sample of healthcare professionals in Turkiye. However, it was concluded that OS, a new concept in the literature and about which very few studies have been conducted, decreases TI instead of POS in this study. This study offers an original and significant contribution to the limited body of literature by demonstrating that supporting employees at a level that exceeds organizational boundaries through OS can reduce employees' TIs.