The effects of latent withdrawal profiles on employee turnover, destinations and job performance

Abstract

AbstractDrawing on the theory of proximal withdrawal states (Hom et al., 2012), we propose and examine the presence and effects of latent withdrawal profiles (LWPs) that characterize employees’ participation in, or withdrawal from, an employing organization. Drawing upon survey and archival data of IT employees over a 30‐month period, we found evidence of four distinct LWPs: enthusiastic stayers, reluctant stayers, reluctant leavers, and enthusiastic leavers. We examined the differential effects of LWPs on an expanded set of turnover outcomes, including actual turnover of all participants, post‐exit destinations among those who left, and more importantly, on job performance of those who did not act upon their desire to leave. We found that among those who stayed, performance outcomes of enthusiastic stayers and enthusiastic leavers were higher than those of reluctant stayers and reluctant leavers.