The Effects of Top Management Professional Development on Administrator Turnover

Abstract

This study examines how characteristics associated with professional development of the top management team in 406 nursing homes can affect administrator turnover. Tenure, education, and membership in a professional association are the characteristics investigated. Data used in this investigation came from a survey of nursing facilities and the 1999 On-line Survey, Certification, and Reporting system. Using logistic regression analyses, the effects of the professional development characteristics of the top management team on the turnover of administrators were examined. The average annual turnover rate of administrators was 43%. Controlling for seven organizational factors, the results are generally significant for tenure and membership in a professional association. This study shows that both aggregate and dissimilarity measures of tenure and professional association membership are important influences on administrator turnover. These results suggest that nursing home owners may want to hire top managers with strong professional membership ties or should encourage top managers to make these ties.