Three Types of Turnover and Team Performance: Three Distinctive Psychological Mechanisms

Abstract

This research reveals three distinctive mechanisms through which different forms of turnover have impacts on team performance. In addition to the distinction between voluntary and involuntary turnover, the authors argue that the effects of involuntary turnover can be better understood by further classifying it into performance- driven involuntary turnover and misconduct-driven involuntary turnover. Supportive of the authors’ hypotheses, the analyses of multi-source (team members, department head, archive records) and multi-wave (three waves) longitudinal data from 481 sales employees in 139 sales teams in a Korean company show that the three forms of turnover affect team performance through different mechanisms. Voluntary turnover has a negative effect on team performance via increased job demands and decreased team potency. Involuntary performance turnover has a positive effect on team performance via decreased job demands and increased team potency, whereas involuntary misconduct turnover has a positive effect via increased justice climate. The authors present implications for research and practice of their theory and empirical findings.