Actual Turnover Behavior Research Articles

Does Turnover Intention Matter? Evaluating the Usefulness of Turnover Intention Rate as a Predictor of Actual Turnover Rate

Turnover research has traditionally examined intention to turnover rather than actual turnover. Such studies assume that leave intent serves equally well as both a proxy for and predictor of employees’ actual turnover behavior. The purpose of this study is to provide an agency-level evaluation of the usefulness of turnover intention as a reliable proxy and predictor of actual turnover across 180 U.S. federal agencies, using hierarchical (stepwise) multiple regression. Our findings suggest that, at the organizational level, turnover intention and actual turnover are distinct concepts, predicted by different sets of variables. Based on these findings, we conclude that public managers tasked with retention might have better foresight concentrating on their agencies’ unique demographic characteristics and specific management practices, rather than on their employees’ self-reported aggregated turnover intention rate.

The moderating roles of status of B2B evaluator and dependence in the switching costs – switching intentions – performance causal chain in Korea

Switching intentions in the business-to-business (B2B) relationship context have a powerful impact on a firm’s performance and are often considered in relation to perceived switching costs. This factor has also been considered as a good predictor of actual turnover behaviour resulting in reduced market share and profitability of firms. However, despite the importance of switching intentions in B2B relationships, there is still no evidence either to support linkages to switching costs as a key driver of decision-making or to demonstrate interrelationships with firm performance. The author empirically examines the theoretical process of the cognitive assessment – behavioural intentions – performance linkage that explains a firm’s likelihood of terminating B2B relationships using three moderating variables. The results suggest that the switching intentions are driven by switching costs and their similarity to the direct effect on firm performance. Meanwhile, personal relationship loss costs, rather than other types of switching costs, serve an important role in determining the reduction of switching intentions. Finally, the author discusses insights about the present results and suggests future research directions.

Who really quits?

In response to high turnover rates among IT personnel compared to other groups of professionals, IS research has focused on factors contributing to IT personnel's turnover intention; however, only few studies have focused on actual turnover. To shed more light on actual turnover behavior, this longitudinal study of 125 IT personnel theorizes and analyzes the influence of job-related beliefs on turnover intention and behavior over time. Our results confirm a previously documented turnover intention-behavior gap, finding that 91 out of 125 survey participants indicate a high turnover intention, but that only 27 reported actual turnover behavior within the following 12 months. We further theorize this turnover intention-behavior gap by identifying IT personnel's personality as an important moderating variable for this relation. Specifically, IT personnel more disposed to resisting change translate turnover intentions into actual turnover behavior more seldom than IT personnel less disposed to resisting change. Our study also focuses on how personality influences changes in IT personnel's job-related beliefs and whether or not actual turnover behavior has a positive influence on these beliefs. Our results show that more change-resistant IT personnel change their degrees of job satisfaction and organizational commitment more seldom than less change-resistant personnel and that IT personnel who quit their job change their degree of job satisfaction and organizational commitment more frequently. Our results also show that intentions are a more suitable predictor for less change-resistant individuals than for change-resistant ones.

A Culture-Moderated Meta-Analysis on the Turnover Intention–Behavior Link

Turnover intention is widely regarded as a direct antecedent to and proxy for actual turnover behavior. However, previous studies have differed vastly in their findings of the strength and directio...

Employees’ organisational commitment and its impact on their actual turnover behaviour through behavioural intentions

Purpose– The purpose of this paper is to empirically test an integrated model incorporating the constructs of organisational commitment (OC), behavioural intentions (BI), actual turnover behaviour (ATB) and telecom work characteristics (WC) so as to examine the impact of commitment on employees’ BI, whereby they wish to dissolve their relationship with the employment provider.Design/methodology/approach– Structural equation modelling technique has been used to test the data collected through questionnaire from a sample of 139 employees including managers and executives across the hierarchy of an Indian telecom organisation named Aircel Dishnet Ltd from the Jammu and Kashmir circle head office in India.Findings– The theoretical constructs were validated before incorporating the hypothetical structural model. SEM results indicate a good fit to the empirical data. The findings confirmed that affective, continuance and normative commitments lay significant impact on employees’ OC. Also, commitment influence attitudes, subjective norms and perceived behavioural control, thereby affecting the BI of the employees. An indirect significant impact of OC on the ATB was also revealed. A partial mediation of WC was also found between BI and ATB.Research limitations/implications– The generalisability of the study is limited as the sample concentrates to one organisation of a single industry in India.Practical implications– The study provides insights for the policy makers to create and develop mechanisms and programmes leading to the enhancement of affective OC for employee retention.Originality/value– The model clearly explains telecom employees’ OC and its impact on the ATB through their BI. Though the findings do not reveal any component of commitment to lay more impact on OC, it exhibits higher career commitment than OC among the telecom employees.

How does spouse career support relate to employee turnover? Work interfering with family and job satisfaction as mediators

SummaryEmployee turnover is a major concern because of its cost to organizations. Although theory supports the influence of nonwork factors on turnover, our understanding of the degree to which nonwork factors relate to actual turnover behavior is not well developed. Using a sample of 5505 U.S. Army officers, we assessed the extent to which spouse career support related to reduced turnover four years later through work interfering with family (WIF) and job satisfaction as mechanisms. Results revealed that spouse career support decreased the odds of turnover, and WIF and job satisfaction sequentially mediated this relationship, with lower WIF and higher job satisfaction reducing the odds of turnover. Practical implications of using family support systems as retention interventions are discussed. Copyright © 2013 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.

Perceived overqualification and withdrawal behaviours: Examining the roles of job attitudes and work values

The current study examined a moderated mediation model of perceived overqualification and job search, with job attitudes as mediators and the competence and growth work value as a moderator. We also hypothesized a positive relationship between overqualification and actual voluntary turnover behaviour. College graduates from diverse occupations completed two surveys spaced 6 months apart (n = 368). Results suggested that perceived overqualification at Time 1 led to active job search behaviour at Time 2, both directly and through job satisfaction. The direct link was moderated by work values, such that the overqualification–job search relationship was stronger for employees who highly valued work which offered skill utilization and growth. Perceived overqualification was also predictive of voluntary turnover behaviour; those at the high end of the overqualification scale were over four times more likely to have left their position than those at the low end of the scale. Finally, those who left their original positions reported less overqualification in their new positions. The current findings extend the limited existing literature by establishing relationships between overqualification and withdrawal behaviours 6 months later, and also providing evidence that individual differences may influence reactions to being overqualified.Practitioner points The current study found that employees who feel overqualified were more likely to be searching for a new job 6 months later, especially among those who strongly value work that utilizes their skills. Perceived overqualification was also linked to future actual turnover behaviour. Thus, organizations stand to potentially lose talented employees if they feel underutilized and underchallenged in their jobs. These trends are particularly true of employees who strongly desire work that takes advantage of their talents, suggesting that the most ambitious employees are likely to seek alternate employment if they feel underutilized. To retain these employees, supervisors first need to identify employees who might be feeling overqualified and underutilized, as these perceptions may or may not line up with ‘objective’ overqualification. The supervisor can then consider ways to empower the employee through increased involvement in decision‐making or offering more advanced job assignments.

The Grass is Always Greener on The Other Side: A Test of Present and Alternative Job Utility on IT Professionals’ Turnover

The costs associated with the turnover of information technology (IT) professionals continue to draw the attention of IT managers and researchers. Although a weak labor market has limited the quantity of turnover, organizations' most skilled IT personnel are still coveted and valuable resources. These IT professionals are also those most equipped to leave their firm and find new work. In order to reduce costs, retain key employees, and manage turnover, managers need to understand the factors that drive quitting behavior. The research model suggests that the utility of present and alternative IT work are key cognitive influences on an IT professional's decision to search for new employment, intention to quit, and, ultimately, turnover. We test the research model using longitudinal data that include actual turnover behavior. The research model explains 44% of the variance in intention to quit and 13% of the variance in actual turnover. After establishing the influence of utility on the quitting process, we conduct additional analyses to identify the elements of present and alternative job utility that are the most salient for IT professionals' quitting processes. From the additional analyses, we derive specific guidance to practice on the management of IT professionals.

The Role of Effective Leadership on Turnover in Work groups: Evidence from a Government Agency

Much of previous research on employee turnover in government agencies has examined intended rather than actual turnover behavior of public employees. The limited research that has examined turnover behavior of public employees has not thoroughly examined the influence of managerial leadership on turnover behavior in government agencies. The present study examined how a task-oriented leader behavior—role clarification—may enhance overall work satisfaction and reduce actual turnover in workgroups in government agencies. These linkages were examined with data collected in two time periods and from multiple sources—personnel records and organizational survey of 1699 employees working in 45 geographically distributed offices in a state agency with 11 distinct divisions of operation. The results indicated that role clarification by managers enhance overall work satisfaction and a reduce turnover rates in the offices, although these effects are mediated by the overall role clarity perceived in the offices. Implications of these findings for leadership and human resource management in public agencies are discussed.

A Model of Voluntary Turnover in Male Canadian Forces Recruits

This study of voluntary turnover was conducted on Canadian Forces (CF) recruits (N = 459) undergoing basic military training. In response to growing voluntary attrition concerns, a model of early voluntary turnover was tested. The model included pre-entry individual characteristics (pre-entry normative commitment, desire for military career, and mental toughness), postentry work attitudes and intentions (normative CF commitment, affective commitment, and turnover intentions), and actual turnover behavior. Ten of the 13 specified paths were supported, and the model yielded an overall good fit, providing empirical evidence for the influence of pre-entry characteristics on the development of commitment and subsequent turnover.

The use of the psychological contract to explain turnover intentions in the hospitality industry: a research study on the impact of gender on the turnover intentions of highly educated employees

The subject of this study is the psychological contract approach to the employment relationship within the hospitality industry with special reference to highly educated employees. The purpose was to research the differences in the psychological contract and its relation to the intention to leave between highly-educated male and female employees. The research study conducted among this specific group worldwide provided a corpus of 247 respondents. The results show that psychological contract measures, and in particular job content, can explain why there is a substantial amount of variance among highly-educated employees regarding their intention to leave an organization, especially if the mediating role of affective commitment is taken into account. Moreover, it would appear that for women in particular, promotion opportunities and work-family balance were related to turnover intentions while for men the clarity of the job description was an important predictor for leaving. We suggest that the results of this study should be considered when developing gender-specific HRM policies to retain highly-educated staff. Considering the limitations of this study, we suggest that it be followed by research studies which concentrate on the job aspects which may be related to employee turnover. A longitudinal study concentrating on the relation between the psychological contract, turnover intentions and actual turnover behaviour should also be carried out.

Turnover decisions of women accountants: using personal histories to understand the relative influence of domestic obligations

Studies of accountants' turnover intentions have been unable to demonstrate a clear link between conventional job-related antecedents and women's higher rates of turnover. This study utilizes narrative histories of three women, including the author herself, who have exhibited actual turnover behaviour to examine the factors underpinning their turnover decisions. The findings demonstrate that while the study participants did identify job related factors, their turnover decisions were more significantly influenced by a complex interaction of job and domestic factors. This article thus recommends that an understanding of women's turnover decisions must first utilize research methods such as narrative history that allow the complexity of factors influencing their decisions to be identified and second, must incorporate greater consideration of specific domestic drivers of the cumulative workload/stresses of both job and domestic factors.

Age and Work‐Related Outcomes: The Moderating Effects of Status Characteristics

This study examines the extent to which 2 status characteristics—pay level and part‐time vs. full‐time employment—influence the effectiveness of age as a predictor of work‐related attitudes and behaviors. Using a sample of 157 registered nurses, hierarchical regression was used to determine whether pay level or employment classification (part‐time vs. full‐time) moderated the relationship between chronological age and the following outcomes associated with the process of voluntary turnover: job satisfaction, organizational commitment, withdrawal cognitions, perceived alternatives, search behavior, and actual turnover behavior. Findings indicate that the effects of age on work attitudes and behaviors are moderated to some extent by both status characteristics. Implications for research and practice are discussed.

Does attitude toward money moderate the relationship between intrinsic job satisfaction and voluntary turnover?

The present study expanded Judge's (1993) study and tested the hypotheses that people's Money Ethic endorsement (Tang, 1992, 1995) would moderate the intrinsic job satisfaction-withdrawal cognitions relationship and the intrinsic job satisfaction-voluntary turnover relationship in a sample of mental health and mental retardation professionals. Results suggested that Money Ethic endorsement was a moderator for both relationships. For employees with high Money Ethic endorsement, their voluntary turnover was high regardless of their intrinsic job satisfaction. Employees with low Money Ethic endorsement and low intrinsic job satisfaction had the lowest voluntary turnover. Thus, in this sample, just a pull (high Money Ethic) is needed to experience turnover. Money Ethic endorsement predicted actual turnover behavior, but withdrawal cognitions did not. Money Ethic endorsement was not a mediator of the intrinsic job satisfaction and turnover relationship. Results are discussed in terms of the small, but growing literature on the psychology of money (Furnham & Argyle, 1998). Future research needs to re-focus on employees' actual turnover behavior, rather than the substitutes or proxies of turnover behavior, such as withdrawal cognitions.

Spousal Interdependence in Turnover Decisions: The Case of Israel's Medical Sector Employees

Gender-related labor behavior traditionally has been sensitive to and symptomatic of changes in the labor force and the social structure. Two developments in family life call into question the traditional gender model of work behavior, which posits the family versus job dichotomy: (a) the greater share of economic responsibilities assumed by female spouses, and (b) the greater male involvement in family life within married couple families. A multivariate model that encompasses demographics, work conditions, and family constraints was regressed on the actual turnover behavior of male and female spouses. The analysis reveals that male and female respondents differ in the importance they assign to employment conditions and work attitudes, but they do not differ in the importance they assign to the other spouse's employment and family responsibilities when a turnover decision is considered. These findings support the notion of spousal interdependence in turnover decisions. This interdependence nevertheless is asymmetrical, since the turnover antecedents are caused by the impact of different predictors for men and women.

Disaggregating the Motives Underlying Tiarnover Intentions: When Do Intentions Predict Thrnover Behavior?

Although intention to quit an organization represents one of the better predictors of actual turnover behavior, the intention-behavior relationship varies widely across studies. This study argues that one reason for the variability is that individuals possess different motives for stating a high intention of leaving, and it is the motive that accounts in part for when the intention will manifest itself in actual turnover. Using a longitudinal design, expectations were supported in that only those intentions motivated by disaffection with the organization and its values resulted in the loss of employees.

Underlying Labor Market Dimensions of "Opportunities": The Case of Employee Turnover

The underlying labor market and organizational source of alternative job opportunities is re-examined here and applied to investigate employee turnover behavior. We contend that by refining this concept in terms of perceived and objective opportunities and market reference points, a clearer appreciation of this concept and more powerful model of turnover will emerge. To this end, a cross-sectional and multistage longitudinal survey of 700 employees was conducted in eight medical centers at seven distinct labor market locations. Measures of perceived and objective opportunities in internal and external markets were introduced into logistic regressions which clearly showed that objective opportunities are a far better set of explanations of actual turnover behavior than either perceived internal or external market opportunities. This relationship is further explored and its complexity woven into a labor market-oriented turnover model.

Disaggregating the Motives Underlying Turnover Intentions: When Do Intentions Predict Turnover Behavior?

Although intention to quit an organization represents one of the better predictors of actual turnover behavior, the intention-behavior relationship varies widely across studies. This study argues that one reason for the variability is that individuals possess different motives for stating a high intention of leaving, and it is the motive that accounts in part for when the intention will manifest itself in actual turnover. Using a longitudinal design, expectations were supported in that only those intentions motivated by disaffection with the organization and its values resulted in the loss of employees.

Occupational determinants of work attitudes and organizational attachment.

The "work attitudes-turnover" linkage was compared among four medical-sector occupational groups. In a sample of 707 employees, drawn from eight variously-sized medical-sector sites, intended and actual turnover behavior is predicted. Combining a cross-sectional and longitudinal analysis, and using two logistic regression models, the direct effect of work attitudes on intended and actual turnover was assessed. The "work attitudes-turnover" was shown to be occupationally-dependent.

Exploring the Role of Individual Job Performance within a Multivariate Investigation into Part-Time Turnover Processes

Individual job performance was examined in a multivariate research investigation into the reasons for turnover among 412 Canadian army reservists. Multiple, comprehensive measures of performance were utilized in the study including self-rated (subjective) as well as organizationally assigned (objective) measures. Only the self-rated measures of performance were significant in their negative relationship with actual turnover behaviour.