Collective Turnover Research Articles

Voluntary Turnover Rate Fluctuations, Human Resource Practices, and Innovation: A Within‐Organization Investigation

ABSTRACTOrganizations constantly navigate voluntary employee departures to facilitate organizational effectiveness. To date, most studies on the implications of voluntary turnover rate have been conducted at the between‐organization level, comparing organizations with varying levels of voluntary turnover rates. Building upon complex adaptive system (CAS) theory, we develop within‐organization theorizing regarding the implications of voluntary turnover rate fluctuations for organizational innovation. We propose a U‐shape threshold model, where the relationship between voluntary turnover rate fluctuations and innovation takes a negative form when voluntary turnover rate fluctuations are within the normal range for an organization, and a positive form when voluntary turnover rate fluctuations surpass a critical threshold reflecting far‐from‐equilibrium conditions. Furthermore, we investigate how organizations may utilize human resource (HR) practices to shift the critical threshold. Specifically, we argue that increased reliance on interaction‐facilitating HR practices (employee participation and group‐based pay) lowers the threshold, while increased reliance on interaction‐inhibiting HR practices (individual‐based pay) raises the threshold. With firm‐fixed effects modeling, we found general support for our hypotheses using a large‐scale, multi‐level, longitudinal dataset from Statistics Canada (7110 workplace‐year observations from 1980 workplaces). We provide a novel theoretical lens to understand the nature and management of collective turnover.

Collective Turnover and Unit Performance: The Role of Network Contagion and Knowledge Diversity

Collective Turnover and Unit Performance: The Role of Network Contagion and Knowledge Diversity

Differences in Performance Effects of Collective Turnover Between Family and Nonfamily Firms

Differences in Performance Effects of Collective Turnover Between Family and Nonfamily Firms

Collective turnover and firm performance: the joint effects of working time-reducing human resource practices and human capital flow and composition under the 52-hour rule in South Korea

ABSTRACT This study examines whether the effect of collective turnover can be contingent upon working-time reducing human resource (HR) practices and human capital flow and composition (i.e. the hiring ratio of newcomers and the ratio of contingent workers) in the context of the 52-hour rule in South Korea (hereafter Korea). As the Korean government shifts from a 68-hour workweek to a 52-hour workweek system, firms are implementing various working-time reducing HR practices, potentially affecting collective turnover and human capital. Analysing 273 Korean firms, we find that higher collective turnover relates to lower firm performance, especially with increased working-time HR practices. However, employing more contingent workers mitigates this negative impact. Our study contributes to the literature on collective turnover and strategic human resource management by suggesting that working time-reducing HR practices should be carefully utilized in the context of the 52-hour rule in Korea.

The Joint Effects of Newcomer Turnover and Replacement on the Relationship between Collective Turnover Rates and Firm Performance

The Joint Effects of Newcomer Turnover and Replacement on the Relationship between Collective Turnover Rates and Firm Performance

Do employees and firms benefit from autonomous work practice? Curvilinear effects on collective turnover and productivity of firms

The present study focuses on the opportunity dimension of the ability–motivation–opportunity framework and explores the implications of autonomous work practice (AWP) for the collective turnover and productivity of firms. Given the trade-offs between the costs and benefits of AWP and its potential double-edged sword effects, we adopt the interdisciplinary perspective on job design (i.e. mechanistic and motivational models) as basis to theorize the curvilinear effects of AWP. We further hypothesize the interaction between AWP and work flexibility, consistent with the internal fit perspective of strategic human resource management. The current framework is validated by analyzing multisource, time-lagged data collected from 1,240 firms over a two-year period. The analysis confirms the hypothesized curvilinear effects of AWP, in which collective turnover is low only when the level of AWP is moderate. The detriment of a high level of AWP on increasing collective turnover is amplified for firms with low work flexibility. By contrast, firm productivity is high when the AWP level is either low or high, and the benefit of a high level of AWP on increasing productivity is pronounced for firms with high work flexibility.

Moving on: Exploring the implications of leader departure and incoming temporary leaders for collective turnover and unit performance.

While leader departures from work units frequently occur within organizations and are assumed to negatively impact unit functioning, the collective reaction to a leader departure event can vary across time. While a common expectation of leader departure models is that the incoming leader is permanent, it is unclear how unit-level reactions, such as collective turnover and unit performance, might change over time in response to a departure event when the departing leader is replaced with a temporary leader. We draw on context emergent turnover (CET) theory and literature on leader departures to develop and empirically test specific hypotheses exploring relationships among leader departures, collective turnover, and unit performance over time. In addition, we examine the extent to which these relationships are influenced by the temporary status of the incoming leader. Using discontinuous growth models, we examine a longitudinal data set from 324 units within a large Latin American operation of a global direct sales company (N = 3,082 performance periods). Findings indicate that, after a leader departs, there is an immediate increase in collective turnover and that unit performance decreases over time. Further, when the incoming leader is temporary, unit performance increases briefly, but the rate of performance drops over time. Overall, our research offers insights with regard to how leader departures impact unit outcomes, as well as how long such effects last. (PsycInfo Database Record (c) 2024 APA, all rights reserved).

From a spark to a sweeping fire: An integrative conceptual review of group turnover and a theoretical exploration of its development.

The phenomenon of group turnover has generated substantial yet disconnected scholarly interests. Despite valuable insights gained from the collective turnover literature as well as parallel research concerning related or coordinated quitting, a holistic understanding of the unique group turnover phenomenon is needed, both to synthesize existing research across multiple domains and disciplines and to kindle new inquiries regarding its dynamic nature and developmental process. To this end, we begin by conducting an integrative review of research relating to group turnover, reinterpreting it by identifying its common pathways as a function of varying triggers, temporal patterns, and departure destinations. We then leverage the groups literature to explicate group turnover's self-reinforcing and dynamic nature and propose a three-dimensional Interdependence, Temporality, and Emergence (ITE) framework that accounts for its developmental process. Using this framework, we develop an illustrative set of propositions regarding how ITE-related group properties affect the extent to which individual departures might escalate into group turnover of a larger scale and faster speed. Our emphasis on groups as a unique unit of reference thus provides an important conceptual refinement and extension for understanding collective turnover-shifting from a static focus on aggregate exit (rates) to a dynamic focus on the often-coordinated, temporally evolving nature of multiple group member quit events. (PsycInfo Database Record (c) 2024 APA, all rights reserved).

Collective Turnover and Family Firm Performance: The Moderating Role of HR Executives

Collective Turnover and Family Firm Performance: The Moderating Role of HR Executives

Collective turnover response over time to a unit-level shock.

This work provides a theoretical explanation for the mechanisms that can drive collective turnover in response to a unit-level shock by applying event systems theory to collective turnover. Specifically, we recognize the importance of modeling a disruption phase following a shock, the social mechanisms that influence the collective turnover response, and boundary conditions on the impact of the shock on the collective turnover response. We examine collective turnover following 239 general manager departures in a large U.S. retailer from 2012 to 2014 to observe how a unit-relevant shock affects the collective turnover response across time. In doing so, we identify and explain a potential delay before the disruption phase and the cumulative abnormal voluntary turnover that occurs in the disruption phase following a unit-level shock. (PsycInfo Database Record (c) 2023 APA, all rights reserved).

Collective turnover and firm innovation: Knowledge‐sharing system as a contingency

AbstractIs high employee turnover harmful to innovation? To answer this question, we draw on the knowledge‐based view of innovation. Specifically, we theorize that the collective turnover of a firm engenders complex changes in knowledge insourcing needed for generating innovation, which may lead to the attenuating negative effect of turnover on innovation. This study also aims to investigate a contingency that modifies the detrimental effect of collective turnover on innovation. Specifically, we identify knowledge‐sharing system (KSS) as a positive knowledge‐related contingency that engenders a U‐shaped curvilinear relationship between collective turnover and firm innovation. In addition, replenishing human capital by hiring new employees improves knowledge insourcing quality and diversity, thereby constituting the mechanism through which collective turnover affects firm innovation. An analysis of large‐scale firm‐level data collected from 2259 Korean firms over a 6‐year period supports most hypotheses and confirms the positive effect of high turnover on firm innovation through replacement hiring and under favorable firm contingencies, such as a high KSS. This study provides a balanced perspective by revealing the costs and benefits of collective turnover and explains when and how turnover can facilitate firm innovation.

The Elites‐Mutual‐Attraction Effect: How Relative Reputation Influences Employee Flows between Organizations

AbstractIn this study, we draw on signalling theory to examine the organization‐level relationship between reputation and employee movement in and out of organizations. Focusing on organizations’ media reputations relative to their peers, we map all employee flows between organizational dyads in a population of English hospitals. We find support for our main argument that an organization's relative reputation predicts employee mobility above and beyond what can be explained by its absolute level of reputation. In particular, our findings suggest that the number of employees moving between two organizations is highest when both organizations have a high reputation. We refer to this as the elites’ mutual attraction effect (EMA‐effect). We also find that the motives of voluntary leavers and geographical distance between two organizations influence the strength of this EMA‐effect. Overall, this study shows that developing and testing dyadic theory can extend research on organizational reputation and collective turnover in meaningful ways.

Consistency matters: Exploring the different roles of climate variability on collective turnover

AbstractResearch on climate has been explored from multiple perspectives over the years. It is generally agreed that global climate (the mean value of the climate ratings of individual members) is positively related to many important individual and organizational outcomes. However, having a positive global climate is not enough. The level of variability in climate dimensions ratings also matters as it could influence how employees appraise their work environment. In this study, we explored the different roles of climate variability, defined as the level of dispersion across climate dimensions, to explain collective turnover. Drawing on signalling theory, we tested the direct and moderating effects of climate variability on collective turnover using a large and heterogeneous database composed of 25,288 individuals from 150 small‐sized to large organizations in different industries. After controlling for global climate, we found that climate variability had a curvilinear association with collective turnover. Although lower levels of climate variability had milder effects on collective turnover, moderate to higher levels of climate variability were associated with higher collective turnover rates. Moreover, climate variability also played a moderating role in the relationship between global climate and collective turnover such that a higher level of climate variability impaired the beneficial effects of a positive global climate on collective turnover. Implications for theory, practice and future research are discussed.

Performance Costs and Benefits of Collective Turnover: A Theory-Driven Measurement Framework and Applications

Performance Costs and Benefits of Collective Turnover: A Theory-Driven Measurement Framework and Applications

The Collective Candidate Experience: Theory and Business Unit Consequences

Questions about whether candidate perceptions of recruitment and selection practices “matter” have been raised for decades. This study tackles such questions by developing a new theoretical framework to understand the business unit-level emergence and consequences of the collective candidate experience, defined as “ Applicants’ aggregate overall cognitive and affective perceptions based on multiple interactions with a business unit over the course of the entire recruitment and selection process.” A theoretical framework is introduced that integrates signaling theory with research from marketing, recruitment, and applicant reactions to propose that the collective candidate experience construct emerges from interactions in unit-specific social, structural, and physical contexts. The construct is further expected to influence new hire outcomes and business unit outcomes. We then test the theorized consequences of the collective candidate experience in a multi-unit quick service restaurant organization. The collective candidate experience is positively associated with collective new hire engagement, which in turn is associated with collective new hire turnover intentions, collective turnover, and collective customer satisfaction. Additional supporting evidence and preliminary measures are provided in online appendices. Overall, this study complements and extends prior research and directs new research by offering a theoretical framework.

Workforce Diversity, Diversity Charters and Collective Turnover: Long‐term Commitment Pays

AbstractModern workplaces are becoming increasingly demographically diverse. However, the influence of workforce diversity on organizational outcomes is not fully understood. In this work, we study how and why workforce gender and racial diversity impacts collective turnover at the organizational level, and whether participation in and experience with diversity charters moderate this link. We particularly argue that greater workforce gender and racial diversity leads to greater collective turnover because it prompts social categorization and negative contagion in organizations. To mitigate these processes, organizations may participate in diversity charters, which are expected to provide support with managing workforce diversity and employee retention. We further argue that the influence of diversity charters follows a trajectory of maturity, so their benefits are magnified as an organization's experience with them increases. Drawing on a panel of UK universities, we find strong evidence that greater workforce racial diversity is associated with higher levels of collective turnover, but only weaker evidence for the positive link between workforce gender diversity and collective turnover. We further find that diversity charters may attenuate this link, but simply participating in them is not sufficient: instead, organizations must develop experience with charters over time.

Newcomer Turnover, Replacement, and Firm Performance

This study examines whether collective turnover rates relate to firm performance and how turnover properties such as newcomer turnover proportion of total turnover events and replacement of turnover through external hiring and internal mobility jointly influence the effect of collective turnover rates on firm performance. Using a dataset of 240 firms with 1,440 firm-year observations over 2006-2016, we find that firms with higher collective turnover rates generally have lower firm performance, but the negative effect of collective turnover is strengthened when firms have more newcomer departures of total turnover events (newcomer turnover proportion). Furthermore, our findings indicate that internal mobility utilizing existing employees buffers the disruptive effect of newcomer turnover proportion on firm performance, and the use of internal mobility is more effective at reducing the negative effect of newcomer turnover than external hiring. Our study contributes to the literature on collective turnover, suggesting that the disruptive effects of collective turnover rates are contingent upon who are leaving and the type of human capital flow.

Unpacking the Bottom-Up Emergence Underlying Collective Phenomena: A Mixed Method Approach

As one of fundamental process underlying collective phenomenon, bottom-up emergence or process involves both convergent and divergent forms through which different lower-level characteristics (e.g., cognition, affect, behaviors) of a group create meaningful higher- level properties. Until now, qualitative method has provided valuable insights for theory building. However, since the bottom-up process entails a complex casual structure, it is very challenging for qualitative method to unravel the multiple conjunctural causation, especially when it comes to understanding how related but diverse lower-level characteristics contribute to collective property (divergent forms). This paper therefore introduces approaches to work with qualitative method: Casual mapping technique to elicit the cognitive representation of interlinked concepts embedded in the expertise of participants around a domain and social network analysis to identify the casual structure through which bottom-up emergence unfolds. With the case of collective turnover, we illustrate how this mixed method can address these issues and provide an alternative way for researchers to interpret the reciprocal complexity of convergent and divergent forms and the structure role of constructs underlying the process, which in turn help both theorists and practitioners to manage collective phenomenon in organization.

Cross-Lagged Relationships between Collective Turnover and Affective Commitment: The Moderating Role of Cooperative Climate

Cross-Lagged Relationships between Collective Turnover and Affective Commitment: The Moderating Role of Cooperative Climate

Collective turnover and unit performance: moderation effects of work experience and time clustering of quits

PurposeThe authors propose and test these boundary conditions to the relationship between voluntary collective turnover and unit performance: job and organizational tenure and the time clustering of turnover.Design/methodology/approachThe authors analyze longitudinal data obtained from 231 units of an international clothing retailer in Spain assessed during 36 months.FindingsThe authors show that when the remaining workforce has moderate, but not low or high, levels of job and organizational tenure, the negative effect of quits on performance is buffered. Furthermore, their results show that time-clustered voluntary turnover patterns have stronger negative effects on unit performance than turnover patterns spread over time.Originality/valueThe authors extend the collective turnover literature addressing two qualitative properties of the content of voluntary turnover, the experience of the workers that remain in the unit after the turnover events happen and how these events are clustered/dispersed over time.