Collective Turnover Research Articles

When it rains, it pours: A triple-pathway model of collective turnover based on causal mapping analysis

As modern organizations become increasingly knowledge intensive, collective turnover, a phenomenon of knowledge spillover or transfer, is gradually receiving greater attention from scholars. Given that most studies have focused on the detrimental organizational consequences of collective turnover, this paper proposes a relational perspective to explore three distinct process models of dispersed, translocated, and entrepreneurial collective turnover. Based on a causal mapping analysis conducted in China of 25 collective turnover events that can demonstrate complex turnover processes over time, this study found that dispersed collective turnover, in which a group of members quit and scatter, is more likely to be triggered by shared job dissatisfaction. While translocated collective turnover, in which organizational members collectively mobilize in the same organization, is highly associated with attractive external lures. In contrast, entrepreneurial collective turnover, in which a group of members leave to start a new business together, is developed through a group process of entrepreneurial passion contagion. The ensuing triple-pathway model helps to enrich the theoretical understanding of collective turnover by clarifying the contextual differences regarding the effects of turnover destination on the important process of collective turnover.

One hundred years of employee turnover theory and research.

We review seminal publications on employee turnover during the 100-year existence of the Journal of Applied Psychology. Along with classic articles from this journal, we expand our review to include other publications that yielded key theoretical and methodological contributions to the turnover literature. We first describe how the earliest papers examined practical methods for turnover reduction or control and then explain how theory development and testing began in the mid-20th century and dominated the academic literature until the turn of the century. We then track 21st century interest in the psychology of staying (rather than leaving) and attitudinal trajectories in predicting turnover. Finally, we discuss the rising scholarship on collective turnover given the centrality of human capital flight to practitioners and to the field of human resource management strategy. (PsycINFO Database Record

The Strategic Value of Selection Practices: Antecedents and Consequences of Firm-level Selection Practice Usage

The expectation that selection practices contribute to organizational performance has been long assumed; however, research on personnel selection has neglected to consider why firms differ in their use of selection practices and whether selection practices relate to organizational performance under different competitive environments. Based on strategic human resource management research, we introduce contingency theory to examine whether external (industry characteristics) and internal (prior firm performance and collective turnover) environments affect the use of selection practices, how the adoption of selection practices relates to subsequent firm performance, and whether the external (industry) and internal (selection stages and collective turnover) environments moderate the selection–performance relationship. Using a sample of 413 firms, we found that firms use more selection practices when there is less collective turnover and when firms are within low-growth and stable industries. The results also ...

Moving Forward at AMJ

Academy of Management JournalVol. 60, No. 1 From the EditorsMoving Forward at AMJJason D. ShawJason D. ShawThe Hong Kong Polytechnic UniversityPublished Online:18 Jan 2017https://doi.org/10.5465/amj.2017.4001AboutSectionsView articleView Full TextPDF/EPUB ToolsDownload CitationsAdd to favoritesTrack Citations ShareShare onFacebookTwitterLinkedInRedditEmail View articleREFERENCESBamberger P., Ang S. 2016. The quantitative discovery: What it is and how to get it published. Academy of Management Discoveries, 2: 1–6.Link , Google ScholarCerasoli C. P., Nicklin J. M., Ford M. T. 2014. Intrinsic motivation and extrinsic incentives jointly predict performance: A 40-year meta-analysis. Psychological Bulletin, 140: 980–1008. Google ScholarColquitt J. A. 2011. From the editors: The next three years at AMJ—Maintaining the mission while expanding the Journal. Academy of Management Journal, 54: 9–14.Link , Google ScholarColquitt J. A. 2013. From the editors: The last three years at AMJ: Celebrating the big purple tent. Academy of Management Journal, 56: 1511–1515.Link , Google ScholarColquitt J. A., Scott B. A., Rodell J. B., Long D. M., Zapata C. P., Conlon D. E., Wesson M. J. 2013. Justice at the millennium, a decade later: A meta-analytic test of social exchange and affect-based perspectives. The Journal of Applied Psychology, 98: 199–236. Google ScholarCortina J. M. 2016. Defining and operationalizing theory. Journal of Organizational Behavior, 37: 1142–1149. Google ScholarDavis G. F. 2015. Editorial essay: What is organizational research for? Administrative Science Quarterly, 60: 179–188. Google ScholarHeavey A. L., Holwerda J. A., Hausknecht J. P. 2013. Causes and consequences of collective turnover: A meta-analytic review. The Journal of Applied Psychology, 98: 412–453. Google ScholarPark T. Y., Shaw J. D. 2013. Turnover rates and organizational performance: A meta-analysis. The Journal of Applied Psychology, 98: 268–309. Google ScholarShaw J. D., Gupta N., Delery J. E. 2005. Alternative conceptualizations of the relationship between voluntary turnover and organizational performance. Academy of Management Journal, 48: 50–68.Link , Google ScholarFiguresReferencesRelatedDetailsCited byFrom the Editors—An Innovative Journal during Transformational Times: Embarking on the 23rd Editorial TermMarc Gruber17 February 2023 | Academy of Management Journal, Vol. 66, No. 1Advantages of Starting with TheoryJason D. Shaw6 June 2017 | Academy of Management Journal, Vol. 60, No. 3New Ways of Seeing: Elaboration on a ThemeJason D. Shaw, Pratima (Tima) Bansal and Marc Gruber24 March 2017 | Academy of Management Journal, Vol. 60, No. 2 Vol. 60, No. 1 Permissions Metrics in the past 12 months History Published online 18 January 2017 Published in print 1 February 2017 Information© Academy of Management JournalDownload PDF

Linking HRM Practices and Institutional Setting to Collective Turnover: An Empirical Exploration

The present study addresses the relationship between human resources management (HRM) practices and employee turnover by taking into account the influence of socioeconomic environment. Data was collected at company level with an international sample of 830 companies from 12 countries (Netherlands, Belgium, United Kingdom, Brazil, Switzerland, China, France, Italy, Poland, Germany, South Africa, and Spain). A division into four bundles of human resources (HR) practices is introduced: remunerative, communication, developmental, and well-being practices. The influence of the socioeconomic environment was factored in by including the institutional setting in terms of the level of coordination as a country-level variable. The results showed that collective turnover is related to both a country’s institutional determinants and to company HR practices. Remunerative HR practices may have a negative influence in terms of enhancing turnover, particularly within countries high in coordination. HR well-being practices are the most beneficial practices in terms of reducing employee turnover. Our study adds to our knowledge on the relation between HR practices and turnover from an international perspective. It complements the empirical knowledge on the effectiveness of HRM practices in a cross-national setting and supports the notion that the institutional context should be given more attention when studying HR effectiveness.

Collective turnover: An expanded meta-analytic exploration and comparison

As evidenced by the publication of three meta-analyses in 2013, the importance of collective turnover is garnering increasing attention. Although each of these meta-analyses delivers a unique and significant impact to the HR literature, there remain opportunities to expand and build upon their contributions. In a comparison of the three extant meta-analyses, we found over 90 unique papers that were included in only one of each of the three studies, and >10 new studies published since 2013. We combined and expanded the existing meta-analyses, offering a comparison of results, as well as contributing to a greater understanding of the role of collective turnover. In the most comprehensive analysis to date, analyzing 2149 effect sizes from 159 studies across 150 articles, we find both support for and divergence from several previously examined relationships, as well as evidence of a curvilinear turnover-performance relationship and of the contagious influence of turnover.

Collective Turnover and Unit Performance: Do Temporary Workers Matter?

In this paper, using monthly data from 2007 to 2014 from a Multinational Company, provider of food & beverage and retail services for travelers, we investigate the effects of the turnover of worker...

Collective Turnover: The Loss of Human Capital and Stars

Recent years have witnessed significant research interest in unit and organizational performance consequences associated with collective-level turnover. In a relatively short period of time, quite ...

Cause and effect: An Expanded Meta-Analytic Exploration and Comparison of Collective Turnover

As evidenced by the publication of three meta-analyses in 2013, the importance of collective turnover is garnering increasing attention. While each of these meta-analyses delivers a unique and sign...

Skill underutilization and collective turnover in a professional service firm

Purpose– The purpose of this paper is to examine skill underutilization and collective turnover in a large professional service firm (PSF). The authors hypothesize that skill underutilization is positively related to collective turnover, that skill underutilization is greater among professionals than nonprofessionals, and that the positive relationship between skill underutilization and collective turnover is stronger for professionals than for nonprofessionals.Design/methodology/approach– Using survey data from a large PSF, the authors test these predictions across 191 groups (professional and nonprofessional) in 80 offices. Collective turnover rates were taken from company records one year after the survey was administered.Findings– The authors find support for the prediction that skill underutilization is positively related to collective turnover. In addition, skill underutilization is greater among professionals than nonprofessionals within a PSF. However, the relationship between skill underutilization and collective turnover did not differ between professionals and nonprofessionals.Research limitations/implications– While the authors find that skill underutilization is positively related to collective turnover, future research is needed to measure the group processes that occur among group members and lead to collective turnover. Limitations of this study include the inability to validate the aggregation of data from the individual level to the group level, and the generalizability of findings to other PSFs or to involuntary turnover situations.Practical implications– Understanding the antecedents of collective turnover is of particular concern to PSFs, as they are composed of highly skilled, intrinsically motivated professionals, who generate value for the firm. These findings are particularly timely, given the significant levels of underemployment in countries throughout the world.Originality/value– In addition to extending skill underutilization and collective turnover research to the occupational group level, the findings highlight the importance of providing development opportunities for employees during difficult economic conditions in order to minimize collective turnover.

The Characteristics, Motivations and Organizational Outcomes of Collective Turnover in China: An Analysis of 65 Collective Turnover Events

这份报纸分析从 2000 年发生了到 2011 的 65 个有影响的集体周转事件。首先发现是集体周转是最可能的发生在部的水平因为在一样的部门的职员趋于更容易到达集体一致。第二发现是集体周转更经常发生在象它那样的工业，零卖并且银行。第三发现是集体周转经常以经理的周转开始在部或高级。与集体周转的进一步的探索，我们注意到机构的环境在瓷器经济转变期间是集体周转，和不适当的管理政策上的外部限制是内部开车因素。我们也发现动机在组织在不同层次为雇员变化。最后，我们断定集体周转的组织上的结果是不仅与象经验应该也被考虑的相对周转比率，出现频率，雇员类型，等级和工作那样的集体周转的周转，而是优秀因素的绝对水平连接了。

A Two-Phase Longitudinal Model of a Turnover Event: Disruption, Recovery Rates, and Moderators of Collective Performance

Blending theory on collective turnover and group adaptability, this paper develops a two-phase longitudinal model that explains how and why an individual-level turnover event has effects on collect...

The Dynamic Nature of Collective Turnover and Unit Performance: The Impact of Time, Quality, and Replacements

This study builds from context-emergent turnover theory to examine the dynamic properties of turnover rates, including: (a) the changing quality and quantity of the human capital resources that depart, (b) the changing turnover dispersion (i.e., how distributed turnover events are over time), and (c) the changing quality and quantity of replacement hires. We examine these properties using data drawn from a sample of retail employees nested within stores of a prominent U.S. retail chain over five quarters, and show that the turnover rate (level) is conceptually and empirically distinct from turnover rate change, and that the two interact with each other to influence changes in unit performance. We also find that the relationship between turnover rate change and change in unit performance is moderated by both the quality of those who leave as well as turnover dispersion. Overall, we contribute to turnover rate, staffing, and human capital resource literatures by testing core context-emergent turnover theory propositions to show when, why, and how turnover rate change and replacement hires, as part of a holistic human capital resource system, influence unit performance.

Exploring the Influence of Economic Conditions on Collective Turnover in the Federal Government

This study is a preliminary research to explore how changes in economic conditions impact turnover intention in the U.S. federal bureaucracy during the period from 2006 to 2011. With the main predi...

Human Capital and Productivity: The Impact of Collective Employee Inflows and Outflows

This study draws on collective turnover and human capital theories to understand the effects of employee inflows and outflows on the relationship between collective human capital and labor producti...

"Managing Stock and Flow of Human Capital: Inflow, Outflow, and Stock Stability"

We advance the collective turnover literature by investigating the effects of human capital outflow, inflow, and the stock stability on organizational performance. Building on the human capital stock and flow model, we theorize that negative effects of human capital outflow—measured as voluntary turnover rates—are influenced differently by the types of human capital inflow— measured as inexperience and experienced hires. In addition, we also investigate how human capital stock stability— measured as employment variability—influences the human capital outflow and organizational performance relationship. Using balanced panel data from six years of biennial surveys of 310 Korean firms merged with archival data, we show that the turnover rates and organizational performance relationship is weakened when a firm hires inexperienced workers at high rates, but not when it hires experienced workers at high rates. In addition, the turnover-performance relationship was weakened when employment variability was high. We discuss the implications for future turnover, staffing, and human resource management research and practice.

Unmasking Turnover: Effects of Voluntary and Involuntary Separations on Unit Performance in the Retail Sector

Whereas most previous studies of the effects of employee turnover on performance have used an aggregate measure of total turnover, this paper examines differences in the effects of collective involuntary and voluntary turnover. Analyzing 24-month observations for the stores of an apparel retailer, and using fixed-effects and instrumental variables estimation, we found that voluntary turnover was negatively (although not significantly) related to store performance. In contrast, involuntary turnover due to discharges and terminations of replacements was significantly and positively related to both store productivity and efficiency. These results show that the “functionality of turnover” depends on the nature of employees’ separations. In addition, the results suggest the need to expand the range of methods used for analyzing the link between collective turnover and organizational performance.

The Mediating Effect of Burnout on the Relationships between Music Therapists’ Collective Self-Esteem and Turnover Intention

The Mediating Effect of Burnout on the Relationships between Music Therapists’ Collective Self-Esteem and Turnover Intention

Spotlight on Age‐Diversity Climate: The Impact of Age‐Inclusive HR Practices on Firm‐Level Outcomes

This study investigates the emergence and the performance effects of an age‐diversity climate at the organizational level of analysis. Building upon Kopelman and colleagues’ (Kopelman, Brief, & Guzzo, ) climate model of firm productivity as well as Cox's () interactional model of cultural diversity, we hypothesize a positive influence of age‐inclusive HR practices on the development of an organization‐wide age‐diversity climate, which in turn should be directly related to collective perceptions of social exchange and indirectly to firm performance and employees’ collective turnover intentions. The assumed relationships are tested in a sample of 93 German small and medium‐sized companies with 14,260 employees participating. To circumvent common source problems, information for the various constructs was gathered from 6 different sources. To test our assumed relationships, we applied structural equation modeling and executed bootstrapping procedures to test the significance of the indirect effects. We received support for all assumed relationships. The paper concludes with practical recommendations on how to establish and make use of a positive age‐diversity climate.

How organizational support impacts affective commitment and turnover among Italian nurses: a multilevel mediation model

This study examines multilevel relationships between perceived organizational support (POS), affective commitment and voluntary turnover among nurses. We explored the mediation role of affective commitment between POS and turnover behavior at both individual and work-unit levels. This cross-level study involved 945 Italian nurses from 60 work units. We hypothesized and showed that collective affective commitment fully mediated the impact of climate for POS on individual and collective turnover among nurses. This study helps explain the variance in turnover among nurses in healthcare organizations by analyzing the influence of unit-level climate on individual behavior. Results stress that social environments within wards are important in explaining the processes by which nurses decide to quit their work unit.