Voluntary Turnover Research Articles

Organizational-level perceived support enhances organizational profitability.

Although the importance of perceived organizational support on organizational outcomes has been highlighted in the literature, research is lacking concerning how organization-wide perceptions of support by employees (organizational-level perceived support [OPS]) may contribute to organizational performance. To address this critical deficiency in the literature, we extend organizational support theory to the organizational level and examine the influence of OPS on organizational profitability. We conducted two studies with samples of 224 and 96 organizations, respectively, in South Korea and found that workforce performance (Study 1) and workforce voluntary turnover rate (Studies 1 and 2) mediate the relationship between OPS and organizational profitability. Furthermore, we found that organizational financial slack resources moderate the effect of OPS on workforce performance. Specifically, the positive effect of OPS on workforce performance, and consequently on organizational profitability, was stronger when financial slack resources were lower. Financial slack resources, however, do not moderate the relationship between OPS and voluntary turnover rate. We discuss the theoretical and practical implications of these findings. (PsycInfo Database Record (c) 2022 APA, all rights reserved).

TEAM MEMBER VOLUNTARY TURNOVER, INTRODUCTION OF NEW MEMBERS AND PROJECT PERFORMANCE

The study investigated the scenario of voluntary employee turnover in the halfway through project work and the introduction of new members to preplace those who had left. The respondents of the study were team members who remained in respective projects for the entire duration in Sri Lanka. The study context is such that employees were requested to lodge their intentions to resign at least one-month prior to the actual date of resignation. It was found that the contribution of leaving team members until the actual date of resignation is limited and it had significant effect on project performance; remaining team members’ ability to manage information transfer in view of leaving members and the contribution of new members who were hired in place of resigned members also had significant effects on project performance.

Building a pharmacy technician structure for the future: A lesson from a multihospital academic health system.

Over the past decade there has been increased attention on the need for highly skilled and trained pharmacy technicians; however, few best practices to assist health-system pharmacies in meeting technician workforce challenges have been identified. These challenges have been further revealed since 2019 through rising inflation, increased cost of living, and competing opportunities for skilled technical workers. This article describes an 18-hospital academic health system's experience implementing an innovative pharmacy technician career structure focused on increasing pharmacy technician engagement as well as improving recruitment and retention. Prior to creating a new career structure, the department of pharmacy had one development track for pharmacy technicians, which included only 2 nonsupervisory job titles. Due to recruitment, retention, and employee engagement challenges, the department of pharmacy, in collaboration with the human resources department, developed a new pharmacy technician structure that included 3 pharmacy technician tracks and 4 nonsupervisory levels. Outcomes collected to determine the success of the program included pharmacy technician engagement survey scores, annual voluntary turnover rate, rolling 12-month voluntary turnover rate, monthly vacancy rate, and average years of service at termination. The monthly discharge prescription capture rate was also measured to support efforts to keep the cost of the new structure budget neutral. The change in career structure assisted in the improvement of each outcome identified. The close collaboration of the departments of pharmacy and human resources can lead to positive solutions of national problems and have a sustained impact on department operations.

Work–life balance and work values as antecedents of job embeddedness: the case of Generation Y

PropósitoEl objetivo de esta investigación es estudiar el balance trabajo-vida y los valores laborales intrínsecos y extrínsecos como antecedentes del arraigo laboral. Asimismo, la teoría COR se utiliza como marco de estudio y así se contribuye a ampliar su campo de acción.Diseño/metodología/aproximaciónSe diseñó un estudio cuantitativo, siguiendo los lineamientos del método hipotético-deductivo. El modelo se valida en una muestra de 211 integrantes de la generación Y con experiencia laboral. Los datos se analizaron usando PLS-SEM.Hallazgosla investigación ha demostrado que el balance trabajo-vida es un antecedente del arraigo laboral para cada dimensión (vínculos, ajuste y sacrificio). En cuanto a los valores laborales, los resultados de la investigación indican que para la generación Y, son los valores intrínsecos los que son significativos.Originalidad/valorel arraigo laboral se ha estudiado en el marco de la teoría COR. De esta forma, se contribuye a ampliar el campo de acción de esta teoría en cuanto a la rotación voluntaria y los recursos tangibles o intangibles que influyen en ella. La literatura presenta opiniones diversas sobre lo que los miembros de la generación Y valoran en el lugar de trabajo y nuestros resultados muestran que aprecian el equilibrio entre la vida personal y laboral y los valores laborales intrínsecos. La muestra está compuesta por personas con experiencia laboral mientras que la investigación sobre la generación Y suele utilizar estudiantes. Las empresas podrán ofrecer beneficios más precisos para retener a la generación Y sobre la base de esta investigación.

Exploring Effective Ways to Reduce Turnover Intention Among Female Employees: The Case of U.S. Federal Employees

This study explores what aspects of workplace characteristics have more effects on turnover intention among female employees. Unlike extant turnover studies that focused on the effects of a few selected contextual factors, this study takes a comprehensive review of workplace contextual factors and analyzes the effect of each contextual factor on female employees’ turnover intention. According to the findings, female employees’ turnover intention was differently affected by most workplace contextual factors, compared to male employees’ turnover intention. OLS regression analyses showed that female employees’ turnover intention was most affected by the ‘opportunities for growth and development’ factor and least affected by the ‘feeling valued and trusted’ factor and the ‘coworker support and the spirit of camaraderie’ factor. The results can help to develop proper human resource management policies and practices for female employees and avoid unwanted voluntary turnover.

Critical latent triggers for threshold candidates at exit? A study of Korean public employees

ABSTRACT This study analyzes the effect of need satisfaction on turnover intention for public employees using Alderfer’s ERG theory. Unlike previous studies, we focus on employees that fall within the range of voluntary turnover threshold to explore which of their needs result in a significantly increased turnover intentions. That is, we examine which needs act as latent key determinants that trigger voluntary turnover. We found that job satisfaction is a factor that induces threshold candidates to voluntary turnover and may also act as a latent critical trigger that causes non-threshold candidates to enter into the threshold and the effect of job satisfaction on turnover intention was found to be greater for threshold candidates. On the other hand, lower job security satisfaction led to increased turnover intention for non-threshold candidates which suggests that dissatisfaction with job security can act as a late critical trigger that causes them to enter into turnover threshold. Lastly, Among the threshold candidates, employees with lower pay satisfaction had higher turnover intention and among the non-threshold candidates, those with lower career development satisfaction showed higher turnover intention, respectively. Our results imply that differentiated management approaches are essential between strategies to prevent employees within the threshold from exiting and strategies to prevent new entry into the threshold.

Knowledge‐sharing ties and equivalence in corporate online communities: A novel source to understand voluntary turnover

An increasing number of companies are using corporate online communities, a new information technology tool, to facilitate internal knowledge sharing. The corporate online community also offers companies a novel source to understand employee's behaviors such as voluntary turnover, an important part of workforce management. Little is known, however, about whether and to what extent an employee's voluntary turnover is related to their knowledge‐sharing activities in the corporate online community. In this study, we address this critical issue by jointly considering in‐degree ties (i.e., knowledge acquisition) and out‐degree ties (i.e., knowledge contribution), which we combine into two novel knowledge‐sharing indicators: (i) the existence of bidirectional (vs. unidirectional) knowledge‐sharing ties and (ii) the equivalence of knowledge‐sharing ties (i.e., the balance between in‐degree centrality and out‐degree centrality). We theorize the relationships between these two indicators and the likelihood of voluntary employee turnover, and we test our hypotheses by collaborating with a large company to collect official voluntary turnover records and a unique dataset of detailed knowledge‐sharing behaviors in its corporate online community. A survival model and a series of robustness checks consistently indicate that voluntary turnover is less likely among employees who establish bidirectional knowledge‐sharing ties (rather than unidirectional ties) and that voluntary turnover is less likely among those with a higher equivalence of knowledge‐sharing ties. In light of the critical role of workforce management and the extensive use of online communities, our study offers important managerial implications and can help companies better understand or predict employees’ voluntary turnover from their online knowledge‐sharing activities.

Reducing Voluntary Employee Turnover in Small Construction Companies for Long-term Productivity

Voluntary employee turnover has caused considerable damage to small construction businesses, significantly affecting productivity, profitability, and sustainability. Based on job embeddedness theory, this qualitative multiple case study aimed to explore strategies small construction business owners use to reduce voluntary employee turnover. Participants were 4 successful small construction business owners in Virginia who successfully implemented strategies that reduced voluntary employee turnover by 75% over 5 years. Data were collected from company documents and semi-structured interviews. The three primary themes that emerged from the data analysis were; effective human resource management, favorable working conditions, and employee engagement. A key recommendation for small construction business owners is to improve human resource management, working conditions, and employee engagement. Reducing voluntary employee turnover is critical to business cost reduction and increasing key business processes’ performance. In addition, small construction business owners may use the results of this study to offer job stability to employees and increase families' and governments' incomes to realize some basic projects from revenue generated by employees’ vast career opportunities.

Sorting Effects of Broad-Based Equity Compensation

We examine the sorting role of broad-based equity pay using detailed employee-level data. We propose trust in management as an important characteristic over which equity pay sorts employees, as such pay typically leaves employees with concentrated positions in employer stock and therefore more exposed to the outcomes of management’s actions. Consistent with this conjecture, we find that the relation between employees’ perceptions of management’s credibility and voluntary turnover intentions is significantly stronger in the presence of a broad-based equity plan. Our findings provide insight into how broad-based equity pay can improve firm performance despite theoretical challenges regarding its incentive effects. This paper was accepted by Suraj Srinivasan, accounting. Funding: M. Vance acknowledges financial support from fellowships received through the Institute for the Study of Employee Ownership and Profit Sharing at Rutgers University. Supplemental Material: The data files and online appendix are available at https://doi.org/10.1287/mnsc.2022.4524 .

Leadership talent mindset as a catalyst for talent management and talent retention: The case of a Botswana local government institution

Orientation: Talented employees play an essential role in the service performance of local government institutions. Unfortunately, talent management remains a neglected practice within the local government, mainly because of the absence of leadership talent mindsets.Research purpose: The main focus of this research study was to determine how leadership talent mindset influences talent management and voluntary turnover intentions of employees in a Botswana local government institution.Motivation for the study: Research on the predictive relationships between leadership talent mindset, talent management and voluntary turnover intentions is yet forthcoming in the Botswana context.Research approach/design and method: The researchers followed a quantitative research approach. Data were collected from a stratified random sample of employees (N = 405) from a Botswana local government institution. A leadership talent mindset scale, talent management measurements and voluntary turnover intentions questionnaire were administered.Main findings: The results showed a weak leadership talent mindset towards talent management. A leadership talent mindset significantly predicted poor talent management practices and voluntary turnover intentions. Talent development moderated the relationship between the leadership talent mindset and voluntary turnover intentions.Practical/managerial implications: Leaders need to adopt the appropriate talent mindsets to implement those talent management practices that will retain key and competent talent in local government institutions.Contribution/value-add: This research study advances empirical knowledge on the importance of leadership in facilitating effective talent management in local government.

Abusive Supervision and Turnover Intentions: A Mediation-Moderation Perspective

This study intended to provide and test a unique model describing how abusive supervision increases workers’ turnover intentions, with a mediating role of emotional exhaustion and moderating role of self-esteem. We argued that emotional exhaustion exacerbates the association between abusive supervision and turnover intentions of the workers, while self-esteem buffers this relationship, based on the unfolding model of voluntary turnover as an overarching theory. The study design reflected that abusive supervision and turnover intentions are mediated by emotional exhaustion, while the relationship between abusive supervision and emotional exhaustion is further moderated by self-esteem. A well-structured and self-administered questionnaire was used to collect data from 290 respondents. The data were analyzed, and hypotheses were tested using PLS-SEM. The study findings confirmed that there exists a positive and significant link between abusive supervision and turnover intentions through the indirect effect of emotional exhaustion. On the other hand, the findings regarding moderating effect indicates that self-esteem has a significant impact among abusive supervision and emotional exhaustion. This research identified a feasible way for supervisors to grasp how diverse the responses of various workers may be using the unfolding model. These research findings have important academic and practical implications for government representatives, policymakers, and entrepreneurial educational institutes that can use these findings.

Antecedents and consequences of knowledge sabotage in the Turkish telecommunication and retail sectors

PurposeThis study aims to propose and test a model explicating the antecedents and consequences of knowledge sabotage.Design/methodology/approachData obtained from 330 employees working in the Turkish retail and telecommunication sectors were analyzed by means of the Partial Least Squares Structural Equation Modeling technique.FindingsCo-worker knowledge sabotage is the key factor driving knowledge sabotage behavior of individual employees, followed by co-worker incivility. Interactional justice suppresses individual knowledge sabotage, while supervisor incivility does not affect it. Co-worker knowledge sabotage reduces job satisfaction of other employees, which, in turn, triggers their voluntary turnover intention. Contrary to a popular belief that perpetrators generally benefit from their organizational misbehavior, the findings indicate that knowledge saboteurs suffer from the consequences of their action because they find it mentally difficult to stay in their current organization. Employees understate their own knowledge sabotage engagement and/or overstate that of others.Practical implicationsManagers should realize that interactional justice is an important mechanism that can thwart knowledge sabotage behavior, promote a civil organizational culture, develop proactive approaches to reduce co-worker incivility and strive towards a zero rate of knowledge sabotage incidents in their organizations. Co-worker incivility and co-worker knowledge sabotage in the workplace are possible inhibitors of intraorganizational knowledge flows and are starting points for job dissatisfaction, which may increase workers’ turnover intention.Originality/valueThis study is among the first to further our knowledge on the cognitive mechanisms linking interactional justice and uncivil organizational behavior with knowledge sabotage and employee outcomes.

Hiring Temps but Losing Perms? Temporary Worker Inflows and Voluntary Turnover of Permanent Employees

This article investigates the effect of hiring temporary workers on the voluntary turnover of permanent employees. It argues that inflows of temporary workers erode the working conditions of permanent employees, prompting their voluntary departure. Using a unique panel dataset of individual-level monthly payroll data over an eight-year period in a sample of Spanish companies, a positive association between temporary worker inflows and the voluntary turnover of permanent workers is found. The results are robust to diverse specifications and are strongest for firms in non-manufacturing sectors and for firms that hire proportionally more low-skilled workers, contexts where the hiring of temporary workers may be more disruptive for permanent employees. Since the hiring of temporary workers is unlikely to threaten the employment of permanent employees in the dual labour market of Spain, the results indicate serious disruption costs associated with temporary hiring in organisations.

The relationship between job-hopping motives and congruence

Orientation: Many organisational turnover and vocational counselling studies have investigated the outcomes associated with person–environment fit. However, few studies have investigated the potential individual difference variables that might lead to person–environment fit.Research purpose: This study set out to investigate the relationship between job-hopping motives and interest–environment fit (i.e. congruence).Motivation for the study: Job-hopping motives reflect individual difference motives that are thought to lead to voluntary turnover behaviour over and above environmental factors. We investigated the hypothesis that these motives might lead to people entering jobs that are congruent with their interests.Research approach/design and method: A cross-sectional survey research design was used. The Job-Hopping Motives Scale was administered to 197 adults. Multiple linear regression and ridge regression were used to investigate the proposed relationships.Main findings: Job-hopping motives were related to congruence, with the escape motive showing a negative partial linear relationship with congruence and the advance motive showing no partial linear relationship with congruence.Practical/managerial implications: Our results suggest that people who have a propensity to frequently change jobs might tend to enter a job that does not necessarily match their interests. This in turn might lead to some of the negative outcomes associated with working in so-called incongruent environments, or alternatively, potentially lead to a cycle of entering and leaving jobs throughout a person’s career.Contribution/value-add: We provide evidence that job-hopping motives might be an organisational-relevant individual difference variable that might lead to working in a congruent or incongruent environment.

Voluntary Turnover and Firm Performance: Firm-Specific Human Capital Loss and Organizational Change

The purpose of this study is to explore the relationship between voluntary turnover and firm performance among Korean firms listed in the HCCP data collected in 2015. Based on the human capital view, we expect that voluntary turnover will have a negative impact on firm performance. The results obtained through the hierarchical OLS regression confirm the negative implications of voluntary turnover on firm performance, highlighting the importance of retaining human capital. In addition, from the contingency perspective, we examined the interaction effect of firm-specific human capital (FSHC) Loss and organizational change. Results show that organizational change alleviates the negative impact of voluntary turnover, implying that firms will suffer less when implementing a higher degree of organizational change. However, no significant result was found for FSHC Loss. Then, we found that the significant three-way interaction effect of FSHC and organizational change. The result suggests that the negative impact of voluntary turnover is neutralized when firms implement a higher degree of organizational change by minimizing the loss of FSHC. We also provide theoretical and practical implications.

Antecedents and Consequences of Entrepreneurial Careers: Integrate Micro and Macro Perspectives

This symposium focuses on the antecedents and consequences of an entrepreneurial career. Underlying this focus is the view that entrepreneurship is a career step along a career path as opposed to a final destination (Burton et al., 2016). Four studies in this symposium examine key issues relevant to different stages of an entrepreneurial career, including the pre-entry learning processes that shape entrepreneurial entry decisions and the type of venture founded, the impact of entrepreneurial experience on entrepreneurs’ personality and skillsets, and former entrepreneurs’ behaviors (e.g., turnover) and performance implications (e.g., innovation) in post- entrepreneurship wage employment. Implications for theory and practice will be discussed. Following the paper presentations, Scott Seibert and Aleksandra (Olenka) Kacperczyk, two distinguished experts on entrepreneurship and careers representing different theoretical traditions (micro and macro, respectively), will serve as our discussants to offer theoretical and practical suggestions, identify promising research opportunities, and stimulate an interactive group discussion. The Entrepreneurial Pre-Entry Process: Evidence from the Informal Economy Presenter: SHELTER SELORM TEYI; Copenhagen Business School Presenter: Marcus Møller Larsen; Copenhagen Business School Presenter: Vera Rocha; Copenhagen Business School Rethinking the personality-entrepreneurship link: Can entrepreneurship change your personality? Presenter: Leigh Mellish; UNSW Sydney Presenter: Siran Zhan; U. of New South Wales Presenter: Amirali Minbashian; UNSW Business School, Australia Prior entrepreneurial experience and voluntary turnover in subsequent wage employment Presenter: Siran Zhan; U. of New South Wales Presenter: Liwen Zhang; U. of Macau Presenter: Yu Wu; UNSW Sydney Hiring Entrepreneurs for Innovation Presenter: Louise Lindbjerg; PhD Student Presenter: Theodor Lucian Vladasel; U. Pompeu Fabra and Barcelona GSE

Forgive and Forget? How Ease and Desirability of Movement Impact Layoff Victim Goodwill

With employee layoffs becoming a pervasive practice utilized by organizations to cope with environmental changes, layoff victims represent a growing class of ex-employees for organizations that deserve renewed attention. Existing research has assumed that layoffs essentially represent a permanent termination of the relationship between the employee and the organization, yet empirical evidence suggests that layoff victims may exhibit a willingness to recommend their former employer to others (organizational endorsement) and even an interest in returning for re-employment with the firm (boomerang intentions). We draw on and integrate March and Simon’s voluntary turnover framework and concepts from boundaryless careers theory (physical and psychological mobility) to argue that perceived ease of movement and desirability of movement (person-organization fit) will differentially affect victims’ willingness to endorse or return to a former employer. Specifically, we expect both perceived ease of movement and PO fit will be positively related to boomerang intentions, but only desirability of movement will influence organizational endorsement. Using three-wave longitudinal data collected from individuals laid off from multiple organizations, we find strong support for our hypotheses.

Laissez-faire Leadership and Turnover: The Role of Employee’s Organizational Identity Threat

While research has largely explored the effects of leadership on employee turnover, the mechanisms explaining the effects of passive forms of leadership, such as laissez-faire leadership, on turnover remain unexplored. As agent of liaison between employees and the organization, leaders have an important role in fostering the meaning of their employee’s membership in the organization. According to social identity theory, employees develop a sense of organizational identity based on their membership to the organization. When laissez-faire leaders do not interact with their employees and neglect them, they may threaten the value of employees’ membership in the organization, and as such their organizational identity. Thus, we introduce the construct of organizational identity threat to explain how laissez-faire leadership enhances turnover among subordinates. We specifically posited that laissez-faire leadership would relate to reduced employee psychological attachment (i.e., affective organizational commitment) to the organization, increased psychological detachment (i.e., turnover intentions), and increased likelihood of voluntary turnover through organizational identity threat. These predictions were tested in two studies using three-wave time-lagged designs. Study 1 (N = 757) found that organizational identity threat mediated the relationship between laissez-faire leadership and turnover intentions and affective organizational commitment. Study 2 (N = 731) replicated these results, while controlling for the effect of workplace isolation. Moreover, we found that laissez-faire leadership had positive indirect effect on employee actual turnover through organizational identity threat. The implications of these results for laissez-faire leadership and turnover research are discussed.

How Are Newcomer Proactive Behaviors Received by Leaders and Peers? A Relational Perspective

Although most studies have shown that newcomers benefit from proactive behaviors, such behaviors are not always viewed positively by others in the workplace, resulting in negative consequences for newcomers. Drawing on uncertainty reduction and social cognitive theories, we contend that newcomer proactive behaviors are viewed positively by competent leaders and peers but negatively by leaders and peers who are low in competence. Further, we argue that newcomer proactive behaviors impact leader and peer threat perceptions and subsequent relationships with them, which in turn influences newcomer turnover. We empirically tested our hypotheses in two three-wave multi-source studies, utilizing a sample of 665 newcomers (288 newcomers for Study 1 and 377 newcomers for Study 2), 232 leaders (100 leaders for Study 1 and 132 leaders for Study 2), and 2044 peers (1323 peers for Study 1 and 721 peers for Study 2). Supporting our hypotheses, when leaders and peers are high in competence, through impacting leader and peer threat perceptions, newcomer proactive behaviors resulted in higher quality exchange relationships with leaders (LMX) and stronger friendships with peers, respectively. These cascading effects reduce newcomer voluntary turnover. Implications for how newcomer proactive behaviors impact relationships in the workplace and turnover are discussed.

Hierarchy and Teams

An understanding of hierarchy in teams is crucial to the understanding of social structures in collectives and societies. Hierarchy is a fundamental element of social life and a predictor of individual and collective behaviors. Status and power, two of the most studied hierarchical dimensions, have received considerable attention in the social science literature (Blader & Chen, 2012; Blau, 1964; Fiske, 2010; Kemper, 2006; Magee & Galinsky, 2008; Weber, 1964). However, existing research on hierarchy has focused largely on its individual- level effects (see Magee & Galinky, 2008 and Li, Chen, & Blader, 2016 for reviews). Only recently have researchers turned their attention to examining social hierarchy in the team context (Bendersky & Hayes, 2012; Hays et al., 2021; Tarakci, Greer, & Groenen, 2016). Hierarchy in teams—one of the most proximal collectives for employees—influences how they behave and are perceived not only within the team, but also outside of the team (Ertug & Castellucci, 2013; Lahiri, Pahnke, Howard, & Boeker, 2017). This symposium aims to contribute to this emerging and important trend of studying status and power in the team context. We believe that our symposium will help generate new perspectives and important questions regarding hierarchy and teams. We hope that it will facilitate sophisticated theorizing and rigorous empirics for this line of research. How Team Performance and Its Trajectory Influence Voluntary Turnover: A Status Perspective Presenter: Jiani Zhu; Georgia Institute of Technology Presenter: Huisi Li; Georgia Institute of Technology Perceived Status Hierarchy Accuracy and Intergroup Negotiation Performance Presenter: Siyu Yu; Jones Graduate School of Business, Rice U. Presenter: Gavin J. Kilduff; New York U. Presenter: Yu Yang; ShanghaiTech U. Second in Command or Second Opinion? Testing a Dual-path Model of Informal Leader Emergence Presenter: Edward McClain Wellman; Arizona State U. Presenter: Min Yu; Arizona State U. Presenter: Luke Hedden; Boston College The Reciprocal Relationship between Power and Status Presenter: James Garrett Matusik; U. of Georgia Presenter: Rebecca Mitchell; U. of Colorado Boulder Presenter: Nicholas Hays; Michigan State U. Mean Dependence and Systematic Bias in Studies of Social Hierarchy in Teams Presenter: Brian Alan Burgess; Michigan State U. Presenter: Daniel Jacob Griffin; Michigan State U.