Organizational embeddedness,turnover intentions,and voluntary turnover: The moderating effects of employee demographic characteristics and value orientations

To explain why some employees who experience high embeddedness contemplate leaving their organizations and others do not, we examined the moderating effects of employee demographic characteristics (age and gender) and value orientations (individualism and risk aversion) between organizational embeddedness and turnover intentions. Turnover intentions were further expected to increase voluntary turnover. Data were collected from 643 full‐time employees at three points in time over a 12‐month time period in a wide range of organizations in Japan, a relatively low turnover context with little prior embeddedness research. Findings show that gender and risk aversion moderate the relationship between organizational embeddedness and turnover intentions, which in turn predict voluntary turnover. Copyright © 2014 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Underemployment,job attitudes,and turnover intentions

We surveyed three distinct samples of employees (Ns of 238, 102, and 981) in order to examine relations among various types of underemployment, job satisfaction, organizational commitment, and turnover intentions. Each dimension of underemployment is explored as a case of poor person‐job fit, and the fit literature is used to produce hypotheses about these relations. We also developed and validated the 9‐item Scale of Perceived Overqualification (SPOQ) to tap employee perceptions of surplus education, experience, and KSAs (knowledge, skills, and abilities). In general, perceptions of underemployment were associated with poor job satisfaction, particularly for facets with a direct causal relationship with the specific dimension of underemployment, such as overqualification and satisfaction with work. Perceived overqualification was also related to lower affective commitment, and higher intentions to turnover. For part‐time work, negative attitudes were only found when employees expressed a preference for full‐time work; a similar trend was not found for temporary workers, however. Implications for theory, research, and practice are delineated. Copyright © 2006 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

The need to consider time,level, and trends: A turnover perspective

We focus on the contributions to research generated by considering attitudes and behaviors as dynamic over time and across different levels. Using turnover research as an example, we demonstrate how a past, present, and future focus, across levels, may enhance both theory and methodology. Copyright © 2013 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Organizational commitment,turnover and absenteeism: An examination of direct and interaction effects

A three component model of organizational commitment was used to study job withdrawal intentions, turnover and absenteeism. Affective commitment emerged as the most consistent predictor of these outcome variables and was the only view of commitment related to turnover and to absenteeism. In contrast, normative commitment was related only to withdrawal intentions while no direct effects for continuance commitment were observed. Continuance commitment, however, interacted with affective commitment in predicting job withdrawal intentions and absenteeism. The form of the interaction was such that high sunk costs tempered relationships between affective commitment and the relevant outcome variables.     

Role stress,physical symptomatology,and turnover intentions: A causal analysis of three alternative specifications

Causal relationships involving role stressors, physical symptomatology, and turnover intentions were examined within three alternative specifications. These specifications stemmed from Beehr and Newman's (1978) and Schuler's (1982) models of role stress and Locke's (1976) theory of job satisfaction. The results, derived from LISREL VI analyses, indicate that a revised Schuler model is the most plausible specification. Findings are discussed in terms of implications for understanding role stress and employee withdrawal.     

Organizational culture,person–culture fit,and turnover: a replication in the health care industry

This study replicates an earlier study of O'Reilly, Chatman and Caldwell (1991) demonstrating that the level of congruence between an organization's culture and its new employees' value preferences is a predictor of turnover. This replication research was conducted in the health care industry in Belgium. As expected, the congruence between the values of the hospital and nursing recruits' preferred values was predictive of nurses staying with their organization 1 year after congruence was measured. The significance of this replication is discussed. Copyright © 1999 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

STEMming the tide: New perspectives on careers and turnover

The question of why so many people leave science, technology, engineering and mathematics (STEM) jobs continues to echo through social science research and Government policy. This is not surprising given the considerable investments into uptake and quality of STEM education and that STEM workers have a pivotal role to play in addressing current and future grand challenges. Yet, too many individuals with tertiary degrees in STEM—disproportionately women, racial minorities, and the underprivileged—leave or pursue careers in non-STEM fields. While demand for employment in STEM continues to grow, such persistent STEM defections present a significant challenge. We offer an integrative special issue of eight empirical articles capturing current thinking and evidence on employee retention and turnover, both within and beyond the realm of STEM. Our thematic analysis of the articles reveals overarching themes around the fundamental question of why people choose to stay in their jobs and why they leave. From this, we provide a future research agenda recognizing the myriad work and nonwork factors influencing the desire and ability to stay in one's chosen profession, particularly in critical sectors where gender and minority attrition rates prevail.     

Predicting turnover: A comparison of part-time and full-time employees

The predictability of turnover was compared for part-time versus full-time workers. This was accomplished using variables (1) that were hypothesized by Mobley (1977) to precede the turnover decision and (2) that have been shown in previous research to be significantly related to turnover. Measures of these variables were assessed via questionnaires following the second month of employment. Turnover was assessed directly from company records for a period of up to twelve months following employment. None of the hypothesized antecedent variables were significantly related to turnover within the part-time group. However, within the full-time group, all of the hypothesized precursors to turnover were found to be at least marginally related to actual turnover. Further, there was evidence to suggest differential predictability of turnover across full-time and part-time employment status groups, suggesting that the two groups may have a different ‘psychology of work’. These results are discussed in terms of the supportive evidence provided.     

Survival versus traditional methodologies for studying employee turnover: differences,divergences and directions for future research

Despite initial enthusiasm for using survival analysis techniques to gain new insights into employee turnover, nearly one decade later hardly any studies based on survival methodologies are evident in the literature. Consequently, the potential for survival analysis to open new avenues in turnover research remains unassessed, and the need for research on this topic is readily apparent. In this study, survival analysis methods were compared with those inherent in ‘traditional’ turnover research. Results indicated significant divergences between these two methods. The traditional turnover methodology reproduced findings characteristic of the vast majority of research on this topic—job withdrawal intentions emerged as the sole predictor of employee turnover behavior. In contrast, continuance commitment and ethnicity were directly predictive of turnover behavior using survival analysis methods. Implications of these results and directions for future research are discussed. Copyright © 1999 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Predictors of turnover amongst volunteers: A systematic review and meta-analysis

Volunteers represent a global workforce equivalent to 61 million full-time workers. A significant decline in volunteering has highlighted the urgency to better understand and address turnover amongst volunteers. To address this, we conducted a systematic review and meta-analysis of turnover amongst volunteers. We also examined whether staying or leaving has different predictors. The meta-analysis integrated and synthesized 117 studies, encompassing 1104 effect sizes across 55 335 volunteer workers, to identify and quantify relationships between turnover and the broad range of variables that have been examined in the volunteer work domain. Amongst the strongest predictors of volunteer turnover were attitudinal variables, in particular, job satisfaction (ρ = −.58), affective commitment (ρ = −.58), engagement (ρ = −.54) and organizational commitment (ρ = −.54). Contextual variables that showed the largest effects included communication (ρ = .62), organizational support (ρ = −.61) and the quality of the relationship between volunteers and their leader (leader-member exchange, ρ = −.55). We synthesize our findings into an integrative framework delineating the predictors of volunteer turnover. In doing so, we extend turnover research to consider non-remunerated work contexts and provide a basis for developing turnover theory that is responsive to the unique experience of volunteers.     

Precursors of employee turnover: A multiple-sample causal analysis

Two models of the nature of linkages among precursors of voluntary turnover were examined using four distinct samples. A model which includes both job satisfaction and organizational commitment as exogenous variables leading to one's intention to resign was shown to provide results which support its usage in future research. Analyses of longitudinal data for precursors across two points in time, before turnover, however, provided only weak support for causality.     

Self-monitoring and turnover: The impact of personality on intent to leave

Employee turnover is a topic of considerable interest within most organizations. Despite years of research, the antecedents of turnover remain elusive. Traditionally, studies have focused on job satisfaction and organizational commitment as the primary precursors of voluntary (as distinguished from involuntary) turnover. Increasingly, however, researchers have suggested investigating possible personality variables that may help explain even more variance in turnover. The social psychological construct of self-monitoring was found to be such a variable. After the traditional predictors of satisfaction and commitment had been entered, self-monitoring accounted for previously unexplained variance in turnover intentions. Furthermore, the pattern of relationships among the variables of job satisfaction, organizational commitment, and turnover intentions differed for high and low self-monitors. Specifically, commitment was a better indicator of intent to leave among low self-monitors but job satisfaction showed a stronger relationship among high self-monitors. Implications for the organization and suggestions for further research are discussed.     

A meta‐analysis of the interrelationships between employee lateness,absenteeism, and turnover: Implications for models of withdrawal behavior

We meta‐analyzed the correlations between voluntary employee lateness, absenteeism, and turnover to (i) provide the most comprehensive estimates to date of the interrelationships between these withdrawal behaviors; (ii) test the viability of a withdrawal construct; and (iii) evaluate the evidence for competing models of the relationships between withdrawal behaviors (i.e., alternate forms, compensatory forms, independent forms, progression of withdrawal, and spillover model). Corrected correlations were .26 between lateness and absenteeism, .25 between absenteeism and turnover, and .01 between lateness and turnover. These correlations were even smaller in recent studies that had been carried out since the previous meta‐analyses of these relationships 15–20 years ago. The small‐to‐moderate intercorrelations are not supportive of a withdrawal construct that includes lateness, absenteeism, and turnover. These intercorrelations also rule out many of the competing models of the relationships between withdrawal behaviors, as many of the models assume all relationships will be positive, null, or negative. On the basis of path analyses using meta‐analytic data, the progression of withdrawal model garnered the most support. This suggests that lateness may moderately predict absenteeism and absenteeism may moderately predict turnover. Copyright © 2011 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Employee's turnover intentions and job destination choices

Employee's job destination choices, as part of the turnover process, reflect options for internal organizational or external labor market moves. A sample of 477 employees in 15 firms was used to decipher how bio‐demographic, job, plant, and labor market characteristics are related to five alternative job destinations. Multivariate logistic regression and odds–ratio analyses compared the five models confirming that different sets of variables influence each of the destination choices. Coworkers' intentions have a major significant impact on all destination options. The findings have implications for present turnover models, career paths, and promotion progression in the firm. Copyright © 2001 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Procedural justice's relationship with turnover: explaining past inconsistent findings

Despite arguments for a significant negative relationship, there have been ambiguous findings on the empirical relationship between procedural justice and turnover behavior. This study attempts to clarify these past findings by examining the effects of multiple dimensions of procedural justice on the voluntary turnover behavior of nurses in a work‐scheduling context (N = 190). The advance notice and consistency dimensions were significantly and negatively correlated with turnover behavior. Two dimensions of procedural justice had divergent effects on actual turnover behaviors in a logistic regression model. Advance notice was negatively related to turnover, while representativeness of views was positively related to turnover. Copyright © 2006 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Voluntary employee turnover: combining variables from the ‘traditional’ turnover literature with the theory of planned behavior

In this study we tried to answer the question of whether the three predictors from the theory of planned behavior provide a satisfactory explanation for intentions and behaviors in the context of voluntary employee turnover. We examined whether variables which have traditionally played a prominent role in the study of turnover, i.e., job satisfaction, organizational commitment, age, and tenure, were capable of explaining additional variance in turnover intentions and voluntary turnover. We conducted a longitudinal study in which 296 respondents serving as professionals in the Royal Netherlands Navy completed a questionnaire. Half a year later they were asked to answer a second identical questionnaire; data were obtained from 202 participants who answered all relevant questions in both questionnaires. Their actual behavior (staying versus leaving) was registered during a 2‐year period following the completion of the first questionnaire. Behavioral intentions proved to be the best predictor of turnover in which the effects of all other variables were accounted for. Job satisfaction and tenure explained a significant proportion of the variance in intentions after the effects of the predictors from the theory of planned behavior had been taken into account. The results are discussed in relation to theoretical, methodological, and practical issues. Copyright © 2004 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Withdrawal and restraining factors in teachers' turnover intentions

This study examines how work-related withdrawal-inducing and restraining factors affect the intention to leave work of male and female teachers. It is assumed that while these intentions are induced by the employee's affective reaction to the work environment, they are also restrained by those personal gains and advantages provided by the present job that cannot be transferred to another. A path analysis performed on data collected from 239 high school teachers in Israel indicates some differences between the male and female groups. Some restraining effects on the intentions to resign were found among both, but the prevailing assumption that affective work reactions mediate between work environment and the intent to leave, was found among male teachers only. This and other observed differences in the predictors of male and female teachers' intentions to resign question the generality of prevailing assumptions of the psychological process of withdrawal. The need for gender adjustments in withdrawal models is proposed.     

A predictive study of emotional labor and turnover

The current study examined how the emotional labor strategies of deep acting and surface acting directly influence emotional exhaustion and turnover intentions, and indirectly impact actual turnover among a sample of bank tellers. Turnover data were collected from organizational records 6 months after participants responded to a survey that measured emotional labor strategies, emotional exhaustion, and turnover intentions. Results showed that turnover intentions mediated the relationship between deep acting and actual turnover. Additionally, surface acting had indirect effects on turnover through emotional exhaustion and turnover intentions. Copyright © 2009 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

To stay or to go: voluntary survivor turnover following an organizational downsizing

This paper examines the relationship between survivor reactions to a downsizing and retention subsequent to a downsizing. We hypothesize that survivors who experience the downsizing as distributively, procedurally, and interactionally just and who see top management as trustworthy will feel more attached to the organization because each reduces the threat inherent in downsizing. In addition, we hypothesize that survivors who feel empowered will also feel more attached to the organization because they feel better able to cope with the downsizing. We further hypothesize that those survivors who feel more attached to the organization following the downsizing will be more likely to remain with the organization in the coming year. The theoretical model is tested on a sample of aerospace employees who survived an organizational downsizing. The trustworthiness of management, distributive justice, procedural justice, and three dimensions of empowerment are found to facilitate more organizational attachment. Higher levels of attachment are found, in turn, to facilitate less voluntary turnover in the year following the downsizing. Copyright © 2002 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.