Handbook of Principles of Organizational Behavior - Soltanieh ...

CONCLUSION
CONTROL VOLUNTARY TURNOVER BY UNDERSTANDING ITS CAUSES
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In our view, this chapter mirrors a larger megapoint that underlies this entire volume.
More specifically, the research on organizational behavior offers discernible,
interpretable, logically consistent, and empirically verifi able foundation principles.
With respect to controlling turnover, we confi dently advise the following. First, consider
whether selective retention and workforce security is sufficiently important in
your particular firm’s situation. If it is, then decide whether an employee ’ s quitting
is functional (versus dysfunctional) and avoidable (versus unavoidable). Third, antici pate
an employee ’s leaving by monitoring job attitudes, global withdrawal cog nitions,
shocks, paths, and job embeddedness. Fourth, look at the shocks or levels (and
reasons) of job dissatisfaction and embeddedness and decide whether there is anything
the company can do (e.g. is this turnover avoidable?). Fifth, determine whether
that employee is likely to leave more quickly (e.g. paths 1 and 2) or slowly (e.g. paths
3 and 4), which in turn advises a manager to be proactive (for path 1 and path 2
processes) or more reactive (for path 3 and path 4 processes). Finally, gather most or
all of this information by routine employee surveys and/or “ management by wandering
around ” (e.g. talk to people).
Simply put, our prescriptions say that turnover is a process that requires more active
attention and management than it typically receives. Employee surveys are routinely
administered, for example, but this information is infrequently used for specifi c and
proactive interventions aimed at controlling turnover. Similarly, many companies designate
their “ key ” employees whose leaving would be clearly dysfunctional but take little
action to understand the events that prompt their thoughts of leaving. Also, com panies
can better anticipate employees ’ reactions to shocks by managing the information
immediately before and after the occurrence of a particular jarring event. Job counseling
can be made available, for instance, to deflect path 3 and 4 processes. Finally,
companies can simply make it harder for employees to leave by “ embedding ” their key
employees in the organization. For example, using teams, having people serve as mentors
or having responsibilities for projects maintains attachments (or linkages) to fi rms.
Generous perks and rewards contingent on continued tenure can also render turnover
less appealing. In sum, controlling turnover requires substantial understanding of the
phenomenon and the willingness to be proactive or reactive in managing the quitting
process. Ultimately, appropriate management of turnover can increase organizational
effectiveness and the bottom line.
REFERENCES
Abelson , M. ( 1987 ). Examination of avoidable and unavoidable turnover. Journal of Applied
Psychology, 72 , 382–386 .
Allen , D. G. ( 2006 ). Do organizational socialization tactics influence newcomer embeddedness
and turnover? Journal of Management, 32 , 237–257 .
Arnold , H. J. , and Feldman , D. C. ( 1982 ). A multivariate analysis of the determinants of
job turnover. Journal of Applied Psychology, 67 , 350–360 .