Analytic Culture in the U.S. Intelligence Community (PDF) - CIA

CHAPTER EIGHT
Interestingly, research suggests that the relationship between satisfaction
and task performance, although positive, is not especially strong. 13 Thus,
while job satisfaction may be important to the longevity of any individual
career cycle, it is not a major factor in individual job performance. It does,
however, increase absenteeism, which has a negative effect on overall organizational
productivity.
Absenteeism and Turnover. Research indicates that the lower an individual’s
job satisfaction, the more likely he or she is to be absent from work. 14 As
with job satisfaction and task performance, this relationship is modest but also
statistically significant. An employee may even choose to leave an organization
altogether. This voluntary resignation is measured as employee turnover
and has fiscal consequences for both the individual and the organization.
Fiscal Cost. Employee turnover is a critical cost element. The expense of
recruiting and training new employees, along with lost productivity from
vacant positions and overtime pay for replacement workers, increases operating
costs and also reduces employee organizational output.
A 2002 study by the Employment Policy Foundation found that the estimated
turnover cost is $12,506 per year per full-time vacancy for the average
employee with total compensation (wages and benefits) of $50,025. 15 As the
average annual turnover benchmark within the Fortune 500 is 23.8 percent,
one can clearly see how critical it is for organizations to lessen the number of
employees who leave voluntarily. Even unscheduled absences can be expensive—averaging
between $247 and $534 per employee, per day, according to
the same study.
Anticipatory Socialization in the Intelligence Community
The secrecy is strange. I thought it would be romantic, but it turns
out that it is just strange.
I was sold on the cool factor. It’s still sort of cool, I guess.
Accepting a job with one of the 14 members of the Intelligence Community
differs from other professions in that it is difficult for new employees to have a
clear and precise understanding of the roles and responsibilities they are about
13
The correlation is 0.17 according to Michelle T. Iaffaldano and Paul M. Muchinsky in their
“Job Satisfaction and Job Performance: A Meta-Analysis.”
14
Lyman W. Porter et al., “Organizational Commitment, Job Satisfaction and Turnover Among
Psychiatric Technicians.”
15
This number does not take into account the additional costs within the Intelligence Community
for background and security investigations.
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