A conditional process model linking high-performance work systems, collective turnover, collectivist culture and organizational performance

PurposeThis study addresses three research questions: (1) do high-performance work systems (HPWS) enhance organizational performance by reducing collective turnover? (2) does a collectivist organizational culture moderate the link between collective turnover and organizational performance? (3) does collectivist organizational culture act as a boundary condition for the mediating effects of collective turnover in the link between HPWS and organizational performance?Design/methodology/approachA conditional process model linking HPWS, collective turnover, collectivist culture and organizational performance was developed and examined with longitudinal data collected at three different time points from 350 firms in South Korea.FindingsThe positive indirect effects of HPWS on organizational performance through collective turnover were significant. Regarding collectivist culture as a moderator, the negative relationship between collective turnover and organizational performance was stronger when the collectivist culture in the organization is high. In addition, the positive indirect effects of HPWS on organizational performance through collective turnover were also stronger when the collectivist culture in the organization is high.Originality/valueThis study provides a significant contribution to the areas of HPWS by reshaping the conceptual mechanisms in which HPWS enhance organizational performance. Further, it explores the significant role of collectivist culture as a moderator in the relationship between HPWS, collective turnover and organizational performance.

Is turnover contagious? The impact of transformational leadership and collective turnover on employee turnover decisions

PurposeThis study addresses three research questions related to employee turnover: (1) does transformational leadership act as a pull-to-stay factor for employees? (2) How well does turnover intention predict actual turnover behavior? (3) Does collective turnover moderate the link between turnover intentions and turnover behaviors?Design/methodology/approachLatent moderated structural equation modeling was employed with longitudinal and multi-source data from car dealerships located in the Seoul Capital Area, South Korea.FindingsThe results indicate a negative relationship between transformational leadership and turnover intentions and a positive relationship between turnover intentions and turnover behavior. Furthermore, the results provide empirical support for turnover contagion as a mechanism triggering turnover intentions into turnover behavior in the workplace.Originality/valueThis study provides a timely and novel contribution to the areas of leadership and employee turnover due to the underexplored research area of transformational leadership, the growing body of literature that questions the fixed assumption in employee turnover studies and the increasing interest in collective turnover. Importantly, existing research has examined the concept of collective turnover from a quantity perspective, aggregating individual turnover to group levels. This study provides a more nuanced, comprehensive evaluation of the quality of turnover, by considering the impact of performance contribution aspects of turnover at the business unit level.

Managing voluntary collective turnover: the impact of a cynical workplace climate

PurposeVoluntary collective turnover can be costly for workplaces. The authors investigate the effectiveness of high-performance work system (HPWS) intensity as a tool to manage voluntary collective turnover. Further, the authors investigate a cynical workplace climate (CWC) as a boundary condition on the HPWS intensity–voluntary collective turnover relationship.Design/methodology/approachThe unit of analysis is the workplace, with human resource (HR) managers providing data on HPWS practices in Time 1 (T1) and voluntary collective turnover two years later. Aggregated employee data were used to assess the cynical workplace climate. Hierarchical regression analysis was used to test the hypotheses.FindingsThis study’s results demonstrate a negative relationship between HPWS intensity and voluntary collective turnover when there is a low cynical workplace climate. The authors find that in a high cynical workplace climate, HPWS intensity is ineffective at managing voluntary collective turnover.Research limitations/implicationsThis study’s results show that HPWS intensity needs to be well received by the workforce to be effective in reducing voluntary collective turnover.Practical implicationsTo increase the chances of HPWS intensity reducing voluntary collective turnover, workplaces need to assess the level of employee cynicism in their workplace climates. When the climate is assessed as low in cynicism, the workplace can then consider implementing an HPWS.Originality/valueThe authors explain why the HPWS intensity–voluntary collective turnover relationship varies across workplaces. As HR practices are subject to interpretation, workplaces need to look beyond the practices in their HPWS and focus on employee receptivity to HR practices.

Collective turnover: organization design and processes or contagion effects?

Purpose Using organization-level data, the purpose of this paper is to investigate whether and how turnover spreads at different job levels (i.e. managers, non-managers) and how vacancy rate and manager span of control precipitate continued turnover. Design/methodology/approach Organization-level longitudinal data were collected quarterly from 40 Canadian organizations on various HR metrics from 2009 to 2012, totaling 232 observations. The authors used covariate balance propensity score (CBPS) weighting to make stronger causal inferences. Findings The organization-level data provided limited support for turnover spreading at different job levels. Instead, vacancy rate predicted subsequent non-manager turnover rates, whereas span of control predicted subsequent manager turnover rates. Practical implications The implications of this research are twofold. First, to offset continued turnover among non-managers, it may be wise for organizations to fill vacancies promptly, particularly when unfilled positions affect job demands and resources of those who remain. Second, to minimize ongoing manager turnover, organizations may benefit from redesigning work units to have smaller manager-to-employee ratios. Originality/value This study adds to the collective turnover literature by demonstrating that organizational factors play a substantive role in predicting continued manager and non-manager turnover. Moreover, by using longitudinal data and CBPS weighting, this research allowed for establishing temporal precedence and greater confidence that these factors play a causal role. Lastly, this research highlights how the factors precipitating collective turnover differ between managers and non-managers.

The Role of Firm Size and Knowledge Intensity in the Performance Effects of Collective Turnover

As employees are among firms’ most important resources and labor markets are facing serious labor shortages, firm-level collective turnover is one of the most important challenges facing organizations. Context-emergent turnover theory provides a theoretical framework for the performance implications of collective turnover and argues that context, and in particular, firm size, plays a crucial role in the collective turnover–performance relationship. Yet, the moderating role of firm size remains undertheorized, empirically understudied, and thus, unclear. Based on the resource-based view of the firm, we develop a theoretical framework for two competing perspectives (a negative and a positive one) on the role of firm size and put forward the firm’s knowledge intensity as a crucial additional moderator. The main premise is that whereas firm size determines what resources firms have to successfully cope with turnover, knowledge intensity determines the resources firms need to do so. We propose a three-way interaction, suggesting that firm size reinforces the harmful effect of turnover in highly knowledge-intensive firms and buffers it in firms with low levels of knowledge intensity. Using a unique multi-industry and longitudinal administrative data set of 6,913 Belgian firms (2012–2016), we find support for these assumptions. This study highlights the importance of the context in which firms have to deal with turnover, and it spurs researchers to go beyond studying turnover in narrow study contexts, to take into account the interplay among different but intertwined organizational contingencies, and to acknowledge both the quantitative (how many employees leave) and qualitative components (who leaves) of turnover.