Brooks C. Holtom

Survey response rate levels and trends in organizational research

This study examines the response rates for surveys used in organizational research. We analysed 1607 studies published in the years 2000 and 2005 in 17 refereed academic journals, and we identified 490 different studies that utilized surveys. We examined the response rates in these studies, which covered more than 100,000 organizations and 400,000 individual respondents. The average response rate for studies that utilized data collected from individuals was 52.7 percent with a standard deviation of 20.4, while the average response rate for studies that utilized data collected from organizations was 35.7 percent with a standard deviation of 18.8. Key insights from further analysis include relative stability in response rates in the past decade and higher response rates for journals published in the USA. The use of incentives was not found to be related to response rates and, for studies of organizations, the use of reminders was associated with lower response rates. Also, electronic data collection efforts (e.g. email, phone, web) resulted in response rates as high as or higher than traditional mail methodology. We discuss a number of implications and recommendations.

The Unfolding Model of Voluntary Turnover: A Replication and Extension

This work reports further theoretical development of Lee and Mitchells (1994) unfolding model of voluntary turnover, which describes different psychological paths that people take when quitting or...

5 Turnover and Retention Research: A Glance at the Past, a Closer Review of the Present, and a Venture into the Future

Given the extensive research on the topic of voluntary employee turnover in the past decade as well as new managerial approaches to employee retention, labor market dynamism, and evolution in research methodology and technology, it is important that researchers evaluate the current state of the field. In

Experiential Learning Through Interactive Drama: An Alternative to Student Role Plays

This article introduces interactive drama as an alterative to student role-plays. Interactive drama increases student engagement and explores complex issues in management. It features scenes from organizational life being performed live by trained actors before a student audience, stopping at pivotal points so the audience can interact with the actors. These sessions result in highly energized students wanting to participate in lively discussions. Because the vivid scenes are so memorable, the students are able later to connect them effectively to management theory or their own experiences in reflective journals or other written assessments. After describing why instructors should consider using interactive drama, the article explains how to use it in the management classroom and concludes by providing five detailed examples of interactive drama scenes.

Level and Time Effects of Recruitment Sources on Early Voluntary Turnover

To better understand the effects of recruitment source on the level and timing of organizational departure, a turnover model incorporating dynamic predictors was examined. A large, longitudinal sample containing both stayers and leavers was analyzed with parametric survival models. Results indicate that the turnover hazard function for individuals recruited through personal recruitment sources was lower early in an employees tenure than for individuals recruited through formal sources. Moreover, the peak of the turnover hazard was delayed significantly for such employees. However, the turnover rate differential due to the use of personal recruitment methods clearly diminished as tenure increased. Further, the recruitment source effect on the turnover hazard was partially mediated by job satisfaction. The pattern of results observed expands understanding of the unfolding model of turnover.

The Long-Term Influence of Service Employee Attrition on Customer Outcomes and Profits

The authors proposed and tested a model linking service-employee attrition, customer-perceived service outcomes, and financial performance utilizing time-lagged data obtained from 64 business units of a temporary help services (staffing) firm. Using the notion of relational assets, the authors predicted that employee attrition (both voluntary turnover and downsizing) would disrupt the existing stock of relationships between customer-facing employees and their customers, which would have negative effects on customer outcomes and future financial performance of business units. The authors found that (a) the relationship between voluntary turnover and customer-perceived service brand image (SBI) was fully mediated by customers’ evaluations of service delivery, (b) the relationship between downsizing and SBI was fully mediated by the customer orientation levels of the unit staff, and (c) SBI significantly predicted future unit profitability. These findings point to critical factors that leaders must address when experiencing elevated levels of turnover or considering downsizing. These include focusing on developing customer orientation levels among employees through the effective use of selection, training, performance management, and compensation, minimizing employee voluntary turnover by creating positive work environments, and factoring in the long-term costs of downsizing on the organization’s SBI and future profitability.

A demonstration of the importance of temporal considerations in the prediction of newcomer turnover

We theorize about and examine empirically the increase in predictive strength of antecedents of voluntary turnover over the first three years of employment using survival analysis with time-varying covariates and period effects. On the basis of employee survey data gathered from 240 newcomers working in a retail bank and organizational turnover records collected over multiple years, we find that job embeddedness and job satisfaction increase in their ability to predict voluntary turnover as tenure increases. The results of this study emphasize the importance of integrating time into theories to better understand the dynamics of the turnover process. Specifically, additional theorizing about when different effects may be manifest and how long they will persist is critical. Equally important is the development and application of research methods that are suited to dynamic modeling, such as those introduced here.

The Relative Strength of Job Attitudes and Job Embeddedness in Predicting Turnover in a U.S. Military Academy

This longitudinal study explored the relative strength of job satisfaction, components of organizational commitment, dimensions of job embeddedness and person–organization fit as predictors of voluntary turnover at the U.S. Air Force Academy. Using survey data from 643 first- and second-year cadets, we found that job satisfaction, affective commitment, on-the-job embeddedness, and person–organization fit were significantly negatively related to turnover. Based on relative weights analysis, we found the most powerful predictor of cadet turnover was person–organization fit, which has important implications for military leaders.

Accelerating employee-related scholarship in service management: Research streams, propositions, and commentaries

Purpose The purpose of this paper is to accelerate research related to the employee-facets of service management by summarizing current developments in multiple research streams, providing propositions, and articulating new directions for theory and empirical inquiry. Design/methodology/approach Seven scholars provide short reviews of the core topics and findings from four employee-related research streams – collective turnover, service climate, emotional labor, and occupational stress; and generate propositions to guide future theoretical and empirical work. Four distinguished service scholars – David Bowen, Ray Fisk, Christian Gronroos, and Jochen Wirtz comment upon these research streams and provide future directions for accelerating employee-related research in service management. Findings All four research-streams yield insights that have the potential to advance service management research. Commentaries from the distinguished scholars further integrate this work with key concerns within service management including technology-enablement, transformative services, and service strategy. Originality/value This paper is unique in its scope of coverage of management topics related to service and its aim to promote interdisciplinary dialog between service management scholars and researchers conducting employee-related research relevant to services.

The right friends in the right places: Understanding network structure as a predictor of voluntary turnover.

Research examining the relationship between social networks and employee retention has focused almost exclusively on the number of direct links and generally found that having more ties decreases the likelihood of turnover. The present research moves beyond simple measures of network centrality to investigate the relationship between 2 additional, and theoretically distinct, facets of social capital and voluntary turnover. In 2 organizations, we found consistent evidence of a negative relationship between reputation, as measured by relationships with highly sought-out others (incoming eigenvector centrality) and voluntary turnover. Further, we found that the negative relationship between brokerage (structural holes) and turnover is significant, but only for higher-level employees. The theoretical and practical implications of expanding the suite of social capital measures to understand voluntary turnover are discussed.