Rodger W. Griffeth

A Meta-Analysis of Antecedents and Correlates of Employee Turnover: Update, Moderator Tests, and Research Implications for the Next Millennium

This article reports the results of a comprehensive meta-analysis of turnover antecedents, extending an earlier one by Hom and Griffeth (1995). As such, this updated meta-analysis represents the most wide-ranging quantitative review to date of the predictive strength of numerous turnover antecedents. Importantly, the present investigation identifies various moderators of antecedent-turnover correlations. The implications of these findings for both theory and practice are discussed.

Review and Conceptual Analysis of the Employee Turnover Process

Research on employee turnover since the Porter and Steers analysis of the literature reveals that age, tenure, overall satisfaction, job content, intentions to remain on the job, and commitment are consistently and negatively related to turnover. Generally, however, less than 20% of the variance in turnover is explained. Lack of a clear conceptual model, failure to consider available job alternatives, insufficient multivariate research, and infrequent longitudinal studies are identified as factors precluding a better understanding of the psychology of the employee turnover process. A conceptual model is presented that suggests a need to distinguish between satisfaction (present oriented) and attraction/expected utility (future oriented) for both the present role and alternative roles, a need to consider nonwork values and nonwork consequences of turnover behavior as well as contractual constraints, and a potential mechanism for integrating aggregate-level research findings into an individual-le vel model of the turnover process. Employee withdrawal, in the form of turnover, has sustained the interest of personnel researchers, behavioral scientists, and management practitioners. At the macro level, economists and personnel researchers have demonstrated the relationship between turnover rates and the aggregate level of economic activity, employment levels, and vacancy levels (see, e.g., Armknecht & Early, 1972; Forrest, Cummings, & Johnson, 1977; Price, 1977; Woodward, 1975-1976). At the micro level, behavioral research has established a consistent, although generally weak, correlation between job dissatisfaction and turnover (Brayfield & Crockett, 19SS; Locke, 1976; Porter & Steers, 1973; Vroom, 1964; Herzberg, Mausner, Peterson, & Capwell,

The Role of Perceived Organizational Support and Supportive Human Resource Practices in the Turnover Process

A model investigating antecedents of perceived organizational support (POS) and the role of POS in predicting voluntary turnover was developed and tested in two samples via structural equation modeling. Both samples of employees (N=215 department store salespeople; N=197 insurance agents) completed attitude surveys that were related to turnover data collected approximately 1 year later. Results suggest that perceptions of supportive human resources practices (participation in decision making, fairness of rewards, and growth opportunities) contribute to the development of POS, and POS mediates their relationships with organizational commitment and job satisfaction. Further, POS is negatively related to withdrawal, but the relationships are also mediated.

Structural equations modeling test of a turnover theory: Cross-sectional and longitudinal analyses.

Hom, Griffeth, and Sellaros (1984) theoretical alternative to Mobleys (1977) turnover model was investigated in two studies. In Study 1, conceptual distinctions among model constructs and operationalizations of those constructs were validated. 206 nurses were surveyed, and constructs were assessed

A meta-analytical structural equations analysis of a model of employee turnover

The present study combined meta-analysis with structural equations modeling (SEM) to validate Mobley, Horner, and Hollingsworths (1978) turnover theory as well as alternative structural networks proposed by Dalessio, Silverman, and Schuck (1986), Hom, Griffeth, and Sellaro (1984), and Bannister and Griffeth (1986). We aggregated correlations from 17 studies (N = 5,013 employees), correcting for unreliability and sampling error. Then we used SEM to assess the models, comparing their relative fits to data

Eight Motivational Forces and Voluntary Turnover: A Theoretical Synthesis with Implications for Research

In this study, we synthesize, from the attitude and turnover literatures, a framework of eight (8) distinctive motives, or “Forces”. We then illustrate how the “8 Forces” framework can be utilized by turnover researchers as clarification of reported reasons for turnover, as causal mediators of turnover predictors, and as factors related to the type of turnover decision process. Finally, we discuss further implications of this framework.

The development of a multidimensional measure of job market cognitions: the Employment Opportunity Index (EOI).

The purpose of this research was to develop a multidimensional measure of job market perceptions based on a meta-analysis. Item sets were developed to operationally define the dimensions and were tested among 3 samples. Results of a series of exploratory and confirmatory factor analyses in 3 samples indicated that the 5 scales have satisfactory psychometric properties, construct, and criterion-related validity. The 5 dimensions accounted for significant and relatively large amounts of turnover variance, even after a number of standard turnover predictors had been taken into account. The results suggest the presence of job search microprocesses in the employee turnover process. These microprocesses are described and integrated into current thinking about the turnover process.

Managing in the International Context: Testing Cultural Generality of Sources of Commitment to Multinational Enterprises

The globalization of American business has reactivated a longstanding debate over international exportability of American management theory and practice. This controversy prompted an investigation into factors binding foreign employees to an American multinational enterprise and the consistency of those effects across the firm’s culturally diverse subsidiaries. In a survey, 1,859 managers from 15 European and Canadian affiliates of a U.S. multinational firm described their organizational commitment and bases for that commitment-namely, job scope, role clarity, extrinsic rewards, and participative management. Applying structural equations modeling, we determined whether or not commitment sources similarly developed company attachment across offshore operations. The findings disclosed that these antecedents strongly predicted commitment but displayed no meaningful cultural moderation. Implications for etiology of employee loyalty to global corporations are discussed.

Test of a mediated performance-turnover relationship highlighting the moderating roles of visibility and reward contingency

Despite the importance of understanding the conditions under which high performing employees are more likely or less likely to voluntarily leave an organization, the nature of the relationship between job performance and voluntary turnover has proven to be elusive. A model of the performance-turnover relationship that highlights important moderators and mediators is proposed and tested. Data consisted of organizational performance and turnover records and survey responses for 130 employees of a medical services organization. Results indicate that visibility and reward contingencies moderate performance relationships with alternatives and job satisfaction, respectively, and that performance may influence turnover through multiple mechanisms.

Job Performance and Turnover: A Review and Integrative Multi-Route Model

Research and theory on the elusive yet important relationship between individual job performance and employee turnover is reviewed. An integrative model of the relationship is proposed which argues that performance may lead to turnover through three different routes. One, performance may influence turnover through cognitive and affective evaluations of the desire to leave the organization. Two, performance may influence turnover through actual and perceived mobility in the job market. Three, performance may lead more directly to turnover in response to performance-related shocks to the system. Additionally, important moderators of these relationships, notably visibility and reward contingency, are highlighted.