While many researchers have examined turnover in private sector firms, only a few studies have focused on quit rates in the public sector organization This article develops and tests a conceptual model of voluntary turnover in state government. The most significant finding is that state employees are less likely to quit in states with on-site childcare State governments that allow greater internal opportunity for movement are also more successful at retaining employ ees. In addition, state employees who are represented by unions and are better paid are less likely to quit.
Get full access to this article
View all access options for this article.
References
1.
Barrett, K. & Greene, R. (1999, February). Grading the states: A management report card. Governing, 12,17-90.
2.
Blau, F.D. & Kahn, L.M. (1981). Race and sex differences in quits by young workers . Industrial and Labor Relations Review34, 563-577.
3.
Burgess, S. (1998). Analyzing firms, jobs, and turnoverMonthly Labor Review, 121, 55-58.
4.
Cascio, W.F. (1982). Costing human resources: The financial impact of behavior in organizations. Boston: Kent
5.
Cotton, J.L. & Tuttle, J.M. (1986). Employee turnover: A meta-analysis and review with implications for researchAcademy of Management Review11, 55-70
6.
Cohen, A. (1993). Organizational commitment and turnover: A meta-analysisAcademy of Management Journal36, 1140-1157.
7.
Dickter, D.N. , Roznowski, M. & Harrison, D.A. (1996). Temporal tempering An event history analysis of voluntary turnoverJournal of Applied Psychology81, 705-716
8.
Durst, S. (1999). The effect of family-friendly programs on public organizationsReview of Public Personnel Administration19, 19-33
9.
Edwards, PK (1995) Human resource management, union voice, and use of discipline. An analysis of WIRS3Industrial Relations Journal26, 204-221
10.
Ezra, M. & Deckman, M. (1996). Balancing work and family responsibilities Flextime and childcare in the federal governmentPublic Administration Review56, 174-76
11.
Fox, J. ( 1991). Regression diagnostics. Newbury Park : Sage Publications.
12.
Government Performance Project (1998). State government survey of human resource management. SyracuseNY: Alan K Campbell Institute of Public Affairs, Syracuse University.
13.
Groothuis, P.A. (1994) Turnover: The implication of establishment size and unionization. Quarterly Journal of Business and Economics33, 41-53
14.
Hom, P.W., Caranikas-Walker, F., Prussia, G.E.,& Griffeth, RW (1992) A meta-analytical structural equations analysis of a model of employee turnoverJournal of Applied Psychology77, 890-910.
15.
Huselid, M.A. (1995). The impact of human resources management practices on turnover, productivity, and corporate financial performanceAcademy of Management Journal38, 635-672
16.
Ingraham, PW, Selden, S.C. & Moynihan, D.P. (2000) People and performance: Challenges for the future public service-the report from the Wye River conference. PublicAdministration Review60, 52-58.
17.
Jackofsky, E.F. (1984). Turnover and job performance. An integrated process model. Academy of Management Review9, 74-83.
18.
Kellough, J.E. & Osuna, W. (1995). Cross-agency comparisons of quit rates in the federal service: Another look at the evidence. Review of Public Personnel Administration15 , 58-68.
19.
Kepner-Tregoe Business Issues Research Group ( 1999). Avoiding the brain drain: What companies are doing to lock in their talent. Princeton, NJ: Kepner-Tregoe.
20.
Kim, M. ( 1999). Where the grass is greener: Voluntary turnover and wage premiums. Industrial Relations38, 584-592.
21.
Kirschenbaum, Alan & Mano-Negrin, R. (1999). Underlying labor market dimensions of "opportunities": The case of employee turnover. Human Relations52, 1233-1244.
22.
Leonard, J.S. (1987). Carrots and sticks: Pay, supervision, and turnoverJournal of Labor Economics5, 136-154
23.
Lewis, G.B. (1991). Turnover and the quiet crisis in the federal civil service. Public Administration Review51, 145-155.
24.
Lewis, G.B. & Park, K. (1989). Turnover rates in federal white-collar employment: Are women more likely to quit than men?American Review of Public Administration19, 13-28
25.
March, J.G. & Simon, H.A. (1958). Organizations. New York: Wiley.
26.
Mitchell, J.B. (1982). Human resource management: An economic approach . Boston: PWS-Publishing
27.
Mobley, WH (1977). Intermediate linkages in the relationship between job satisfaction and employee turnover. Journal of Applied Psychology62, 237-240.
28.
Morissette, R., Picot, G. & Pyper, W. (1992). Workers on the move: Quits. Perspectives on Labor and Income4 , 8-17.
29.
Muchinsky, P.M. & Morrow, P.C. (1980). A multidisciplinary model of voluntary employee turnoverJournal of Vocauonal Behavior17, 263-290.
30.
Newman, M. & Matthews, K. (1999). Family-friendly workplace policies: barriers to effective implementation. Review of Public Personnel Administration19, 34-48.
31.
National Commission on the Public Service. ( 1990). Leadership for America: Rebuilding the public service . Lexington, MA.: Lexington Books
32.
Park, H.Y., Ofon-Dankwa, J. & Bishop, D.R. (1994) Organizational and environmental determinants of functional and dysfunctional turnover: Practical and research implications . Human Relations47, 353-66.
33.
Powell, I., Montgomery, M. & Cosgrove, J. (1994). Compensation structure and establishment quit and fire rates. Industrial Relations33, 229-248.
34.
Price J.L. (1977). The study of turnover. Ames, IA. The Iowa State University Press.
35.
Shaw, J.D. , Delery, J., Jenkins Jr G.D., & Gupta, N. (1998). An organization-level analysis of voluntary and involuntary turnover. Academy of Management Journal41, 511-525.
36.
Smith, C.B. (1979). Influence of internal opportunity structure and sex of worker on turnover patterns. Administrative Science Quarterly24, 362-379
37.
Tang, T.L., Kim, J.K., & Tang, D.S. (2000). Does attitude toward money moderate the relationship between intrinsic job satisfaction and voluntary turnover?Human Relations53, 213-235.
38.
Tett, R.P. & Meyer, J.P. (1993) Job satisfaction, organizational commitment, turnover intention, and turnover. Path analyses based on meta-analytic findings. Personnel Psychology46 , 259-293.
39.
U S General Accounting Office (1990). Recruitment and retention. Inadequate federal pay cited as primary problem by agency officialsWashington, D.C.: U S General Accounting Office
40.
U.S Merit Systems Protections Board. (1989 ). Who is leaving the federal government?Washington, D.C : Merit Systems Protection Board
41.
Utgoff, K.C. (1983) Compensation levels and quit rates in the public sector. The Journal of Human Resources28, 394-406
42.
Vandenberg, R.J. & Nelson, J.B. (1999). Disaggregating the motives underlying turnover intention: When do intentions predict behavior?Human Relations52, 1313-1323.
43.
Williams, C.R. & Livingstone, L.P. (1994). Another look at the relationship between performance and voluntary turnover. Academy of Management Journal37, 269-298
44.
. Zax, Jeffery S. (1988). Quits and race. The Journal of Human Resources27, 469-493.
