Labour Turnover and Retention in New Zealand: The Causes and Consequences of Leaving and Staying with Employers

Abstract

This study represents the most comprehensive survey to date of labour turnover and employee loyalty in New Zealand. The widely held view that the New Zealand worker has become more mobile in the contemporary labour market is shown to be somewhat simplistic. Instead, the picture is one of increasing employment stability as people get older and as they become better paid, lending support to the idea that there are identifiable developmental stages affecting the careers of both men and women. In terms of the reasons for employee turnover, the study demonstrates that motivation for job change is multidimensional: no one factor will explain it. While interesting work is the strongest attractor and retainer in the labour market, the results also show that there is a strong employee expectation that management should make personnel decisions based on merit, demonstrate that extrinsic rewards (such as pay, promotion and security) play a role in both employee retention and turnover, lend support to the idea that there is growing concern with work-life balance, and underline the retention value of good relationships with co-workers and supervisors. The results demonstrate that employee turnover is not riskless for individuals: some benefit a lot (for example, in finding worthwhile promotion), while others do badly out of it. The study offers suggestions for improving retention in firms with dysfunctional employee turnover.