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.