Turnover Contagion
By Leanne Kleinmann
As a manager, you may have begun to see the signs: One of your employees starts complaining about parts of their job or what’s happening in the office. They put less and less effort into their work, won’t take responsibility for tasks or won’t commit to any long-term planning. Their office relationships have soured, both with peers and department leaders.
It’s clear they’re thinking of leaving. They may already be in the process of getting another job.
Called “pre-quitting behaviors,” these warning signs might be paired with your employee sharing details of a job search around the office, plans to leave or even sharing information about other jobs they have discovered.
All of those behaviors are warning signs of turnover contagion, according to Dr. Caitlin Porter, assistant professor of Management at the Fogelman College of Business. Turnover contagion is what happens when thoughts, feelings and behaviors that signal leaving spread throughout a work group.
Porter says turnover contagion can be devastating for a company.
“From an organizational perspective, losing talent is never good,” she said. Indeed, the financial costs associated with filling an open position and onboarding a new hire can exceed 100% of the salary for the position. “What we need to discuss is why are these people leaving, why don’t we have better opportunities for them here? If we don’t have them, why don’t we?”
Turnover contagion is more likely in dysfunctional organizations or work groups, but Porter’s research shows it can also occur in effective organizations with high-quality human resources practices.
How to Stop It
Fortunately, there are steps that a manager or organizational leader can take to stop turnover contagion from taking hold.
“People just want to do their jobs and do them well,” Porter said, “so connecting with them on an interpersonal level is important.”
She points out that promoting and reinforcing an office climate where development and growth is valued and rewarded are a key way to make it more likely that, even if a high performer leaves, everyone else doesn’t follow. One way to do that is to check in regularly with your employees about their performance, and do what you can to address annoyances that prevent people from doing their best work.
“It’s frustrating for employees to feel they’re not being allowed to do their best work. People in power have to be willing to help make that happen.”
Understanding the relationships inside a work group can also prevent it from falling apart if someone leaves for another job. Porter’s research shows that someone who is a close friend or a longtime collaborator of the person who is leaving is most at risk of leaving, too.
The Interview Process
Conducting what Porter calls “stay” interviews with high-performing employees, those who have shown pre-quitting behaviors and others at risk for turnover can give a manager insight into the challenges those employees face. A manager or other leader can use the results of these interviews to think creatively about how to fulfill employees’ needs at work and make the work environment more engaging.
“Managers showing goodwill and wanting to help their employees goes a long way,” Porter said.
Conducting an exit interview with an employee who is leaving might also help a manager understand what led to the decision to leave, though these conversations can be uncomfortable. Still, if an employee is leaving for what she perceives is a better position, a manager might ask about the features of the more attractive job in order to take internal steps to improve the organization.
Is Turnover Ever Good?
It's important to remember that not all turnover is bad for an organization or work group. It’s up to a skilled leader to understand when turnover is functional – a low-performer is leaving – or dysfunctional, and how to take the appropriate action.
Porter is sympathetic to the challenges managers may face in keeping their employees engaged and performing at the highest level.
“We are at an inflection point in society, generationally, with people staying in the workforce longer as well as people who have very different expectations of the role of work in their lives entering the workforce,” she said. “Younger employees care and want to be successful, but they also want to have a life outside of work.”