Integrating the unfolding model and job embeddedness model to better understand voluntary turnover *.

Though varying in intensity with the ups and downs of economic cycles, voluntary turnover persists as an important concern for managers. One academic study reported that the total cost of employee withdrawal to organizations (including turnover, absence, lateness, and withholding of effort, as well as new hire recruiting, selecting and training costs) is 17% of pre-tax annual income (Sagie et al., 2002). Another study calculated the aggregate impact of turnover on American business to be as high as $11 billion annually (Abbasi and Hollman, 2000). Cascio (1991) has shown that the costs of turnover for technical, professional and managerial employees are especially high. Accenture, one of the world's largest management and IT consulting firms, estimated that when an experienced consultant leaves an organization, he or she takes away a value of over $1 million (Oz, 2002). In short, managers and researchers continue to be rightfully concerned about voluntary employee turnover.

In reviews of the research on voluntary turnover (Maertz and Campion, 1998; Hom and Griffeth, 1995), scholars have agreed that one of the most promising new theories for understanding and describing turnover is the unfolding model (Lee and Mitchell, 1994). Two empirical studies providing support for its propositions have been published (Lee et al., 1996, 1999). One of the major contributions of the unfolding model is the notion of shocks. As defined by Lee and Mitchell, "A shock is a particular, jarring event that initiates the psychological analyses involved in quitting a job" (1999: 51). In a new study, Holtom et al. (2005) report that in more than 60 percent of voluntary turnover cases they examined across multiple industries, the immediate antecedent to leaving was a shock rather than accumulated job dissatisfaction (Holtom et al., 2005).

Another recent theory that adds richness to the study of voluntary turnover is the job embeddedness model. Mitchell, Lee and colleagues call it a theory of staying (Mitchell, Holtom and Lee, 9001; Lee et al., 2004). Job embeddedness posits that the greater a person's connections to an organization and community, the more likely it is that he or she will remain in their organization.

Mitchell and Lee (2001) call for integration of the unfolding model with the job embeddedness model. The purpose of this study is to do exactly that. More specifically, we aim to combine critical elements of the unfolding model with the job embeddedness model to expand understanding of the voluntary turnover process. First, we review the core elements of both the unfolding model and the job embeddedness model. Second, we develop logic linking the theories. Third, we report empirical results from a large national study of stayers and leavers across hundreds of employers. Finally, we discuss the theoretical and practical implications of the findings.

Unfolding Model

The work by Lee, Mitchell and colleagues (Lee and Mitchell, 1994; Lee et al., 1996, 1999) has demonstrated that many people leave their jobs not just because of negative affect (e.g., job satisfaction, job involvement, organizational commitment), but because of a variety of precipitating events. These events are known as shocks. Further, while individuals experience unique circumstances when they leave organizations, Lee and colleagues (1996, 1999) have found most people follow one of four psychological and behavioral paths when quitting. Three of the four paths are initiated by shocks. The following review will highlight the key components (shocks, scripts, job search, image violations, job dissatisfaction) used to categorize leavers into one of the four paths. Table 1 provides a comparison of the attributes for each of the paths. As can be seen in Table 1, decisions to leave can appear to be somewhat impulsive in nature as in Path 2 where an individual experiences a shock and quickly decides to leave without planning for the future. This can be contrasted with Path 4B leavers who endure a job that they do not like, finally decide to quit, initiate a job search and quit when a better job is found.

Assignment to one of the four paths depicting the turnover process is based on a number of different criteria. Quitting a job may be precipitated by a jarring event, labeled a shock, which initiates the psychological analyses involved in quitting a job. A shock can be a positive, neutral, or negative event that is expected or unexpected. Getting accepted to law school would be a positive, anticipated event while receiving an unsolicited job offer is a positive, unanticipated event. Receiving notification that your company is downsizing would be a negative, unanticipated event. Learning that your boss is getting promoted could be considered a neutral event--one balanced by positive and negative factors. Further, this event might be anticipated or unanticipated. Individuals may prepare a script that details a plan of action that can be taken if a shock occurs. Scripts may be based on prior experience, observation of the experiences of others, information obtained from relevant reading and through social expectations. If an individual's values, goals, and strategies for goal attainment do not fit with those of the employing organization or those implied by the shock, an image violation occurs. All activities involved with looking for alternatives to the current job are considered part of search. Job alternatives include a variety of work and non-work options. This is an important aspect of the unfolding model as it draws attention to the fact that many individuals do not leave an organization to pursue another job. Thus, many of the traditional approaches to retaining employees (e.g., more money) may not be effective. Lee et al. (1999) include the evaluation of alternatives in their definition of search for purposes of the unfolding model. Finally, job satisfaction is a component of the unfolding model of turnover. Whereas Paths 1-3 are initiated by shocks, Path 4 is initiated by job dissatisfaction. As shown in Table 1, some workers experiencing job dissatisfaction simply quit without having another job (Path 4A), while other dissatisfied workers quit only after another job is found (Path 4B).

Job Embeddedness

According to Mitchell et al. (2001), job embeddedness represents a broad cluster of ideas that influence an employee's choice to remain in a job, operating like a net or a web in which an individual becomes enmeshed. A person who is highly embedded has many connections within a perceptual life space (Lewin, 1951). Moreover, a person can become enmeshed or embedded in a variety of ways (both on and off the job). The critical aspects of job embeddedness are the extent to which the job is similar to or fits with the other aspects in their life space, the extent to which the person has links to other people or activities, and the ease with which links can be broken--what they would give up if they left. These dimensions are called fit, links and sacrifice. Less concerned with the influence of any one specific connection, job embeddedness focuses on the overall level of connectedness (Mitchell et al., 2001).

According to the theory of job embeddedness (Mitchell, Holtom and Lee, 2001), an employee's personal values, career goals and plans for the future must fit with the larger corporate culture and the demands of his or her immediate job (e.g., job knowledge, skills and abilities). In addition, a person will consider how well he or she fits the community and surrounding environment. Job embeddedness assumes that the better the fit, the higher the likelihood that an employee will feel professionally and personally tied to the organization.

Job embeddedness theory suggests that a number of threads link an employee and his or her family in a social, psychological, and financial web that includes work and non-work friends, groups, the community, and the physical environment where they are located. The greater the number of links between the person and the web, the more likely an employee will stay in a job (Mitchell et al., 2001).

The concept of sacrifice represents the perceived cost of material or psychological benefits that are forfeited by organizational departure. For example, leaving an organization may induce personal losses (e.g., losing contact with friends, personally relevant projects, or perks). The more an employee will have to give up when leaving, the more difficult it will be to sever employment with the organization (Shaw et al., 1998). Examples include non-portable benefits, like stock options or defined benefit pensions, as well as potential sacrifices incurred through leaving an organization like job stability and opportunities for advancement (Shaw et al., 1998). Similarly, leaving a community where they are highly involved in local organizations can be difficult for employees.

One key area where job embeddedness complements traditional approaches to voluntary turnover is community attachment. The model explicitly considers the impact of both organizational and community influences on the three job embeddedness dimensions. Put differently, each of the three dimensions--fit, links and sacrifice--has organizational and community components, which are summarized in Table 2. In two reported tests, Mitchell, Lee and colleagues (Mitchell et al., 2001; Lee et al., 2004) have demonstrated that job embeddedness predicts variance in voluntary turnover over and above job satisfaction.