Employee Turnover and Its Effect on Remaining Colleague Motivation

Abstract

Voluntary employee turnover is damaging to the sustainability of child protective services (CPS) organizations, as 60% of social workers who contemplated leaving their organizations quit during the year of consideration. The purpose of this exploratory case study was to examine the strategies CPS leaders used to reduce voluntary employee turnover and motivate employees. The conceptual framework for this study included the motivational hygiene theory and the behavior engineering model. The target population consisted of 9 CPS leaders from a large metropolitan area in Southern California who had specific knowledge of voluntary employee turnover. Data collection involved face-to face semistructured interviews, company memoranda, and statistical data reports. The data analysis process included inductive coding of specific word and phrases, word frequency searches, and organizing the data for theme interpretation. Based on the analysis of the data, 4 themes emerged: supportive leadership, effectual communication, teamwork, and training. These themes revealed that these were the necessary ingredients to reduce employee turnover. The findings from this study may contribute to positive social change through improved employee wellbeing from trusting relationships and open communication with managers understanding the factors that contribute to employee motivation, job satisfaction, and reduced employee turnover. Social change also extends from improved collaborative relationships between CPS, community-based organizations, and clientele to build supportive teams that can reduce the incidence of child abuse, neglect, and exploitation.