Searching for the Optimal Level of Employee Turnover: A Study of A Large UK Retail Organization

William Siebert, N Zubanov

    Research output: Contribution to journalArticle

    84 Citations (Scopus)

    Abstract

    We study the relationship between sales assistant turnover and labor productivity in 325 stores of a large U.K. clothing retailer tracked over 1995-99. We find that the turnover-productivity relationship is contingent on type of work system. For a large group of part-timers, managed under a "secondary" work system, the relationship clearly has an inverted U-shape, but for the smaller group of full-timers, managed under a "commitment" system, the relationship is the conventional negative one. Implications for the contingency view of the link between turnover and productivity are discussed.
    Original languageEnglish
    Pages (from-to)294-313
    Number of pages20
    JournalThe Academy of Management Journal
    Volume52
    Issue number2
    DOIs
    Publication statusPublished - 1 Apr 2009

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