Reducing Voluntary Turnover through Career Development: Strategic HRD Research Proposal

Voluntary employee turnover in the United States continues to spiral out of control and is expected to steadily increase in the coming years. Annual cost to American businesses exceeded $630 billion and is expected to exceed $700 billion within the next 24 months. The reasons for the sharp increase in voluntary turnover are not generational by nature as employees of all generations seek a connection with their employer and the ability to share in the firm’s growth. The reasons expressed by employers and employees include lack of training, weak relationships with managers and a general disconnect from company strategy. The primary reason given in recent years is lack of career development. Scheduled, agenda-driven discussions between senior leadership and the employee is needed to focus on employee skills, capacity for learning and enterprise goals has shown promise in reducing voluntary turnover, increasing employee engagement, and increasing talent depth in medium and large businesses. Career planning and development is not necessarily transactional as it includes specific training for a specific purpose to fit the firm’s strategic objectives. This approach can be used for lateral and vertical movement within the company. This proposal seeks to bridge the gap between existing literatures, current human capital management practices and move the discussion to a level that benefits employees and employers alike.

Study shows companies need to take into account value changes of blue-collar Chinese workers

Purpose The authors wanted to find out if workers' values had changed compared with previous generations. This is a vital issues for HRM departments who need to know how to keep their workers from moving elsewhere. Design/methodology/approach The author conducted semi-structured interviews into the work values of Chinese blue-collar workers. The interviewees were 25 employees at German multinationals in the auto-making industry in Shanghai. There were 17 blue-collar workers and eight white-collar managers. The blue-collar interviews focused on personal demographics, perceptions of the job and company, attitude toward work, goals in life, main reasons to quit and incentives offered to stay. The white-collar interviews were more focused on managerial issues. Findings The authors concluded that HRM systems should be adapted to meet the preferences of the employees. Companies needed to take into account the value changes of blue-collar Chinese workers. Interviewee comments also revealed that, although pay was still important, career development had become more significant for some workers. Originality/value The author said her paper could help talent managers to get the best out of their employees. In particular, if HRM processes were improved it would reduce voluntary employee turnover, a major problem for employers.

Human Capital Strategies to Reduce Employee Turnover in the Food Service and Automotive Industries

High voluntary employee turnover in service industries often exceeds 60%, negatively affecting profitability due to employee replacement costs. In studies conducted with multinational corporate leaders, they acknowledged a lack of business direction resulting in a 68% failure to implement organizational strategies. Through a multiple case study, we aimed to explore the human capital strategies utilized in the automotive and food service industries to reduce voluntary employee turnover. We analyzed the responses of twenty-four service leaders in the Eastern and Midwest regions of the United States through the process of compiling, disassembling, reassembling, interpreting, and concluding. Vroom’s expectancy theory and G.S. Becker’s human capital theory provided the conceptual framework for the study. Five emergent themes supported positive work relationships with employees through employee motivation, employee selection, and employee incentives: benchmarking, training, communication strategies, organizational change, and integrity. The results support employee development and improved corporate profitability, which increases competitive advantage and economic sustainability within the service industry.

Power spectral and bispectral study of factors affecting employee turnover

Voluntary employee turnover can cause organ­izations to lose profits and competitiveness. Unexpected employee turnover may also result in project delay and reduction in project quality. It is important to control employee turnover rate and maintain good employees within an organization. This paper investigates the major causes of voluntary employee turnover in engineer­ing industries. Australia, Mainland China, and Taiwan were selected for the investigation. Questionnaires were administered, and structured interviews were conducted. Power spectrum was used for the analysis. It was found that “Good physical working environment”, “Receiving advanced training”, and “Short travel distance between home and work” are the major job-related ideal factors for the Australian, Mainland China, and Taiwan respondents, respectively. However, “Far distance between work and home” and “Dislike the colleague relationships” are found as the major factors for leaving jobs for the Australian/ Taiwan and Mainland China respondents, respectively. Recommendations to improve and to control employee turnover rate are also discussed.