The Snowball effect of High Performer Turnover

????The turnover of high performers - whether voluntary or involuntary - can create a snowball effect as other quality employees exit the #workforce or head for greener pastures means - #highperformer exits beget high-performer quits, just as low-performer exits beget low-performer quits and each type of exit causes its own distinct level of disruption, according to a new interesting research published by Academy of Management Journal in March 2023 by a team of researchers from The University of British Columbia and 美国明尼苏达大学双城分校 - using data from more than a million employees across 1,620 large retail stores, measuring comings and goings over 22 months.

??? Employers have long been focused on?WHY?workers move on, duly noting responses in exit interviews. Organizations should also consider?WHO?is leaving. Which workers remain matters, too, especially if the talent drain results in teams dominated by underperformers.

Typically, workers have three exit routes:?dismissals,?layoffs, or?voluntary resignations.?

Researchers found that the circumstances under which employees leave have distinct effects on future departures. They also noticed that?Dismissals had the weakest total effect on subsequent voluntary turnover, layoff announcements had the strongest and most immediate effects, and voluntary turnovers had moderate but lasting effects.

? Dismissals: Weakest effect on Voluntary Turnover

Dismissals?of employees who do poor jobs or break rules have short-term effects that are positive for colleagues and organizations. Although some turnover can be expected to follow, those employees who are inspired to leave are typically underperformers, too.

When a bad apple is dismissed - someone who is a poor #performer, is disruptive, or is not doing their fair share - other workers feel better and stay longer

? Layoff : Strongest and most immediate effects

Layoffs?are based on the financial viability of a #work division, often without consideration of individuals’ merit. For example, a top salesperson might be let go because a department store is closing the perfume counter where she works. Seeing quality employees lose their jobs makes a negative impression on the remaining high-performing employees, many of whom will start circulating their resumes.

Because high performers are generally less likely to be laid off, layoff announcements that implicate high performers should be perceived as more unexpected or novel than layoff announcements that implicate low performers and the greater the proportion of higher performers that are being laid off, the more disruptive the event will be for operational functioning.

If high performers, who have invested higher levels of effort and performance in the organization, are not given support to protect their employment by the organization during layoffs, a sense of job insecurity might be exacerbated among #layoff survivors.

? Voluntary resignation: moderate but lasting effects

Voluntary resignations?have a multiplying effect, spreading “like a contagion” among quality employees who are reminded by departing colleagues of possibilities available outside their current workplace.

When high performers are leaving and I am a high performer as well, I might think, ‘There are other, potentially better opportunities. Maybe I should leave, too.

?? Researchers believed that the voluntary turnover of high performers decreases human capital directly, just as the further loss of other high performers in subsequent unit-level voluntary turnover continues to deplete human capital.

Researchers listed 4 recommendations for Organization to retain their best #talents:

1?? Notify employees about layoffs with care and?clear communication, and whenever possible, avoid laying off employees without regard for their performance levels. While it is not always possible to?avoid layoffs, prioritizing the retention of high performers can help preserve the psychological contract that high performers anticipate will be upheld in return for high-quality work. Doing so can mitigate the ripple effect that inspires the remaining high-performing employees to?take their talents elsewhere. Measures such as severance packages can help ease negative feelings.

2?? Rethink policies that contribute to employee dissatisfaction and make it more likely that high-performing #workers will quit.

3?? Strive to retain top performers, even when they make a misstep. If a top performers makes a mistake once, managers need to work with them as if other high performers see one of their peers being let go, others are sure to follow.

4?? Acknowledge that not all turnover is negative. While layoffs and resignations have negative effects on retaining quality employees, there’s an upside to letting go of bad apples. Organizations can view exit events of low performers as valued exits.

This research demonstrates that turnover events, even when they may be perceived as valued exits, lead to different subsequent unit-level voluntary turnover depending on the nature of the event, the degree to which an event is novel, #disruptive, or critical, and whether the event involves high or low performers.

Thank you ?? The University of British Columbia and 美国明尼苏达大学双城分校 ?researchers team for these insightful findings:? Sima Sajjadiani ,? John Kammeyer-Mueller ?and? Alan Benson and cited persons in this research Danielle van Jaarsveld Anthony Nyberg Rebecca Paluch

#peopleanalytics?Dave Ulrich?George Kemish LLM MCM MIC?#futureofwork?