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Abstract

Employee turnover is a complex behavior that researchers and practitioners alike have tried to understand and predict. Most emphasis has been on the antecedent side of the equation, identifying predictors or creating models that explain this behavior, with little focus on the criterion behavior itself. This study sought to determine if where one goes after leaving an organization should be integrated into models of turnover. Social exchange theory was used to separate six common antecedents of voluntary turnover into two categories. Perceived organizational support, coworker support, supervisor relationship quality, and role overload were identified as context-specific predictors and were hypothesized to be more strongly related to organizational change. Intrinsic job satisfaction and emotional exhaustion were identified as context-generic predictors and were hypothesized to be more strongly related to professional change. Using a sample of 1919 substance abuse treatment (SAT) professionals collected over 4 years, both predictive quantitative data and retrospective qualitative data were used to compare people who stayed in their organizations, people who left the organization but stayed in SAT, and people who left the SAT profession completely. The results from the survey data showed that all predictors except coworker support were predictive of the hypothesized type of turnover when comparing people who turned over to people who stayed, and that intrinsic job satisfaction was significantly lower in professional changers than organizational changers. Exit interviews conducted by third-party researchers were coded for the main reasons employees left their organizations, and it was found that pay and benefits, heavy workloads, personal matters, lack of support from the organization, and ideological differences with the organization were the most commonly cited reasons. Comments about stress and burnout occurred more frequently by those who left the profession than those who stayed. These findings indicate that there are some differences in what leads one to change professions versus organizations, but more research needs to be done in this area.

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