Supervisors and subordinates seeing eye-to-eye: The effect of perceptual (in)congruence on subordinate turnover

Ample evidence has demonstrated the detrimental effects of turnover on organizational performance, making employee retention a key focus of many organizations. Of the factors that are likely to influence whether an employee will voluntarily leave their organization, a notion frequently discussed in the popular press is that employees leave their manager, not their organization. To this end, scholars have attempted to reduce employee turnover by identifying factors that will strengthen the supervisor-subordinate relationship. While most of the work in this area has focused on embracing deep-level similarity between a supervisor and subordinate (e.g., value congruence), this study highlights the potential influence of similarity in more salient and visible characteristics such as attitudes and perceptions (e.g., perceptual congruence) on a subordinate’s turnover. Applying theories of social comparison, person-environment fit, and leader-member exchange, the purpose of the current study is to examine the relationship between supervisor-subordinate perceptual (in)congruence and subordinate turnover. Furthermore, I explain the process by which perceptual (in)congruence is related to subordinate turnover by examining the subordinate’s turnover intentions as a mediator of this relationship.

Utilizing a sample of 11,338 supervisor-subordinate dyads from a large healthcare organization, I apply polynomial regression with response surface analysis to investigate the influence of perceptual congruence (or incongruence) on subordinate turnover intentions. After testing in-depth the relationship between perceptual incongruence and subordinate turnover intent, I test a moderated mediation model to understand how absolute perceptual (in)congruence between supervisor and subordinate may be distally related to subordinate voluntary turnover behavior via the subordinate’s turnover intentions, and how this mediated relationship may be influenced by how favorably the subordinate perceives his/her organization. Results of the current study suggest that while perceptual (in)congruence is not related to a subordinate’s turnover intent or voluntary turnover behavior, the subordinate’s perceptions of the organization are a critical opportunity for organizations to be proactive in retaining talented employees. Limitations of the current study, considerations for studying the topic of perceptual (in)congruence within the workplace, and directions moving forward are discussed.