Job search and voluntary turnover in a boundaryless world; A control theory perspective - Direnzo & Greenhaus - 2011 - Article

What are the objectives of the study?

The psychology of voluntarily leaving an organization has been of psychologists' interest for a while. March and Simon (1958) tried to identify the psychological processes involved in voluntary turnover. Low job satisfaction is a primary indicator of voluntary departure. Other promotional aspects include other job opportunities and a strong economy. These factors of desirability and ease of movement are incorporated in models trying to explain organizational departure. However, the predictive power of these models remains low. Lee and Mitchell (1994) discovered that instead of low job satisfaction, a series of shocks is responsible for voluntary turnover. For example, family related pressure or responsibility. The ease of movement has gotten increased attention lately, especially how it developed over time. 

Steel (2002) developed a cybernetic model that handles job search as a cyclical and self-regulatory process. Information in this case provides new opportunities for dynamic learning. These can enable an individual to influence and adapt to a changing labour market by changing conceptions about employability over time. 

In this study, a cybernetic model of voluntary turnover and job search, based on the need to stay employable in a volatile economy is proposed. In the model, the process by which people engage in cycles of job search activities that could enlarge the likelihood of voluntary turnover and increase opportunities for development of additional career skills. The implications of this model for future research are discussed. 

What is the role of desirability and ease of movement in the voluntary turnover literature?

Job satisfaction plays an important role in all literature of voluntary turnover. A negative association exists between voluntary turnover and job satisfaction. Ease of movement has been incorporated into turnover models by employment rates, general job availability, perceived alternatives and movement capital. The interplay between desirability -and ease of movement can take two forms:

1. The linear relationship between job affect and voluntary turnover where dissatisfaction leads to thougts about quitting and evaluation of other options (Mobley, 1977).

2. The relationship between voluntary turnover and job satisfaction is stronger when the rate of unemployment is low. This suggest that human capital together with employability affect how job dissatisfaction influences voluntary turnover. 

What is the role of employability in a boundaryless world?

Organizations are pressured to stay lean due to globalization and technical advancements. Employers start looking externally for new capabilities instead of maintaining long-term relations with employees. Boundaryless careers are different from organisational careers in their independence from traditional organizational agreements. The need to remain employable is highly relevant because of economic uncertainty. Employability depends on the capacity to leverage personal resources. Individuals are now agents of their own career destinies.

What model is used for job search and voluntary turnover?

Even though individuals that quit their job have different destinations, this model is focused on people who immediately go to another organization after voluntary turnover. The model is based upon cybernetic systems where environmental feedback is compared to a reference standard. Also, corrective or adaptive behaviours are enacted to reduce individual differences. Therefore, job search consists of two elements:

• Search activities

• Comparison processes

Job search activities used for exploration and actively seeking for alternative employment are handled the same because they can both enable someone to gauge their employability in the market. Individuals that perceive a negative discrepancy between current and desired employability try to reduce discrepancy trough adaptive actions. These are called career strategy behaviours. The empowerment of these strategies can lead to enhanced competencies and skills and therefore, employee voluntary turnover. 

What is the effect of job search on career strategies and career competencies? 

The researchers suggest that enactment of career related behavioural strategies is related to with the development of know-how, know-why and know-whom skills. Furthermore, it is expected that some of the career strategies enhance human capital. Strategies related to enhancement of human capital also provide career related benefits. They also propose that career strategies related to networking lead to the development of social capital. Lastly, they suggest that people that can enhance their knowing-why competencies through undertaking career strategy behaviours. All career strategies propose an opportunity for the betterment of self-awareness, critical to knowing-why competencies. 

What are the effects of career competencies on employability?

The individual qualities; talent and expertise determine the ease of movement and the availability of jobs. Human capital causes people to see the labour market and enlarge to competition of services of an individual to external employers. The increase of teachable knowledge, skills (knowing-how competencies) increases the value of an employee. Making new friends and with that learning knowing-whom skills in organizations could lead to possible job opportunities. Also, the strength of social network can enhance career growth options and keep the employee open-minded to new opportunities for his career.  

What is the effect of employability on psychological mobility?

The authors propose that an increase of employability can result in finding alternative career paths. This finding is consistent with the cybernetic perspective: people enact in adaptational strategies for their career. Strategic behaviours can be used to enhance current competencies in career and to promote a high employability. Psychological mobility is enlarged by this, especially when people are not highly embedded in the job they currently have. On the other hand, when people receive a higher level of employability that they desire, the discrepancy between current and desired employability may be overlooked. This is a result of the comparison process caused by their activities in job search. Their current level of employability is the same as their desired level of employability, so there is no need to keep using adaptive career strategy behaviours.

What is the effect of psychological mobility on job search?

People are likely to enhance job search activities if they believe that this effort will get them rewarding outcomes (Vroom, 1964). On the other hand, people with a strong view of psychological mobility are motivated to engage in
more high-level job search to serve them information necessary to make accurate comparisons between desired and current employability. The refinement of comparisons between desired and current employability over time is a crystallization process: vague impressions of opportunity for employment result in concrete understandings of alternatives to current employment. According to Steel (2002) people engage in job search activities to get more particularistic information. Also, movement capital increases employability and produces feelings of psychological mobility. In conjunction with job satisfaction, this leads to extensive search for alternative job options. This can result in turnover. 

What is the effect of job search on voluntary turnover?

Labour market knowledge is enhanced by job search. It gives employees better perceptions about the reality of the current labour market (Steel, 1996,2002). Therefore, job search should be consistent even if employees discover they have employability deficiencies through comparisons with
more information, which causes them to engage in more career strategy behaviours. Another thing that could happen is that individuals develop fully crystallized alternative job opportunities that result in voluntary turnover. However, job search can also cause work conditions to improve. This is because the labour market turnover can also result in a focus towards staying instead of leaving the organization. This is only true when someone is satisfied with the job. 

What is the effect of voluntary turnover on the development of career competencies?

The theory of turnover in de model also discusses the effect of voluntary turnover on someone’s career. Previous literature often considered turnover as a dependent variable of the decision-making process. Especially in considering the extensive job mobility in the current workforce. Changing positions internally in an organization is different from moving to another company. Transitions that are interorganizational are more likely to introduce an individual to new contacts. Interorganizational transitions also lead to more knowing-how competencies because a substantially different position requires learning new skills. People that gain the phase of mastery in their career cycle often gain experience and expertise in a new area of responsibility. However, acquiring a different position within the same company learns them about organizational boundaries and the role of interpersonal relationships. Lastly, knowing-why competencies can grow as a result of turnover. Working in a new environment can provide new options for career exploration. It can provide insight in the best career path.

What are implications for further research?

The researchers tried to explain the cycle of adaptation over the job environment that is consistent with a cybernetic perspective on job search. They also ought to reposition the role of job satisfaction and its influence on voluntary turnover. Finally, they discussed an examination of consequences of voluntary turnover for career competencies. In the research they pointed out some the following suggestions for future research.

• One opportunity for future research could be to investigate other career orientations than measured in the current study. For example, the orientation career as a calling or career anchors.

• It is likely the comparison process between job does not only rely on the discrepancy of current and desired employability. The attribution regarding someone’s employability should be associated with the choice of certain career alternatives.

• The linkage between psychological mobility and employability should be researched more.

• The researchers believe that psychological mobility and some form of job search is needed for job dissatisfaction to kick in. In future research the three-way interaction between psychological mobility, job satisfaction and personal orientation should be examined.

• The responses of companies to potential departures should be considered.

• Future research should explain the conditions of the effect of turnover on knowing-why, knowing-how and knowing-whom competencies.

• There could also be a relationship between the quality of career relationships and the development of career competencies.

• The researchers suggest a direct test of the assumption that the enhancement of employability is salient to a certain segment of the workplace.

• The results of the study should be replicated across different cultures to research cross-cultural differences.

• Investigating the interacting role of economic changes could provide crucial insights into the process of voluntary turnover.

• Finally, methodological changes should be made to see if the outcomes also hold when they are researched with a longitudinal design.