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RESEARCH PROPOSAL (moffat Pihelo) HIGH TURNOVER (3)

Moffat Pihelo

D O W N LO A D F I L E
D O W N LO A D F I L E
 

ABSTRACT

he e>ploration of the st"dy was deri!ed from the researcher<s e>perience and in!ol!ement in the &8 which
e>perienced gargant"an fatalities of recr"ited employees since -7*(. he moratori"m on recr"itment process
disad!antaged the department?s conditions as some employees were marooned for months. he researcher 
wondered how profo"nd the staff t"rno!er might ha!e had the infl"ence on the %"ality of ser!ices being deli!ered
to the c"stomers. In most cases cond"cting recr"itment process is e>pensi!e. It re%"ires ade%"ate time to ens"re
that reso"rces are satisfactorily positioned= while retaining the e>isting workforce is tricky noting the c"lt"ral
challenges and trepidation.

&s from -7*(= there was noteworthy raise in the n"mber of people lea!ing the department to other sphere of 
go!ernment incl"ding the pri!ate sector. @or these reasons the researcher desired to demeanor a st"dy called= Athe
st"dy of high manpower t"rno!er of lawyers at &ttorney eneral 8hambersA

he st"dy "tilized the %"antitati!e methods= which were descripti!e in nat"re. ermission was obtained from the
64D before the st"dy began. articipants were contacted "sing !ario"s comm"nication channels. 8onsent were
forwarded by the researcher before the s"r!ey began. Data was obtained thro"gh self/administered
%"estionnaires= analyzed "sing statistical methods and graphs. Iss"es of confidentiality were disclosed to parties
 beforehand.

+ased on the data analysis= the participants artic"lated the following e>periences:

Bob Dissatisfaction
Lack of Direction
oor 8omm"nication
oor job alignment C ision
Lack of De!elopment C &d!ancement
oor $"per!isor?s 9>pectation

&ltho"gh= there is no standard framework for "nderstanding the o!erall employee t"rno!er e>periences as they
di!erge from law firm to another= disc"ssion= concl"sion and recommendations were made for the department to
consider.

CHAPTER -

BAC3GROUND

$taff t"rno!er is the in and o"t mo!ement of employees an organization= namely= the beginning or end of an
employment contract. he a"thor f"rther stated that staff t"rno!er can also take place within the organization
when employees are mo!ed between departments= "nits or sections= promoted= demoted or transferred. 3athis
and Backson E-77(F classified t"rno!er as !ol"ntary !ers"s in!ol"ntary t"rno!er. &ccording to the a"thors=
!ol"ntary t"rno!er can be ca"sed by many factors= incl"ding career opport"nities= rem"neration= s"per!ision=
geography
organization.andIn!ol"ntary
personal reasons.
t"rno!er ol"ntary
is triggeredt"rno!er also appears
by employees to increase
not complying withinorganizational
size with thepolicies
size of and
the
work r"les= th"s not meeting the e>pected performance standards.

&ttorney eneral re!ealed that the &<s 8hambers has a high t"rno!er of staff that is poached by other entities
that can offer better pay to practicing legal personnel. A&fter fi!e years of practical e>periences as lawyers= the
 pri!ate sector comes to poach o"r staff= beca"se of the m"ch better financial rewards and perks offered by the
 pri!ate sector and parastatals b"t they do not in!est in training them=A laments 3olokomme. A+"t the good thing
is they are not lost to the economy as they contrib"te to the profession e!en in the pri!ate sector=A she adds.
 
4ne of &8 priorities is Ato create decent workA he department has been e>emplified by poor democratic
 practices internally which did not endorse operational efficiency; restrain personal de!elopment and dedication of 
staff. hese abnormalities trooped employees to seek local and national employment opport"nities.

Lawyers play a central role in ens"ring that the organization deli!ers on its mandates= if lawyers lea!e= meeting
the organizational needs may ha!e negati!e on the %"ality of ser!ice pro!ided to beneficiaries. Last year= there
were fatalities of lawyers from !ario"s le!els departing the department and by the end of -7*( there were
 profo"nd losses of lawyers. he creation of decent working conditions was non e>istence= deficiencies in Lawyers
had depressing effect on the pro!ision of ser!ices= hindrance in concl"ding the new recr"itment strategies= ca"sed
immense feeling of being o!erworked.
Ghen lawyers lea!e &8= it represents loss of skilled co"nsels= red"ction in knowledge= decreased staff morale
and increased workloads.

PROBLEM IN CONTE?T

he mo"nting resignations press"re often impact negati!ely on the systems of legal $er!ice within the department
and to its ser!ice pro!iders. he change initiati!es were imposed on lawyers= "nacc"stomed to somehow tempted
lawyers to lea!e= res"lting in resistance= "nhealthy working conditions= "ncertainty and "nsatisfactory
 performance. Nobody
 part of conf"sion. "nderstood
he lack the direction
of moti!ation to be taken= with
and dissatisfaction lawyers are mislaid=
the job/scope hidden
create agendas
tension andlawyers.
among clashes are

he resignation of lawyers !ol"ntarily creates a gap= which ca"ses "nderstaffing= 4!erb"rdening remaining staff=
deterioration in %"ality of ser!ice res"lting in downbeat syndrome. 3eagre leadership lands in strategies that are
not properly comm"nicated and lack of en!ironmental dialog lead to imperceptible stage. 3ost s"per!isors
e>perience high trepidation le!els and they are "nable to pro!ide clear g"idelines res"lting in stressed workforce.
Hnpleasant workplace ca"ses major apprehension= work/week "nbearable= ine!itable tho"ght of 3ondays
creeping closer= followed workers home o!er the weekend and r"in their rela>ation time with their families. $ome

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 employees were admitted to hospitals= felt more risks at work= while others took !acation lea!e to "nwind
indefinitely.

$ome employees decided to search for employment opport"nities elsewhere instead of being bottled inside &8
walls that did not offer ad!antageo"s and welcoming en!ironment. &8<s changing en!ironment has been
deteriorating and lacked integration of reso"rces namely financial= h"man and physical.

SIGNIFICANCE OF THE STUDY

he main p"rpose of this research was to gather information that will aid &8 management to comprehend
feat"res of high staff t"rno!er e>perienced by the department. he end res"lts may permit the department to be in
an impro!ed position to de!elop staff retention strategies aimed at pl"mmeting t"rno!er matters.

PROBLEM REVIEW

Lack of comm"nication and poor cons"ltati!e str"ct"res manifests into increased $"per!isor/s"bordinate
conflicts= psychological stress= an>iety and depression Eoor change efforts and leadershipF. Lawyers felt terror 
and inability of top management to g"ide them in the needed direction deterred $"per!isors from comm"nicating
with their s"bordinates. $ome $"per!isors who relied on the laissez faire style a!oided taking decisions and the
responsibilities associated with their position.

4ften when there was comm"nication= it lacked ade%"ate information= s"bstance that e>plained and s"pported the
management commitment. his lead to lawyer<s e>od"s.

3ost Lawyers did not comprehend their programme str"ct"res as they kept on changing fre%"ently. his res"lted
in tension associated with being o!erworked yet Lawyers were e>pected to report rottenly. $e!eral lawyers were
fo"nd in the shopping centers d"ring office ho"rs= while others watching mo!ies= some b"sy on social network 
d"ring working ho"rs or listening to m"sic in comp"ter. Lawyers came late at work= telephones calls were left
"nattended and those who were pri!ileged with offices ignored the telephones= b"t when yo" pass by= they were
ha!ing con!ersations with their colleag"es indolently or sleeping sloppily. 3eetings proliferated= often witho"t
 p"rpose with too little happening.

Lawyers felt that their self/esteem is wo"nded= feared that their skills and abilities are de!al"ed. rogramme
achie!ements reported are based on s"per!isor<s feelings and this res"lted in less satisfying work and more boring
or monotono"s jobs. @ads and#or %"ick fi>es were adopted to confront major iss"es. his res"lted in low le!el of 
skills "sage and lack of creati!ity. 8ombining fo"r different di!ision into one entity is not an easy task since these
department?s poses different c"lt"ral norms and standards of operations.

PROBLEM STATEMENT

In the researcher<s e>perience within the department= the researcher obser!ed "nremitting losses of recr"ited
employees. $taff t"rno!er res"lted in a series of negati!e effects. o cite j"st a few: loss of moti!ation and lack of 
desire to work. he gap generated between e>it of one employee and not recr"iting or replacing workers ca"sed
deterioration in %"ality of legal ser!ices rendered and o!erload in remaining employees. @or these reasons the
researcher desired to demeanor a st"dy called= A& $t"dy of 6igh $taff "rno!er of lawyers at the &ttorney
eneral<s 8hambers<=

LITERATURE REVIEW

Lynn 8oleman E*525F offers ideas on how to correct and pre!ent employee t"rno!er. $ome of his
recommendations incl"de the instit"tion of e>it inter!iews and other methods of finding the reasons for people
lea!ing the company. $"r!eys and inter!iews are e>cellent methods by which to find information abo"t people.
9!en tho"gh e>it inter!iew so"nd as the best idea to get honest information from an employee beca"se the
thinking is what the employee has to lose= they ha!e already %"it= the employee certainly does not want to b"rn
 bridges= so e!en in that sit"ation information may not be the o"tmost tr"thf"l and straight forward. ossibly
anonymo"s s"r!eys wo"ld be the best.

8ompanies inc"r direct and indirect e>penses= which incl"de the cost of ad!ertising= headh"nting fees= h"man
reso"rce costs= loss of prod"cti!ity= new hire training= and c"stomer retention= e!ery time they ha!e to replace an
employee. hese e>penses can add "p to anywhere from (7 to -77 percent of a single employee<s ann"al wages or 
salary= depending on the ind"stry and the job role being filled. E+eam= -775F otential negati!e conse%"ences of 
employee t"rno!er incl"de operational disr"ption= demoralization= negati!e p"blic relations= personnel costs=
strategic opport"nity costs= and decreased social integration. E8oleman= *521F In organizations that rely on people
to pro!ide ser!ices= t"rno!er threatens the agency?s reser!oir of e>pertise= organizational effecti!eness and
s"stainability E6oward= -772F. Losing highly skilled professionals may lead to s"bstantial costs and hidden costs
associated with diffic"lties in completing projects and disr"ptions in team/based work en!ironments Eaan=
-7**F.

3ost researchers E+l"edorn= *52-; alliath and +eck= -77*; ramer et al.= *55,; eters et al .= *52*; $aks= *550F
ha!e attempted to answer the %"estion of what determines people<s intention to %"it by in!estigating possible
antecedents of employees< intentions to %"it. o date= there has been little consistency in findings= which is partly
d"e to the di!ersity of employed incl"ded by the researchers and the lack of consistency in their findings.
herefore= there are se!eral reasons why people %"it from one organization to another or why people lea!e
organization. he e>perience of job related stress Ejob stressF= the range factors that lead to job related stress
EstressorsF= lack of commitment in the organization; and job dissatisfaction make employees to %"it @irth et al.
E-77)F. his clearly indicates that these are indi!id"al decisions which make one to %"it. hey are other factors
like personal agency refers to concepts s"ch as a sense of powerlessness= loc"s of control and personal control.
Loc"s control refers to the e>tent to which people belie!e that the e>ternal factors s"ch as chance and powerf"l
others are in control of the e!ents which infl"ence their li!es @irth et al. E-77)F. 3an" et al. E-77)F arg"e that
employees %"it from organization d"e economic reasons. Hsing economic model they showed that people %"it
from organization d"e to economic reasons and these can be "sed to predict the labo"r t"rno!er in the market.
ood local labo"r market conditions impro!e organizational stability $cher!ish E*52(F. Large organizations can
 pro!ide employees with better chances for ad!ancement and higher wages and hence ens"re organizational
attachment EIdson and @easter *557F. re!or E-77*F arg"es that local "nemployment rates interact with job
satisfaction to predict t"rno!er in the market. ole stressors also lead to employees< t"rno!er. ole ambig"ity
refers to the difference between what people e>pect of "s on the job and what we feel we sho"ld do. his ca"ses

"ncertainty abo"t what o"r role sho"ld be. It can be a res"lt of mis"nderstanding what is e>pected= how to meet
the Ins"fficient information on how to perform the job ade%"ately= "nclear e>pectations of peers and s"per!isors=
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ambig"ity of performance e!al"ation methods= e>tensi!e job press"res= and lack of consens"s on job f"nctions or 
d"ties may ca"se employees to feel less in!ol!ed and less satisfied with their jobs and careers= less committed to
their organizations= and e!ent"ally display a propensity to lea!e the organization Eor et al.= *551F. If roles of 
employees are not clearly spelled o"t by management# s"per!isors= this wo"ld accelerate the degree of employees
%"itting their jobs d"e to lack of role clarity.

O O OG
 METHODOLOGY

he st"dy will foc"s on the %"antitati!e research methods Ei.e. %"estionnairesF. 4ne of the disting"ishing factors
of s"r!ey research methods is the dominant need to collect raw data from large gro"ps of lawyers. $"r!ey
research will play an important role in pro!iding the necessary information for g"iding a department ?s
de!elopment strategy. $"r!eys are normally carried o"t for descripti!e p"rposes to pro!ide information abo"t the
distrib"tion of a wide range of lawyer<s characteristics and of relationship between s"ch characteristics. he data
will be analyzed according to gender= di!ision classifications and other !ariable incorporated into the s"r!ey.

RESEARCH OB8ECTIVES

he objecti!es of the st"dy were:

o ascertain the staff t"rno!er le!el at &8.
o determine factors leading to high staff t"rno!er; and
o recommend sol"tions to retain workforce.

HYPOTHESIS

4n the basis of the abo!e objecti!es= o"r main research hypotheses are;
he nat"re of their work is not challenging.
Low salaries compared to open market ca"ses labo"r t"rno!er.

LIMITATIONS OF THE STUDY

he following limitations were identified by the researcher:/

@ormer employees may not be willing to share their e>periences and therefore not
Gilling to participate;

@ormer employees may ha!e changed their telephone n"mbers and n"mbers on their files may no longer 
applicable= th"s limiting necessary data o"tcomes;

D"e to b"dget= access and time constraints= the st"dy will "tilize %"estionnaires as means of gathering data= hence
limiting "sage of other research methods that co"ld ha!e added !al"e to the st"dy.

CHAPTER +

REVIEW OF LITERATURE

INTRODUCTION

9mployees< t"rno!er is a m"ch st"died phenomenon $haw et al. E*552F.+"t there is no standard reason why
 people lea!e organization. 9mployee t"rno!er is the rotation of workers aro"nd the labo"r market; between firms=
 jobs and occ"pations; and between the states of employment and "nemployment &bassi et al. E-777F. @re%"ently=
managers refer to t"rno!er as the entire process associated with filling a !acancy: 9ach time a position is !acated=
either !ol"ntarily or in!ol"ntarily= a new employee m"st be hired and trained. his replacement cycle is known as
t"rno!er Goods= E*55,F. his term is also often "tilized in efforts to meas"re relationships of employees in an
organization as they lea!e= regardless of reason. AHnfolding modelA of !ol"ntary t"rno!er represents a di!ergence
from traditional thinking E6om and riffeth= *55,F by foc"sing more on the decisional aspect of employee
t"rno!er= in other words= showing instances of !ol"ntary t"rno!er as decisions to %"it. Indeed= the model is based
on a theory of decision making= image theory +each= E*557F. he image theory describes the process of how
indi!id"als process information d"ring decision making. he "nderlying premise of the model is that people lea!e
organizations after they ha!e analyzed the reasons for %"itting. +each E*557F arg"es that indi!id"als seldom ha!e
the cogniti!e reso"rces to systematically e!al"ate all incoming information= so indi!id"als instead of simply and
%"ickly compare incoming information to more he"ristic/type decision making alternati!es.

CAUSES OF TURNOVER
8OB RELATED FACTORS

3ost researchers E+l"edorn= *52-; alliath and +eck= -77*; ramer et al.= *55,; eters et al .= *52*; $aks= *550F
ha!e attempted to answer the %"estion of what determines people<s intention to %"it by in!estigating possible
antecedents of employees< intentions to %"it. o date= there has been little consistency in findings= which is partly
d"e to the di!ersity of employed incl"ded by the researchers and the lack of consistency in their findings.
herefore= there are se!eral reasons why people %"it from one organization to another or why people lea!e
organization. he e>perience of job related stress Ejob stressF= the range factors that lead to job related stress
EstressorsF= lack of commitment in the organization; and job dissatisfaction make employees to %"it @irth et al.
E-77)F. his clearly indicates that these are indi!id"al decisions which make one to %"it. hey are other factors
like personal agency refers to concepts s"ch as a sense of powerlessness= loc"s of control and personal control.

Loc"s control refers to the e>tent to which people belie!e that the e>ternal factors s"ch as chance and powerf"l
others are in control of the e!ents which infl"ence their li!es @irth et al. E-77)F. 3an" et al. E-77)F arg"e that
employees %"it from organization d"e economic reasons. Hsing economic model they showed that people %"it
from organization d"e to economic reasons and these can be "sed to predict the labo"r t"rno!er in the market.
ood local labo"r market conditions impro!e organizational stability $cher!ish E*52(F. Large organizations can
 pro!ide
attachmentemployees with@easter
EIdson and better *557F.
chancesre!or
for ad!ancement
E-77*F arg"es andthat
higher
localwages and hencerates
"nemployment ens"re organizational
interact with job
satisfaction to predict t"rno!er in the market. ole stressors also lead to employees< t"rno!er.

ole ambig"ity refers to the difference between what people e>pect of "s on the job and what we feel we sho"ld
do. his ca"ses "ncertainty abo"t what o"r role sho"ld be. It can be a res"lt of mis"nderstanding what is
e>pected= how to meet the e>pectations= or the employee thinking the job sho"ld be different ahn et al.
3"chinsky= *557. Ins"fficient information on how to perform the job ade%"ately= "nclear e>pectations of peers
and s"per!isors= ambig"ity of performance e!al"ation methods= e>tensi!e job press"res= and lack of consens"s on

 job f"nctions or d"ties may ca"se employees to feel less in!ol!ed and less satisfied with their jobs and careers=
less committed to their organizations= and e!ent"ally display a propensity to lea!e the organization Eor et al.=
*551F. If roles of employees are not clearly spelled o"t by management# s"per!isors= this wo"ld accelerate the
degree of employees %"itting their jobs d"e to lack of role clarity.

ORGANIATIONAL FACTORS

4rganizational instability has been shown to ha!e a high degree of high t"rno!er. Indications are that employees
are more likely
organization to there
where stay was
when therele!el
a high is aofpredictable
inefficiencywork
there en!ironment
was also a highand !ice
le!el of !ersa EJ"ber=E&le>ander 
staff t"rno!er -77*F. In
et al.= *55)F. herefore= in sit"ations where organizations are not stable employees tend to %"it and look for stable
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organizations beca"se with stable organizations they wo"ld be able to predict their career ad!ancement. he
imposition of a %"antitati!e approach to managing the employees led to disenchantment of staff and hence it leads
to labo"r t"rno!er. herefore management sho"ld not "se %"antitati!e approach in managing its employees.
&dopting a cost oriented approach to employment costs increases labo"r t"rno!er $imon et al. E-771F. &ll these
approaches sho"ld be a!oided if managers want to minimize employee t"rno!er an increase organizational
competiti!eness in this en!ironment of globalization.
9mployees ha!e a strong need to be informed. 4rganization with strong comm"nication systems enjoyed lower 
t"rno!er of staff ELabo!= *551F. 9mployees feel comfortable to stay longer= in positions where they are in!ol!ed
in some le!el of the decision/making process. hat is employees sho"ld f"lly "nderstand abo"t iss"es that affect
their working atmosphere E3agner et al. E*550F. +"t in the absence openness< in sharing information= employee
empowerment the chances of contin"ity of employees are minimal. 8ostly et al. E*521F points o"t that a high
labo"r t"rno!er may mean poor personnel policies= poor recr"itment policies= poor s"per!isory practices= poor 
grie!ance proced"res= or lack of moti!ation. &ll these factors contrib"te to high employee t"rno!er in the sense
that there is no proper management practices and policies on personnel matters hence employees are not recr"ited
scientifically= promotions of employees are not based on spelled o"t policies= no grie!ance proced"res in place
and
effectth"s
on employees
t"rno!er. decides to %"it. riffeth et al. E-777F noted that pay and pay/related !ariables ha!e a modest

heir analysis also incl"ded st"dies that e>amined the relationship between pay= a person<s performance and
t"rno!er. hey concl"ded that when high performers are ins"fficiently rewarded= they %"it. If jobs pro!ide
ade%"ate financial incenti!es the more likely employees remain with organization and !ice !ersa. here are also
other factors which make employees to %"it from organizations and these are poor hiring practices= managerial
style= lack of recognition= lack of competiti!e compensation system in the organization and to>ic workplace
en!ironment &bassi etal. E-777F.

8OB SATISFACTION AND COMMUNICATION

It may be e!ident by the presence of headache= sleep= dist"rbance and diffic"lty in concentration. he chronic
fatig"e is dangero"s as it wo"ld take a toll on the health of workers Eahid= et al .= -7**F. &ll these illness co"ld
ca"se headache and diffic"lty to foc"s.

In the long r"n= worker wo"ld fre%"ently take a medical lea!e= absent from work= be "nprod"cti!e and the worse
scenario wo"ld lead to %"itting Eahid= et al .= -7**F. 8ole= et al .= -770F fo"nd that employees in!ol!ed in a
merger reported decreased le!els of job satisfaction= organizational commitment and increased intention to %"it.
$imilarly= in EGanberg and +anas= -777F st"dy showed that low le!els of change acceptance were associated with
decreased job satisfaction and stronger intention to %"it. ole ambig"ity is also likely to increase when
indi!id"als percei!e organizational change as not needed= inappropriate or poorly e>ec"ted E8ole= et al .= -770F.

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