The influence of high performance work systems on voluntary turnover of new hires in US state governments

Purpose – This article aims to examine factors associated with new employee turnover in US state governments, where turnover is often highest in organizations. Building on existing studies of high performance work systems (HPWS) turnover, this article develops a set of hypotheses to explain new hire turnover. Design/methodology/approach – The proposed model has been analyzed with a sample of 42 of the 50 US state governments. Findings – Practices associated with HPWS influence turnover of new hires. State governments that operate centralized college recruiting programs, pay higher salaries, offer pay for performance incentives, award group bonuses, invest more in training, and allow job rotation lose significantly fewer new hires. Research limitations/implications – This study is limited to specific variables collected in an online survey of states' central human resource departments. Future research may want to focus on other levels of government, include additional practices associated with HPWS, and examine measures of government performance. Practical implications – This study stresses the importance of HPWS and how HRM practices impact new employees' decisions to stay or leave an organization. This information will provide an opportunity for actionable knowledge to be created that may help practitioners design and administer programs to reduce new hire turnover. Originality/value – This study has extended a well‐developed body of knowledge on HPWS to government. Since most HPWS and turnover studies focus on turnover more broadly and since turnover is often highest among new hires, this research extends the HPWS framework to an important outcome, new hire quit rates.