Understanding Employee Turnover: The Need for a Contingency Approach

A strong body of research evidence has shown that better predictions of organizational phenomena would be achieved if greater emphasis was put on the interactive effects of potential independent variables. As an integral part of that research, contingency theory has been a landmark approach to organizational analysis. Draws on the main body of literature and attempts to show that contingency theory and its basic postulate would strongly benefit the study of employee turnover. Argues that voluntary employee turnover is contingent on the amount of fit/misfit between individual values and the predominant organizational structure/management style. Shows and suggests that the use of a contingency approach to employee turnover could be of great benefit in future research designed to enhance our understanding of this complex phenomenon.