Hostname: page-component-77c89778f8-swr86 Total loading time: 0 Render date: 2024-07-22T14:32:14.911Z Has data issue: false hasContentIssue false
  • English
  • Français

Employee perceptions of workforce retention strategies in a health system

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  02 February 2015

Cheryl Belbin ,
Ronel Erwee  and
Retha Wiesner
Cheryl Belbin
Affiliation:
Queensland Health, Innisfail, QLD, Australia
Ronel Erwee
Affiliation:
University of Southern Queensland, Toowoomba, QLD, Australia
Retha Wiesner
Affiliation:
University of Southern Queensland, Toowoomba, QLD, Australia
Get access Rights & Permissions [Opens in a new window]

Abstract

This quantitative study explores the perceptions of 379 nurses using a survey to assess awareness of, participation in, and effectiveness of 28 workforce retention strategies offered by Queensland Health. Perceptions of workforce retention strategies were also examined to determine if any aspects of the strategy (retention factors) had an influence on turnover intention. The major findings were that respondents were more aware and had participated to a greater extent in those strategies that were included in Queensland Health policy or were part of the nursing Enterprise Bargaining Agreement. Strategies ranked as most effective included those that provided a monetary advantage and to a lesser extent, a professional development opportunity. A positive relationship was found between retention factors and decreased turnover intention.

Keywords

motivationturnoverretentionworkforce retention strategiesretention factors
Type
Practitioner perspective
Information
Journal of Management & Organization , Volume 18 , Issue 5: Healthcare management: Progress, problems and solutions , September 2012 , pp. 742 - 760
Copyright
Copyright © Cambridge University Press and Australian and New Zealand Academy of Management 2012

Access options

Get access to the full version of this content by using one of the access options below. (Log in options will check for institutional or personal access. Content may require purchase if you do not have access.)

References

Advisory Committee on Health Human Resources. (2002). Our health, our future: Creating quality workplaces for Canadian nurses. Toronto, ON: Health Canada.Google Scholar
Aiken, L. H., Clarke, S. P., Sloane, D. M., Sochalski, J. A., Busse, R., Clarke, H., … Shamian, J. (2001). Nurses' reports on hospital care in five countries. Health Affairs, 20(3), 43–53.Google Scholar
Aitken, G., Marks, N., Purcell, J., Woodruffe, C., & Worman, D. (2006). Changed agenda: Reflections on employee engagement (p. 16). London, England: Chartered Institute of Personnel and Development. Retrieved from www.cipd.co.ukGoogle Scholar
Aitken, L. H., Clarke, S. P., Sloane, D. M., Sochalski, J., & Silber, J. H. (2002). Hospital nurse staffing and patient mortality, nurse burnout, and job dissatisfaction. Journal of the American Medical Association, 288(16), 1987–1993.Google Scholar
Albion, M. J., Fogarty, G. J., Machin, M. A., & Patrick, J. (2008). Predicting absenteeism and turnover intentions in the health professions. Australian Health Review, 32(2), 271–281.Google Scholar
Asquith, J., Sardo, S., & Begley, P. (2008). AHRI pulse: Love ‘em don't lose ‘em’ – Identifying retention strategies that work (Vol. 2, No. 1). Melbourne, VIC: Australian Human Resources Institute.Google Scholar
Atchison, T. J., & Lefferts, E. A. (1972). The prediction of turnover using Herzberg's job satisfaction technique. Personnel Psychology, 25(1), 53–64.Google Scholar
Australian Government Department of Health and Ageing. (2008). Report on the audit of health workforce in rural and regional Australia. Canberra, ACT: Department of Health and Ageing. Retreived from http://www.health.gov.au/internet/main/publishing.nsf/content/work-res-ruraudGoogle Scholar
Barney, S. M. (2002). Retaining our workforce: Regaining our potential. Journal of Healthcare Management, 47(5), 291–295.Google Scholar
Bassett-Jones, N., & Lloyd, G. C. (2005). Does Herzberg's motivation theory have staying power? Journal of Management Development, 24(10), 929–943.Google Scholar
Best Practice Australia and New Zealand. (2008). Attraction, retention and turnover. Retrieved October 15, 2008, from www.pbpanz.comGoogle Scholar
Bluedorn, A. C. (1982). A unified model of turnover from organizations. Human Relations, 35(2), 135–153.Google Scholar
Baruch-Feldman, C., Brondolo, E., Ben-Dyan, D., & Schwartz, J. (2002). Sources of social support and burnout, job satisfaction and productivity. Journal of Occupational Health Psychology, 7, 84–93.Google Scholar
Buchan, J., & Calman, L. (2005). Summary: The global shortage of registered nurses. The Global Nursing Review Initiative, Retrieved from www.icn.ch/global/summary.pdfGoogle Scholar
Cavana, R. Y., Delahaye, B. L., & Sekaran, U. (2001). Applied business research: Qualitative and quantitative methods. Milton, QLD: John Wiley & Sons.Google Scholar
Churchill, G. (1979, 02). A paradigm for developing better measures of marketing constructs. Journal of Marketing Research, 16, 64–73.Google Scholar
Coakes, S. J., & Steed, L. G. (2007). SPSS: Analysis without anguish using SPSS version 14.0 for Windows. Milton, QLD: John Wiley & Sons.Google Scholar
Crossley, C. D., Jex, S. M., Bennett, R. J., & Burnfield, J. L. (2007). Development of a global measure of job embeddedness and integration into a traditional model of voluntary turnover. Journal of Applied Psychology, 92(4), 1031–1042.Google Scholar
Dockery, A. M. (2004). Workforce experience and retention in nursing in Australia. Working paper series of the Women's Economic Policy Analysis Unit (pp. 25). Perth, WA: Curtin Business School, Curtin University of Technology.Google Scholar
Frieze, I. H., Parsons, J. E., Johnsons, P. B., Ruble, D. N., & Zellman, G. L. (1978). Women and sex roles. New York, NY: Basic Books.Google Scholar
Furnham, A., Eracleous, A., & Chamorro-Premuzic, T. (2009). Personality, motivation and job satisfaction: Herzberg meets the big five. Journal of Managerial Psychology, 24(8), 765–779.Google Scholar
Gay, L. R., & Airasian, P. (2003). Educational research: Competencies for analysis and application (7th ed.). Upper Saddle River, NJ: Merrill/Prentice Hall.Google Scholar
Griffeth, R. W., Hom, P. W., & Gaertner, S. (2000). A meta-analysis of antecedents and correlates of employee turnover: Update, moderator tests, and research implications for the next millennium. Journal of Management, 26(3), 463–488.Google Scholar
Hair, J. F., Black, W. C., Babin, B. J., Anderson, R. E., & Tatham, R. L. (2006). Multivariate data analysis (6th ed.). Upper Saddle River, NJ: Pearson Prentice Hall.Google Scholar
Hegney, D., Plank, A., & Parker, V. (2003). Nursing workloads: The results of a study of Queensland nurses. Journal of Nursing Management, 11(5), 307–314.Google Scholar
Hegney, D., Plank, A., & Parker, V. (2006). Extrinsic and intrinsic work values: Their impact on job satisfaction in nursing. Journal of Nursing Management, 14(4), 271–281.Google Scholar
Hinkin, T. R. (1995). A review of scale development practices in the study of organizations. Journal of Management, 21(5), 967–988.Google Scholar
Hom, P. W., & Griffeth, R. W. (1991). Structural equations modelling test of a turnover theory: Cross-sectional and longitudinal analyses. Journal of Applied Psychology, 76(3), 350–366.Google Scholar
Huang, I.-C., Lin, H.-C., & Chuang, C.-H. (2005). Constructing factors related to worker retention [Research paper]. International Journal of Manpower, 27(5), 491–508.Google Scholar
Huseman, R. C., Hatfield, J. D., & Miles, E. W. (1987). A new perspective on equity theory: The equity sensitivity construct. Academy of Management Review, 12(2), 232–234.Google Scholar
Ivancevich, J. M., & Matteson, M. T. (1990). Organizational behaviour and management (2nd ed.). Boston, MA: BPI Irwin.Google Scholar
Kavanaugh, J., Duffy, J. A., & Lilly, J. (2006). The relationship between job satisfaction and demographic variables for healthcare professionals. Management Research News, 29(6), 304–325.Google Scholar
Kuhar, P. A., Miller, D., Spear, B. T., Ulreich, S. M., & Mion, L. C. (2004). The meaningful retention strategy inventory. Journal of Nursing Administration, 34(1), 10–18.Google Scholar
Lambert, E. G. (2001). To stay or quit: A review of the literature on correctional officer turnover. American Journal of Criminal Justice, 26, 61–76.Google Scholar
Lavoie-Tremblay, M., O'Brien-Pallas, L., Gelinas, C., Desforges, N., & Marchionni, C. (2008). Addressing the turnover issue among new nurses from a generational viewpoint. Journal of Nursing Management, 16(6), 724–733.Google Scholar
Lee, S. (2007). Vroom's expectancy theory and the public library customer motivation model [Research paper]. Library Review, 56(9), 788–796.Google Scholar
Leedy, P. D., & Ormrod, J. E. (2005). Practical research: Planning and design (8th ed.). Upper Saddle River, NJ: Prentice Hall.Google Scholar
Leurer, M. D., Donnelly, G., & Domm, E. (2007). Nurse retention strategies: advice from experienced registered nurses. Journal of Health Organisation and Management, 21(3), 307–319.Google Scholar
Locke, E. A. (1975). Personnel attitudes and motivation. Annual Review of Psychology, 26, 457–480.Google Scholar
Mabey, C., Salaman, G., & Storey, J. (1998). Human resource management: A strategic introduction. Oxford, England: Blackwell.Google Scholar
McNeese-Smith, D., & Crook, M. (2003). Nursing values and a changing nurse workforce. Journal of Nursing Administration, 33(5), 260–270.Google Scholar
Mitchell, T. R., Holtom, B. C., & Lee, T. W. (2001). How to keep your best employees: Developing an effective retention policy. Academy of Management Executive, 15(4), 96–108.Google Scholar
Mitchell, T. R., Holtom, B. C., Lee, T. W., Sablynski, C. J., & Erez, M. (2001). Why people stay: Using job embeddedness to predict voluntary turnover. Academy of Management Journal, 44(6), 1102–1121.Google Scholar
Mobley, W. H., Griffeth, R. W., Hand, H. H., & Meglino, B. M. (1979). Review and conceptual analysis of the employee turnover process. Psychological Bulletin, 86(3), 493–522.Google Scholar
Mobley, W. H., Horner, S. O., & Hollingsworth, A. T. (1978). An evaluation of precursors of hospital employee turnover. Journal of Applied Psychology, 63(4), 408–414.Google Scholar
Mukhi, S., Hampton, D., & Barnwell, N. (1991). Australian management. Sydney, NSW: McGraw-Hill.Google Scholar
Neuman, W. L. (2003). Qualitative and quantitative research designs. Social research methods, qualitative and quantitative approaches (5th ed., pp. 137–168). Boston, MA: Allyn & Bacon.Google Scholar
Ng, T. W. H., & Sorensen, K. L. (2008). Toward a further understanding of the relationships between perceptions of support and work attitudes — A meta-analysis. Group and Organization Management, 33(3), 243–268.Google Scholar
Ondrack, D. A. (1974). Defense mechanisms and the Herzberg theory: An alternate test. Academy of Management Journal, 17(1), 79–89.Google Scholar
Podsakoff, P. M., MacKenzie, S. B., & Lee, J.-Y. (2003). Common method biases in behavioural research: A critical review of the literature and recommended remedies. Journal of Applied Psychology, 88(5), 879–903.Google Scholar
Porter, L. W., & Steers, R. M. (1973). Organizational, work and personal factors in employee turnover and absenteeism. Psychological Bulletin, 80(2), 151–176.Google Scholar
Queensland Health. (2008). Overview of Queensland health. Brisbane, QLD: Author. Retrieved from http://www.health.qld.gov.auGoogle Scholar
Queensland Health. (2010). Workforce informatics. Monthly Workforce Profile. Retrieved from http://qheps.health.qld.gov.au/hrinformaticsGoogle Scholar
Queensland Health. (2011). State Budget 2011–12 agency budget highlights. Brisbane, QLD: Author.Google Scholar
Rafferty, A. M., Maben, J., West, E., & Robinson, D. (2005). Issue paper 3 – What makes a good employer?The Global Nursing Review Initiative, Retrieved from www.icn.ch/global/Issue3employer.pdfGoogle Scholar
Robbins, S. P., Judge, T. A., Millett, B., & Waters-Marsh, T. (2008). Organisational behaviour (5th ed.). Frenchs Forest, NSW: Pearson Education.Google Scholar
Smith, A. D., & Rupp, W. T. (2003). Knowledge workers: Exploring the link among performance rating, pay and motivational aspects. Journal of Knowledge Management, 7(1), 107–124.Google Scholar
Studer, Q. (2004). The value of employee retention. Retrieved from http://www.studergroup.comGoogle Scholar
Stum, D. L. (2001). Maslow revisited: Building the employee commitment pyramid. Strategy and Leadership, 29(4), 4–9.Google Scholar
Tett, R. P., & Meyer, J. P. (1993). Job satisfaction, organizational commitment, turnover intention, and turnover: Path analyses based on meta-analytic findings. Personnel Psychology, 46(2), 259–293.Google Scholar
Toma, J. D. (1997). Alternative inquiry paradigms, faculty cultures, and the definition of academic lives. Journal of Higher Education, 68(6), 679–705.Google Scholar
Tourangeau, A. E., & Cranley, L. A. (2006). Nurse intention to remain employed: Understanding and strengthening determinants. Journal of Advanced Nursing, 55(4), 497–509.Google Scholar
Tovey, E. J., & Adams, A. E. (1999). The changing nature of nurses' job satisfaction: An exploration of sources of satisfaction in the 1990s. Journal of Advanced Nursing, 30, 150–158.Google Scholar
Udechukwu, I. I., & Mujtaba, B. G. (2007). Determining the probability that an employee will stay or leave the organization: A mathematical and theoretical model for organizations. Human Resource Development Review, 6(2), 164–184.Google Scholar
Vroom, V. H. (1964). Work and motivation. New York, NY: Wiley.Google Scholar
Wai Chi Tai, T., Bame, S., & Robinson, C. (1998). Review of nursing turnover research, 1977–1996. Social Science and Medicine, 47(12), 1905–1924.Google Scholar
Waldman, J. D., & Arora, S. (2004). Measuring retention rather than turnover: A different and complementary HR calculus. Human Resource Planning, 27(3), 6–9.Google Scholar
Wilson, B., Squires, M., Widger, K., Cranley, L., & Tourangeau, A. (2008). Job satisfaction among a multigenerational nursing workforce. Journal of Nursing Management, 16(6), 716–723.Google Scholar
Zemke, R., Raines, C., & Filipczak, B. (2000). Generations at work: Managing the clash of veterans, boomers, xers and nexters in your workplace. New York, NY: Amacom.Google Scholar
Zurn, P., Dolea, C., & Stilwell, B. (2005). Nurse retention and recruitment – Developing a motivated workforce [Issue paper 4]. The Global Nursing Review Initiative. pp. 1–31. Retrieved from http://www.icn.ch/images/stories/documents/publications/GNRI/Issue4_Retention.pdfGoogle Scholar