Career Mobility and Branding in the Civil Service: An Empirical Study

Abstract

This paper investigates recruitment and mobility patterns, and builds and tests a model that predicts voluntary turnover. The findings include why current employees joined, their motivations and problems in seeking posi tions once in the public service, and issues in transition management. The model found that promotion stress and commitment were primary causes for seeking new positions. However, this search favored remaining in the civil service. The model also suggested the importance of supervisory support in addressing a number of career issues. Implications are drawn for meeting challenges including recruiting and retaining the "new age" employee, and managing the more calculative relationship between employee and organization.T his article is concerned with recruiting, mobility patterns, exploring organiza tional conditions that influence career dimensions such as promotion stress, and predicting intended turnover. Human resource management is challenged by demographic trends as "baby boomers" approach retirement to be replaced by "new age" employees, and labor demand exceeds supply, exacerbating existing con cerns about the age distribution within the civil service. 1 These trends magnify the effects of an increasingly calculative individual -organization relationship, and con cerns about career security and mobility, including voluntary turnover. 2 Understand ing career issues helps in developing and retaining employees and, by improving practices, contributes to organizational image and the ability to attract applicants.A brand evokes emotional and rational expectations of a product or service, and provides information that distinguishes the brand from its competitors (e.g. the Nike logo in sports products) .3 The brand concept, extended to human resource practices, enables organizations to differentiate themselves from their competitors in the labour market. For example, 3 M supports its innovation strategy through such HR practices as allowing individuals to devote up to 15% of their time on their own projects. These practices, publicized through the media, facilitate recruiting applicants attracted by such work environments. Moreover, organizations may seek to change public per ceptions about the reality of their human resource practices and the nature of the work environment. To be effective, branding must reflect the reality of the work envi-

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

“…Like previous studies (Shaw et al, 1998;Selden and Moynihan, 2000;Ito, 2003;Curry et al, 2005;Moynihan and Landuyt, 2008), we found mixed results concerning the effects of training on quit rates. The coefficient for the average amount spent on training per employee was not statistically significant (H7), which is consistent with Way's (2002) research.…”

Voluntary Turnover in Nonprofit Human Service Organizations: The Impact of High Performance Work Practices

“…That being said, studies of voluntary turnover have had mixed findings concerning the impact of training and development (Curry, McCarragher, & Dellmann-Jenkins, 2005;Haines, Jalette, & Larose, 2010;Ito, 2003;Moynihan & Landuyt, 2009;Selden & Moynihan, 2000;Shaw, Delery, Jenkins, & Gupta, 1998). However, strong training and development should lead to employees that feel valued by their organization and therefore demonstrate loyalty by choosing to stay with the organization.…”

Explaining Turnover Intention in State Government

“…On one hand, such investment may signal that the organization values an employee, which in turn fosters a greater sense of employee loyalty to the organization (Curry et al, 2005). On the other hand, providing greater training to the employee may make them more skilled and capable of winning a job in other organizations (Ito, 2003). A research challenge that suggests itself is the need for a measurement strategy that can sort out the relative influence of these conflicting effects.…”