Does training trigger turnover - or not?

Abstract

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Do employees reciprocate to intra-firm trainings? An analysis of absenteeism and turnover rates

“…Receiving a training could also trigger employees to perceive themselves as being valued and important to the firm: training might signal an employer's willingness to invest in its employees and the confidence that the respective employee will remain with the firm in the future (Sieben, 2007). Especially in the case of general trainings, employees might be aware that the provided skills are transferable to other employers (Barrett & O'Connell, 2001), which might induce a reciprocal reaction by employees and positively affect loyalty and commitment.…”

Does perceived support in employee development affect personnel turnover?

“…As a consequence, personnel turnover increases, because employees can easily be poached by other organizations (Green et al, 2000). Although most studies on training and personnel turnover do not distinguish between general and specific training, or merely focus on firm-specific training (Bishop, 1997), a few empirical studies provide some evidence for the human capital perspective, indicating that as a consequence of general training participation, workers' turnover increases (Bedeian et al, 1992;Benson et al, 2004;Sieben, 2007).…”

“…Employees who are able to participate in general training perceive that their employer cares about their 'employability' and that they are valued by the organization (Tannenbaum et al, 1991;Sieben, 2007;Lee and Bruvold, 2003).…”

“…The other perspective, however, puts forward that by investing in the development of employees, their turnover intentions decrease (Benson et al, 2004;Sieben, 2007). Several studies have found that HRD practices affect the behaviour and attitudes of employees (Guest, 2002;Edgar and Geare, 2005;Muse and Stamper, 2007).…”

“…First, we incorporate the contrary hypotheses of human capital theory as well as social exchange theory in our analysis. Our study builds on Sieben (2007) who contrasted the human capital perspective and the social exchange perspective in an analysis on the relationship between training participation and labor turnover. We extend her analysis by including employee perceptions on perceived support of their employer as well as workers' job satisfaction in the analysis.…”