Management turnover is affected by an employee's overall job satisfaction as impacted by his estimation of his job conditions, place in life, and future prospects. A company's employee turnover rate is important to its ability to operate efficiently, but management turnover, in particular, can have a significant impact on profitability. Consequently, the factors that affect management turnover are the subject of constant study as companies try to understand what makes workers happy and keeps the turnover rate at an acceptable level.
Turnover is the rate at which employees change jobs. It reflects the length of time employees tend to stay with a particular company before leaving for a new position. The business industry tracks employee turnover rates for most major companies because it is generally thought to be indicative of job conditions at the company. Higher turnover rates send a red flag to potential employees that new hires end up unhappy with their positions and leave within short order.
Policies and procedures that directly relate to job conditions are key factors in management turnover. These include the core elements of the job, such as salary, benefits, and work environment. Specific issues can include problems with the company culture, including how job scope is defined, the chain of command, and personality conflicts. An executive can be unhappy with any of these factors or a combination. For instance, he can be dissatisfied with his rate of pay, and that can be the sole reason he accepts a new job offer. In other circumstances, an executive can be generally unhappy because too much is placed on his plate, reflecting poor overall company management and causing him to work too many hours.
Other factors that affect management turnover concern an employee's place in life. An executive might view his current position as a stepping stone to something else. He might have a commute to work that he feels is too cumbersome, so he changes jobs to be closer to home. There are a number of issues that can make an employee unhappy enough to leave that stem from his home life and personal goals. The factors that fall under this category, as compared to the job conditions category, tend to be beyond a company's control.
Future job prospects also affect management turnover. Executives want to feel they have a path of upward mobility. If they feel stymied or if their efforts go unrecognized by the company, they are more likely to make a lateral move to a competitor. Opportunity for advancement and the level of challenge inherent in the work they do are important factors in an executive's overall job satisfaction.
