Collective turnover and unit performance: moderation effects of work experience and time clustering of quits

Purpose The authors propose and test these boundary conditions to the relationship between voluntary collective turnover and unit performance: job and organizational tenure and the time clustering of turnover. Design/methodology/approach The authors analyze longitudinal data obtained from 231 units of an international clothing retailer in Spain assessed during 36 months. Findings The authors show that when the remaining workforce has moderate, but not low or high, levels of job and organizational tenure, the negative effect of quits on performance is buffered. Furthermore, their results show that time-clustered voluntary turnover patterns have stronger negative effects on unit performance than turnover patterns spread over time. Originality/value The authors extend the collective turnover literature addressing two qualitative properties of the content of voluntary turnover, the experience of the workers that remain in the unit after the turnover events happen and how these events are clustered/dispersed over time.