Thesis advisor: Erika L. Sabbath / Children are vital members of our society and arguably its most vulnerable. The job of public child welfare workers is to serve children who are experiencing abuse and neglect and their families. Essential to the public child welfare systems serving these families are the employees who work directly with them – frontline workers and supervisors. Their relationships with families are a key component in the life of the case and can have a strong impact on case outcomes. These workers, however, are under considerable stressors, and turnover rates are a continual problem. Despite extensive research on worker turnover, further work is still needed to better understand the processes by which these workers decide to stay or go. These include a deeper understanding of the impact of safety perceptions, how workers of color might differently experience these systems, and what factors into supervisors’ intent. Focus on retention rather than turnover is an additional area in need of a broader evidence base. This study seeks to add knowledge on how safety perceptions, organizational culture, job satisfaction, and role impact public child welfare employees’ retention decisions. Utilizing a statewide data set derived from a survey of Texas public child welfare workers and supervisors, this study uses regression models to learn more about their experiences and how they might shape decisions on whether to leave or remain. We found that in workers, feelings of unsafety are significantly associated with intent to leave; this was moderated by perceived organizational support. We additionally found that inclusion is significantly related with both intent to leave and intent to remain, and this does not vary by race in this study. Supervisors were just as likely to intend to leave or remain as their workers; intent to remain was moderated by perceived organizational support in both. Intent to leave and intent to remain are similar in some ways, but rather than being flip sides of the same coin, they are unique constructs. Increasing retention of these workers is vital to the long-term outcomes in the lives of children and families. Strengthening the child welfare workforce strengthens the families they serve. / Thesis (PhD) — Boston College, 2022. / Submitted to: Boston College. Graduate School of Social Work. / Discipline: Social Work.

Background As digitalization and the Internet of Things (IoT) evolves in a rapid pace, the need for engineers, IT specialists and software developers introduce an increasing shortage of skilled workers. Managing the existing workforce is a challenge, increasing the interest in the antecedents and implications of their mobility activities. Employee turnover has been broadly viewed as a disadvantage for firms losing valuable human capital, increasing the implementation of retention strategies. On the other hand, an increasing amount of studies argue that mobility within a region is a source of knowledge spillovers and can enhance innovation and productivity, as well as regional economic growth by facilitating access to new external ideas and capabilities. There is a gap in the research on employees’ perception of opportunities and preferences that leads them to engage in mobility within the regional high-tech sector instead of other types of mobility. Objectives The purpose of this thesis is to increase the understanding of what factors influence the mobility of employees within the regional high-tech industry. Therefore, the perceived opportunities and preferences for different types of mobility are investigated. The aim is that the findings will facilitate the management of employee mobility and maximize the local organizations’ joint human capital. Method A quantitative survey study is conducted, collecting data from two high-tech organizations operating within the same geographical region. The collected data includes individual, organizational and external factors, as well as the intentions for turnover and considerations for different types of mobility. SPSS is used to statistically test what factors are associated with high-tech employees’ opportunities and preferences for mobility within the regional industry. Results High-tech personnel perceive most opportunities for alternative employment within the high-tech industry in another region, while finding another job within the region is perceived more difficult. If employees considered leaving their current organization, most would prefer to take a job within the regional high-tech industry. Satisfaction with pay, training opportunities and supervisors in the current job have a reducing effect on the intention to leave the organization, while perception of having alternative employment opportunities have an increasing effect on both turnover intention and for considering mobility within the same industry. No significant model for predicting the preference for mobility within the same region was found in this study. Conclusions The majority of high-tech personnel already prefer mobility within the regional industry if they were leaving their current job, but there is a mismatch with the perceived opportunities for this type of mobility. Actions towards matching the opportunities with the preferences are expected to result in benefits for the region by increasing the local overall knowledge base, provide the organizations with more opportunities to attract highly skilled workers locally, and increase employees’ job satisfaction and performance through better job-matches.

This study investigates the effects of challenge and hindrance stressors and exhaustion on frontline hotel employees'turnover intentions and whether hope, as a personal resource, can moderate the deleterious effects of these antecedents on turnover intentions. Data were collected from a sample of 183 full-time frontline employees working in 5-star and 4-star hotels in Northern Cyprus. To ensure the temporal separation of measures, data pertaining to the independent and dependent variables were measured via two questionnaires administered with a time lag of two weeks. Results of the study reveal that hindrance stressors and exhaustion heighten frontline employees' turnover intentions and that hope is a potential antidote to the deleterious impacts of these antecedents on turnover intentions. Thus, managers should consider the candidates' hope levels during employee selection and hiring. Candidates high in hope should he given priority in hiring since such employees can better cope with stress and exhaustion. Management should also consider devising proactive strategies to keep employees high in hope in the organization since such employees can help create a positive work environment, may serve as role models to their colleagues and generate a demonstration effect among current employees with lower levels of hope.

This study investigates the effects of challenge and hindrance stressors and exhaustion on frontline hotel employees'turnover intentions and whether hope, as a personal resource, can moderate the deleterious effects of these antecedents on turnover intentions. Data were collected from a sample of 183 full-time frontline employees working in 5-star and 4-star hotels in Northern Cyprus. To ensure the temporal separation of measures, data pertaining to the independent and dependent variables were measured via two questionnaires administered with a time lag of two weeks. Results of the study reveal that hindrance stressors and exhaustion heighten frontline employees' turnover intentions and that hope is a potential antidote to the deleterious impacts of these antecedents on turnover intentions. Thus, managers should consider the candidates' hope levels during employee selection and hiring. Candidates high in hope should he given priority in hiring since such employees can better cope with stress and exhaustion. Management should also consider devising proactive strategies to keep employees high in hope in the organization since such employees can help create a positive work environment, may serve as role models to their colleagues and generate a demonstration effect among current employees with lower levels of hope.

Theories of efficiency wage and human capital formation suggest that both should have a significant influence on employee turnover in offshore manufacturing sites. This influence is explored and examined empirically with a stratified, random sample of northern Mexican maquilas - the historical choice for offshoring in that country and one of the world's earliest and most enduring offshore manufacturing sites. Statistical tests reveal the strong influence on production-level turnover of direct wages and human capital formation when the latter variable is measured in terms of "maquiladora generations". The distinctive human resource practices of the maquiladora generations are then presented and discussed.

This study examines the nature and outcomes of the professional commitment of actuaries. The affective and continuance levels of professional commitment among actuaries are high. Overall, actuaries are more committed to their profession than to their employing organisations. Actuaries who have a high affective commitment to their profession and/or professional association are likely to have become involved in their profession recently and intend to remain in the profession for the foreseeable future. The overall professional-organisational conflict level for actuaries is very low. The outcomes of an increased professional organisational conflict are seen in an increased intention to leave the profession and/or professional association. Findings of this study have implications for the actuarial profession, employers of actuaries and the actuarial professional associations.

La presente investigación tiene como finalidad determinar la influencia de la rotación de inventarios en la rentabilidad de empresas del sector textil en Lima Centro - Gamarra durante el año 2018. El trabajo está dividido en cinco capítulos. En el primer capítulo, se describirá el sector textil, los antecedentes nacionales e internacionales y los conceptos claves como la rotación de inventarios y la rentabilidad, cada uno bajo sus respectivas definiciones e indicadores. En el segundo capítulo, se presentará el plan de investigación que se ejecutará para la investigación. También se explicará el planteamiento del problema, su justificación y a quiénes aportará la investigación. En el tercer capítulo, se plantea la metodología a utilizar en la investigación, así como el tipo de enfoque cuantitativo, cualitativo y mixto. Además, se define la población y muestra a utilizar para validar las hipótesis planteadas en el capítulo dos. En el cuarto capítulo, se procede a explicar las técnicas utilizadas al recolectar todos los datos necesarios según los enfoques escogidos, en este caso, las entrevistas a profundidad con expertos y las encuestas a la muestra escogida. Además, se incluye un caso práctico para poder dar mayor explicación al tema investigado, otro enfoque de investigación. En el quinto capítulo, se presenta el análisis de los resultados obtenidos en el capítulo cuatro, es decir, mediante entrevistas, encuestas y caso práctico, que nos permiten probar y validar las hipótesis de la presente tesis, para finalmente establecer las conclusiones y recomendaciones de esta investigación. / The purpose of this research is to determine the influence of inventory turnover on the profitability of companies in the textile sector in Lima Centro - Gamarra during 2018. The work is divided into five chapters. In the first chapter, the textile sector, national and international background, and key concepts such as inventory turnover and profitability will be described, each under their respective definitions and indicators. In the second chapter, the research plan to be executed for the research will be presented. The approach to the problem, its justification and who the research will contribute to will also be explained. In the third chapter, the methodology to be used in the investigation is presented, as well as the type of quantitative, qualitative and mixed approach. Furthermore, the population is defined and the sample to be used to validate the hypotheses presented in chapter two. In the fourth chapter, we proceed to explain the techniques used when collecting all the necessary data according to the chosen approaches, in this case, in-depth interviews with experts and surveys of the chosen sample. In addition, a practical case is included to give a greater explanation to the investigated topic, another research approach. In the fifth chapter, the analysis of the results obtained in chapter four is presented, that is, through interviews, surveys and a practical case, which allow us to test and validate the hypotheses of this thesis, to finally establish the conclusions and recommendations of this investigation. / Tesis

Background In order for the South African Police Service to fulfil its mandate of creating a safe and secure environment, various human, financial, and technological resources are required. Hence, the availability of adequately trained human resources is considered critical in ensuring that the South African Police Service is able to fulfil its roles and responsibilities. Without the efforts, knowledge, capabilities, and committed behaviour of its police officers, the organisation would not be able to achieve its objectives and deliver on its mandated duties. However, recent data published by the South African Police Service revealed an increase in employee turnover, particularly at senior levels within the organisation and among highly skilled/specialist staff. Due to the stringent requirements of law-enforcement positions, the recruitment and selection of police officers is a lengthy, costly and often complex process. This is even more applicable to those in senior and highly skilled and/or specialist positions. It is, therefore, of paramount importance that an effective retention strategy is put in place to curb voluntary employee turnover and thus ensure the retention of scarce skills within the police force. Aim of the Study Being able to retain and engage police officers, a scarce resource, is vital for the South African Police Service in ensuring that it is able to fulfil its legislated mandate. Therefore, the aim of the present study was to identify the push and pull factors and/or the reasons that are most commonly related to voluntary turnover among the employees of the organisation. Identification of these factors would make it possible to present recommendations and/or to propose strategies, policies and practices that could be implemented to increase the retention of skilled senior staff. Method A descriptive research design was utilised. To address the research question, copies of archived exit-interview questionnaires were obtained from the South African Police Service. When an employee tenders his/her resignation, an exit interview is conducted by a trained interviewer (typically a social worker, psychologist or chaplain). During this meeting, an exit-interview questionnaire is completed and archived. This questionnaire consists of both closed-ended and open-ended semi-structured questions. A sample of exit-interview questionnaires (n=91) that comprised questionnaires from employees who held the rank of Sergeant, Warrant Officer or Captain and who had voluntarily resigned from the Western Cape South African Police Service during the 2016/17 fiscal year was obtained. Both qualitative and quantitative data obtained from the exit-interview questionnaires were analysed. Findings The findings suggested that overall, the South African Police Service was considered a good employer. The most prevalent reason for employee turnover was found to be related to the perceived safety of individuals and the risk to employees’ lives in carrying out their duties. The reasons given for resigning from the organisation were divided into two categories, namely individual factors (i.e., related to the person) and organisational factors (i.e., related to the organisation). Individual factor variables provided by respondents as reasons to leave included health, relocation, further studies, family time, rest, long service, and age. Organisational factors included better career opportunities; business opportunities; unfair treatment; lack of recognition, promotion or advancement opportunities; undesirable working hours; and issues with leadership/management. Recommendations Based on the findings, it is recommended that an effective retention strategy is implemented within the South African Police Service that includes career development, health and wellness, reward and recognition, work-life balance, and leadership. This recommended retention strategy should value transparency and empowerment and should aim to create a workplace that is conducive to good working conditions through enhancing team cohesion; creating opportunities for learning; and improving service delivery, the quality of work life, and work-life balance.

The fast food industry is experiencing issues related to employee engagement and retention. Researchers have shown that managers' transformational leadership behaviors impact employee engagement and turnover intent in various work environments; however, no research to date has evaluated its influence on the fast food industry's hourly-wage, nonmanagement workforce. Building on the theoretical research of Burns and Bass, this study was conducted to examine the relationships among managers' 5 transformational leadership behaviors of idealized influence attributes, idealized influence behavior, inspirational motivation, intellectual stimulation, and individualized consideration and employee engagement and turnover intent. The Multifactor Leadership Questionnaire , the Utrecht Work Engagement Scale and Turnover Intention Measure were used to assess (N = 116) hourly-waged, nonmanagement fast food employees' engagement and turnover intent. Stepwise regression analyses were used to determine whether managers' transformational leadership behaviors predicted employee engagement and turnover intent. Results indicated that Intellectual Stimulation was a statistically significant predictor of employee engagement and turnover intention at the .05 alpha level. These findings supported the transformational leadership model in a different work environment, potentially increasing its generalizability. Additionally, findings suggest transformational leadership that encompasses facets of intellectual stimulation would be a better fit for the fast food industry. The study findings might promote positive social change by encouraging the fast food industry to train leaders in behaviors that can result in greater employee engagement and lower turnover intent.

Teacher turnover has been a problem in U.S. public schools, especially among math teachers, and is more prevalent in schools that have a majority of students from low-income families. Teacher turnover has been shown to have a negative effect on student performance. The purpose of this quantitative, nonexperimental study was to investigate on-the job and off-the job embeddedness and its dimensions of links, fit, and sacrifice to determine effects on math teacher turnover intention. The theory of job embeddedness provided the framework for the study. Data were collected from 152 high school math teachers from 17 counties in a western U.S. state using the Job Embeddedness Questionnaire and a demographic survey. Findings from multiple linear regression analysis indicated statistically significant relationships between turnover intention and the sacrifice/job (on-the-job embeddedness) and turnover intention and links/community (off-the-job embeddedness). Findings may be used by administrators and policymakers to develop programs geared toward promoting math teacher retention