Meaning and measurement of turnover: Comparison of alternative measures and recommendations for research.

In a review of two areas of turnover researchuindividual motivated choice behavior and organiza-tional consequences--five alt rnative turnover measures are defined: reasons, voluntariness, avoidability, functionality, and utility. Turnover data for one year (1987) were gathered from 325 former employees, 568 supervisors, 418 replacement employees, and the personnel fi es of a univer-sity. Analyses indicated that organizational records are deficient as a source of information, espe-cially because of the usual practice of recording asingle reason for turnover. Voluntariness may result in a classification system that is too gross for validating motivational models. Avoidability, functionality, and utility each measure unique aspects of organizational consequences, but each has limitations. Turnover measures should be viewed as continua rather than as dichotomies. Recom-mendations for future research are provided. Turnover research as been a consistent theme in the human resources and organizational behavior literature for over 30 years (for early reviews ee Brayfield Crockett, 1955; Herz-berg, Mausner, Peterson, Capwell, 1957; and March Si-mon, 1958). Reviews and commentaries have frequently called for refinement ofconstructs and improvement of measures (e.g.,