Voice Effects of Public Sector Unions on Turnover

Abstract

Based on Hirschman's exit and voice model, this article examines the impact of voice mechanisms on turnover using the case of teacher unions in New York State. In addition, we intend to identify heterogeneous effects of voice mechanisms on turnover depending on observable teacher characteristics. Our findings reveal that school districts with stronger grievance procedures are associated with low turnover at the individual level. These results shed light on public sector union literature as well as the studies on the relationship between turnover and performance.

Understanding School Principal Attrition and Mobility Through Hierarchical Generalized Linear Modeling

“…Despite the various political-, organizational-, and performance-related pressures of the position (Goldring & Taie, 2014; Howley et al, 2005), principals in many states are legally equated with teachers on special assignments, and hence receive relatively few or no due process protection. In other words, the finding from this study supports the contribution of union protection as a lever to restore the efficacy and confidence principals need to remain in office (Choi & Chung, 2016).…”

Managerial Practice and Diversity Climate: The Roles of Workplace Voice, Centralization, and Teamwork

“…Workplace voice occurs when managers provide opportunities for employee input and actively consider that input in decision‐making (Klaas, Olson‐Buchanan, and Ward 2012). Workplace voice is important to public sector organizations because it contributes to demographic governance (Follett in Graham 1995 and Tead 1945) and may produce outcomes such as lower turnover intentions (Choi and Chung 2016; Lee and Whitford 2008; Whitford and Lee, 2015) and greater cross‐organizational advice sharing (Williams and Bland 2020). Workplace voice was expected to inform a positive diversity climate by conveying fairness of the organization and its decision‐making (Bies and Shapiro 1988; Folger 1977; Folger and Greenberg 1985; Greenberg and Folger 1983; Lind, Kanfer, and Earley 1990; Sheppard 1985).…”

“…In another line of reasoning, Borry and Reuter contend that giving employees the opportunity to weigh in on decisions that affect them is part and parcel of a human rights approach to public sector bureaucracy (Borry and Reuter, Forthcoming). Related public sector research has detected voice as an important contributor to lower turnover intentions (Choi and Chung, 2016; Lee and Whitford, 2008; Whitford and Lee, 2015) and an encourager of cross‐organizational advice sharing (Williams and Bland Williams and Travis Bland, 2020). A related line of inquiry can be found in studies of public sector participative management, defined as the involvement of both managers and employees in decision‐making and problem solving (Kim, 2002).…”

Resolving Intractable Conflicts Through Third-Party Facilitation: A 14-Year Study

“…Second, recent evidence suggests that these third-party interventions have been successfully applied in a variety of different problem-solving contexts, including among Dutch and Chinese bank employees (Giebels, 2009), managers in several organizations in Turkey (Kozan, Ergin, & Varoglu, 2014), a Dutch foundation (Joosten, Bloemer, & Hillebrand, 2016), and different conflicts in Russian organizations (Khachaturova, 2016). Third, successful conflict resolution tends to result in positive outcomes for employees, including a greater propensity to remain with the organization, stronger perceptions regarding employees’ psychological bonds with their organization, improved perceptions of the organization’s culture, improved relational and emotional experiences within the organization, and greater employee satisfaction, especially in regard to the dispute resolution process (e.g., Choi & Chung, 2016; Goel, Ghosh, Rai, Joshi, & Singh, 2014; Giebels, 2009; Singhal et al, 2017). Fourth, both approaches seek to manage and improve the basic relationship between the parties, their communication, feelings, attitudes, and perceptions of each other and of the conflict (Fisher, 1983; Kelman, 2007).…”