Document Type
Finding a Fit: Family Realities and Service Responses Series (2003, 2007)
Publication Date
2-2003
Department
Faculty of Social Work
Abstract
Child welfare agencies have identified worker turnover as a particularly problematic organizational issue. In children’s mental health agencies, turnover also seems to be an issue for residential care services. Do people voluntarily leave child welfare and children's mental health organizations because of the work itself, because of the workload, or because they find “success” difficult to experience? These are often given as reasons by departing employees, but to develop a comprehensive understanding why turnover takes place in these organizations, this paper looks at the research on turnover in organizations generally and in child welfare and children's mental health organizations specifically. Research on unwanted employee turnover has produced thousands of articles. We begin by exploring the major themes in this literature and then relate these themes to research done in human services organizations, and child welfare and children's mental health organizations specifically. We conclude with a list of research questions to pursue in our study of workers’ experiences in the workplace.
Recommended Citation
Harvey, C., & Stalker, C. (2003). Understanding and preventing employee turnover (Rep., pp. 1-29). Waterloo, ON: Wilfrid Laurier University, Partnerships for Children and Families Project.