How long will you stay at that new job?
Co-workers may be helping you make that decision, says UC researcher
Why do new employees leave a company?
It may have something to do with the group of workers — also known as their cohort — who were hired and trained around the same time for a job, explains a University of Cincinnati researcher.
“Cohorts are more than just a collection of individuals,” says Daniel Peat, PhD, assistant professor in UC’s Carl H. Lindner College of Business and a study co-author. “They actually have their own social interactions. You have to manage the cohort as a social group. It can have a really strong effect on an organization.”
Law firms, police departments, the military and some Fortune 500 companies like Amazon hire cohorts who are usually trained together.
Peat is a co-author of a new study published in the Journal of General Management that looks at the role workplace cohorts may have on new employee retention and turnover. Understanding that interplay may assist companies in finding ways to reduce new employee turnover.
Daniel Peat, PhD, in the Lindner College of Business. Photo/Andrew Higley/UC Marketing + Brand.
The study analyzed survey data from 656 graduate trainees in 32 cohorts at global information technology services firm. It found that new employees close to their cohort are more likely to be influenced by them and would consider a new job search if the cohort decided to search for a job. However, the cohort’s impact is mitigated if the employee prefers their organization’s geographic location.
The study’s principal investigator is Amit Chauradia, PhD, assistant professor at the University of South Florida’s Muma College of Business, and its first author is Koustab Ghosh, PhD, associate professor at the Indian Institute of Management Rohtak, Haryana, India.
“We all want to reduce turnover, that’s the biggest problem organizations face,” explains Chauradia.
He says that if a new employee really prefers their current location it reduces the impact that the cohort will have on turnover. “So for example, if I want to be in Cincinnati, then whatever the core does impacts me a little, but not as much,” says Chauradia.
UC’s Peat says their study findings build off discussions on social contagion effects of turnover, but charts new ground in focusing on the impact of cohorts on job behavior. He adds that a focus on work location is part of a growing national conversation as more companies ask workers to return to in-office activities.
“So with these return-to-office requirements you can’t just live anywhere,” says Peat. “You have to live locationally bound somewhat to an office.”
Featured top image of a group of employees celebrating a job well done. Photo/Istock.
A company welcomes a batch of new employees. Photo/Istock.
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