Antecedents to Retention and Turnover among Child Welfare, Social Work, and Other Human Service Employees: What Can We Learn from Past Research? A Review and Metanalysis

This study involves a metanalysis of 25 articles concerning the relationship between demographic variables, personal perceptions, and organizational conditions and either turnover or intention to leave. It finds that burnout, job dissatisfaction, availability of employment alternatives, low organizational and professional commitment, stress, and lack of social support are the strongest predictors of turnover or intention to leave. Since the major predictors of leaving are not personal or related to the balance between work and family but are organizational or job‐based, there might be a great deal that both managers and policy makers can do to prevent turnover.