Blinded by the Pain: A Grounded Theory of Myopia During Job Transition
25 Pages Posted: 17 Sep 2019
Date Written: September 15, 2019
Abstract
Job turnover affects organizations of all types and sizes, whether non-profits, for-profits, government agencies, or other institutions. Even though some turnover is avoidable, managers still do not know how to prevent much of the unnecessary exodus of employees. Searches for causes of turnover are typically contained to a relatively short time frame and fail to consider the history of individuals’ experiences, such as experiences at previous jobs. Through our grounded theory study, we set out to answer this question: How does the experience of prior job dissatisfaction and turnover influence satisfaction during entry into a new job? We conducted a series of phone interviews with 16 salaried employees in white-collar positions who left their previous jobs within the past 30 months, and we discovered that many factors contribute to employee turnover and that these factors, especially those that inflicted the most pain on the employee, play a large part in their search for a new role and subsequent job satisfaction. We find evidence that, with the focus on healing the pain of past wounds, employees often discount or minimize other potential sources of dissatisfaction during organizational attraction and entry. This myopic focus on a single factor, and discounting of other factors, may explain patterns of job satisfaction changes such as the previously-documented “honeymoon and hangover” effect.
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