Job Performance and Turnover: A Review and Integrative Multi-Route Model

Research and theory on the elusive yet important relationship between individual job performance and employee turnover is reviewed. An integrative model of the relationship is proposed which argues that performance may lead to turnover through three different routes. One, performance may influence turnover through cognitive and affective evaluations of the desire to leave the organization. Two, performance may influence turnover through actual and perceived mobility in the job market. Three, performance may lead more directly to turnover in response to performance-related shocks to the system. Additionally, important moderators of these relationships, notably visibility and reward contingency, are highlighted.