The Impact of Organizational Factors and Professional Identity on Turn Over Intent in State Vocational Rehabilitation Agencies

Turnover of staff is an ongoing concern in the state-federal vocational rehabilitation (VR) system. To better understand employee turnover intent, a multiple regression analysis was conducted using professional identity and organizational factors (e.g., pay, work tenure) as predictor variables. An internet-based survey solicited counselor perceptions regarding professional identity, turnover intent, and job satisfaction. Respondents ( n = 351) described their level of satisfaction relevant to several workplace conditions (co-workers, job in general, work assignments, pay, promotion, and supervision), and their current level of professional identity. The outcome variable representing current or future turnover intent was whether participants were actively looking for a new position or planning to look for a new position in the next 5 years. Results indicated that a little over one third of current counselors would look for a new position in the coming year, with half of current counselors seeking a new position within 5 years. Findings suggest that turnover in state-federal VR settings exceeds the national average of 19%. Purposeful pre-hire considerations, goodness of fit, motivation factors (i.e., opportunities for promotion), and hygiene factors (i.e., caseload size, supervision, and pay) identified in this study should be elements of a state-federal VR agency’s plan to mitigate turnover intent.