Employee Turnover in Frontline Hospital Staff

Employee turnover is costly in service-intensive organizations where employee-customer interactions directly affect the organization\u27s success. The purpose of this multiple case study was to identify strategies community hospital leaders use to reduce frontline support employee turnover. The study population consisted of leaders of a community hospital in southeast Louisiana. The conceptual framework for this study is Kahn\u27s model of employee engagement. Semistructured interviews were conducted with eight hospital leaders in southeast Louisiana who were selected through census sampling. Interview transcripts were analyzed and coded following Yin\u27s case study analysis process. Methodological triangulation allowed for a comparison of the findings of the interviews with information derived from exit interviews and employee engagement survey results. Four themes emerged from the interviews and document review: leadership, hiring and onboarding strategies, pay and compensation, and organizational-related factors. Reducing turnover among frontline hospital support employees can positively affect the quality of care provided to patients, and improve the level of service provided by the hospital to the community it serves. Beyond increasing organizational efficiency, the findings of this study can contribute to social change benefits for employees as continued employment allows individuals to provide for themselves and their families