Related Experiment Videos
A model of voluntary turnover among hospital CEOs
1American College of Healthcare Executives, Chicago, IL 60606, USA.
Insights
Hospital CEO turnover is driven by dissatisfaction with pay, leadership style, and hospital values. Family obligations and job change costs also influence decisions, highlighting the need for supportive work environments.
Area of Science:
- Healthcare Management
- Organizational Behavior
- Leadership Studies
Background:
- CEO turnover significantly impacts hospital stability and performance.
- Understanding voluntary departures is crucial for effective succession planning and organizational continuity.
Purpose of the Study:
- To identify key "push" (dissatisfaction) and "hump" (job change cost) factors influencing hospital CEO voluntary turnover.
- To examine the role of leadership style and situational control in CEO job satisfaction.
Main Methods:
- Longitudinal study design comparing 49 hospital CEOs who left with 1,362 who stayed in 1990.
- Analysis of factors including compensation, predecessor termination, value incongruity, leadership orientation, and situational control.
- Investigation of "hump" factors such as family-related obstacles.
Main Results:
- Lower compensation, predecessor termination, and value incongruity were significant "push" factors for CEO dissatisfaction.
- Task-oriented leaders and those in low-situational control settings reported lower job satisfaction.
- Family-related obstacles, particularly for younger CEOs, acted as "hump" factors deterring job changes.
Conclusions:
- Hospital boards should create competitive compensation packages and foster supportive environments with strong medical staff and subordinate relationships.
- Recruiters must consider non-work-related factors, such as family circumstances, when assessing CEO candidates.
Abstract:
This study examines factors contributing to hospital CEOs' voluntary decisions to leave their positions in 1990. Using a longitudinal design, we contrast 49 leavers with 1,362 stayers. We view turnover as influenced by both "push" factors that promote leaving (dissatisfaction with the position) and "hump" factors that need to be overcome (the cost of job change). Push factors giving rise to dissatisfaction include lower compensation, the predecessor's termination, and value incongruity between the CEO and the hospital. Testing the impact of key variables from Fiedler's contingency theory of leadership, we show that task-oriented leaders are relatively less satisfied when compared with relationship-oriented leaders. CEOs also express less satisfaction in low-situational control settings, a measure heavily influenced by perceived inadequate support from medical staff and subordinates. "Hump" factors that deterred leaving included family-related obstacles such as spouse's work or children's school, features mentioned most often by younger CEOs. The study suggests that boards should structure competitively paid positions with opportunities to generate support from the medical staff and subordinates. Recruiters for CEO positions are apprised of the importance of nonwork features in CEOs' willingness to consider new positions.