IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/eee/cysrev/v60y2016icp80-87.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

Organizational climate and child welfare workers' degree of intent to leave the job: Evidence from New York

Author

Listed:
  • Fernandes, Gretta M.

Abstract

With increasingly unstable workforce in child welfare agencies, it is critical to understand what organizational factors lead to intent to leave the job based on job search behaviors. Using recent survey data collected among 359 child welfare workers from eight agencies in New York State during 2009–2011 and a Structural Equation Model (SEM) method, this study examines the relationship between employee perceptions of organizational climate and the degree of intent to leave the job (thinking, looking and taking actions related to a new job). Fifty-seven percent (n=205) reported that they had considered looking for a new job in the past year. Bivariate analyses indicated that there were significant differences between those who looked for a job and those who did not look for a job in the past year. SEM analysis revealed that four organizational climate factors were predictive of decreasing the degree of intent to leave the job: Perceptions on organizational justice was most predictive factor for thinking of a new job followed by organizational support, work overload and job importance. The findings of this study help us understand the employee perceptions of different organizational factors that impact employee turnover especially from the time an employee thinks of leaving the job to actually taking concrete actions related to a new job.

Suggested Citation

  • Fernandes, Gretta M., 2016. "Organizational climate and child welfare workers' degree of intent to leave the job: Evidence from New York," Children and Youth Services Review, Elsevier, vol. 60(C), pages 80-87.
  • Handle: RePEc:eee:cysrev:v:60:y:2016:i:c:p:80-87
    DOI: 10.1016/j.childyouth.2015.11.010
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0190740915300980
    Download Restriction: Full text for ScienceDirect subscribers only

    File URL: https://libkey.io/10.1016/j.childyouth.2015.11.010?utm_source=ideas
    LibKey link: if access is restricted and if your library uses this service, LibKey will redirect you to where you can use your library subscription to access this item
    ---><---

    As the access to this document is restricted, you may want to search for a different version of it.

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Mor Barak, Michalle E. & Levin, Amy & Nissly, Jan A. & Lane, Christianne J., 2006. "Why do they leave? Modeling child welfare workers' turnover intentions," Children and Youth Services Review, Elsevier, vol. 28(5), pages 548-577, May.
    2. Augsberger, Astraea & Schudrich, Wendy & McGowan, Brenda G. & Auerbach, Charles, 2012. "Respect in the workplace: A mixed methods study of retention and turnover in the voluntary child welfare sector," Children and Youth Services Review, Elsevier, vol. 34(7), pages 1222-1229.
    3. DePanfilis, Diane & Zlotnik, Joan Levy, 2008. "Retention of front-line staff in child welfare: A systematic review of research," Children and Youth Services Review, Elsevier, vol. 30(9), pages 995-1008, September.
    4. Ryan, Joseph P. & Garnier, Philip & Zyphur, Michael & Zhai, Fuhua, 2006. "Investigating the effects of caseworker characteristics in child welfare," Children and Youth Services Review, Elsevier, vol. 28(9), pages 993-1006, September.
    5. Smith, Brenda D., 2005. "Job retention in child welfare: Effects of perceived organizational support, supervisor support, and intrinsic job value," Children and Youth Services Review, Elsevier, vol. 27(2), pages 153-169, February.
    6. Auerbach, Charles & McGowan, Brenda G. & Ausberger, Astraea & Strolin-Goltzman, Jessica & Schudrich, Wendy, 2010. "Differential factors influencing public and voluntary child welfare workers' intention to leave," Children and Youth Services Review, Elsevier, vol. 32(10), pages 1396-1402, October.
    7. Shim, Miseung, 2010. "Factors influencing child welfare employee's turnover: Focusing on organizational culture and climate," Children and Youth Services Review, Elsevier, vol. 32(6), pages 847-856, June.
    8. Claiborne, Nancy & Auerbach, Charles & Lawrence, Catherine & Liu, Junqing & McGowan, Brenda G. & Fernendes, Gretta & Magnano, Julie, 2011. "Child welfare agency climate influence on worker commitment," Children and Youth Services Review, Elsevier, vol. 33(11), pages 2096-2102.
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

    Citations

    Citations are extracted by the CitEc Project, subscribe to its RSS feed for this item.
    as


    Cited by:

    1. Radey, Melissa & Wilke, Dina J., 2023. "Extent, trajectory, and determinants of child welfare turnover and exit destinations," Children and Youth Services Review, Elsevier, vol. 144(C).
    2. Li, Yong & Huang, Hui & Chen, Yi-Yi, 2020. "Organizational climate, job satisfaction, and turnover in voluntary child welfare workers," Children and Youth Services Review, Elsevier, vol. 119(C).
    3. Lizano, Erica L. & He, Amy S., 2023. "Inclusive work environments as a pathway to an engaged child welfare workforce that intends to stay," Children and Youth Services Review, Elsevier, vol. 155(C).
    4. Smith, Brenda D. & Prichard, Caroline & Boltz, Laura D., 2016. "Do child welfare job preview videos reflect evidence on retention and turnover?," Children and Youth Services Review, Elsevier, vol. 71(C), pages 210-216.
    5. Edwards, Frank & Wildeman, Christopher, 2018. "Characteristics of the front-line child welfare workforce," Children and Youth Services Review, Elsevier, vol. 89(C), pages 13-26.
    6. Griffiths, Austin & Royse, David & Culver, Kalee & Piescher, Kristine & Zhang, Yanchen, 2017. "Who stays, who goes, who knows? A state-wide survey of child welfare workers," Children and Youth Services Review, Elsevier, vol. 77(C), pages 110-117.

    Most related items

    These are the items that most often cite the same works as this one and are cited by the same works as this one.
    1. Kruzich, Jean M. & Mienko, Joseph A. & Courtney, Mark E., 2014. "Individual and work group influences on turnover intention among public child welfare workers: The effects of work group psychological safety," Children and Youth Services Review, Elsevier, vol. 42(C), pages 20-27.
    2. Potter, Cathryn C. & Leake, Robin & Longworth-Reed, Laricia & Altschul, Inna & Rienks, Shauna, 2016. "Measuring organizational health in child welfare agencies," Children and Youth Services Review, Elsevier, vol. 61(C), pages 31-39.
    3. Radey, Melissa & Wilke, Dina J., 2023. "Extent, trajectory, and determinants of child welfare turnover and exit destinations," Children and Youth Services Review, Elsevier, vol. 144(C).
    4. Kim, Ahraemi & Mor Barak, Michàlle E., 2015. "The mediating roles of leader–member exchange and perceived organizational support in the role stress–turnover intention relationship among child welfare workers: A longitudinal analysis," Children and Youth Services Review, Elsevier, vol. 52(C), pages 135-143.
    5. Schelbe, Lisa & Radey, Melissa & Panisch, Lisa S., 2017. "Satisfactions and stressors experienced by recently-hired frontline child welfare workers," Children and Youth Services Review, Elsevier, vol. 78(C), pages 56-63.
    6. Griffiths, Austin & Royse, David & Murphy, April & Jones, Olivia & Culver, Kalee & Turner, James & Smajlovic, Alma, 2023. "Exploratory factor analysis and reliability of the Child Welfare Employee Feedback Scale: Further revision (CWEFS-R)," Children and Youth Services Review, Elsevier, vol. 155(C).
    7. Chen, Yi-Yi & Park, Jisung & Park, Aely, 2012. "Existence, relatedness, or growth? Examining turnover intention of public child welfare caseworkers from a human needs approach," Children and Youth Services Review, Elsevier, vol. 34(10), pages 2088-2093.
    8. Johnco, Carly & Salloum, Alison & Olson, Kayla R. & Edwards, LaTishia M., 2014. "Child Welfare Workers’ Perspectives on Contributing Factors to Retention and Turnover: Recommendations for Improvement," Children and Youth Services Review, Elsevier, vol. 47(P3), pages 397-407.
    9. Boyas, Javier F. & Wind, Leslie H. & Ruiz, Erika, 2015. "Exploring patterns of employee psychosocial outcomes among child welfare workers," Children and Youth Services Review, Elsevier, vol. 52(C), pages 174-183.
    10. Claiborne, Nancy & Auerbach, Charles & Lawrence, Catherine & Liu, Junqing & McGowan, Brenda G. & Fernendes, Gretta & Magnano, Julie, 2011. "Child welfare agency climate influence on worker commitment," Children and Youth Services Review, Elsevier, vol. 33(11), pages 2096-2102.
    11. Boyas, Javier F. & Wind, Leslie H. & Ruiz, Erika, 2013. "Organizational tenure among child welfare workers, burnout, stress, and intent to leave: Does employment-based social capital make a difference?," Children and Youth Services Review, Elsevier, vol. 35(10), pages 1657-1669.
    12. McCrae, Julie S. & Scannapieco, Maria & Obermann, Ann, 2015. "Retention and job satisfaction of child welfare supervisors," Children and Youth Services Review, Elsevier, vol. 59(C), pages 171-176.
    13. Strand, Virginia C. & Spath, Robin & Bosco-Ruggiero, Stephanie, 2010. "So you have a stable child welfare workforce -- What's next?," Children and Youth Services Review, Elsevier, vol. 32(3), pages 338-345, March.
    14. Claiborne, Nancy & Auerbach, Charles & Zeitlin, Wendy & Lawrence, Catherine K., 2015. "Climate factors related to intention to leave in administrators and clinical professionals," Children and Youth Services Review, Elsevier, vol. 51(C), pages 18-25.
    15. Li, Yong & Huang, Hui & Chen, Yi-Yi, 2020. "Organizational climate, job satisfaction, and turnover in voluntary child welfare workers," Children and Youth Services Review, Elsevier, vol. 119(C).
    16. Antonopoulou, P. & Killian, M. & Forrester, D., 2017. "Levels of stress and anxiety in child and family social work: Workers' perceptions of organizational structure, professional support and workplace opportunities in Children's Services in the UK," Children and Youth Services Review, Elsevier, vol. 76(C), pages 42-50.
    17. Lee, Eunju & Esaki, Nina & Kim, Jeehoon & Greene, Rose & Kirkland, Kristen & Mitchell-Herzfeld, Susan, 2013. "Organizational climate and burnout among home visitors: Testing mediating effects of empowerment," Children and Youth Services Review, Elsevier, vol. 35(4), pages 594-602.
    18. Augsberger, Astraea & Schudrich, Wendy & McGowan, Brenda G. & Auerbach, Charles, 2012. "Respect in the workplace: A mixed methods study of retention and turnover in the voluntary child welfare sector," Children and Youth Services Review, Elsevier, vol. 34(7), pages 1222-1229.
    19. Auerbach, Charles & McGowan, Brenda G. & Ausberger, Astraea & Strolin-Goltzman, Jessica & Schudrich, Wendy, 2010. "Differential factors influencing public and voluntary child welfare workers' intention to leave," Children and Youth Services Review, Elsevier, vol. 32(10), pages 1396-1402, October.
    20. Salloum, Alison & Kondrat, David C. & Johnco, Carly & Olson, Kayla R., 2015. "The role of self-care on compassion satisfaction, burnout and secondary trauma among child welfare workers," Children and Youth Services Review, Elsevier, vol. 49(C), pages 54-61.

    Corrections

    All material on this site has been provided by the respective publishers and authors. You can help correct errors and omissions. When requesting a correction, please mention this item's handle: RePEc:eee:cysrev:v:60:y:2016:i:c:p:80-87. See general information about how to correct material in RePEc.

    If you have authored this item and are not yet registered with RePEc, we encourage you to do it here. This allows to link your profile to this item. It also allows you to accept potential citations to this item that we are uncertain about.

    If CitEc recognized a bibliographic reference but did not link an item in RePEc to it, you can help with this form .

    If you know of missing items citing this one, you can help us creating those links by adding the relevant references in the same way as above, for each refering item. If you are a registered author of this item, you may also want to check the "citations" tab in your RePEc Author Service profile, as there may be some citations waiting for confirmation.

    For technical questions regarding this item, or to correct its authors, title, abstract, bibliographic or download information, contact: Catherine Liu (email available below). General contact details of provider: http://www.elsevier.com/locate/childyouth .

    Please note that corrections may take a couple of weeks to filter through the various RePEc services.

    IDEAS is a RePEc service. RePEc uses bibliographic data supplied by the respective publishers.