Conclusion

Turnover, mobility and talent upgrading are three issues that all companies face periodically. In fact they are closely related processes and should be addressed with a single integrated approach. Disciplined upgrading of talent leads to open positions within a firm; mobility planning leads to a set of career-enhancing employee moves to fill those positions, followed by an infusion of talent into the firm, all of which leads to good turnover, a healthy experience curve, and a virtuous cycle of talent improvement.

Notes

1. Arie C. Glebbeek and Erik H. Bax, "Is High Employee Turnover Really Harmful? An Empirical Test Using Company Records", The Academy of Management Journal, April 2004, Vol. 47, No. 2, pp. 277-286.
2. Harold D. Kohn, "A Test of Abelson and Baysinger's (1984) Optimal Turnover Hypothesis In the Context of Public Organizations Using Computation Simulation", Research Dissertation, Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University, 2008.
3. Abelson, M., & Baysinger, B., "Optimal and Dysfunctional Turnover: Toward an Organizational Level Model", Academy of Management Review, 1984, Vol. 9, No. 2, pp. 331-342.
4. Society for Human Resource Management (2012). SHRM 2012-2013 Human Capital Benchmarking Report.