Middle managers, personnel turnover and performance: A long-term field experiment in a retail chain

Matthias Heinz, Guido Friebel () and Nick Zubanov

No 13125, CEPR Discussion Papers from C.E.P.R. Discussion Papers

Abstract: In a field experiment, a large retail chain’s CEO asked managers of treated stores “to do what they can†to reduce personnel turnover. Turnover decreases by a quarter for nine months; a reminder treatment triggers a similar decrease for a shorter period. Treated managers report shifting their time toward HR; their employees report more managerial attention and support. Store sales are unaffected, indicating that the possible performance increases related to managers spending more time on HR are neutralized by the effects of managers spending less time on customers and goods. The discernible efficiency gains occur at the firm, rather than at the store level.

Keywords: Organizations; Managers; Randomized controlled trial (rct); Insider econometrics; Communication; Hr; Hierarchy; Personnel turnover (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: L2 M1 M12 M5 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2018-08
New Economics Papers: this item is included in nep-bec, nep-exp and nep-hrm
References: View references in EconPapers View complete reference list from CitEc
Citations: View citations in EconPapers (2)

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Related works:
Journal Article: Middle Managers, Personnel Turnover, and Performance: A Long‐Term Field Experiment in a Retail Chain (2022)
Working Paper: Middle Managers, Personnel Turnover and Performance: A Long-Term Field Experiment in a Retail Chain (2020)
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