Date of Conferral

2017

Degree

Doctor of Business Administration (D.B.A.)

School

Business Administration

Advisor

Jamiel Vadell

Abstract

Voluntary employee turnover in the healthcare industry is one of the most expensive and disruptive business problems that healthcare organizations encounter. Healthcare organizations can expect employee replacement costs to represent up to 150% of a departing employee's annual salary in new employee acquisition and decreased productivity. Guided by the leader-member exchange theory, the purpose of this single case study was to explore the strategies healthcare managers used to retain high-performing healthcare employees. Using semistructured interviews, the targeted population encompassed 6 healthcare managers from a healthcare organization in Central Texas who have demonstrated successful strategies for retaining high-performing healthcare employees by maintaining a 90% retention rate for a 12-month period. Organizational documents were reviewed, including reports of managers' retention rates and number of employees per manager, for a 12-month period. Data were coded, analyzed into themes via Yin's 5-step method, triangulated, and then subjected to member checking to bolster the trustworthiness of interpretations. Two major themes were revealed: employee engagement and leadership style. Participants noted that their employees were their priority and practiced participatory leadership to gain trust, loyalty, and commitment. The findings may promote positive social change by providing healthcare managers with information on successful strategies for retaining high-performing healthcare employees, which could reduce unemployment rates, stabilize families, and improve employees' work-life balance outside their organizations.

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