Date of Conferral
3-6-2024
Date of Award
March 2024
Degree
Doctor of Psychology (Psy.D.)
School
Psychology
Advisor
Derek Rhode
Abstract
The issue of employee turnover has been widely recognized. High turnover and poor retention of clinicians, specifically therapists and case managers, in the community mental health arena of behavioral health impact not only an organization, but also the consumers it serves. The subject of this qualitative case study was a state contracted provider of the community mental health authority. Semistructured interviews were held with five behavioral health leaders of this organization in addition to a review of organizational records. The Baldridge Performance Program was the conceptual framework that grounded this study. A thematic qualitative analysis of the interviews in addition to a review of scholarly literature were utilized to describe strategies and tactics that can be useful in mitigating this organization’s practice problem. Six themes emerged from the qualitative analysis: promoting from within and investing in employees, open-door policy and effective communication, flexibility as an aspect of organizational culture and employee trait, organizational morale and its impact on the organization, benefits and incentives and their relationship to employee retention, and inflexible financial barriers. Recommendations for strategies that the organization’s clinical supervisors can implement to mitigate high turnover and poor retention among its case managers and therapists include conducting stay interviews, reimplementing staff surveys, establishing a career profile, developing a peer-to-peer mentoring program among therapists and case managers, and conducting “lunch and learns” at regular intervals. These strategies and tactics will play a role in positive social change by improving the retention in this Behavioral Health Organization.
Recommended Citation
Harvey, Genice Mae, "Strategies to Reduce Turnover and Increase Retention Among Therapists and Case Managers in Community Mental Health" (2024). Walden Dissertations and Doctoral Studies. 15527.
https://scholarworks.waldenu.edu/dissertations/15527
