Please use this identifier to cite or link to this item: https://hdl.handle.net/10419/226839 
Year of Publication: 
2020
Series/Report no.: 
ECONtribute Discussion Paper No. 039
Publisher: 
University of Bonn and University of Cologne, Reinhard Selten Institute (RSI), Bonn and Cologne
Abstract: 
In an RCT, a large retail chain's CEO sets new goals for the managers of the treated stores by asking them 'to do what they can' to reduce the employee quit rate. The treatment decreases the quit rate by a fifth to a quarter, lasting nine months before petering out, but reappearing after a reminder. There is no treatment effect on sales. Further analysis reveals that treated store managers spend more time on HR and less on customer service. Our findings show that middle managers are instrumental in reducing personnel turnover, but they face a tradeoff between investing in different activities in a multitasking environment with limited resources. The treatment does produce efficiency gains. However, these occur only at the firm level.
Subjects: 
organizations
randomized controlled trial (RCT)
insider econometrics
goal-setting
communication
HR
personnel turnover and firm performance
JEL: 
L2
M1
M12
M5
Document Type: 
Working Paper

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