Can Training Help Retain Professional Services Employees? An Empirical Analysis

Publication Type

Journal contribution (peer reviewed)

Authors

Frey, R., Büttgen, M., Pietsch, S.

Year of publication

2014

Published in

Proceedings of the Academy of Management Annual Meeting

Band/Volume

1/2014/1

Conference name

Academy of Management Annual Meeting

Conference location

Philadelphia, PA, USA

Conference date

August 1 - 5, 2014

While retention of highly qualified employees is vital for professional services firms, prior research has largely neglected the role of training and development for organizational attractiveness and retention. Drawing on a field-experimental study and a survey-based field study, this article shows that training enhances organizational commitment, perceived organizational support and finally attractiveness and retention. In line with the social exchange theory and the concept of a psychological contract, we demonstrate that employees exchange loyalty for corporate investments into training and development. While some authors claim that Generation Y employees exhibit less loyal behaviour than prior generations, our research with a sample consisting mainly of Generation Y employees, shows that the social exchange theory still holds for this special group. Our results suggest that investments into training pay off double by not only enhancing employees’ skills and knowledge but also help attracting and retaining them