Job Dissatisfaction and Employee Turnover: A

Qualitative Case Study in Thailand

Author: Mahmoud Moussa, Kanwara Somjai

Pub. Date: 2019
Product: SAGE Business Cases
DOI: https://dx.doi.org/10.4135/9781526461889
Keywords: staff turnover, turnover, staff, Thailand, job satisfaction, colleges, administrative staff
Disciplines: Business Ethics & Corporate Social Responsibility, Human Resource Management, Business
Ethics (general), Business & Management, Human Resource Management (general), General Business &
Management, Management (general)
Access Date: February 21, 2023
Publishing Company: SAGE Publications: SAGE Business Cases Originals
City: London
Online ISBN: 9781526461889

© 2019 SAGE Publications: SAGE Business Cases Originals All Rights Reserved.
SAGE SAGE Business Cases
© Mahmoud Moussa and Kanwara Somjai 2019

Abstract

In 2009, a college at a Thai university realized it might have a problem with its employees. Aca-
demic staff were leaving at an unhealthy rate, so the college set out to investigate if employee
turnover was a minor issue or a serious problem that needed to be addressed in targeted ways.
Exit interviews were conducted with several staff and researchers applied models of employee
turnover motives to assess the situation. Specifically, they examined the reasons for job dis-
satisfaction in order to diagnose the problem and assist in solving it. This investigation raises
questions of how to evaluate employee turnover and whether or not the diagnoses of turnover
problems are beneficial to organizations.

Case

Learning Outcomes

By the end of this case study, students should be able to:

• Understand the possible reasons for employee turnover in an academic setting in Thailand.
• Evaluate how an organization can assess and understand employee turnover.
• Determine when and how an educational institution should address employee turnover.

Introduction

Job satisfaction is a major issue for organizations around the world. It is crucial to investigate and scrutinize
aspects of employee turnover and job dissatisfaction for both employee and employer purposes. Notably,
understanding turnover issues can help organizations and executives identify and implement ways to make
individuals feel valued and wanted. Furthermore, if the reasons that push employees to quit their jobs are
better understood it can help organizations diagnose and assess turnover problems in order to prevail over
this dilemma.

These were the thoughts of the researchers dealing with this exact dilemma at a new college created in 2006.
The college was a part of a large public university in Thailand, with a total of 271 students and 27 employ-
ees, 17 of whom were instructors, 6 administrative employees, and 4 laborers. The college was established in

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2006 to provide certificates to pre-business administration students and pre-engineering students, and to pro-
vide bachelors’ degrees in food engineering sciences. These programs supported the development of both
local people and industries in Thailand. The college and all parties in the university undertook the challenge
to foster a positive workplace environment and promote human resources development (HRD) issues to sup-
port this educational mandate.

During the first three years, turnover was relatively high at the college. The university wanted to better under-
stand the turnover issue and so they established an exit interview program in 2009. Researchers were able to
interview some academics that left the university and then applied the results of the interviews to a model of
employee turnover (see Figure 1). The university researchers used their interview data and model to assess
employee turnover, determine whether it was an actual problem at the university, and develop possible ways
to address the issue. The question remained of how to best evaluate employee turnover issues and whether
or not diagnosing these issues at the college could benefit the organization.

The Bigger Picture: Employee Turnover Factors

Before researchers could assess the employee turnover issue at the college, they reviewed the broader is-
sues of job satisfaction and employee turnover to inform their investigation. They discovered that although job
satisfaction and employee turnover are one of the most extensively researched topics in Management and
Human Resources disciplines, there was a paucity of research on employee turnover and job dissatisfaction
specific to Thailand. Konpoothorn (2010) investigated and described the causes of burnout factors regarding
private vocational teachers in Pattaya, Thailand, and the findings from in-depth interviews in five vocational
schools showed seven categories for burnout: inspiration to be a teacher; feelings about work; social environ-
ment; student issues; perceptions of the workplace; student family issues; and activities to reduce burnout.
Barcenas et al. (2011) also illustrated a number of factors that contribute to employee turnover:

• the economy: in a developed economy the availability of alternative jobs plays a role in turnover;
• the organizational performance: it may raise the level of impending layoffs;
• the culture of the organization: reward systems, leadership competencies, and the organization’s
abilities to develop a sense of shared goals will influence such indices of job satisfaction as turnover
intentions and turnover rate;
• job characteristics: a job’s attractiveness will be affected by several characteristics, including its chal-
lenges, danger, and perceived importance;

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• unrealistic expectations: general lack of knowledge that many job applicants have about the job of-
fered; and
• the person: personal factors, such as desire to acquire new skills, changes in families’ situations, or
unsolicited job offers.

Related to this research into turnover factors, Siripak (2006) demonstrated that some of the lower levels of
job satisfaction at Mahidol University in Thailand were a consequence of the ambiguity of academic goals,
the need to enhance academic service evaluation systems, and communication issues across all levels of the
organization. Siripak also argued for the amendment of the financial aid system, as it is considered one of
the main elements that had a negative effect on job satisfaction at Mahidol University. Another study at Satit
School in Thailand indicated that dissatisfaction with management, communication problems, and person-
al reasons were prevalent reasons for teacher departure (Weiwei, 2010). Hausknecht and Holwerda (2013)
recommended five characteristics that can influence productive capacity and collective performance. These
were: leaver proficiencies; time dispersion; positional distribution; remaining member proficiencies; and new-
comer proficiencies.

In addition to the research on employee turnover motives, researchers also looked at the impact of turnover
and the importance of diagnosing turnover issues. Hancock, Allen, Bosco, McDaniel, & Pierce (2013) ob-
served evidence for a substantial negative relationship between turnover and organizational performance.
This indicated that human and social capital losses associated with turnover outweigh the functional effects
of replacing departing employees with better or less expensive ones, bringing new perspectives into the or-
ganization or preventing human capital stagnation.

The Interview Process and Data Collection and Analysis

After compiling their background information, researchers used this knowledge to define the potential problem
(employee turnover in a newly established college in Thailand) and script wide-ranging ideas about the re-
search problem. Researchers then used various methods of data collection, with a focus on in-depth, semi-
structured interviews of key respondents in 2009. The researchers used non-probability sampling and inter-
viewed fifteen instructors between the ages of 25 and 40, seven of whom had already quit their jobs, and
eight who had attempted to seek jobs in other organizations. The main question that was asked in the inter-
views was “What motives drive academic staff to quit their work in this newly established college?” Additional

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questions included: “In your opinion, why does the college have ineffective systems?”; “What are some be-
havioral problems among all individuals in the college?”; and “What causes feelings of biases and mistrust in
the college?”

In order to analyze the data, researchers did the following:

• Arranged data according to the subjects raised;

• Displayed respondents’ responses in line numbers to build up some codes from the respondents’
answers;
• Developed inclusive illustrations and descriptions;
• Defined categories;
• Reviewed each category or each interview session;
• Measured miscellaneous data to develop an inclusive description of the whole process; and
• Drafted and redrafted their study and analysis.

The information obtained from the respondents assisted the researchers in analyzing the employee turnover
situation at the college.

The researchers proposed four issues and their mechanisms in interpreting the data obtained from the 15
interviews. The researchers strove to bring together achievable and indispensable factors that might lead to
some understanding of job dissatisfaction, and employee turnover. Thus, the researchers’ accrued perspec-
tive and an understanding of the factors related to employee dissatisfaction and turnover at the college, as
shown in Figure 1.

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Figure 1: Employee Turnover Motives

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Source: Authors

The researchers found that the ineffective system factors listed in Figure 1 were the most pertinent causes or
motives that precipitated job dissatisfaction and employee turnover among academic staff at the college. In
analyzing the interview data, researchers found that the problems associated with these systems were com-
pounded by communication issues and behavioral problems, as well as associated perceptions of mistrust
and bias. Table 1 offers key quotations from respondents about each of these employee turnover factors.

Table 1: Direct Quotations From the Participants of the Study

Themes Quotations

• “We have to have a system, because we have our own plan and our own budget, and everyone must be clear about his/her
roles. The most dangerous points in this college are, first, the ineffective system; second, there are no morals. We do not
have steps for working; we do not have a system.”

• “My boss is unfair in his evaluation; he is using the evaluation as a tool to fire some people, or to fire those he does not like.
Most importantly, the top management should improve the college’s structure, as well as put the right one in the right place.
At the same time, the college should provide training courses, to advance the lecturers’ teaching skills. Lastly, the director
wants to establish a new program which is called (Innovation Based Technology); however, he does not think of the current
situation or the current problems.”

• “The first priority in this college, should be problem solving, and have the employees loyal to our college. Second, One of
the employee’s suggestions is, to make a dialogue with all employees every week, and let them behave appropriately to-
wards each other. As such, they could accept each other, and then they will be more comfortable when working together.”

• “Lecturers and administrative employees do not understand the students’ needs, and, at the same time, the college’s poli-
Ineffective sys-
cies are related to how to develop the students’ ways of thinking. Therefore, the college should develop people’s ways of
tem
thinking, by a regular external consultation.”

• “To develop this college, we should first change the management. Policies and goals must be clear to everyone in the col-
lege. We should let the lecturers and the administrative employees understand the college’s objectives, before working on
anything. At least, we have to have someone in the college both lecturers and administrative employees can trust and believe
in, to be able to work effectively.”

• “The lecturers do not know the college’s priorities, so that they can effectively use the budget provided. For instance, some
lecturers might need to establish something in the college, but they receive a rejection of their proposals without knowing the
reason. Whilst other lecturers, get approval to do other things, from the budget provided to the college.”

• “Conflicts among people exist in this college because of the following: the management, and the distance between the col-
lege and the headquarters is too far, which makes it difficult for the staff to coordinate with others. Hence, if we are going to
solve the problems in this college, we should first mange conflict; people in management should be well mannered with the
employees; and discuss our problems sincerely and constructively.”

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• “My boss is always irresponsible in his decisions. Whenever, he makes decisions, if something wrong happens, or unex-
pected; he will say that, it is not his mistake or his responsibility. In other words, he throws his mistakes on others, which

Behavioral is- makes some employees feel demoralized.”

sues • “The management and the lecturers do not want to admit that there are quite a lot of problems in the college. They do not
want to accept the truth. In addition, the lecturers say to the students that they should love each other and listen to each oth-
er, but they themselves never do this.”

• “The director should not talk in a bad way to the employees; he should motivate and disseminate power to everyone. He has
lots of problems in communicating with others, whether in the college or the university; therefore, no-one wants to co-operate
with him.”
Communication
skills • “The director’s way of talking, makes people confused, because he cannot elucidate what he is trying to say. He makes us
give up because he does not know how to communicate effectively; although, sometimes he has good intentions. Instead of
showing appreciation with our work, he makes us feel unappreciated, and, therefore we give up on working hard for the col-
lege.”

• “There are some unfair opportunities in this college, such as, the self-assessment report (SAR) the college received a bonus
last year of 1,500 baht per person, and the director gave this bonus to only the ones who made the report. However, many
employees worked on this report.”

Feelings of • “The university provided a budget to develop the employee’s skills in the college (7,000 baht each). Though, the director
bias and mis- gives the budget to those who work in the Engineering program, nothing is allocated for the Business Administration pro-
trust gram.”

• “What makes this college go from bad to worse is that the employees do not feel loyal to the college or faithful to the direc-
tor. I’m not against the director, but I’m not happy when working in this college because there is no-one who can support our
work. We are learning by doing, so no-one should blame us if our work is not good.”

The Model and Framework for Understanding Employee Turnover

After identifying key factors associated with employee turnover at the college, researchers needed to assess
the importance of those factors and their role in the employee turnover problem at the university. They de-
vised the voluntary turnover model (Figure 2) to understand the employee turnover data they had collected.

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Figure 2: Conceptual Voluntary Model

Source: Adopted from Kane-Sellers (2007)

Researchers synthesized various voluntary turnover models to create their conceptual voluntary turnover
model (Allen & Griffeth, 2001; Mitchell & Lee, 2001; Perez, Sanchez, & de Luis Carnicer, 2003; Peterson,
2004). Psychometric factors, such as organizational commitment and job satisfaction (factors divided by the
dotted line in Figure 2), were outside the scope of the researcher’s work because these factors were not ac-
cessible in the data offered by the university. The model (Figure 2) presented these factors because there
is significant evidence that they impact employee voluntary turnover (Allen & Griffeth, 2001; Mitchell & Lee,

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2001).

In addition to creating this conceptual voluntary turnover model, researchers also drew upon a turnover frame-
work (Figure 3) to consolidate the turnover variables.

Figure 3: Turnover Framework

Source: Sukriket (2015).

The “push factors” in Figure 3 align with the reasons of dissatisfaction that employees have towards their or-
ganizations. Push factors are aspects that drive employees to quit their jobs. These factors are also known
as “controlled factors” or “internal factors” because they can be controlled by organizations. The “pull factors”
are factors that attract employees to seek jobs in other organizations. Pull factors are also known as “uncon-
trolled factors” because they are beyond the organization’s control. As shown in the model (Figure 3), there
are various aspects that must be taken into account when determining employee level of satisfaction and it is
not always easy to determine which factors are most significant to each individual.

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The Problem, the Analysis, and the Benefit

Although researchers could not identify which push and pull factors were most significant to each employee
at the college, they made the case to the university that job dissatisfaction and the multiple factors associated
with employee turnover were an actual problem for their organization. Researchers also argued that the push
and pull factors and employee turnover motives could be used to inform changes at the college that could
benefit employees and the university.

With their models and framework, researchers assessed the importance of several employee turnover mo-
tives and push and pull factors in order to craft suggestions for improving job satisfaction and reducing
employee turnover. For example, researchers found that a main driver of job dissatisfaction and employee
turnover in the college was negative perceptions, including the belief that regardless of what the employees
strove to accomplish, no recognition or incentives would be received. Researchers drew on background re-
search and interview data identifying job dissatisfaction as a likely predictor of low level of organizational com-
mitment and, thus hypothesized that, it is essential to maximize the employee’s level of job satisfaction, in
order to have positive feelings and actions toward the organization.

Interview data revealed that academic staff at the college were dissatisfied with management philosophies
and actions, as well as ineffective communication at the organization. The respondents repeatedly expressed
their discontent with the university’s management philosophy, including the principles guiding decisions. Re-
spondents noted that there was a need for regular consultations about the college’s policies and goals before
assigning work on a particular task. They also repeatedly mentioned that the budget was not effectively used
because the employees did not recognize the college’s priorities. Others complained about the improper eval-
uation system. Researchers drew upon this information to conclude that the college and its staff would benefit
if employees were educated about their options and resources, with the aim of making proper decisions. Fur-
thermore, they recommended that the university improve systems in order to improve negative perceptions
because these in turn could reduce employee turnover and benefit their organization.

In a problem related to negative perceptions and education, researchers found that many employees were
irresponsible at work, and that they were lacking adequate information or knowledge about their duties. As
such, the researchers concluded that employees who have information would become responsible and those
who have information and do not take the responsibility are considered exceptions. Accordingly, they rec-
ommended that the university training and career development programs be maximized to build employees’

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knowledge, skills, and capabilities which, by extension, would contribute to a high level of employee per-
formance. Ultimately, researchers noted that unconstructive perceptions and imbalanced opportunities were
powerful reasons that led to job dissatisfaction but that the university could take actions to correct these fac-
tors.

Additionally, researchers found that the lack of communication skills significantly increased the employees’
potential to quit. Therefore, the university should take steps to ensure effective communications that offers
the employees the care and the supervision they are looking for, while reinforcing the value of the benefits
they receive. As part of the communication problem at the college, several respondents stated that one-way
communication was a contentious issue. Building upon previous studies, researchers noted that communica-
tion is a lot more than information transfer; feelings need to be considered.

Finally, researchers concluded that employees should have a sense of loyalty toward their organizations, as
they become an important part of their small work groups. The respondents of the current study expressed
almost the same opinion, when they noticed that, “what makes the college go from bad to worse, is that the
employees do not feel loyal to the college.” The issue of loyalty in organizations and how it can be lever-
aged to increase productivity, save resources, and enhance reputation, among other benefits has been de-
bated for several decades. Researchers highlighted this pertinent loyalty question for the university: “What
can build this great feeling for people at your organization?” The answer, first and foremost, was culture. The
researchers argued that the organizations’ cultures impact the degree of employee loyalty, which in turn leads
to a positive working performance, and long-term working commitment. If the university could improve job
satisfaction by improving perceptions, communication, and systems, they might be able to improve their work
culture and consequently their employee loyalty.

Will the University Benefit?

Various studies conducted in the west found positive relationships between several job facets and turnover
intentions, and researchers in this case found that decreased job satisfaction and increased turnover may
specifically ensue from a desire for higher earnings, a lack of promotion, or dissatisfaction with working stip-
ulations. In addition, dissatisfaction with management, communication problems and personal reasons are
the main motives that drove the academic staff to quit their jobs at the college. Based on the findings, re-
searchers recommended that the Thai university pay special attention to these dilemmas in order to preserve

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their skilled academics. Researchers acknowledged that this process would require constant development
of simplified models to measure job satisfaction and turnover of professional groups. Therefore, they recom-
mended that the university employ system analysts and project managers to assess the current situations
and predict changes that could impact job satisfaction and employee turnover.

Now that the researchers had made their case, it was time for the university to decide whether they agreed
with the research data and its interpretations. The researchers believed employee turnover was a serious
problem at the university and that identifying the problem, and the precipitant factors sustaining that problem,
could inform potential solutions and benefit the university. Would the university accept the identified motives
for employee turnover as accurate and important? Would the university decide to use those motives to inform
measures to improve job satisfaction at the college? Would the university benefit from the diagnosis of the
turnover problem?

Discussion Questions

1. Assess the employee turnover models chosen by the researchers and evaluate whether they were
the right models to assess the college’s problem.
2. Assess the university’s exit interview process. Was it sufficient to diagnose and evaluate the employ-
ee turnover problem?
3. Make an argument for whether the university acted soon enough to assess the turnover issue.
4. Using the model the researchers selected, should the university deem employee turnover an actual
problem at their organization? Why or why not?
5. What will be the most important steps in addressing the turnover issue, should the university decide
it is an actual problem?

Further Reading

Evans, S. , & Huxley, P. (2009). Factors associated with the recruitment and retention of social workers in
Wales: Employer and employee perspectives. Health Social Care Community, 17, 254–266.
Hunsaker, P. L. , & Hunsaker, J. S. (2009). Essential managers: Managing people. London, UK: Dorling
Kindersley Ltd.
Lacy, F. J. , & Sheehan, B. A. (1997). Job satisfaction among academic staff: An international perspective.

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Higher Education, 34, 305–322.

Lee, T. W. , & Mitchell, T. R. (1994). An alternative approach: The unfolding model of voluntary employee
turnover. The Academy of Management Review, 19, 51–89.
Spector, P. E. (1997). Job satisfaction: Application, assessment, causes, and consequences. Thousand
Oaks, CA: Sage Publications.
Sumintorn, B. , & Thitiworada, S. (2010). The effects of job satisfaction on organizational commitment of Thai
employees in five Rajabhat universities in the northern group. European Journal of Management, 10, 89.
WeiBo, Z. , Kaur, S. , & Zhi, T. (2010). A critical review of employee turnover model (1938–2009) and devel-
opment in perspective of performance. African Journal of Business Management, 4, 4146–4158.

References

Allen, D. G. , & Griffeth, R. W. (2000). Job performance and turnover: A review and integrative multi-route
model. Human Resource Management Review, 9, 525–548.

Barcenas, K. R. R. , Cagula, J. C. M. T. , Nantes, D. A. , Gelacio, K. L. , Tsai, K. M. A. , Sasuman, C. V. D. ,

… Gongon, A. (2011). The factors that affect employee turnover of call center agents in IT Park, Cebu City.
Retrieved from http://www.scribd.com/doc/49434494/the-factors-thataffect-employee-turnover-of-call-center-
agents-in-it-park-cebu-city

Hancock, J. I. , Allen, D. G. , Bosco, F. A. , McDaniel, K. R. , & Pierce, C. A. (2013). Meta-analytic review of

employee turnover as a predictor of firm performance. Journal of Management, 39, 573–603.

Hausknecht, J. P. , & Holwerda, J. A. (2013). When does employee turnover matter? Dynamic member con-
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Kane-Sellers, M. L. (2007). Predictive models of employee voluntary turnover in a North American profes-
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Konpoothorn, P. (2010). Burnout: A study of private vocational teachers in Pattaya, Thailand. HRD Journal, 1,
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Mitchell, T. R. , & Lee, T. W. (2001). The unfolding model of voluntary turnover and job embeddedness: Foun-
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Perez, M. P. , Sanchez, A. M. , & de Luis Carnicer, M. P. (2003). The organizational implications of Human

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Peterson, S. L. (2004). Toward a theoretical model of employee turnover: A human resource development
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