8 Kaya Abdiolu ENG - SON20.02.12

An Empirical Study on Employee Turnover
Tendency
Harun Kaya - Hasan Abdioğlu
Abstract: This study aims to determine whether or not the turnover intention of tax au-
diting professionals who consider leaving their workplace, Ministry of Finance of
TheThe Republic of Turkey, is related to personality traits, demographic profiles and
organizational conditions. For this purpose, a cross-sectional survey was conducted on
tax inspectors and tax auditors. The findings of the study indicated that issues concern-
ing institutional policies, work environment, employee compensation rights increase the
probability of intention to leave the organization. However, job-related issues do not
have any significant effect on the probability of intention to leave the organization. On
the other hand, this research shows This research concluded that while demographic
variables, such as gender (being male) and higher level of education increase the prob-
ability of intention to leave; the variables of age, professional experience (tenure), mar-
ital status, professional title and previous knowledge about the profession variables re-
lated to the profession do not have no effect on the probability of turnover intention.
Key Words: Turnover intention, tax auditing profession, organizational conditions, de-
mographic profiles, personality traits.
INTRODUCTION
In today’s organizations, where knowledge is considered the most important

production factor, the trained person with the required knowledge and skills is
seen as human capital. The issues of existence recruiting, selecting, and training
and ensuring the continuity of the employment of employees, who produce new
knowledge by making use of the available knowledge; who share and distribute
this knowledge and, who contribute significantly to intellectual knowledge ac-
cumulation and ensure the continuity of their employment assumeare very im-
portantce for organizations. Today, many organizations endeavor to enhance the
knowledge, skills and experience of their employees by subjecting them to ca-
reer development. Career development, while on the one hand motivates the
employee and thus, improves his/her organizational commitment, it increases

* Dr., Balıkesir University, Bandırma FEAS Department of Business Administration.
hkaya@balikesier.edu.tr
** Dr., Balıkesir University, Bandırma FEAS Department of Business Administration.
hasan6134@yahoo.com
We would like to thank to the anonymous jury refrees of the Review of Public Administration for their
valuable recommendations suggestins and constructive criticisms in generating the giving us the opportunity
to provide the final formfinal version of this article. The article is originally written in Turkish, then it is

translated into English and the first aouthor reviewed the translation.

Review of Public Administration, Volume 43 Issue 4 December 2010, p.129-165.

130 Review of Public Administration, Volume 43 Issue 4
the turnover tendency of the employee, who has transformed into a preferable
human capital with the increased in skills and self-confidence on the other hand
(Ito - Brotheridge, 2005).
For organizations, the turnover of employees means the waste of investment
in the selection and training of personnel. Human resources specialists and re -
searchers predict that the cost of every employee turnover ranges between 93
percent and 200 percent of the annual salary of a resignedn employee resigned
depending on his/her skills and responsibilities1conscientiousness (Cascio,
2000; quoted by Drew et al., 2008: 326). Besides, the high rate of employee
turnover in an organization adversely affects the motivation of existing person-
nel; increases the workload and makes work planning difficult. Thus, the resig-
nation of skilled employees, who are considered as human capital, is an impor-
tant issue that has a negative impact on the efficiency, effectiveness and general
performance of an organization.
As it is known, employee turnover refers to the resignation of employees
from current organization for the puporpose of working for another organiza-
tion. Turnover intention is defined as the willfulness, tendency and attitude of
an employee to leave the organization to work for another organization (Mobley
et al., 1979; Tett - Meyer, 1993). In many empirical studies conducted for de-
veloping policies to prevent employee turnover, turnover intention has been
used in place of actual turnover and various studies found that turnover inten-
tion is the significant determinant and predictor of actual turnover (Grieffeth et
al., 2000; Tett - Meyer, 1993; Hom et al., 1992; Hom - Grieffeth, 1991; Mobley,
1977). EForeign empirical studies done outside of Turkey on employee turnover
or turnover intention appear mostly in literature related to organizational behav-
ior and human resources management. In these studies, employee turnover or
turnover intention are associated with numerous factors, such as job satisfaction
(Trevor, 2001; Abraham, 1999; Hwang - Kuo, 2006; Tett - Meyer, 1993), orga-
nizational commitment (Arnold - Davey, 1999; Tett - Meyer, 1993), self-effi-
cacy (Troutman et al., 2000), self-esteem (Abraham, 1999), stress, gender
(Troutman et al., 2000), personal traits (Jenkins, 1993; Zimmerman, 2008), cor-
porate policies and unemployment in the market (Hatcher, 1999). Most of the
foreign studies done outside of Turkey on turnover intention have focused on
private sector organizations (Hwang - Kuo, 2006). According to Hwang and
Kuo, one of the reasons is that in the public sector, employee turnover is less
common compared to the private sector due to the limited job alternatives.
1
Similiar prediction to this made by Hom - Griffeth (1995; cit. in Zimmerman, 2008: 335) in such a way that
each employees’ cost of leaving from an organization varies between 50 per cent and 100 percent of the
annual expenses that made to that employee.
An Empirical Study on Employees’ Turnover Tendency 131
In recent years, a number of studies on the turnover intention were con-

ducted in Turkey as well (Yazıcıoğlu, 2009; Akın, 2007; Çekmecelioğlu, 2006;
Özdevecioğlu, 2004; Wasti, 2003; Ceylan - Demircan, 2002; Tütüncü, 2000).
However, except for two empirical studies conducted at one public sector and
one private sector organization (Çakar - Ceylan, 2005; Poyraz - Kama, 2008),
no study was found in the literature that particularly focused on turnover or
turnover intention of employees in the Turkish public sector. Moreover, the re-
searchers state that in general there are very few empirical studies exploring the
relationship between personal traits and turnover intention (Drew et al., 2008;
Timmerman, 2006; Griffeth et al., 2000). In addition, it is a fact that the litera-
ture lacks comprehensive research investigating the impact of human resources
policies and practices of organizations, factors stemming from the nature of the
job, employee personal rights and benefits, and the demographic and personal-
ity characteristics on the turnover intention of public employees. This study
aims to contribute to fill the mentioned gaps in the literature.
To this end, tax auditing professionals working at the Ministry of Finance of
the Republic of Turkey (hereafter referred to as the Ministry of Finance) have
been selected as the subject of the field study. The reason is that the Ministry of
Finance is one of the institutions in Turkey, where voluntary turnover fre-
quently occurs. For instance, the analysis of the voluntary turnover of Fiscal In-
spectors and Tax Inspectors employed at the Ministry of Finance between 1995
and 2008 indicates that the number of those, who resigned was 51 (61% of total
employee turnover) and 177 (71% of total employee turnover), respectively
(pergen.gov.tr, 2009). Besides, the number of Income Auditors, who resigned
between 1995 and 2007, was 125 ((51% of total employee turnover), while the
number of Tax Auditors, who resigned from the Ministry of Finance in the
2003-2007 period became 34 (17% of total employee turnover) 2 (pergen.gov.tr,
2009).
This study aims to determine the turnover tendency of tax auditing profes-
sions, who are subjected to extremely meticulous processes during their recruit-
ment and training; to identify the factors and causes that aeffecting their
turnover tendency from the institution; to contribute to the existing institutional
theoretical and empirical literature; and, to bring come up a number of policy
suggestions to the Ministry of Finance for preventing the loss of qualified hu-
man resource. In the first section of the study, the relevant literature was exam -
ined and various hypotheses have been developed. The second section describes
the method of research. In the third section, data have been analyzed and the
findings have been presented. The conclusion section contains general assess-
ment of the study, policy suggestions and limitations of the study.
2
The pre-2003 data on the causes of tax audit professionals’ turnover could not be reached.
LITERATURE REVIEW AND HYPOTHESES

In this section, an attempt will be made to examine the literature on volun-
tary employee turnover. In doing this, we want and to present a general profile
of the relevant theoretical approaches and examine the empirical studies based
on these approaches. Then, the effects of the demographic characteristics, and
personality traits and the organizational conditions on employee turnover or
turnover intention will be scrutinized and hypotheses will be developed.
A General OverVview of the Phenomenon of Employee Turnover
In the last fifty years, a significant amount of literature has emerged on the
factors leading to employee turnover or turnover intention (Egan et al., 2004).
Such research can be divided into two groups: conceptual/theoretical studies
that have developed models related to employee turnover and empirical studies
that have investigated the impact of certain variables on employee turnover. The
first initial work of the first group of studies is March and Simon’s (1958) Orga-
nizational Equilibrium Theory. According to this theory, individuals leave their
organization when they perceive that their contribution to the organization is
more than the benefits and inducements they get from the organization. In this
theory, the contribution-inducement equilibrium that leads to voluntary em-
ployee turnover is affected by two major considerations: (1) the perceived desir-
ability of leaving the job, and (2) the perceived ease of movement from the or-
ganization. The perceived desirability of leaving is a function of the individual’s
job satisfaction and the possibility of intraorganizational transfer; the person’s
perceived ease of movement is determined by personal characteristics (such as
sex, age, marital status, seniority) and may affect the degree to which external
alternatives are perceived to be available (March - Simon, 1958: 93-111). Most
of the theories on employee turnover have been built on March and Simon’s or-
ganizational equilibrium theory3 (Trevor, 2001; Joseph et al., 2007). For exam-
ple, Porter and Steers’s (1973) Met Expectations Theory highly resembles the
theory of organizational equilibrium. According to this theory, employees have
certain expectations from the organization such as high salary, reward, promo-
tion, and good relations with their supervisors and co-workers. If their expecta-
tions are not met and they are not satisfied, thus leading to dissatisfaction, they
will choose to leave from their organization. Mobley’s (1977) Linkage Model,
which is another approach developed based on Organizational Equilibrium
Model, proposes that in the correlation between employee turnover and job sat-
isfaction, there are numerous intervening intermediate variables that either mod-
erate or mediate weaken this relationship or serve as intermediate for it. Accord-
3
In scientific researches, the conceptthe concept of “model” refers to setting forth a descriptive framework
for the subject under study and making the theoretical explanation of cause-effect relationship related to the
subject.
ing to this model, due to some of the intermediate intervening variables, if a

person is dissatisfied with his or her job, this triggers the idea of leaving from-
feels dissatisfied with the organizations, Consequentlyhe or she will think
about quitting. , Next, he or she will search for jobs in order to find evaluate al-
ternative work places. When thes and calculate expected utility of each the al-
ternative that he or she has. Then, if the alternative jobs is superior or more ap-
pealling to than the currentstaying the organization,job, it leads to the intention
to quit and actual turnover.
Lee and Mitchell’s (1994) Unfolding Model of Voluntary Turnover, which
has been recently developed, states that employee turnover is triggered by a
shock (such as incompatibility, disagreement, conflict); these evoke negative
emotions in the individual, thus leading him to leave the organization without
thinking of his/her organizational commitment or job alternatives. If the shock
does not immediately evoke intensive negative thoughts, the individual adopts a
more rational attitude; he/she decides to leave the organization after assessing
whether he/she is satisfied with his/her job and thinking of other job alterna-
tives. Unfolding Model of Voluntary Employee Turnover examines how and
why employees leave from their organization; however, it is not interesteddoes
not touch on the issue of in why some people choose not to leave the organiza-
tion. Job Embeddedness Theory developed by Mitchell et aland friends (2001)
focuses on why some people tend not to leave the organization. This theory ar-
gues that the reason for a person’s not leaving from the organization is related
to his or her connection with other people, activities and environment inside and
outside of the organization. According to this theory, emphasizing these strong
links employees presume that they will face with great incompatibility and sac-
rifices if they leave from the organization, so they continue to stay in the orga-
nization. includes an individual’s links to other people, teams and groups; their
perception of their fit with their job, organization and community and what they
say they would have to sacrifice if they left their job. Job Embeddedness The-
ory, contrary to the most theories, has brought onto the agenda the effects of the
factors other than job and organization on employee turnover. That is to say, ac-
cording to this theory, employees do not leave their organization even despite
dissatisfaction with their job or opportunity for a better job due to their strong
links within and outside the organization, which they cannot sacrifice.
Along with the theories mentioned above, The empirical studies conducted
based on other theories of organizationsnal and human behavior, along with the
theories mentioned above, have investigated the factors affecting individuals’
voluntary turnover or turnover intention generally within the context of environ-
mental factors, such as labor market and national culture (Hatcher, 1999; Wasti,
2003; Hwang - Kuo, 2006); organizational factors, such as organizational strat-
egy, organizational culture, human resources policies and practices (Rosin - Ko-
rabik, 1991; Egan et al., 2004; Özdevecioğlu, 2004; Loi et al., 2006; Yüksel,
2006; Hui et al., 2007; MacIntosh - Doherty, 2009; Riggle et al., 2009); and, in-
dividual factors such as job stress, job satisfaction, organizational commitment,
motivation, personality and demographic characteristics (Yazıcıoğlu, 2009;
Drew et al., 2008; Poyraz - Kama, 2008; Akın, 2007; Çekmecelioğlu, 2006;
Timmerman, 2006; Allen et al., 2005; Çakar - Ceylan, 2005; Ceylan - Demir-
can, 2002; Trevor, 2001; Troutman et al., 2000; Tütüncü, 2000; Arnold -
Davey, 1999; Jenkins, 1993; Tett - Meyer, 1993; Rasch - Harrell, 1990; Mob-
ley, 1977; Porter - Steers, 1973). These researches studies have analyzed the in-
teractions of various motives and factors as well. The literature review has indi-
cated that the most focused topic is individual factors to be followed by organi -
zational factors and environmental factors, respectively. This study, which has
excluded environmental factors such as labor market and national culture, aims
to explore the effects of organizational and individual factors on the employee
turnover intention.
Personality Traits and Employee Turnover
The term “personality” refers to “the whole of characteristics, moral and
mental features specific to an individual” or “the more or less constant integrity
of functioning distinctive mental, physical and physiological characteristics of
an individual (tdkterim.gov.tr, 2009). The concept of personality can be defined
as the individual’s specificattribute reactions and reflections which arises from
consisting of the interaction of his/her distinctive and consistent thoughts, emo-
tions and behaviors towards beingsnature, objects, people, thoughts ideas and
events in his/her environment as a result of his/her physical, mental and spiritual
characteristics. The concept of personality traits refers to the relative difference
of an individual from other individuals in terms of his/her certain attributes.
Very different types of personality tests have been developed as outcome of
studies and researches carried out for nearly a century with an aim to determine
and to measure personality traits and personality types (see: Grucza - Goldberg,
2007; Özgüven, 2004; Somer et al., 2002). These tests used in personality mea-
surement can be basically divided into two categories: projective personality
tests used for evaluating the individual’s reaction to ambiguous stimuli (usually
face-to-face tests such as the Thematic Apperception Test and Rorschach Test);
non-projective personality tests that involve the administration of many ques-
tions, or statements to test-takers who respond by rating the degree to which
each item reflects their behavior4 (Ordun, 2004). Non-projective personality
4
In methodoligal terms, the methods used to determine personality traits can also be classified as quantitative
and qualitative methods. The individual’s expression of himself/herself via projective tests, interviews and
otobiography (Özgüven, 2004) is an example for qualitative methods. If the behaviors of individuals are
recorded as numerical data on a form as in observational tecniques and in situations, where setting is pe-
prepared (Özgüven, 2004), or if the individual answers questions in a personality inventory, then it means
the quantitative method is employed.
tests can also be divided into types: in-depth personality tests that evaluate cer-
tain personality traits (e.g. self-esteemrespect, self-confidence, self-efficacy,
risk taking, success motivation, self- monitoring, etc.); and tests that simultane-
ously measure many characteristics with an integrated approach (e.g. Cattell’s
16 Personality Factor Model, Costa and McCrae’s NEO-I, Lee andAshton’s
HEXACO (Somer et al., 2002). The tests/inventories based on integrated ap-
proach, for the purpose of measuring personality traits, collect a large number
of statements in various upper dimensions and combine these dimensions with
the broad superfactors less in number, thus enabling interpretation. There is not
much difference between these tests in terms of average validity and reliability
according to various criteria; however, the choice of inventory must be relevant
to the purpose of the personality test (Grucza - Goldberg, 2007).
Despite the increase in empirical studies on the effects of personality on
working life in the last 20-25 years, as mentioned in the introduction section, it
is emphasized in the literature that there is a limited number of studies examin-
ing the relationship between employee turnover and personality (Drew et al,
2008; Timmerman, 2006; Griffeth et al., 2000). Most of the empirical studies on
the impact of personality traits on employee turnover made use ofutilized per-
sonality traits as moderating variables, as suggested by Mobley et al (1979) and
investigated their indirect impact on turnover. In one of these studies, Jenkins
(1993) found that in low self-monitoring employees, organizational commit-
ment is more determinant ofrelated with intention to leave, while in high self-
monitors, there is a strong relationship between job satisfaction and turnover in-
tention. Allen et al (2005) identified that the relationship between turnover in-
tentions and turnover is stronger for low self-monitors, those with an internal lo-
cus of control and those lower in risk aversion. The study found that there is no
relationship between proactive personality has a negative relationship between
and turnover intentions and or actual turnover. In their a study conducted among
auditing professionals, Rasch and Harrell (1990) identified that Type A person-
ality and the level of influence orientation have a direct positive influence on
the turnover tendency and they have indirect positive influence on the turnover
tendency via by means of job satisfaction. on the turnover tendency.
Among the personality tests based on the integratedity approach that simul-
taneously measure numerous personality traits, the Big Five Personality Tests is
are the most commonly used one in empirical studies (Drew, et al., 2008;
Somer et al., 2002). In inventories developed for measuring the Big Five Per-
sonality Traits (Costa - McCrae, 1985; John et al., 1991; Goldberg, 1990, 1992),
personality is generally described in five broad factors: Openness to Experience,
Conscientiousness, Extraversion, Emotional Stability and Agreeableness. Extro-
verted people are warm, friendly, straightforward, energetic, cheerful, entertain-
ing, sociable, talkative, optimistic and active. On the other hand, introverts are
distant, calm, passive, shy, timid, seclusive and pessimistic people (Somer -
Goldberg, 1999; Goldberg, 1990, 1992). Some empirical studies that have in-
vestigated the relationship between extraversion and turnover indicated that ex-
traversion, as a personality trait, has a direct positive effect on leaving the job,
whereas some found that it was nothas no effect. instrumental. For instance,
while Barrick and Mount’s (1996) study did not identify a relationship between
extraversion and turnover, Timmerman’s (2008) study revealed a positive rela-
tionship between extraversion and turnover. Because extroverts create a pres-
ence around them, and as they are energetic and talkative people with strong so-
cial relationships, they are highly willing to participate in new social environ-
ments and various activities. Due to the fact that the possibility of these individ-
uals contactingindividuals contacting other organizations, directly or indi-
rectly, is higher compared to introverts, they might have more of a tendency to
leave their organization.
Hypothesis 1: Highly extroverted employees have a higher probability of
having turnover intention.
People, who are high on conscientiousness, are well-organized, efficient, re-
liable, resolute, success-oriented, ambitious, careful, serious-minded, formal,
detail-oriented and thrifty. On the other hand, people with low conscientious-
ness or non-conscientiousness people are unsystematic, neglectful, inconsistent,
forgetful, careless, aimless, lazy, hesitant, lax and undutiful (Somer - Gold-
berg, 1999; Goldberg, 1990, 1992). Employees, who are high in conscientious-
ness, think that they have explicit or implicit commitments to the organization.
Hence, they endeavor to stay loyal to these commitments. Believing that the or-
ganization has added certain values to them, they feel obliged to repay the orga-
nization. Therefore, before leaving the organization they ask themselves “Do I
owe the organization anything?” and, they do not leave the organization until
the answer is “No” in their conscience (Maertz - Griffeth, 2004). Some empiri-
cal studies have found evidence of a relationship between conscientiousness and
voluntary turnover (Barrick - Mount, 1996; Barrick - Zimmerman, 2005).
Hence, employees with strong conscientiousness that is nourished by moral or
ethical values do not think of leaving their organization.
Hypothesis 2: Employees with high conscientiousness have a lower proba-
bility of having turnover intention.
Emotionally stable people are tranquil, comfortable, independent, self-confi-
dent, patient, open to criticism and stress-tolerant. On the contrary, emotionally
unstable people are insecure, frightened/fearful, hesitant, vulnerable, jealous,
anxious and tense (Somer - Goldberg, 1999; Goldberg, 1990, 1992). Because
emotionally unstable individuals tend to experience negative moods more fre-
quently, and tend to have higher conflict with co-workers, they are less likely to
become effectively socialized in their organizations (Zimmerman, 2008). Peo-
ple with such a type of personality frequently experience emotions like anxiety,
depression, weakness and despair when exposed to negative incidents in the or-
ganization; thus they may tend to leave the organization (Porter - Steers, 1973).
Besides, in their study, Barrick and Mount (1996) pointed out that low emo-
tional stability or instable emotion emotionally instability in employees is corre-
lated with actual turnover. The probability of people with high emotional stabil-
ity to leave their organization is lower.
Hypothesis 3: Employees with high emotional stability have a lower proba-
bility of having turnover intention.
Agreeable people are cooperative, charming, understanding/sympathetic,
soft, gentle, generous, flexible, modest, virtuous, straightforward and natural;
On on the other hand, disagreeable people are quarrelsome, faultfinders, rude,
ruthless, arrogant, touchy, obstinate, distrustful, selfish, conceited, cunning and
mean (Somer - Goldberg, 1999; Goldberg, 1990, 1992). In group work, people
with agreeable personalities think of others as much as themselves; they tend to
take the line of least resistance and to ease the tension in their relations with
other people (Ordun, 2004). Agreeable employees approach the negativities in
their work environment more constructively and they are likely to have stronger
ties to their co-workers (Zimmerman, 2008; Mitchell et al., 2001). The negative
side of Agreeableness has been found to be a component of acting impulsively
and engaging in spontaneous quitting (Lee - Mitchell, 1994; Mobley et al.,
1979). Thus, agreeable employees have a lower probability of leaving their or-
ganization.
Hypothesis 4: Employees with high agreeableness have a lower probability
of having turnover intention.
People with high openness to experience have intellectual depth; their level
of understanding is high; they are intelligent, creative, curious, open to other
opinions and tactful. On the other hand, individuals, who are low on openness,
are unanalytical. Their level of imagination, creativeness and perception is
lower. They are conservative and indifferent (Somer - Goldberg, 1999; Gold-
berg, 1990, 1992). Because employees with high openness are curious and open
to unusual experiences, they are more likely to tend to leave their job to use new
opportunities, to gain experience and to discover new things compared to those
low on openness to experience. Studies indicate that employees high in open-
ness (Maertz - Griffeth, 2004) are more inclined to leave the organization and
that there is a positive correlation between openness to experience and turnover
(Timmerman, 2008). Therefore, the probability of employees with who have
high openness to experience trait to leave their job is higher.
Hypothesis 5: Employees with high openness to experience have a higher

probability of having turnover intention.
Demographic Characteristics and Employee Turnover
Apart from personal traits, demographic characteristics such as gender, age,
marital status, professional experience and level of education are also employed
as basic variables that directly or indirectly explain employee turnover or
turnover intention (Griffeth et al., 2000; Rasch - Harrell, 1990; Cotton - Tuttle,
1986; Mobley, 1977; Porter - Steers, 1973; March - Simon, 1958; Poyraz -
Kama, 2008; Yazıcıoğlu, 2009). As for gender, it is known that women cannot
develop their competence and skills in male-dominated professions and that
even if they can, they face “a glass ceiling” in the course of their careers, thus
having limited opportunities for promotion. This situation creates a vicious cy-
cle in itself and leads to negative perception of professional self-efficacy in fe-
male employees, thus restricting their career mobility. A survey conducted
among professional auditing and tax audit personnel in two offices of an inter-
national public accounting firm found that male employees, who had higher
self-efficacy compared to female employees, had a higher tendency to leave the
firm (Troutman et al., 2000). Some studies reported that in general, male em-
ployees are freer to leave an unsatisfactory employment situation than female
employees and that males have a higher rate of turnover (Cotton - Tuttle, 1986;
March - Simon, 1958). Therefore, less likely opportunities in male-dominated
professions like accounting and finance for female employees will decrease
their tendency of turnover.
Hypothesis 6: Male professionals have a higher probability of having
turnover intention than female professionals.
Age, another demographic characteristic, is believed to increase turnover un-
til a certain age, while after that age level turnover tendency reduces with in-
creasing age (March - Simon, 1958:101). Career stage and development theo-
ries argue that older employees are more satisfied with their jobs and organiza-
tions, and hence have a lower desire to move (Joseph et al., 2007). Here, it is
emphasized that being promoted to upper level positions with increasing age,
which thus leads to job satisfaction, decreases turnover tendency. When the im-
pact of age on turnover is considered from the perspective of Job Embedded-
ness Theory (Mitchell et al., 2001), it can be propounded that with increasing
age, the relations of employees with their organization, co-workers and the re-
gion they live in are ossified and therefore, they do not want to change the envi-
ronment they got used to. This is more common among employees in their 40s.
Accordingly, if a tax audit professional under 40 fails to be promoted to an up-
per-level administrative position or, this position does not attract him/her, he/
she may tend to work for another organization that offers better working condi-
tions and higher level of job satisfaction in every aspect.
Hypothesis 7: Professionals under 40 have a higher probability of having
turnover intention than those above 40.
People generally get married before they reach middle age. With the increase
in age, the care and education of their children and other family responsibilities
come to the fore, thus putting more financial burden on them. This leads to a
lower tendency to work in the private sector with no job security. Thus, it can
be proposed that there is a negative relationship between being married, another
demographic characteristic, which is closely related with the age of employees,
and turnover tendency. The reason is that a married person, along with his/her
other responsibilities, has to think about his/her spouse’s job status and other
circumstances. Thus, it can be asserted that a single tax audit professional’s
fewer responsibilities compared to a married one and his/her higher tendency to
take risk will allow him/her to consider new job offers, thus increasing his/her
intent leave the organization.
Hypothesis 8: Married Single professionals have a higher probability of
having turnover intention than single married professionals.
Another variable correlated with the demographic characteristic of age dis-
cussed above is the experience of employees. In general, experience is believed
to increase with advancing age. However, it is also maintained that after a cer-
tain level of experience, employees focus on knowledge on special expertise,
and because the relevant knowledge will not be needed much in the market,
thus will prevent them leaving the organization (March - Simon, 1958:102).
Even this proposition may not be true, when we propound that employees leave
their organization only until a certain age, this supposition brings about a re-
striction concerning the experience of employees. Griffeth, et al. (2000), in their
meta-analysis study, found that the age factor affects the relationship between
experience and turnover. Rasch and Harrell’s (1990) study indicated that ac-
counting professionals’ level of experience has a direct effect on their turnover
intention. Thus, it can be supposed that job experience of up to 15 years in-
creases the probability of leaving the organization among tax auditing profes-
sionals, while it has less or no effect on this probability after 15 years in the
same organization.
Hypothesis 9: Professionals with job experience up to 15 years have a
higher probability of having turnover intention.
Aside from experience, a higher level of education, as an important element
of human capital, has a positive effect on turnover as well (Trevor, 2001; Egan
et al., 2004). Human capital theory argues that individuals’ education and expe-
rience render them more marketable, and thus more able to turnover. Likewise,
Market Signaling Theory suggests that because individuals’ productivity is gen-

erally not observable to potential employers, individual attributes that provide
the market with information indicative of productivity can influence one’s em-
ployability. (Joseph et al., 2007). Both the training activities of the organization
towards raising the level of professional education and academic titles or certifi-
cates, which the professional has acquired with his/her personal efforts, will
render him/her employable by the private sector as an intellectual value. Thus,
the improvement in the professional’s level of education may increase the prob-
ability of turnover.
Hypothesis 10: Employees with Master's Degrees and Doctorate's Degrees
have a higher probability of having turnover intention than those with Bache-
lor’s Degrees.
Relatively high-level job positions have a positive effect on employees’
turnover (Egan et al., 2004). It can be thought that tax inspectors are more likely
to tend to leave the organization compared to tax auditors, because both in-
house and overseas training activities towards tax inspectors are more compre-
hensively organized. Hence, tax inspectors are employed in high level positions
in public institutions, thus allowing them to gain wider and deeper experience.
In addition, the more prestigious status of tax inspectors than tax auditors both
in the Ministry and the private sector boosts their preferability by the private
sector. It can be proposed that due to their above-mentioned characteristics, tax
inspectors are more likely to intend to quit than tax auditors.
Hypothesis 11: Tax inspectors have a higher probability of having turnover
intention than tax auditors.
Lastly, having knowledge about the requirements and working conditions of
the profession of tax auditing and the opportunities offered by the profession
before starting to work for the institution may increase the professional’s inten-
tion to quit. The reason is that if tax audit professionals have enough knowledge
about professional requirements and opportunities, they may begin to pursue the
opportunities in the private sector and to establish connections. Besides, the pro-
fessional may further increase his/her efforts in the face of job- or organization-
related negativities that he/she experiences.
Hypothesis 12: Employees with a high level of knowledge about the profes-
sion before starting to work for the institution have a higher probability of hav-
ing turnover intention.
Organizational Factors and Turnover
Aside from individual characteristics, organizational factors are also effec-
tive in voluntary employee turnover or turnover intention (Rosin - Korabik,
1991; Egan et al., 2004; Loi et al, 2006; Hui et al., 2007; MacIntosh - Doherty,
2009; Riggle et al., 2009). Organizational policies that shape the functioning of
the organization or employees’ perception of setbacks and deficiencies in these
policies may be instrumental in deciding to stay or quit. The Job Embededness
Theory (Mitchell et al., 2001) maintains that when commitment and agreeable-
ness compatibility between employees and the organization weaken, employees
will begin to assess the disadvantages of turnover. For instance, if professional
career opportunities are limited within the current organization, the employee
may think that he/she has little to lose in leaving the organization. Or, if human
resources policies that allow people to exhibit knowledge, skills, competence
are non-existent or deficient, then this means that there is an incompatibility be-
tween the employee and the organization. Looking at this from the perspective
of Lee and Mitchell’s (1994) Unfolding <mModel of Voluntary Employee
Turnover, certain negative experiences stemming from unequal professional
power and responsibility, incompatibility between audit units or lack of coordi-
nation and planning in tax audit to some extent may lead tax audit professionals
to tend to resign.
Hypothesis 13: Tax audit professionals’ negative perceptions of institutional
policies increase the probability of having turnover intention.
The organizational environment, which is closely related with organizational
policies, may also affect the intention to leave. The nature of the organizational
environment is largely determined by the organizational culture. Organizational
culture significantly affects turnover intention as well (MacIntosh - Doherty,
2009). Employees’ negative relationships with co-workers and unfavorable
physical conditions of the organization have an adverse affect on job satisfac-
tion (Smith el al., 1969; Herzberg, 1968). On the contrary, strong social rela-
tionships among organization’s personnel established by means of a convenient
social environment and favorable physical conditions will positively affect job
satisfaction, organizational belonging and organizational commitment 5. Thus,
inadequate social facilities and physical conditions (buildings, offices, rooms,
furnishments and fixtures, etc.) in the organization have an effect on tax audit
professionals, and thus, may increase their tendency to leave the organization.
Hypothesis 14: Unfavorable organizational conditions increase tax audit
professionals’ probability of having turnover intention.
It is known that factors related to the nature of work (e.g. dull, repetitive
work) cause unwelcome behavior, such as late arrival at work, absenteeism and
turnover. In order to avoid unfavorable consequences, job rotation, job enlarge-
ment and job enrichment models within the context of work redesign were de-
5
A meta-analysis of turnover conducted by Griffeth et al (2000) indicated that various work behaviour and
attitudes of individuals are instrumental in turnover. Among such behavior and attitudes, organizational
commitment is the most important determinant (p = .-23) of turnover to be followed by job satisfaction (p =
.-19).
veloped. The Job Characteristics Model, which is the most widely known and
adopted model for job enrichment, argues that individual experiences the job as
one which is generally meaningful, valuable, and worthwhile when he is given
the opportunity to use his/her skills. Besides, it must be ensured that employees
identify with their job and it must be emphasized that their job is important.
Moreover, it is underlined that job autonomy that engenders a sense of responsi-
bility in the employee and job feedback that allows the employee to obtain di-
rect and clear information about the effectiveness of his or her performance, not
only increase job satisfaction, motivation and performance, but also decrease
absenteeism and turnover (Hackman - Oldham, 1976). Excessive task variety
also causes task ambiguity, role conflict and crunch time resulting in weariness,
and thus reduces job satisfaction. In addition, non-autonomy and work-related
pressures from different people and groups reduce employees’ organizational
commitment, thus leading to an increase in turnover intention (Rosin - Korabik,
1991). Likewise, factors such as heavy workload also cause tiredness and fa-
tigue resulting in an increase in stress and decrease in job satisfaction. These
factors consequently result in an increase in turnover tendency. Troutman et al’s
(2000) study reported a positive relationship between high job stress and
turnover intention among women and men, while the meta-analyses conducted
pointed to a significant negative relationship between job satisfaction and
turnover intention (Hom et al., 1992; Tett - Meyer, 1993; Griffeth et al., 2000).
Thus, it can be propounded that the existence of negative issues that are job-re-
lated positively affects tax audit professionals’ intention to leave the organiza-
tion.
Hypothesis 15: The existence of job-related negative issues that are job-re-
lated increases tax audit professionals’ probability of having turnover intention.
Along with the attitudes and practices of the management, that are roughly
mentioned above, promotability, relationships with co-workers and job-related
issues, which are briefly mentioned above, pay also has a positive relationship
with job satisfaction (Smith et al., 1969). Salaries/wages and other types of pay-
ments are important means of attracting employees and making them stay in the
organization. Almost all employee turnover theories lay emphasis on employ-
ees’ financial advantages from the organization: turnover intention increases
when employees perceive that the inducements are lower than their contribu-
tions to the organization according to the Organizational Equilibrium Theory,
(March - Simon, 1958); when organizational inducements fail to meet expecta-
tions in the course of time according to the Theory of Met Expectations (Porter
- Steers, 1973); when employees experience an unexpected shock (Lee -
Mitchell, 1994). Empirical studies indicate that the turnover intvention increases
when organizations do not recognize and value individual contributions, and
when they do not care about the welfare of their employees (Riggle et al., 2009;
Hui et al., 2007). Thus, tax audit professionals’ perceptions of inadequate salary
and future retirement pay will have a positive effect on their intention to leave
the institution.
Hypothesis 16: Tax audit professionals’ negative perceptions of personal
benefits increase their probability of having turnover intention.
THE METHOD OF SURVEY RESEARCH
In this study, we have conducted indepth interviews with eight tax auditors
and two tax inspectors with eight tax auditors and two tax inspectors were used
in order to identify factors that lead tax auditing professionals intention to leave
from the institution. Based on their suggestions,Then, the variables obtained
from the literature review were given their final form. In the survey, Goldberg's
(1990, 1992) shortened version (see: Goldberg, 1992; Milacic - Goldberg, 2007;
ipip.ori.org, 2009) of the Five Factor Model of Personality consisting a set of
100 trait-descriptive adjectives, for which there are supportive data for its valid-
ity in Turkey (Somer - Goldberg, 1999) has been used in order to determine the
personal traits of tax audit professionals. Among the reasons for using Gold-
berg'sthe shortened version are that ensuring respondents completely filled in
the questionnaire, its accessibility and past useage in Turkey, along with ensur-
ing that the respondents completely filled in the questionnaire consisting of a lot
of questions and statements, is that the inventory, which is used in the surveys
conducted in Turkey, is accessible (e.g. Deniz, 2007).
The questionnaire used in gathering data consisted of 76 questions. In the
questionnaire, six close-ended demographic questions regarding gender, age,
level of education, professional experience, marital status, and professional title
were asked. The questionnaire included five-point Likert scale type 18 state-
ments identifying respondents’ pre-job knowledge on the requirements of the
profession and factors leading to turnover and, 50 statements related to personal-
ity traits. The turnover intention of respondents was investigated using 7-point
Likert-type items. After the questionnaire was done byis applied to respondents,
reliability analysis iswas performed. The results showed high reliability of the
questionnaire (Cronbach's alpha 87 and .85 for personality traits and factors af-
fecting turnover, respectively). Because the items used to identify the personal
traits of participants are based on conceptual and applied research, the scale was
supposed to have contextual and conceptual validity. Likewise, as work- and
profession-related factors leading to turnover were based on conceptual litera-
ture and were identified in personal interviews, they had contextual and concep-
tual validity.
The scope of the survey research was tax audit professionals working at the
Ministry of Finance. Among them, Finance Inspectors and Income Auditors re-
fused to participate in the survey. 25 of nearly 300 Tax Inspectors (8.3%) and
253 of nearly 2,700 Tax Auditors (9.3%) were included in the survey via the de-
liberate judgemental sampling method. The reason for using deliberate judge-
mental sampling or the non-probability sampling method was that if the proba-
bility sampling method was used, individuals intended to be included in the
scope of the survey were most likely not to participate in the survey. Data ob-
tained via face-to face interviews between 10 December 2008 and 25 February
2009 were analyzed by Statistical Package for the Social Sciences (SPSS) and
hypotheses were tested.
FINDINGS AND ANALYSIS OF THE RESEARCH
The profile of the sample of people who participated into this study appears
to be as such: 79.9% of participants were male and 20.1% were female; . 53.2%
percent of participants were under 33 years of age; 46.8% were age 34 and
above;. 62.2% had 10 years or less professional experience and 38.8% had 10
years or more professional experience;. 32.7% of the participants were single
and 67.3% were married;. 9% were Tax Inspectors and 91 were Tax Auditors.
The proportion of respondents with Bachelor’s Degrees was 84.2%; 15.5% with
Master’s Degrees; 04% with Doctorate Degrees. 10.4% of the participants had
no knowledge of professional requirements before starting work; the proportion
of those with limited knowledge was 19.4%; the percentage of those with aver-
age knowledge was 32%; those with most knowledge was 28.1%; those with
full knowledge was 10.1%. 17.3% of the respondents had no intention to leave
the institution, while the rest intended to leave within five years or later.
Table 1 provides averages and standard deviations of factors leading tax au-
dit professionals to leave the institution. According to the averages of responses
to the statements in the Table, unsatisfactory retirement benefits and unsatisfac-
tory salary, inadequate opportunities for professional career, incompatibility be-
tween audit units and lack of environment unsuitable context for exhibiting,
knowledge, skills and competence were primary very important factors affect-
ing turnover intention. These factors were followed by the non-existence of an
applicable reward strategy, inadequate social facilities, unequal professional
power and responsibility, inadequate physical conditions, lack of coordination
and planning in tax audit, lack of job satisfaction, heavy workload and inade-
quate daily travel allowance during the periods of work-related travel. On the
other hand, the belief that the profession of tax audit can be performed only for
a certain period of time, pressures from various persons and groups with respect
to job results, difficulty in following up the continuously changing legislation
and task variety (tax auditing tasks in very different sectors) were not found to
be factors affecting turnover intention.
Table 1. The Organizational Factors Contributing to Tax Audit Profession-

als’ Turnover
Organizational Factors Contributing to Employee Standard
Average
Turnover Deviation
Unsatisfactory retirement benefits 4.55 0.75
Unsatisfactory salary 4.53 0.66
Inadequate opportunities for professional career 4.46 0.95
Incompatibility between audit units 4.33 1.02
Lack of environmentUnsuitable context suitable for exhibiting,
knowledge, skills and competence 4.19 0.94
Non-existence of an applicable reward strategy 4.10 1.02
Inadequate social facilities 3.95 1.01
Unequal professional power and responsibility 3.94 1.29
Inadequate physical conditions (building, office room furnish-
ment and fixtures, etc.) 3.86 1.08
Lack of coordination and planning in tax audit 3.70 1.09
Lack of job satisfaction 3.60 1.30
Heavy workload 3.55 1.31
Inadequate daily travel allowance during tour periods 3.53 1.23
Separation from family due to job travels 3.00 1.19
The belief that the profession of tax audit can be performed only
for a certain period of time 2.92 1.20
Pressures from various persons and groups with respect to job re-
sults 2.79 1.27
Difficulty in following up the continuously changing legislation 2.63 1.30
Task variety (tax auditing audit tasks in very different sectors) 2.26 1.23
Notes: The number of samples is 278; The rating scale for statements of respondents are as follows “1= Def-
initely Unimportant 2= Unimportant;
3= Partly Important; 4= Important; 5= Very Important”.
Exploratory factor analysis was performed in order to identify the organiza-

tional factors leading tax audit professional to leave the institution. First, the
Kaiser-Meyer-Olkin (KMO) test was used to measure the appropriateness of the
survey data for factor analysis. KMO value of 0. 0.834 indicated the adequacy
of sampling for factor analysis. The Bartlett's Test of Sphericity reached statisti-
cal significance, supporting the factors. The four factors extracted in the factor
analysis as shown in Table 2 were named as issues related to institutional poli-
cies, work-related issues, issues related to the institutional environment and is -
sues related to personal benefits. These four factors obtained from the factor
analysis explained 61.72% of a total of 15 variables affecting turnover inten-

tion6. The resulting factors were employed in Logistic Regression Analysis.
Table 2. The Results of Factor Analysis for Organizational Factors Leading
to Turnover Among Tax Audit Professionals
The pro-
Commu- Eigen- Cumulative Cronbach
Factors and Variables portion of
nality value Variance Alpha
variance
FACTOR 1: ISSUES RELATED TO
3.09 20.61 20.61 .82
THE INSTITUTIONAL POLICIES
Incompatibility between audit units .79
Unsuitable context Lack of environment
suitable for exhibiting, knowledge, skills .75
and competence
Non-existence of a applicable reward
.70
strategy
Inadequate opportunities for professional
.69
career
Lack of coordination and planning in tax
.65
audits
Unequal professional power and respon-
.52
sibility
FACTOR 2: WORK-RELATED IS-
2.83 18.88 39.49 .75
SUES
Difficulty in following up the continu-
.79
ously changing legislation
Task variety (tax auditing audit tasks in
.79
very different sectors)
Heavy workload .71
Pressure from various persons and groups
.58
with respect to work results
Lack of job satisfaction .49
FACTOR 3:ISSUES RELATED TO
1.72 11.51 51.01 .75
INSTITUTIONAL ENVIRONMENT
Inadequate social facilities .83
Inadequate physical conditions (build-
ings, offices, room furnishingst and fix- .77
tures, etc.)
FACTOR 4: ISSUES RELATED TO
1.60 10.71 61.72 .63
PERSONAL BENEFITS
Unsatisfactory salary .80
6
18 variables related to organizational conditions were subjected to the factor analysis. When eigenvalue is
taken as 1, six factors are produced that explain 62.5% of variance. However, because at the end of the
analysis, the variable “The belief that the profession of tax audit can be performed for only a certain period
of time” was loadad to the institutional factor and the variable “Inadequate daily travel allowance during
periods of work-related travel” did not load on the variable the personal benefit rights to come out as a
separate factor with the variable “Separation from family due to business trips”, these three variables were
excluded from the analysis. Then the factor analysis was repeated and four factors were produced.
The pro-
Commu- Eigen- Cumulative Cronbach
Factors and Variables portion of
nality value Variance Alpha
variance
Unsatisfactory retirement benefits .83
Notes: Principal component factor analysis has been conducted by varimax rotation; KMO sampling adequacy
is 0.834.; Bartlett Test (1410,527 p < 0.000) is significant.
Table 3 shows the averages and standard deviations of personal traits of tax
audit professionals. One-to-oneOne by one analysis of personality trait variables
and their averages indicated that the respondents’ sense of responsibility (4.09)
and agreeableness (4.09) wereas high. Their openness to experience (3.73) was
slightly high, while their emotional stability (3.57) and extraversion (3.38) were
moderate. Why tax audit professionals are high on the sense of responsibility,
agreeableness and openness to experience can be interpreted in different ways.
Either these professionals with the mentioned personality traits chose this pro-
fession or, the institution, during interviews, particularly preferred individuals
with those personality traits. Another possibility is that the said personality
traits are emphasized and reinforced via in-house training and awareness-raising
to some extent.
Table 3. Personality Traits of Tax Audit Professionals

Standard
Personality Traits Average
Deviation
EXTRAVERSION 3.38
I like meeting friends 4.02 0.85
I feel comfortable around people 3.79 0.82
I start conversations 3.03 0.81
I am the life of the party 3.54 0.88
I don't mind being the center of attention 3.18 1.04
I don't talk a lot * 3.24 0.96
I keep in the background * 3.52 0.99
I have little to say * 3.40 1.03
I don't like to draw attention to myself * 3.01 1.07
I am quiet around strangers * 3.04 1.03
AGREEABLENESS 4.08
I am interested in people 3.95 0.72
I sympathize with other people' feelings 4.07 0.68
I have a soft heart 3.86 0.93
I take time out for others 3.97 0.72
I feel other people' emotions 4.03 0.67
Standard
Deviation
I make people feel at ease 3.92 0.83
I am not really interested in others * 4.17 0.91
I insult people * 4.35 0.89
I am not interested in other people's problems * 4.31 0.79
I feel little concern for others * 4.18 0.82
CONSCIENTIOUSNESS 4.09
I am always prepared 3.77 0.91
I pay attention to details 4.06 0.84
I like taking responsibility 4.09 0.82
I love order and regularity 4.26 0.78
I do things according to a plan 4.06 0.85
I am exacting in my work 4.34 0.67
I leave a mess in my room * 4.37 0.83
I make a mess of things * 4.21 0.97
I often forget to put things back in their proper place * 4.19 0.91
I do things in a half-way manner * 3.54 0.81
EMOTIONAL STABILITY 3.57
I am relaxed most of the time. 3.56 0.94
I seldom feel blue 3.21 0.92
I get stressed out easily * 3.18 1.13
I am easily disturbed * 3.74 0.97
I worry about things * 3.63 1.08
I get upset easily * 3.76 0.99
I change my mood a lot * 3.40 1.03
I have frequent mood swings * 3.82 0.97
I get irritated easily * 3.59 1.04
I often feel blue * 3.79 0.94
OPENNESS TO EXPERIENCE TO EXPERIENCE 3.73
I have a rich vocabulary 3.58 0.79
Standard
Deviation
I have a vivid imagination 3.59 0.88
I have excellent ideas 3.27 0.86
I am quick to understand things 4.00 0.77
I am a cultured person 3.90 0.68
I can notice faults and deficiencies 3.96 0.69
I love to think up new ways of doing things 3.56 0.81
I have difficulty understanding abstract ideas * 3.80 0.98
I am not interested in abstract ideas * 3.75 0.95
I do not have a good imagination * 3.88 1.02
Notes: The number of samples is 278; The mark * indicates the reversely coded statements; The rating
scale is as follows “1= Strongly Disagree; 2= Disagree; 3=Partly Agree; 4= Agree; 5= Strongly
Agree”.
An explanatory factor analysis was performed in order to identify the rela-

tionships between variables/statements that measured the personality traits of
tax audit professionals and to extract common personality dimensions (factors) 7.
For the purpose of measuring five dimensions of personality, all 50 variables,
where each dimension consisted of 10 statements, were subjected to factor anal-
ysis. The analysis produced nine factors, eigenvalue being 1. The number of
factors was reduced to five and the factor analysis was repeated. In the analysis,
although the items “I like meeting friends”, “I feel comfortable around people”,
“I start conversations” and “I am the life of the party” had to measure extraver -
sion personality trait, they were loaded on openness to experience. Likewise,
the items “I am relaxed most of the time” and “I seldom feel blue” were loaded
on the agreeableness factor instead of emotional stability. In addition, the vari-
ables “I have difficulty understanding abstract ideas”, “I am not interested in ab-
stract ideas” and “I do not have a good imagination” were loaded on the ex-
traversion personality trait, although they should have been loaded on openness
to experience. These nine variables were excluded and the factor analysis was
repeated.8 The five personality dimensions that were produced by the factor
analysis shown in Table 4 were named as referred to in the literature. These five
factors extracted from the factor analysis explained 48.25% of total 41 personal-
7
As it is known that the personality measurement has five subdimensions, “the confirmative factor analysis
was performed in order to test the validity of these dimensions in the sampling of the research, as suggested
by one of members of the jurythe referees. However, the results of the confirmative factor analysis were not
significant. Therefore, no further analysis was conducted via the Structural Equation Model.
8
Likewise, Mlacic - Goldberg (2007) applied the 50-item personality scale used in this study to Croatian cit-
izens and performed an explanatory factor analysis. They also found that the four variables were not loaded
on the right factors. In their study, the variable “I am interested in people” was loaded on openness to expe -
rience instead of agreeableness; the variable “I pay attention to details on openness to experience instead of
conscientiousness; the variable “I insult people” on emotional stability instead of agreeableness. The vari -
able “I am always prepared” was not loaded on any of the factors (Mlacic - Goldberg, 2007: 171).
ity traits (this ratio was higher than the rate of 45.2% of Mlacic and Goldberg’s
(2007) study). The factors obtained were used in Logistic Regression Analysis.
Table 4 provides the results of the factor analysis of personality traits.
Table 4. The Factor Analysis of Personal Traits of Tax Audit Employees
The propor- Cumula-

Communal- Eigen- Cronbach
Factors and Variables tion of vari- tive Vari-
ity value Alpha
ance ance
FACTOR 1: EMOTIONAL STA-
4.81 11.75 11.75 .88
BILITY
36 I get upset easily * .78
35 I worry about things * .76
37 I change my mood a lot * .75
34 I am easily disturbed * .74
33 I get stressed out easily * .73
38 I have frequent mood
.72
swings*
40 I often feel blue * .71
39 I get irritated easily * .61
FACTOR 2: CONSCIENTIOUS-
4.27 10.43 22.18 .83
NESS
24 I love order and regularity .77
26 I am exacting in my work .74
25 I do things according to a plan .72
27 I leave a mess in my room * .68
29 I often forget to put things back
.65
in their proper place *
22 I pay attention to details .59
30 I do things in a half-way manner
.52
*
21 I am always prepared .50
23 I like taking responsibility .49
28 I make a mess of things * .42
FACTOR 3: OPENNESS TO EX-
3.89 9.50 31.69 .83
PERIENCE
44 I am quick to understand things .74
45 I am a cultured person .73
47 I love to think up new ways of
.73
doing things
43 I have excellent ideas .68
46 I can notice faults and deficien-
.62
cies
41 I have a rich vocabulary .56
42 I have a vivid imagination .56
FACTOR 4: AGREEABLENESS 3.65 8.91 40.61 .78
14 I take time out for others .70
12 I sympathize with other peoples' .68
The propor- Cumula-

Communal- Eigen- Cronbach
Factors and Variables tion of vari- tive Vari-
ity value Alpha
ance ance
feelings
15 I sympathize with other people'
.65
feelings
19 I am not interested in other peo-
.63
ple's problems *
16 I make people feel at ease .53
20 I feel little concern for others * .53
11 I am interested in people .52
18 I insult people * .51
13 I have a soft heart .49
17 I am not really interested in oth-
.45
ers *
FACTOR 5: EXTRAVERSION 3.13 7.64 48.25 .79
6 I don't talk a lot * .69
7 I keep in the background * .69
8 I have little to say * 68
9 I don't like to draw attention to
.68
myself *
10 I have little to say * .68
5 I don't mind being the center of at-
.55
tention
Notes: Principal component factor analysis has been conducted by varimax rotation; KMO sampling ade-
quacy is 0.819; Bartlett Test (4709.588 p < 0.000) is significant. The mark* indicates reversely coded
statements.
Table 6 shows the results of Logistic Regression Analysis performed to de-
termine the turnover intention. In this analysis, the turnover intention was used
as dependent variable. The variable measured by the Likert scale was recoded
as 0 (those with no turnover intention) and 1 (those with turnover intention).9
9
The reason for choosing Logistic Regression Analysis is that some of the variables used in the research did
not meet the assumptions of normality and linearity).
Table 5. Correlation Analysis of Factors Affecting Turnover Intention
1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17
1. Gender 1
2. Age 0.07 1
3. Professional
Experience 0.04 0.91** 1
4. Marital Status 0.03 0.44** 0.44** 1
5. Professional Title 0.16* -0.08 -0.14* -0.06 1
6. Level of Education -0.10 0.00 0.00 0.07 -0.41** 1
7. Previous Knowledge
about Profession -0.10 -0.02 -0.03 0.03 -0.17* 0.12* 1
8. Emotional Stability -0.13* -0.03 -0.03 -0.05 -0.04 0.06 0.13* 1
9. Responsibility -0.07 0.14* 0.20** 0.16* 0.07 0.01 -0.01 0 1
10.Openness to
Experience -0.11 -0.05 -0.08 -0.10 0.13* 0.01 0.08 -0.01 0.06 1
11.Agreeableness 0.17** -0.03 0.00 0.07 0.08 -0.05 -0.09 0 0.02 0.04 1
12.Extraversion 0.03 -0.18** -0.15* -0.10 0.02 0.05 0.07 0.04 0 -0.02 -0.05 1
13.Institutional Policies 0.01 -0.08 -0.08 -0.04 0.44** -0.13* 0.03 0.02 0.20** 0.25** 0.06 0.12 1
14.Work-Related
Issues 0.03 -0.08 -0.14* -0.08 0.25** -0.14* -0.07 -0.24** -0.13* -0.01 0.02 -0.01 -0.06 1
15.Institutional
Environment -0.14* -0.14* -0.09 -0.05 0.00 -0.04 0.08 -0.11 0.10 0.21** 0.14* 0.10 0.04 0.01 1
16.Personal Rights and
Benefits -0.00 0.08 0.06 0.00 0.13* -0.08 -0.08 -0.12 0.19** 0.06 0.03 0.04 -0.03 -0.03 0.05 1
17.Turnover Intention
-0.15* -0.16* -0.17* -0.08 0.12 0.01 0.02 0.04 0.05 0.00 0.00 -0.01 0.16* 0.00 0.09 0.09 1
The marks *; ** indicate the significance at levels 05% and 01%.
Çizelge 5 yerleştirilecek
Table 6. The Results of Logistic Regression Analysis on Turnover Intention

Independent Variables Dependent Variable
Turnover Intention
B Standard Deviation
1 Gender -1.141** .443
2 Age -.022 .087
3 Marital Status -.474 .511
4 Professional Experience -.052 .083
5 Professional Title .573 .415
6 Level of Education 1.190* .666
7 Previous-job Knowledge of
.079 .172
about Profession
8 Emotional Stability .130 .194
9 Cconscientiousness .088 .192
10 Openness to Experience -.165 .206
11 Agreeableness .208 .185
12 Extraversion .151 .202
13 Institutional Policies .545** .233
13 Work-Related Issues .307 .213
15 Institutional Environment .428** .181
16 Personal Rights and Benefits .337* .173
Fixed 1.756 2.961
Model Chi-Square 56.884***
Number of Observations 278
-2 Log Likelihood 198.921
Nagelkerke R2 .308
The marks *; ** and *** indicate the significance at levels %10, 05% and 01%, respectively
(the two-tailed test).
As can be seen Table 6, general Chi-Square Test was statistically significant

(p<0.01). The four variables; gender (p < 0.05), level of education (p < 0.10),
institutional policies (p < 0.05), institutional environment (p < 0.05) and per-
sonal benefits (p < 0.10) explain 30% of the change in dependent variable of
turnover intention. The personality trait variables were not significant in Logis-
tic Regression Analysis and Correlation Analysis given in Table 5. In the light
of these findings, Hypothesis 1, Hypothesis 2, Hypothesis 3, Hypothesis 4 and
Hypothesis 5 were not verified. There is not a significant relationship between
their personality traits and turnover intention.Thus, it was found that the person-
ality traits of tax audit professionals working for the Ministry of Finance didn’t
have a significant effect on the probability of having turnover intention. and that
there is not a significant relationship between their personality traits and
turnover intention.
The results of Logistic Regression Analysis provided in Table 6 indicated
that gender (p < 0.05) and level of education (p < 0.10) had a statistically signif-
icant effect on the turnover intention of tax audit professionals. The Correlation
Analysis revealed that although gender (p < 0.05) had a statistically significant
effect on turnover intention, the variable of level of education, was not statisti-
cally significant, albeit it hads positive indicationsign. Hence, female profes-
sionals were found to have low turnover intention, while their probability of
having turnover intention increased with higher level of education. Accordingly,
Hypothesis 6 and Hypothesis 10 were accepted. According to the results of Lo-
gistic Regression Analysis given in Table 6, the signs of demographic variables
other than previous-job knowledge of about the profession, professional title
and level of education were negative. This denotes that being female, being at
age of 40 and above, with having 15 years or more professional experience and
being married decrease the probability of leaving the organization. However,
the results of the Logistic Regression Analysis showed that the variables of age,
professional experience and pre-jobvious knowledge of about the profession,
excluding gender and level of education, were not statistically significant. These
results were consistent with the results of the Correlation Analysis provided in
Table 5 as well. Likewise, the Correlation Analysis revealed that there was a
negative relationship between being female, being at the age of 40 and above,
with having 15 years or more professional experience, being married and
turnover intention. However, the demographic variables other than gender, age
and professional experience were found statistically insignificant in the Correla-
tion Analysis. Thus, Hypothesis 7, Hypothesis 8, Hypothesis 9, Hypothesis 11
and Hypothesis 12 related to gender, marital status, professional experience and
pre-jobvious knowledge ofabout profession, respectively, were not accepted.
In the Logistic Regression Analysis provided in Table 6, coefficients “B” of
variables related to institutional policies and institutional environment were
found significant at 0.05. Hence, institutional policies and negative perceptions
for organizational environment increased the probability of having turnover in-
tention. Thus, Hypothesis 13 and Hypothesis 14 were confirmed. The results of
the Correlation Analysis indicated that there was a positive and significant rela-
tionship between institutional policies and turnover intention at 0.05. On the
other hand, despite the positive relationship between the institutional environ-
ment and intention to leave, this relationship was not statistically significant.
Thus, it was understood that the results of the Correlation Analysis also sup-
ported these findings to some extent. Besides, the variable of work-related is-
sues was not found statistically insignificant in the Logistic Regression Analy-
sis, but it was had with positive signindication. The Correlation Analysis results
pointed to a positive, however, a statistically insignificant relationship, between
work-related issues and turnover intention. Thus, Hypothesis 15 was rejected.
Finally, according to the results of the Logistic Regression Analysis provided in
Table 6, coefficient “B” of personal rights and benefits was positive at 0.10.
Thus, negative perceptions for personal rights and benefits increased the proba-
bility of having turnover intention. As a result, Hypothesis 16 was accepted.
CONCLUSION AND SUGGESTIONS

Voluntary employee turnover is an important issue that interests both re-
searchers and managers. Voluntary employee turnover is a loss of human capi-
tal for an organization either in the public sector or private sector. The reason is
that the search and recruitment, selection, training, orientation with the organi-
zational culture of qualified employees and the process of turning them into
professionals cost an organization money, knowledge and time. Moreover,
turnover of a public sector employee for a private sector job can be considered
the indirect transfer of public resources to the private sector organizations. Vol-
untary turnover of a private sector employee for another private sector organiza-
tion is not only the waste of human capital investment, but also the seizure of
part of intellectual capital necessary for the survival and competitiveness of an
organization by rival organizations by means of the said employee. Therefore,
the high rate of employee turnover especially in recent years is an issue that
draws much attention due to its negative impacts on the organizations’ financial
performance, efficiency, effectiveness of organizations; in particular, effective-
ness and on their overall success.
This study aimed to investigate the effects of organizational conditions, de-
mographic characteristics and personality traits or turnover intention. In this
study, factors affecting employees’ turnover intention were classified in three
groups based on Joseph et al.’s study (2007): environmental factors (labor mar-
ket, national culture), organizational factors (structure, human resources policies
and practices) and individual factors (demographic characteristics and personal-
ity traits). Taking into account job opportunities and employability in the pri-
vate sector for tax audit professionals, the subjects of the study, certain environ -
mental factors such as the situation of the labor market were excluded from the
scope of the study to focus on the impact of the last two factors on turnover in-
tention.
According to the arithmetic averages of the responses of the participants, un-
satisfactory retirement benefits and salary; inadequate opportunities in the pro-
fessional career, incompatibility between audit units and the lack of suitable en-
vironment for exhibiting, knowledge have come to prominence among the orga-
nizational factors leading tax audit professionals to leave the institution. These
factors were followed by non-existence of an applicable reward strategy, inade-
quate social facilities, unequal professional power and responsibility, inade-
quate physical conditions, lack of coordination and planning in tax audit, lack of
job satisfaction, heavy workload and inadequate daily travel allowance during
business duty trips.
The factor analysis of organizational factors affecting turnover intention of
tax audit professionals produced four factors: institutional policies, work-related
issues, institutional environment and personal rights and benefits. The Logistic
Regression Analysis of these four factors indicated that institutional policies
(e.g. incompatibility between audit units, lack of environment suitable for ex-
hibiting, knowledge); institutional environment (inadequate social facilities and
physical conditions); and personal rights and benefits (unsatisfactory retirement
benefits and salary) increased tax audit professionals’ probability of having
turnover intention. On the other hand, it was found that work-related issues (e.g.
difficulty in following up the continuously changing legislation and task vari-
ety) did not affect the probability of turnover, probably due to the fact that tax
audit professionals will possibly perform the same or similar tasks and activities
after they leave the institution.
On the other hand, Tthe positive effect of issues related to personal benefits
on turnover intention was an expected result., Ibecause it is a well known fact
that in recent years, tax audit professionals working for the Ministry of Finance
are paid relatively lower salaries, pensions and benefits than professionals per-
forming similar services in other public institutions (Capital Markets Board, the
Banking Regulation and Supervision Board, Turkish Court Of of Accounts, the
Central Bank, etc.). The issue of the voluntary employee turnover triggered by
institutional environment and institutional policies along with the issues related
to personal benefits brings job satisfaction onto the agenda. This study did not
specifically focus on measuring job satisfaction with its various dimensions. In-
stead, it attempted to indirectly identify it within its scope. Nevertheless, the
arithmetic averages of the factors affecting the turnover intention and the nature
of the factors generated from the factor analysis evoke the issue of job satisfac -
tion. The reason is that job satisfaction refers to how employees feel about their
jobs in five dimensions: the type of work itself, pay, promotional opportunities,
supervision, and co-workers (Smith et al., 1969). The existence of a significant
negative relationship between job satisfaction and turnover intention has been
confirmed both in meta-analysis studies (Hom et al., 1992; Tett - Meyer, 1993;
Griffeth et al., 2000) and other research (Trevor, 2001; Abraham, 1999; Hwang
- Kuo, 2006; Akın, 2007; Yazıcıoğlu, 2009). In addition, issues related to per-
sonal benefits, institutional policies and institutional environment may also af-
fect organizational belonging and commitment, along with job satisfaction
(Özdevecioğlu, 2004; Çekmecelioğlu, 2006). Low organizational commitment
is one of the important factors that determine turnover or turnover intention
(Griffeth et al., 2000; Ceylan - Demircan, 2002; Özdevecioğlu, 2004). It can be
concluded that the institutional environment-related findings of this study indi-
rectly support the previous studies on job satisfaction and organizational com-
mitment.
The Logistic Regression Analysis showed that among the demographic char-
acteristics, only gender and level of education had a statistically significant ef-
fect on tax audit professionals’ probability of having turnover intention. More
precisely, female professionals were less likely to have the intention to leave the
institution; the probability of having the intention to leave increased with a
higher level of education. The finding related to the higher tendency of male
professionals towards turnover than female professionals is consistent the re-
sults of previous studies (Troutman et al., 2000; Cotton - Tuttle, 1986; March -
Simon, 1958). This study supported the finding that there was a positive corre-
lation between higher level of education and turnover intention (Trevor, 2001;
Egan et al., 2004; Ceylan - Bayram, 2006) as well. On the other hand, the Lo-
gistic Regression Analysis revealed that the variables of gender, marital status,
professional experience, professional title and pre-jobvious knowledge of about
profession had a statistically significant effect on the probability of having
turnover intention. Nevertheless, the Correlation Analysis pointed to a negative
and significant relationship between being at age of 40 and above and having 15
years or more of professional experience and intention to leave. This finding is
consistent with Ceylan and Bayram’s (2006) study. Although it was found that
there was a positive relationship between being single and having pre-jobvioous
knowledge of abot the profession and turnover intention, the said relationships
were not found to be significant in both analyses. Thus, it was found that mari-
tal status and level of pre-job vious knowledge of about the profession did not
affect the intent to leave the organization.
Personality traits were not found to have statistically significant relationship
between turnover intention. Thus, it was concluded that personality traits did
not have a significant effect on turnover intention of tax audit professionals
working for the Ministry of Finance. It is seen that in the literature, three meta-
analysis studies that investigated the effect of personality traits on turnover in-
tention lack net results in this respect. In one of these studies, Barrick and
Mount (1991) found a weak relationship between turnover and personal traits
ranging from 0.2 and 0.12 (emotional stability (-.02), agreeableness (-.09) con-
scientiousness (-.12), openness to experience (.11) and extraversion (.03). Sal-
gado (2002) found as a result of his analysis on several studies that turnover had
a significant relationship with all the dimensions of personality (emotional sta -
bility (-.35), agreeableness (-.22), conscientiousness (-.31), openness to experi-
ence (-.14) and extraversion (-.20). More specifically, Salgado reported that em-
ployees, who are introverted, low on emotional stability, conscientiousness and
have openness to experience, are more likely to tend to leave their job. How-
ever, a limited number of correlations in the analysis may produce the opposite
results. For instance, Timmerman’s (2008) study found a significant positive re-
lationship between turnover and openness to experience (.20) and extraversion
(.15), there was not a statistically significant relationship between turnover and
the other three personality traits (emotional stability (-.09), agreeableness (-.11)
and conscientiousness (-.06). Timmerman (2008) stated that the inconsistency
in the results stemmed from the profession and gender differences among the
selected samples and that these should be used as moderator variables in future
studies. Zimmerman (2008), in his meta-analysis study that investigated, unlike
the above-mentioned meta-analysis studies that focused on actual turnover, the
relationship between turnover intention and personality traits, found a signifi-
cant negative relationship between turnover intention and emotional stability
(-.29), conscientiousness (-.16), agreeableness (-.13) and openness to experience
(-.12). He also reported that there was not a statistically significant relationship
between turnover and openness to experience (.01). Zimmerman, like Timmer-
man, explains low correlations between turnover intention and personal traits by
the lack of other moderator variables that have to be taken into account. In this
study, although the results of both Logistic Regression Analysis and Correlation
Analysis performed to identify the effects of personal traits on turnover inten-
tion were not statistically significant, emotional stability, conscientiousness and
agreeableness had coefficients with positive sign, contrary to the previous stud-
ies. Moreover, even though not statistically significant, the coefficient signs of
the other two personality traits in the mentioned analyses support the findings of
some studies, or are inconsistent with some of them. In this study, both the low
level of correlations and results indicating the non-significance of personal traits
on turnover intention contrary to the predictions denote that personal traits are
not actually effective on intention to leave. Other possibilities are that the par -
ticipants did not fully reflect their personality characteristics, or the validity of
the scale used in measuring personality was may be low.
Policy Suggestions
Tax revenues compose a large portion of public revenues. Ensuring effi-
ciency and effectiveness in the tax system is essential for collecting tax rev-
enues thoroughly and in due time. The prerequisite of ensuring efficiency and
effectiveness in the tax system is to attach the necessary importance to the tax
audit. The efficient and effective functioning of a declaration-based tax system
as a contemporary system depends on the efficiency of the tax audit. Efficiency
of the tax audit can primarily be achieved by ensuring the institutional continu-
ity of tax audit professionals, who are trained and employed. Each tax audit pro-
fessional, the The Ministry of Finance recruits and selects each tax auditing pro-
fessional after subjecting such professionalsthem to extremely rigorous exams
and then trains with them maximum care and attention; and, they become, is a
valuable intellectual capital element both for the Ministry and the Turkish pub-
lic administration. In this respect, identifying the reasons for the voluntary
turnover of tax audit professionals and developing proposing suggestions for so-
lutions will provide managers with valuable data information for the prevention
of turnover. Reasons for the voluntary turnover of tax audit professionals have
been examined above. It is possible to make some suggestions to prevent leav-
ing from the institution.
Firstly, certain practices for increasing job satisfaction of tax audit profes-
sionals can be adopted. For this purpose, tax audit professionals must should be
offered an environment, where they can freely exhibit their knowledge, skills
and competence; social facilities that provide them with the opportunity to par-
ticipate in social activities must can be developed, the organizational climate
must should be improved and social relations must should be extended; physical
conditions, such as buildings, office furnishings and fixtures can be improved.
Such practices will further increase the prestige of employees of the institution
and will contribute to the strengthening of their sense of institutional belonging
and commitment. Secondly, career planning for all tax audit professionals can
be instigated. Moreover, such professionals can be provided with the opportu-
nity to perform duties other than audits at a certain stage of their career. This
practice can be considered as a solution to their belief that the profession of tax
audit can be performed only for a certain period of time and family problems
experienced due to long periods of business duty trips. Thirdly, eliminating the
multi-headed structure, the cause of the incompatibility between audit units, and
gathering all audit departments under one roof will not only circumvent the in-
compatibility, but will also solve the problem of lack of planning and coordina-
tion between audit units. Fourthly, a reward system can be developed in view of
tasks in terms of quality and quantity within the framework of specific criteria.
For instance, various rewards can be given following every achievement and
successful period. Fifthly, certain arrangements can be made to ensure equal
professional powers and responsibilities among tax audit professionals. Sixthly,
improvement in personal benefits of tax audit professionals, such as salaries and
pensions (or raising their salaries to those of their peers in other public institu-
tions), may prevent the loss of personnel in the Ministry of Finance. The reason
is that most professionals usually leave the institution for a higher salary and
more satisfactory personal benefits. Seventhly, the following suggestions can be
made to ease the workload of tax audit professionals: each tax dispute, prior to
being forwarded by tax offices for examination, can be settled with the tax
payer within the relevant tax office; policies encouraging tax payers to voluntar-
ily fulfill their tax liabilities can be developed. The adoption of such measures
will not only ease the workload, but will also minimize the loss of time and
money loss by taxpayers. Eighthly, sectoral specialization in the tax audit may
make following up continuously changing legislation easier and, may also re-
duce the tiredness caused by the task variety. Ninthly, the existence of a sup-
portive and reliable administrative cadre behind the tax audit professional may
help him or her to stand against possible pressures from different people and
groups, thus ensuring the professional continuity. The tenth and last point, in
view of the result of this study that female professionals are less likely to intend
to quit the institution, increasing the number of female tax audit professionals
can be suggested.
Suggestions for Future Studies

In this study, among the organization-related factors affecting turnover in-
tention, some human resources policies of the Ministry of Finance were taken
into consideration; the effects of its organizational culture, strategy and struc-
ture were not analyzed. In future studies, the effects of the human resources
management strategy and organizational culture of the Ministry of Finance on
turnover intention can be specifically investigated. In addition, this study fo-
cused on demographic characteristics and personal traits, which are among the
individual factors leading to turnover, and attempted to indirectly identify the
effects of job stress, job satisfaction and organizational commitment to a certain
extent. Future studies may directly focus on such psychological factors. Be-
sides, a future study that ensures the participation of all tax audit units in the
survey may allow the identification of the factors affecting tax audit profession-
als’ intention to quit more comprehensively. Another point is that the higher
participation rate of tax auditors in the survey than tax inspectors shaped the re-
sult of the analysis; future studies could use a more balanced sampling. In the
survey, only the questionnaire technique was employed as the data-gathering in-
strument; future studies could make use of qualitative methods like interviews
alongside questionnaires. Moreover, if a study similar to this study is conducted
on tax audit professionals, who have left the organization, the comparison of
factors affecting the turnover intention and the actual reasons of turnover may
provide more sound results. However, the difficulty of gathering data in such
type of study should be taken into account.
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An Empirical Study on Employee Turnover

In today’s organizations, where knowledge is considered the most important

Review of Public Administration, Volume 43 Issue 4 December 2010, p.129-165.

In recent years, a number of studies on the turnover intention were con-

LITERATURE REVIEW AND HYPOTHESES

ing to this model, due to some of the intermediate intervening variables, if a

Hypothesis 5: Employees with high openness to experience have a higher

Market Signaling Theory suggests that because individuals’ productivity is gen-

Table 1. The Organizational Factors Contributing to Tax Audit Profession-

Exploratory factor analysis was performed in order to identify the organiza-

analysis explained 61.72% of a total of 15 variables affecting turnover inten-

Table 3. Personality Traits of Tax Audit Professionals

An explanatory factor analysis was performed in order to identify the rela-

The propor- Cumula-

The propor- Cumula-

Table 5. Correlation Analysis of Factors Affecting Turnover Intention

Table 6. The Results of Logistic Regression Analysis on Turnover Intention

As can be seen Table 6, general Chi-Square Test was statistically significant

CONCLUSION AND SUGGESTIONS

Suggestions for Future Studies

Cotton, John. L. - Tuttle, Jefffrey M. (1986), “Employee Turnover: A Meta-Analysis

Mitchell, Terence R. - Holtom, Brooks C. - Lee, Thomas W. - Sablynski, Chris J., -

Tett, Robert. P. - Meyer, John. P (1993), “Job Satisfaction, Organizational Commit-

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