Peter W. Hom

Peter Hom historically investigated the validity of theories about why employees voluntarily quit, the efficacy of realistic job previews for deterring turnover among new hires, and the form of the performance-turnover relationship (which determines “turnover functionality”). More recently, he is examining how leaders and how they treat subordinates influence subordinate turnover (e.g., leader turnover, leader use of influence tactics, leader-member exchange differentiation). Further, he is assessing the applicability of prevailing (Western-based) turnover models for explaining why Chinese and Mexican precariat workforces quit low-wage jobs. Complementing this focus on leaving, he now studies why employees stay (job embeddedness), identifying the forces embedding them in jobs and communities. This new inquiry reveals that employees overly embedded in jobs may become “reluctant stayers,” who display worse job attitudes and job loyalty, while finding that community or family embeddedness may counteract the loyalty-sustaining effects of job embeddedness in collectivist cultures. His current projects seek to clarify how human resource management practices affect collective turnover in Brazil, identify critical moderators of the impact of supervisory departures on employee quits, and specify causal antecedents that occasion different leaving or staying mindsets.