An Investigation of the Process of Employee Withdrawal

This paper investigated the theory that withdrawal of employees from organizations represents a gradual process. All hourly non-exempt employees of a manufacturing organization who separated in one calendar year (N = 309) were considered. Excused and unexcused absence measures, and excused and unexcused tardiness measures, were collected for seven weeks prior to separation. Patterns of four withdrawal measures were then considered for both voluntary resignations and involuntary terminations, and significant changes over time were found. In addition, polynomial functions were tested, and cubic trends were found to describe profiles of unexcused absences. However, in a practical sense the best description of the process is a sudden upsurge in absenteeism immediately prior to separation.