The role of target difficulty and career tournaments in retaining creative R&D employees

• 成果类型: Article
• 署名作者: Grabner, Isabella; Seiter, Mischa; Wabnegg, Markus; Wirth, Henning
• 署名单位: Vienna University of Economics & Business; Ulm University; Zeppelin University; Vienna University of Economics & Business
• 刊物名称: CONTEMPORARY ACCOUNTING RESEARCH
• ISSN/ISSBN: 0823-9150
• DOI: 10.1111/1911-3846.12931
• 发表日期: 2024
• 页码: 1058-1088
• 关键词: PERSON-ORGANIZATION FIT; management control; GOAL ORIENTATION; motivational climate; construct-validity; job-satisfaction; MEDIATING ROLE; SPECIAL-ISSUE; performance; work

摘要

We explore the turnover intentions of creative R&D employees and the role of performance management practices in shaping these considerations. Since the success of a firm's R&D efforts hinges on the innovative ideas of its employees, it is crucial to retain particularly creative individuals. At the same time, however, we argue that this is especially difficult because both the higher outside options of creative employees and their specific individual characteristics make them, on average, more likely to leave their company. Most importantly, we suggest that two widely studied performance management design choices (target difficulty and career tournaments) typically used to motivate effort may influence the loss of creative talent. Using survey data from our unique access to R&D employees of a large manufacturing firm and a complementary experiment among business students, we find evidence that creative employees are, on average, more likely to leave their firm. Consistent with creative employees possessing a stronger learning orientation, we also predict and find that this tendency to leave is mitigated by target difficulty (as difficult targets speak to creative individuals' learning orientation) and exacerbated by the intensity of career tournaments (as they reduce team cohesion and, ultimately, undermine learning opportunities). Le role de la difficulte d'acces de l'objectif et des competitions en entreprise dans la retention des employes creatifs en R&DLes auteurs etudient les intentions des employes creatifs affectes a la R&D de quitter l'entreprise et le role des pratiques de gestion des performances dans l'elaboration de ces reflexions. Le succes des efforts de R&D d'une entreprise reposant sur les idees novatrices de ses employes, il est crucial de retenir les personnes particulierement creatives. Toutefois, les auteurs avancent que cela est difficile parce que l'eventail d'options offertes a l'externe aux employes creatifs et leurs caracteristiques individuelles specifiques les rendent, en moyenne, plus susceptibles de quitter leur entreprise. Avant tout, ils suggerent que deux choix de conception largement etudies en matiere de gestion des performances (la difficulte d'acces de l'objectif et les competitions en entreprise), souvent utilises pour inciter a l'effort, peuvent influencer la perte de talents creatifs. A l'aide de donnees d'enquetes recueillies de maniere exclusive aupres des employes de R&D d'une grande entreprise manufacturiere, ainsi que d'une experience complementaire menee aupres d'etudiants en gestion, les auteurs constatent que les employes creatifs sont, en moyenne, plus susceptibles de quitter leur entreprise. Comme les employes creatifs demontrent un plus haut niveau d'orientation d'apprentissage, les auteurs formulent et confirment aussi l'hypothese selon laquelle cette tendance a quitter l'entreprise est moderee par la difficulte d'acces de l'objectif (car les objectifs difficiles generent un effet sur l'orientation d'apprentissage des individus creatifs) et amplifiee par l'intensite des competitions en entreprise (car elles affaiblissent la cohesion d'equipe et, ultimement, laissent passer les occasions d'apprentissage).