Voluntary turnover among public sector managers: A review

Abstract

Managers are key assets to the public sector in creating effective and healthy organizations. However, there are indications of high managerial turnover, which may decrease organizational efficiency, increase costs, and lead to a less favorable view of the public sector. In this article we review the literature on actual voluntary managerial turnover in the public sector in order to describe the state of knowledge and discuss the ways forward. Searching in three large databases, we found a total of 12 empirical articles on actual managerial turnover in the public sector from 1992 to 2014. The research is scarce, especially on lower management levels, and little knowledge is available for human resource professionals in their work to support managers in creating healthy and meaningful managerial roles. We argue that more research is needed to understand to what extent and why managers leave, and what the actual effects are.