Originally found at Fortune

What if I told you researchers could predict who will quit next? A recent study published in the Academy of Management Journal finds that turnover begets more turnover. And the people who decide to quit are highly influenced by who, voluntarily or involuntarily, left the company before them. As leaders toil with the idea of layoffs, experts say it behooves CHROs to pause and think about what other attrition trends they could inadvertently cause.

Employees leave a company in three ways: resignation, dismissal, or larger layoffs. Sima Sajjadiani, a report coauthor, says each form of attrition comes with its own disruption and additional employee exits. Even the decampments that appear to be innocuous can lead to an unanticipated outflow of talent. 

She and her team were most surprised by the effect that high performers can have on other high performers. When high-achieving employees leave a company, it’s more likely that other top employees will also voluntarily leave. “We expected to see that when high-quality human capital leaves the organization, it influences both high-performers and low-performers equally. But we were surprised that people within the same quality of human capital were affected most,” she says. “High-quality performers are impacted more than low-quality performers.”

Continue reading the original article at Fortune.

Read the original research in Academy of Management Journal.

Learn more about the AOM Scholars and explore their work:

• Sima Sajjadiani, The University of British Columbia
• John D. Kammeyer-Mueller, University of Minnesota
• Alan Benson, University of Minnesota