Employee Engagement, Motivation and Retention

Introduction

Organizations depend on people who are willing and able to contribute effort, judgment and creativity. Paying employees fairly and providing suitable working conditions are essential, but they do not by themselves guarantee commitment or sustained performance. Employees also ask whether their work is meaningful, whether their manager can be trusted, whether they are treated with respect and whether the organization offers a future worth pursuing.

Employee engagement, motivation and retention are related but distinct concepts. Motivation concerns the forces that energize and direct behaviour. Engagement concerns the quality of an employee’s psychological connection with work and the organization. Retention concerns the organization’s ability to keep valued employees and reduce avoidable departures. Effective HR practice connects all three: it diagnoses employee needs, designs a positive employee experience and responds to the causes of commitment and turnover rather than relying on isolated incentives.

This chapter presents major motivation theories, explains engagement as a practical HR concept, examines turnover and retention, and develops a systematic approach that managers can use in everyday employment decisions.

Learning Objectives

By the end of this chapter, you should be able to:

1. Distinguish motivation, engagement, commitment, satisfaction and retention.
2. Explain the practical relevance and limitations of major motivation theories.
3. Diagnose employee needs using evidence from conversations, surveys and workforce data.
4. Recommend interventions that strengthen engagement and the employee experience.
5. Calculate and interpret basic turnover measures.
6. Design fair, ethical and sustainable retention actions.

1. Core Concepts and Their Relationships

Motivation

Motivation is the set of internal and external forces that initiate, direct and sustain effort toward a goal. Intrinsic motivation arises from the work itself, such as interest, mastery, autonomy or a sense of purpose. Extrinsic motivation arises from separable consequences, such as pay, promotion, recognition or avoidance of discipline.

Motivation is not a permanent personal characteristic. It can change with task design, leadership, life circumstances, rewards, perceived fairness and opportunities to learn. A highly motivated employee may still perform poorly if resources, skills or role clarity are inadequate. A useful practical distinction is:

Performance = motivation × capability × opportunity, understood as a diagnostic model rather than a precise predictive equation. If any factor is seriously constrained, performance may suffer. The model should not be used to assign numerical values unless a validated measurement system exists.

Engagement

Employee engagement refers to a positive, work-related psychological state characterized by energy, dedication and absorption. Engaged employees are psychologically present, willing to invest discretionary effort and attentive to the quality and consequences of their work. Engagement is more than happiness: an employee may feel satisfied with convenient working hours but remain detached from performance. It is also more than working long hours; excessive effort may reflect pressure, insecurity or poor workload management rather than healthy engagement.

Engagement has several related dimensions:

• Cognitive engagement: attention, concentration and understanding of organizational goals.
• Emotional engagement: enthusiasm, pride, belonging and connection.
• Behavioural engagement: persistence, initiative, cooperation and constructive voice.

Engagement is influenced by job resources—such as supportive supervision, autonomy, feedback and learning—as well as job demands, including workload, emotional strain and role conflict. High demands can be stimulating when resources are adequate, but chronic demands without resources create exhaustion and withdrawal.

Job satisfaction, commitment and employee experience

Job satisfaction is an employee’s evaluation of the job, often reflecting whether expectations are being met. Organizational commitment is the strength and nature of the employee’s attachment to the organization. Affective commitment means wanting to stay; continuance commitment means feeling that leaving would be costly; normative commitment means feeling an obligation to remain. These forms of commitment have different implications. An employee who stays only because alternatives seem limited may not be engaged.

The employee experience is the totality of interactions and perceptions employees have across the employment life cycle: recruitment, onboarding, daily work, development, reward, promotion, leave, performance management and exit. Engagement is therefore shaped not by one event but by a pattern of organizational practices.

Retention and turnover

Retention is the continuation of employment among employees the organization wishes to keep. Turnover is the movement of employees out of the organization. Turnover may be voluntary or involuntary, avoidable or unavoidable, functional or dysfunctional. For example, the departure of a consistently poor performer may be functional, whereas the loss of a skilled employee because of an abusive manager may be dysfunctional.

A basic turnover rate is:

Here, “separations” means employees who leave during the selected period, and the average number of employees is commonly estimated as:

The measure assumes that the beginning and ending headcounts reasonably represent the workforce during the period. It should state the period, employee population and whether internal transfers are included. A single rate does not explain causes, quality of departures or the cost of vacancies.

Example. A department has 80 employees at the beginning of the year and 100 at the end. Twelve employees leave. Average employees are (80 + 100) ÷ 2 = 90. The turnover rate is (12 ÷ 90) × 100 = 13.3%, approximately. This figure should be compared with the department’s history, relevant labour-market data and rates for similar employee groups—not treated as automatically good or bad.

2. Major Motivation Theories

No single theory explains every employee. The value of theories lies in providing different questions for diagnosis.

Maslow’s hierarchy of needs

Maslow proposed that human needs can be arranged from physiological needs and safety through belonging, esteem and self-actualization. The practical implication is that employees may find higher-order opportunities less compelling when basic security, income or safety is threatened.

The hierarchy is useful as a prompt to consider whole-person needs, but research does not consistently support a rigid universal sequence. People may pursue belonging, achievement and meaningful work simultaneously, and cultural and individual differences affect priorities. HR professionals should therefore use it as a flexible lens, not a strict motivational staircase.

Herzberg’s two-factor theory

Herzberg distinguished hygiene factors, such as pay, working conditions, policies, job security and supervision, from motivators, such as achievement, recognition, responsibility, advancement and the work itself. Poor hygiene factors can create dissatisfaction; improving them may remove dissatisfaction without producing strong motivation. Motivators are more directly associated with positive satisfaction and commitment.

The theory encourages job enrichment rather than relying only on pay increases. However, the distinction is not absolute. Pay can signal recognition and status, and working conditions can influence motivation. Managers should improve both the employment foundation and the meaningfulness of work.

McClelland’s acquired-needs theory

McClelland emphasized three learned needs:

• Achievement: desire to accomplish challenging goals and receive performance information.
• Affiliation: desire for warm, cooperative relationships.
• Power: desire to influence people or outcomes; in effective leaders, power may be directed toward organizational goals.

Employees with a strong achievement orientation may value challenging assignments and clear feedback, while those with a strong affiliation orientation may respond to collaboration and supportive relationships. The framework helps managers personalize job design, but it should not be used to label employees permanently or make unsupported assumptions from personality stereotypes.

Expectancy theory

Vroom’s expectancy theory proposes that motivation depends on three perceptions:

• Expectancy: belief that effort can produce adequate performance.
• Instrumentality: belief that performance will produce a particular outcome.
• Valence: value attached to that outcome.

It is often represented conceptually as:

The expression is a conceptual multiplicative model. If an employee believes that effort cannot improve performance, that good performance will not be recognized, or that the reward has little value, motivation may be low. The model assumes that the employee understands the relationship among effort, performance and outcomes and can evaluate the outcome’s value. It does not imply that motivation can be measured precisely by multiplying arbitrary survey scores.

Managers can apply the theory by asking: Do employees have the skills, time and resources to succeed? Are performance standards and reward decisions credible? Do rewards matter to the people receiving them? Training, clearer priorities, reliable feedback and meaningful choice may be more effective than simply increasing incentives.

Equity theory and organizational justice

Equity theory proposes that employees compare their perceived ratio of contributions to outcomes with the ratios of relevant others. Contributions may include time, skill, experience and effort; outcomes may include pay, recognition, flexibility and opportunities. Perceived inequity can lead to reduced effort, requests for change, withdrawal or exit.

Organizational justice expands this insight:

• Distributive justice: perceived fairness of outcomes.
• Procedural justice: perceived fairness and consistency of decision processes.
• Interactional justice: respectful and dignified treatment.
• Informational justice: adequate and truthful explanations.

A decision can be disappointing yet accepted when employees believe the process was consistent, respectful and well explained. Fairness requires attention to bias, accessibility, equal opportunity and transparent criteria—not identical treatment in circumstances that differ materially.

Goal-setting theory

Specific and challenging goals can improve performance when employees accept them, possess the capability to pursue them and receive feedback. Goals should be aligned with organizational purpose and accompanied by resources. Poorly designed targets can encourage gaming, unhealthy competition, excessive risk-taking or neglect of unmeasured work. A balanced system should include quality, safety, collaboration and ethical conduct, not only output volume.

Self-determination theory

Self-determination theory emphasizes three psychological needs: autonomy, competence and relatedness. Autonomy is meaningful choice and ownership, not absence of accountability. Competence involves feeling capable and able to develop. Relatedness involves connection and respect. Workplaces that support these needs can strengthen intrinsic motivation, while controlling practices, humiliation and excessive surveillance can undermine it.

Job characteristics model

The job characteristics model links five core job features to psychological states and outcomes:

• skill variety
• task identity
• task significance
• autonomy
• feedback

Jobs are more likely to be experienced as meaningful when employees see the importance and completeness of their work. Autonomy supports responsibility, and feedback supports knowledge of results. Job redesign can include broader tasks, contact with beneficiaries, decision authority, project ownership and timely performance information. Job enrichment must be accompanied by training and realistic workload; adding responsibility without resources is not enrichment.

3. Diagnosing Employee Needs and Engagement

Effective HR decisions begin with diagnosis. Managers should avoid assuming that a visible symptom has a single cause. Low participation in meetings may reflect poor leadership, unclear agendas, workload, psychological unsafety or cultural norms.

Evidence sources

A balanced diagnosis may combine:

1. Listening: one-to-one conversations, stay interviews, focus groups and exit interviews.
2. Survey evidence: pulse surveys, engagement surveys and targeted questionnaires.
3. Workforce data: turnover by manager, tenure, role, location, demographic group and reason for leaving.
4. Work indicators: absence, overtime, internal mobility, learning participation, grievances and safety incidents.
5. Direct observation: workload, workflow, customer pressures and team interactions.

Quantitative data identify patterns; qualitative evidence helps explain them. Survey results should be interpreted cautiously because response rates, question wording, anonymity and timing influence findings. Correlation does not prove causation. For example, low engagement and high absence may share a cause rather than one directly causing the other.

A practical diagnostic sequence

First, define the problem. Is the concern low commitment, poor performance, burnout, regrettable turnover or inequity?

Second, segment the evidence. Organization-wide averages can conceal differences. Compare teams, job families and career stages, while protecting privacy and avoiding conclusions from very small groups.

Third, identify the employee need. Is the central need clarity, capability, fairness, autonomy, belonging, manageable workload, recognition, career opportunity or psychological safety?

Fourth, examine the system. Review manager behaviour, job design, reward systems, staffing, technology, policies and external labour-market conditions.

Fifth, select and test an intervention. Define the expected change, responsible owner, time frame and indicators. Reassess rather than assuming that a single intervention worked.

Stay interviews are particularly useful for retention. Questions may include: What makes this job worth staying in? What could cause you to leave? What barriers prevent you from doing your best work? What development would be valuable? What should the organization stop, start or continue?

4. Strengthening Engagement and the Employee Experience

Purpose and meaningful work

Employees engage more readily when they understand how their work benefits customers, colleagues or society. Managers should connect daily tasks with organizational purpose, show the consequences of quality work and avoid exaggerated purpose claims that conflict with actual decisions.

Effective management and psychological safety

The immediate manager strongly influences experience through priorities, feedback, inclusion and responses to mistakes. Psychological safety means that employees can raise questions, admit errors and offer concerns without fear of humiliation or retaliation. It does not mean that standards are absent. Managers can establish it by inviting dissent, responding appreciatively to bad news, separating learning from blame and acting on legitimate concerns.

Recognition and feedback

Recognition is most effective when it is timely, specific and connected to valued behaviour. It should not replace fair pay or be distributed only to highly visible employees. Feedback should address results and behaviours, include employee perspective and lead to practical support. A culture of continuous feedback is preferable to a once-a-year conversation, provided that employees are not subjected to constant monitoring.

Learning, careers and internal mobility

Development supports competence, employability and retention. Useful practices include structured onboarding, mentoring, job rotation, skills training, career conversations, transparent promotion criteria and internal vacancies. Development promises must be credible: employees lose trust when training is offered without time, access or opportunities to apply it.

Fair and flexible work

Flexible work can support autonomy and work–life integration, but access may vary by role. Organizations should explain eligibility, measure outcomes rather than visibility, and prevent proximity bias against remote employees. Flexibility cannot compensate for excessive workload, inadequate staffing or unfair treatment.

Reward and total value proposition

A retention-oriented reward approach combines competitive base pay, benefits, recognition, growth, flexibility, meaningful work and respectful leadership. External benchmarking is useful, but internal equity and affordability matter. Counteroffers may retain an employee temporarily while leaving the underlying problem unresolved. Rewards should reinforce ethical and collaborative behaviour, not encourage manipulation of narrow metrics.

5. Retention Strategy and Turnover Management

Retention should be selective and evidence-based. The aim is not to keep every employee regardless of fit; it is to create conditions in which capable employees can contribute and choose to remain, while managing poor performance fairly.

Types and causes of turnover

Turnover can be classified by:

• Voluntary versus involuntary: who initiated the separation.
• Avoidable versus unavoidable: whether organizational action could reasonably have influenced it.
• Regrettable versus non-regrettable: the strategic value and performance of the departing employee.
• Internal versus external: whether the employee moved within the organization or left it.

Common causes include poor supervision, limited development, inadequate pay, excessive workload, weak inclusion, unfair treatment, role mismatch, unsafe conditions and attractive external opportunities. Exit explanations may be incomplete because departing employees may fear consequences or simplify complex decisions. Use them with other evidence.

A retention framework

1. Identify critical roles and vulnerable groups. Consider capability scarcity, business continuity and succession risk.
2. Map the employee journey. Look for points where people disengage: recruitment promises, onboarding, first promotion, return from leave or organizational change.
3. Address fundamentals. Ensure legal compliance, safe work, fair pay practices, adequate staffing and competent supervision.
4. Improve job quality. Clarify roles, redesign work, provide autonomy and reduce unnecessary friction.
5. Build growth pathways. Make development and internal movement visible and accessible.
6. Strengthen voice and trust. Provide safe channels for feedback and demonstrate action.
7. Monitor outcomes. Track turnover, regrettable turnover, time to productivity, internal mobility, absence and engagement trends.

A useful additional measure is retention rate, calculated for a defined employee group as:

This cohort measure differs from turnover rate because it follows the same starting group and does not treat new hires as replacing people in the original cohort. Both measures require clear definitions.

6. Ethics, Governance and Technology

Engagement initiatives must respect dignity, privacy and informed participation. Surveys should explain their purpose, protect confidentiality and avoid collecting unnecessary sensitive data. Small-group reporting can expose individuals; results should be aggregated or withheld where identification is possible. Managers must not retaliate against negative feedback.

AI and people analytics can identify patterns in turnover risk, workload or engagement, but prediction is not explanation. Historical data may reproduce discrimination—for example, if past promotion decisions disadvantaged a group. Organizations should define legitimate purposes, limit data access, test for disparate impact, document models, provide human review and allow employees to question consequential decisions. Do not use opaque engagement scores as automatic grounds for discipline or termination.

Digital tools can support pulse surveys, personalized learning and internal talent marketplaces. They can also increase surveillance and notification overload. Technology should improve employee agency and service quality, not merely intensify work. Data protection, employment law, equality law, collective agreements and organizational policies must be considered in each jurisdiction.

7. Illustrative Case: Retaining Skilled Technicians

Background

Northbridge Services, a fictional maintenance company, has 120 field technicians. Annual technician turnover increased from 10% to 22% over two years. Management proposed a universal retention bonus.

Problem

Exit interviews mentioned pay, but stay interviews revealed a broader pattern: technicians experienced unpredictable schedules, weak communication from supervisors, limited progression and repeated equipment delays. New recruits also reported that recruitment promises about training were not being met.

Analysis

HR segmented turnover by supervisor and tenure. Two teams accounted for most departures. Their supervisors rarely held development conversations, and technicians waited longer for tools and parts. Survey comments showed low perceptions of fairness and instrumentality: employees did not believe extra effort would lead to development or recognition. The problem was therefore not simply insufficient extrinsic reward.

Approach

Northbridge introduced four actions:

1. A transparent skills framework with levels, assessment criteria and pay ranges.
2. Monthly scheduling reviews and a process for escalating equipment delays.
3. Supervisor training in feedback, respectful communication and stay interviews.
4. A pilot recognition scheme linked to safety, customer quality and knowledge sharing—not only the number of jobs completed.

The company also reviewed base pay against the local market and corrected two internal equity anomalies. It communicated the changes, assigned owners and measured results quarterly.

Outcome

After nine months, technician turnover fell to 15%, internal applications for higher-level roles increased and survey responses showed improved perceptions of development and supervisor support. The result cannot be attributed to one action, and longer observation is needed. Management continued monitoring workload and whether the recognition scheme encouraged unsafe speed.

Learning points

The case illustrates that retention is a system issue. A bonus might have addressed one concern but would not have repaired scheduling, supervision, career visibility or operational resources. Diagnosis, fairness, job design and manager capability worked together.

8. Challenges and Limitations

First, engagement is not a universal cure. High engagement cannot compensate indefinitely for unsafe work, inadequate staffing or unethical leadership. Second, standardized surveys may impose one definition of engagement and overlook cultural or occupational differences. Third, employees may express engagement while experiencing unhealthy overwork; energy must be interpreted alongside well-being and workload data. Fourth, retention can become harmful if organizations retain poor performers or block healthy career mobility. Fifth, interventions can produce unintended effects: individual bonuses may damage cooperation, wellness programmes may shift responsibility for structural problems onto employees, and constant listening without action can reduce trust.

Good HR practice therefore combines evidence with professional judgment. It makes trade-offs explicit, involves employees in design, evaluates effects over time and recognizes that employment relationships include power differences.

Best-Practice Checklist

Before implementing an engagement or retention initiative, ask:

• Have we defined the problem and the employee group affected?
• What evidence supports our diagnosis?
• Have employees had a safe opportunity to explain their experience?
• Are basic fairness, safety, pay and workload issues addressed?
• Does the intervention improve autonomy, competence, relatedness or meaningfulness?
• Are managers equipped and accountable to deliver it?
• Could the intervention create bias, surveillance or unhealthy incentives?
• How will we measure outcomes and unintended consequences?
• Have we communicated what will change, what will not change and by when?

Chapter Summary

Motivation explains the forces that energize and direct behaviour; engagement describes a positive psychological connection with work; retention concerns keeping valued employees and reducing avoidable turnover. These concepts overlap but should not be treated as synonyms. Major theories offer complementary diagnostic lenses: needs theories identify what employees may value, expectancy theory examines effort–performance–outcome beliefs, equity theory focuses on fairness, goal-setting theory emphasizes clear and accepted objectives, self-determination theory highlights autonomy, competence and relatedness, and job design models connect meaningful work with motivation.

Effective HR practice diagnoses rather than assumes. It combines conversations, surveys, workforce data and operational observation. Engagement is strengthened through meaningful work, competent and respectful management, fair rewards, learning, voice, psychological safety and workable job design. Retention requires attention to turnover type, critical roles, employee journeys and underlying system conditions. Basic turnover and retention rates are useful descriptive measures but do not explain causes. Ethical practice requires privacy, fairness, transparency, human oversight and careful governance of people analytics and AI. Sustainable retention is achieved through a credible employee experience, not through isolated incentives alone.

Key Terms

Employee engagement: A positive work-related state involving energy, dedication and psychological presence.

Motivation: Forces that initiate, direct and sustain goal-oriented behaviour.

Intrinsic motivation: Motivation arising from interest, mastery, autonomy or meaning in the activity itself.

Extrinsic motivation: Motivation arising from separable rewards or consequences.

Employee experience: The employee’s total perceptions across the employment life cycle.

Job satisfaction: An evaluation of the job and whether expectations are being met.

Organizational commitment: The nature and strength of attachment to the organization.

Retention: The continuation of employment among employees the organization wishes to keep.

Turnover: Employee movement out of an organization.

Regrettable turnover: Departure of an employee whose loss is strategically or operationally undesirable.

Hygiene factor: A work condition whose absence can create dissatisfaction, such as policy or security.

Motivator: A factor associated with positive satisfaction, such as achievement or responsibility.

Expectancy: Belief that effort can produce adequate performance.

Instrumentality: Belief that performance will produce an outcome.

Valence: Value attached to an expected outcome.

Organizational justice: Perceived fairness of outcomes, procedures, treatment and information.

Psychological safety: A shared belief that people can speak up, ask questions and admit mistakes without humiliation or retaliation.

Job enrichment: Redesigning work to increase responsibility, meaning, autonomy or feedback.

Stay interview: A structured conversation exploring why an employee remains and what might cause departure.

Review Questions

5 Short Answer Questions

1. Distinguish employee engagement from job satisfaction.
2. What is the difference between intrinsic and extrinsic motivation?
3. Identify the three elements in expectancy theory.
4. Define regrettable turnover.
5. Name two sources of evidence used in engagement diagnosis.

5 Long Answer Questions

1. Explain Herzberg’s two-factor theory and discuss how a manager could apply it without treating the distinction between hygiene factors and motivators as absolute.
2. Compare equity theory and self-determination theory as explanations of employee motivation.
3. Explain how job design can influence engagement, motivation and retention.
4. Discuss the role of managers in creating psychological safety and a positive employee experience.
5. Describe an evidence-based retention strategy for an organization experiencing high voluntary turnover.

3 Analytical / Application Questions

1. A team receives competitive pay but reports low engagement, limited development and inconsistent feedback. Diagnose the likely motivational and employee-experience issues and recommend three interventions.
2. An organization’s headcount was 200 at the beginning of the year and 240 at the end. During the year, 22 employees left. Calculate the approximate annual turnover rate and explain two limitations of interpreting it alone.
3. A company wants to use an AI model to identify employees at risk of leaving. Design a governance approach that addresses privacy, bias, transparency and human decision-making.

Multiple Choice Questions with Answers

Question 1

Which statement best distinguishes employee engagement from job satisfaction?

A. Engagement concerns psychological energy and involvement, while satisfaction is an evaluation of the job.

B. Engagement is always financial, while satisfaction is always emotional.

C. Engagement applies only to managers, while satisfaction applies only to employees.

D. Engagement measures turnover, while satisfaction measures absence.

Correct Answer: A. Engagement concerns psychological energy and involvement, while satisfaction is an evaluation of the job.

Question 2

According to expectancy theory, motivation is likely to be low when an employee believes that performance will not lead to valued outcomes. Which element is weakest?

A. Valence

B. Instrumentality

C. Task identity

D. Relatedness

Correct Answer: B. Instrumentality

Question 3

Which is an example of procedural justice?

A. Receiving a larger bonus than a colleague

B. Being treated politely during a meeting

C. Believing that promotion criteria were applied consistently

D. Receiving a written explanation of a decision

Correct Answer: C. Believing that promotion criteria were applied consistently

Question 4

A manager improves autonomy, provides developmental feedback and connects work to customer benefits. Which outcome is the manager primarily trying to strengthen?

A. Meaningful and intrinsically motivating work

B. Involuntary turnover

C. Role ambiguity

D. Continuance commitment only

Correct Answer: A. Meaningful and intrinsically motivating work

Question 5

An organization had 80 employees at the beginning of a period, 100 at the end and 12 separations. What is the approximate turnover rate?

A. 10.0%

B. 12.0%

C. 13.3%

D. 15.0%

Correct Answer: C. 13.3%

Question 6

Which action is most consistent with a stay interview?

A. Asking employees why they remain and what might cause them to leave

B. Announcing a disciplinary warning without discussion

C. Measuring only customer complaints

D. Offering the same bonus to every departing employee

Correct Answer: A. Asking employees why they remain and what might cause them to leave

Question 7

Which statement about Herzberg’s theory is most accurate for practical HR use?

A. Pay is never relevant to motivation.

B. Removing dissatisfaction automatically creates strong engagement.

C. Both employment foundations and motivating work features should be considered.

D. All employees value the same motivators in the same order.

Correct Answer: C. Both employment foundations and motivating work features should be considered.

Question 8

Why should engagement survey results be segmented carefully?

A. Segmentation guarantees that correlation proves causation.

B. Overall averages can conceal important differences among teams or groups.

C. Segmentation eliminates the need for qualitative evidence.

D. All small groups should always be publicly reported.

Correct Answer: B. Overall averages can conceal important differences among teams or groups.

Question 9

Which practice creates the greatest ethical risk when using AI for retention analytics?

A. Aggregating results to protect small groups

B. Testing for disparate impact and providing human review

C. Using opaque risk scores as automatic grounds for termination

D. Limiting data collection to a legitimate purpose

Correct Answer: C. Using opaque risk scores as automatic grounds for termination

Question 10

Which classification describes an employee leaving because of an abusive manager when the employee was highly capable and difficult to replace?

A. Regrettable and potentially avoidable turnover

B. Non-regrettable and unavoidable turnover

C. Involuntary and functional turnover

D. Internal and non-regrettable turnover

Correct Answer: A. Regrettable and potentially avoidable turnover