A Qualitative Case Study of Voluntary Employee Turnover in Law Enforcement Agencies and Financial Costs to Florida Taxpayers

Voluntary employee turnover is a component of law enforcement agencies, and costs associated with such turnover including overtime needed to replace lost employees, hiring costs, training costs, and loss of productivity. Determining the reasons why law enforcement officers voluntarily leave their employment could help reduce turnover and save the taxpayer money. The purpose of this qualitative, exploratory, holistic, single-case study was to explore the perceptions and experiences of Florida law enforcement officers with job satisfaction who voluntarily leave employment. The single-case study consisted of a sample of 12 previously employed law enforcement officers from the St. Lucie County Sheriff's Office. The data collection method was one-to-one interviews that were audio recorded, and the qualitative software Dedoose was used to compile and analyze data. The interviews sought to determine employee's perceptions of how they were treated by supervisors and staff, whether treatment led to job dissatisfaction, and any specific job-related experiences that caused them to voluntarily leave their employment. Three major themes were found for research question 1: (a) poor relationship with supervisors, (b) decreased job satisfaction, and (c) sought other employment. Four major themes resulted for research question 2: (a) employee preferential treatment, (b) no defined career path in the agency, (c) communication style, and (d) poor treatment led to departure. The results contributed to Herzberg's two-factor theory that officers voluntarily leave because of dissatisfaction with supervisors and/or staff. Recommendations for practice suggested law enforcement agencies should stress good relationships between supervisors and subordinates, institute practices to decrease job dissatisfaction, remain open to organizational change, define career paths for employees, and improve communication between staff, supervisors, and employees. Three recommendations for future research included (a) a qualitative multiple case study to explore treatment by command staff, (b) a qualitative multiple case study to explore employee preferential treatment, and (c) a quantitative comparative research study to examine employee attrition due to treatment by staff and supervisors and resultant cost to taxpayers.