Team turnover and task conflict: A longitudinal study on the moderating effects of collective experience

Team turnover can be harmful to a team in many ways. This study examined whether a team’s collective experience (team organizational tenure) attenuates the association between team turnover and task conflict changes. Differing from prior research, our study used a longitudinal design to assess the effects of team turnover, accounting for the competence of those leaving the team. We built on context-emergent turnover theory and tested a random coefficient growth model by utilizing data from 74 health-care teams. We found support for the hypothesized interaction: the more collective experience the team had, the less likely it was that team turnover associated with increases in task conflict. We discuss implications for theory and practice

What’s in a team: a dynamic perspective on intragroup conflict and team turnover

This PhD dissertation focuses on group processes that may affect the performance of teams, and especially on conflicts that may arise within a team, diversity in teams and changes in the team’s composition (team turnover). The research was carried out over a four-year period in a health care facility for people with intellectual disabilities. This dissertation introduces a customised method of measuring team turnover. Traditionally, it has only been measured quantitatively; here it is expanded with a qualitative component based on the employees’ competencies. The results of this dissertation show that team turnover can lead to task-related conflicts, which can negatively influence team performance. Teams with experienced employees are the only sort of teams in which turnover does not lead to conflicts and therefore also does not influence performance