It's been a long time: an analysis of job duration in two banks

Purpose - – The purpose of this paper is to use personnel records from two firms in the banking industry, job duration models are estimated to examine separations in the context of banks based in Great Britain and Greece. Design/methodology/approach - – The duration models are estimated using parametric and semi-parametric methods, and allow for frailty. Findings - – The paper finds that it is sustained, rather than instantaneous, performance that is linked to separations. In common with some earlier studies, the paper finds qualified support for a u-shaped relationship between performance and separations – suggesting that poor matches are short-lived and that high-performance workers move on to other employment – but only in the case of the British data. Both of the banks under investigation experienced substantial reorganisation activity over the time period considered, and the paper finds that the year following this was characterised by increased separation propensities. Research limitations/implications - – While most of the findings are consistent across the firms in the two countries studied, the paper finds that single men are more likely than their female counterparts to quit in the bank based in Britain, but less likely to quit in that based in Greece. The paper offers some suggestions about why this should be the case. Practical implications - – The study serves to enhance the understanding of the determinants of attrition amongst workers in the banking industry, and hence offers clues to employers about how they can enhance retention of productive workers. Originality/value - – Owing to the availability of data sets, very few studies of this kind exist. The paper presents evidence based on data gathered from two distinct employers, and hence adds significantly to the body of literature in this area.