Human resource practices and voluntary labour turnover in the readymade garment industry in Bangladesh

The huge volume of research on labour turnover displays four features that are especially relevant to the present study: most studies use the individual employee as the unit of analysis; few focus on the organisation as the unit of analysis; most apply quantitative methods and only a few have employed qualitative methods; and most are conducted in Western and/or developed countries, with relatively few in developing countries. The current research project is therefore distinctive because it: focuses on the organisation as the unit of analysis; applies qualitative case study research methods; and it is located in the developing country of Bangladesh. The Ready Made Garment (RMG) industry in Bangladesh has played an impressive role in the transformation of the national economy from one based on agriculture to one increasingly based on export-oriented manufacturing. In the process, this industry has provided significant opportunities for employment and contributed towards the improvement of living standards, particularly of women. Despite the incredible growth, however, the RMG industry continues to confront serious challenges, one of which is high labour turnover. In order to understand better the manifestations and causes of the labour turnover problem – as well as its potential solutions – the research project reported in this thesis studies eight companies in the Bangladeshi RMG industry, differentiated by their size, ownership, geographical location and role in the supply chain. The findings provide unusually rich empirical data on the quite different patterns of labour turnover in these eight case studies, including overall organisational rates of turnover ranging from 11 percent to 33 percent, differences in turnover rates between occupational groups and diverse consequences of high labour turnover. The explanation offered of the differences in turnover rates between the case organisations in this industry focuses on the interaction between factors internal to the organisations, and therefore under the control of management, and external factors, beyond management’s immediate control. With respect to the former, a large number of individual human resource management and workplace safety policies and practices are found to be associated with turnover rates, but more important is the finding that these multiple internal factors are best considered as part of a package or system of practices. With respect to the latter, key external explanatory factors include local labour markets and the operation of government regulations. By studying labour turnover in a way that differs to the dominant approach – that is, offering a more holistic analysis of organisational turnover rates using qualitative methods in a developing country context – this thesis is able to offer not only novel empirical data but also theoretical insights and practical recommendations to both mangers and governments.