title: The impact of humanitarian context conditions and individual characteristics on aid worker retention.
abstract: High employee turnover rates constitute a major challenge to effective aid provision. This study examines how features of humanitarian work and aid workers' individual characteristics affect retention within one humanitarian organisation, Médecins Sans Frontières (MSF) Holland. The study extends existing research by providing new theoretical explanations of employment opportunities and constraints and by engaging in the first large-scale quantitative analysis of aid worker retention. Using a database of field staff (N=1,955), a logistic regression is performed of the likelihood of reenlistment after a first mission. The findings demonstrate that only 40 per cent of employees reenlist for a second mission with MSF Holland, and that workplace location and security situation, age, and gender have no significant effect. Individuals are less likely to reenlist if they returned early from the first mission for a personal reason, are in a relationship, are medical doctors, or if they come from highly developed countries. The paper reflects on the findings in the light of policy.
authors.affiliation: Junior Professor of Organisation and Administration Research at the University of Potsdam, Germany.
authors.forename: Valeska P
authors.initials: VP
authors.lastname: Korff
authors.affiliation: Postdoctoral Fellow at Bocconi University, Italy.
authors.forename: Nicoletta
authors.initials: N
authors.lastname: Balbo
authors.affiliation: Nuffield Professor of Sociology at the University of Oxford, United Kingdom.
authors.forename: Melinda
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Mills
authors.affiliation: Assistant Professor of Sociology at the University of Groningen, Netherlands.
authors.forename: Liesbet
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Heyse
authors.affiliation: Full Professor of Sociology at the University of Groningen, Netherlands.
authors.forename: Rafael
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Wittek
mesh_terms: D000533:Altruism; D005260:Female; D006304:Health Status; D006801:Humans; D007398:Interpersonal Relations; D008297:Male; D009426:Netherlands; D010563:Personnel Turnover / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*; D010820:Physicians; D012066:Relief Work / Q000458:organization & administration*; D012111:Residence Characteristics; D012449:Safety; D012941:Social Responsibility
keywords: aid worker; humanitarian organisations; personnel policy; retention; staff turnover