“This award is for the top doctoral dissertation completed in HRM (Human Resource Management) in the last two years,” said Jill Ellingson, HR Division Chair, Academy of Management, and the Neeli Bendapudi Professor of Management at the University of Kansas School of Business.
This is a very competitive award that truly acknowledges research excellence, she added.
“In the context of the food service industry, my research explores how the utilization of variable work schedules (VWS), increasingly employed by managers to maximize profits in unpredictable market conditions, impacts employee turnover and, consequently, business performance,” Chung said. “The study sheds light on the concealed costs associated with the use of variable work schedules. Specifically, it reveals that managers who rely on less stable work schedules experience higher turnover rates due to their adverse effects on workers’ economic security, health and work-life balance.”
Chung’s dissertation work was also the recipient of the SHRM (Society for Human Resource Management) Foundation Dissertation Grant Award from the Academy of Management and a finalist for the Best Dissertation Award from the Industry Studies Association.
The most surprising aspect of Chung’s study to her was “the need for a reevaluation of the conventional wisdom surrounding the use of variable work schedules and their impact on business performance through labor flexibility.”
Her study revealed that the use of VWS led to reduced financial performance, with a more pronounced negative impact during the pandemic, she said.
“Specifically, the findings support my hypothesis that extensive use of VWS not only results in payroll savings, but also triggers higher voluntary employee turnover,” she said. “Consequently, this turnover leads to additional costs for recruitment, training and operations that often surpass the initial payroll savings, ultimately diminishing overall profits…In sum, managers should be careful about implementing variable work schedules to minimize employee turnover and maintain organizational performance.”
One result from the paper was those with higher VWS exhibited profits that were 3.07 percent lower than their counterparts in December 2020, she said.
“Even this seemingly small difference can lead to crucial consequences in low-margin service contexts like the fast-service restaurant industry where little room for error exists and where even small percentage-point profit losses put units on the path to business failure,” she said.
Another result from the paper? A great deal of interest in what Chung will do next.
