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Original Publication Date
2026
Document Type
Video
Abstract
Employee turnover is a persistent challenge across many industries and is particularly detrimental in community mental health settings, where staffing shortages can disrupt service delivery and reduce the quality of care. This study examines factors associated with staff retention in community mental health clinics in Virginia, focusing on voluntary turnover. Guided by Job Embeddedness theory and a Me–We–Us Framework of workplace well-being, the research explores how individual, group, and organizational factors influence employees’ intentions to remain in their current positions and their level of work engagement.
Survey data were collected from employees at two Virginia Community Services Boards (CSBs) using a questionnaire comprising 104 items that measured individual-level factors (e.g., meaningful work), group-level factors (e.g., psychological safety and job embeddedness), and organizational-level factors (e.g., workplace climate and culture). Hierarchical regression analyses were conducted to examine predictors of two outcomes: intention to stay and work engagement.
Results indicated that group-level (“we”) variables explained the greatest proportion of variance in employees’ intention to stay, with job embeddedness—particularly perceptions of organizational fit and perceived sacrifice of leaving—emerging as significant predictors across both agencies. Individual-level (“me”) variables and organizational-level (“us”) variables contributed additional, though smaller, explanatory power. For work engagement, individual-level factors, such as meaningful work, accounted for the largest share of the variance, followed by group- and organizational-level influences.
Overall, findings support the value of a multilevel approach to understanding workforce retention and engagement in community mental health settings. The results highlight the importance of fostering strong organizational fit, meaningful work, and supportive workplace environments. Interventions targeting employee selection, team communication, leadership practices, and organizational culture may help improve retention and engagement in behavioral health organizations.
Keywords
Employee retention, Voluntary turnover, Job embeddedness, Work engagement, Community mental health workforce
Rights
Copyright © 2026 Brianna D. Boggs. All rights reserved.
Comments
Presented in the Strategies for Wellbeing, Retention, and Empowerment session.