How Do Leader Departures Affect Subordinates’ Organizational Attachment? A 360-Degree Relational Perspective

Abstract

Management scholars have noted that leader departures often foreshadow higher turnover intentions (or lower organizational attachment) of subordinates left behind, especially when relationships between the departing leader and subordinates (leader-member exchanges) have been high quality. In this article we posit that the quality of subordinates’ relationships with all members of their relational system, not only their leader, must be considered to better understand how leader departures affect subordinates’ organizational attachment. Our proposed relationships are illustrated in a theoretical model that includes phenomena at the individual level (i.e., a subordinate’s identification with the departing leader and with his or her organization), group level (i.e., turnover contagion), and organizational level (i.e., organization-wide developmental climate). As such, we propose that elucidating how leader departures affect organizational attachment requires multilevel theorizing and constructs. We also discuss theoretical and practical implications of such a 360-degree relational perspective on leader-departure effects.