Foster School of Business
University of Washington
Box: 353223
Seattle, WA 98195-3223
Featured Research
- Distilling the wisdom from 100 years of research on voluntary job turnover
- The empirical guide to greater government efficiency
- Lee honored for career achievement by Academy of Management HR Division
- Shevlin named American Accounting Association’s outstanding educator
- Local college hoops recruits tend to perform better, provided the coach stays
- Foster Faculty receive international recognition for superior research
- Want to retain high-value employees? Empower autonomy
- Paper cites Associate Dean Lee as the exemplary “academic decathlete”
Thomas William Lee
- Professor of Management Hughes M. Blake Endowed Professor of Management
Education
- PhD University of Oregon (1984)
- MA Bowling Green State University (1977)
- AB University of California, Berkeley (1975)
Academic Expertise
- human resource management
- loyalty
- organizational behavior
- retention
- turnover
Current Research
- Employee retention and turnover
Positions Held
- At the University of Washington since 1983
- Industrial psychologist for Southern California Edison, 1977-1980
Selected Publications
- “Surveying the Turnover Forest: A Meta-Analysis, Moderator Investigation, and Future-Oriented Discussion of the Antecedents of Voluntary Employee Turnover“Journal Article:Rubinstein, A., Eberly, M., Lee, T.W. & Mitchell, T.R., (forthcoming). Personnel Psychology,
- “Intra-individual variability in work characteristics over time: examining the effect of job complexity on employee job strain“Journal Article:Li, J.I., Burch, T.C. & Lee, T.W., (forthcoming). Journal of Organizational Behavior,
- “One Hundred Years of Employee Turnover Theory and Research“Journal Article:Hom, P.W., Lee, T.W., Shaw, J.D. & Hauskneckt, J.P., (2017). Journal of Applied Psychology, Vol. 102, pp. 530-545.
- “The effects of proximal withdrawal states on job attitudes, job search, intention to leave and voluntary employee turnover“Journal Article:Li, J.I., Lee, T.W., Mitchell, T.R., Hom, P.W & Griffeth, R.G., (2016). Journal of Applied Psychology, Vol. 101, pp. 1436-1456.
- “Using Organizational Science Research to Address U.S. Federal Agencies’ Management and Labor Needs“Journal Article:Aguinis, H., Davis, J., Detert, J.R., Glynn, M.A., Jackson, S.E., Kockan, T., Kossek, E.E., Leana, C., Lee, T.W., Morrison, E., Pearce, J., Pfeffer, J., Rouseau, D. & Sutcliffe, K., (2016). Behavioral Science & Policy, Vol. 2(2), pp. 67-76.
- “The Need to Consider Time, Level, and Trends: A Turnover Perspective“Journal Article:Mitchell, T.R., Burch, T.C., & Lee, T.W., (2014). Journal of Organizational Behavior, Vol. 35(2), pp. 296–300.
- “Using Qualitative Methods in Organizational Research (Chinese edition)“Book:Lee, T.W., (2014). Sage Publications
- “A Demonstration of the Importance of Temporal Considerations in the Prediction of Newcomer Turnover“Journal Article:Holtom, B.C., Tidd, S.T., Mitchell, T.R., & Lee, T.W., (2013). Human Relations, Vol. 66, pp. 1337-1352.
- “Hometown Proximity, Coaching Change, and the Success of College Basketball Recruits“Journal Article:Barden, J.Q., Bluhm, D.J., Mitchell, T.R., & Lee, T.W., (2013). Journal of Sports Management, Vol. 27, pp. 230-246.
- “The Story of Why We Stay: A Review of Job Embeddedness“Journal Article:Lee, T.W., Burch, T.C., & Mitchell, T.R., (2013). Annual Review of Organizational Psychology and Organizational Behavior, Vol. 1, pp. 199-216.
- “Further Clarification on the Hom, Mitchell, Lee, and Griffeth (2012) Model: Reply to Bergman, Payne, & Boswell (2012) and Maertz (2012)“Journal Article:Lee, T.W., & Griffeth, R., Mitchell, T.R., & Horn, P.W., (2012). Psychological Bulletin, Vol. 138, pp. 871-875.
- “Redefining Employee Turnover: Focusing on Proximal Psychological States and an Expanded Criterion“Journal Article:Hom, P.W., Mitchell, T.R., Lee, T.W., & Griffeth, R.W., (2012). Psychological Bulletin, Vol. 138, pp. 831-858.
- “When and How is Job Embeddedness Predictive of Turnover? A Meta-Analytic Investigation“Journal Article:Jiang, K., Liu, D., McKay, P.F., Lee, T.W., & Mitchell, T.R., (2012). Journal of Applied Psychology, Vol. 97, pp. 1077-1096.
- “When Employees Are Out of Step with Coworkers: How Job Satisfaction Trajectories and Dispersion Influence Individual- and Unit-Level Voluntary Turnover“Journal Article:Dong, L., Mitchell, T.R., Lee, T.W., Holtom, B.C., & Hinkin, T.R., (2012). Academy of Management Journal, Vol. 55(6), pp. 1360-1380.
- “The Effects of Autonomy and Empowerment on Employee Turnover: Test of a multilevel model in teams“Journal Article:Liu, D., Zhang, S., Wang, L., & Lee, T.W., (2011). Journal of Applied Psychology, Vol. 98, pp. 1305-1316.
- “The Buffering Effects of Job Embeddedness on Negative Shocks“Journal Article:Burton, J.P., Holtom, B.C., Sablynski, C.J., & Mitchell, T.R., & Lee, T.W., (2010). Journal of Vocational Behavior, Vol. 76(1), pp. 42-51.
- “Explaining Employment Relationships with Social Exchange and Job Embeddedness“Journal Article:Hom, P.W., Tsui, A.S., Wu, J.B., Lee, T.W., Zhang, A.Y., Fu, P.P., & Li, L., (2009). Journal of Applied Psychology, Vol. 94, pp. 277-297.
- “Turnover Contagion: How Coworkers’ Job Embeddedness and Coworkers’ Job Search Behaviors Influence Quitting“Journal Article:Felps, W., Mitchell, T.R., Hekman, D., Lee, T.W., Holtom, B.C., & Harman, W.S., (2009). Academy of Management Journal, Vol. 52, pp. 545-561.
Honors and Awards
- Academy of Management Career Achievement Award for Distinguished Service, 2016
- Herbert Heneman Jr. Career Achievement Award, Human Resources Division of the Academy of Management, 2015
- Scholarly Achievement Award, Human Resources Division, Academy of Management, 2013
- Ron Crockett Award for Academic Excellence, 2009
- Fellow, Society for Industrial and Organizational Psychology
- Fellow, Academy of Management
- Outstanding Practitioner Oriented Publication in Organizational Behavior Award for article, "Increasing Human and Social Capital by Applying Job Embeddedness Theory". Judged best of all papers for 2006.
- Dean's Research Award, 2005
- Outstanding Organizational Behavior Publication in 2001 from the Organizational Behavior of the Academy of Management
- Ascendant Scholar Award from the Western Academy of Management, 1988
- Outstanding Competitive Paper Award from the Organizational Behavior Division, Academy of Management, 1986
Academic Service
- Former President, Academy of Management
- Former Editor, Academy of Management Journal
- Current editorial board member at:
- Journal of Applied Psychology
- Former editorial board member at:
- Academy of Management Journal
- Personnel Psychology
- Journal of Management
- Journal of Management Issues
- Human Resource Management Journal
- Journal of Vocational Behavior
- Organizational Research Methods
- Human Resources Management Review