Pushing Too Hard? Unattainable Organizational Goals and Frontline Employee Turnover

The creation of organization-level performance goals has evolved into a ubiquitous facet of the study and practice of public management. In this article, we theoretically and empirically examine the relationship between unattainable organizational goals and collective frontline employee turnover, and consider the moderating role of a public organization’s performance context on the relationship. While the findings indicate a positive relationship between unattainable goals and collective frontline employee turnover, the effect is conditional on organizational performance. The research offers nuanced insights into the establishment of goals in public organizations and has important implications for managing personnel on the frontlines of public service delivery.