Team turnover and task conflict: A longitudinal study on the moderating effects of collective experience

Team turnover can be harmful to a team in many ways. This study examined whether a team’s collective experience (team organizational tenure) attenuates the association between team turnover and task conflict changes. Differing from prior research, our study used a longitudinal design to assess the effects of team turnover, accounting for the competence of those leaving the team. We built on context-emergent turnover theory and tested a random coefficient growth model by utilizing data from 74 health-care teams. We found support for the hypothesized interaction: the more collective experience the team had, the less likely it was that team turnover associated with increases in task conflict. We discuss implications for theory and practice.