Do Organizational Performance Assessments Relate to the Turnover of Top Civil Servants? Evidence From the Bangladesh Civil Service

ABSTRACT Most research on top civil servant turnover approaches turnover as an independent variable, generally investigating how the turnover/replacement of top public administrators influences organizational performance. In contrast, this study examines whether organizational performance assessments are related to turnover of top civil servants in Bangladesh. This line of inquiry is particularly important given the leadership roles top civil servants play in shaping and advancing institutional outcomes. To explore this association, the study uses performance scores of 50 ministries and divisions in Bangladesh for the financial years 2018–2019 through 2021–2022, alongside three types of turnover data for top civil servants. The findings reveal no consistent or linear relationship between organizational performance assessments and either overall turnover or tenure duration. However, a weak association was observed between performance assessments and subsequent post‐retirement appointments. More precisely, top civil servants serving in higher scoring organizations appeared slightly more likely to receive contractual extensions, whereas those in lower scoring institutions were more often subject to regular retirement.