Motivation in a complex profession - Why do I stay? : A qualitative interview study on why social workers choose to stay at the same workplace for a long time in social services.

The aim of this study was to analyze the factors that motivate social workers to remain in the same workplace within the social services for a longer period. In a wider extent the study wanted to examine staff turnover which is a major problem. Through semi – structured interviews the study aimed to identify and highlight social workers experiences on long-term employment at their workplace. Through their perspective, the study wanted to contribute to a deeper understanding of what promotes long term retention. This study applies Herzberg’s two – factors theory as the theoretical framework to analyze turnover in social services. The theory distinguishes between motivation and hygiene factors as a source of either job satisfaction or dissatisfaction. The findings indicate that hygiene and motivation factors interact with each other even though the theoretical framework implicates that they are on different scales. The conclusion of the study means that the interaction between motivational- and hygiene factors plays a decisive role in social workers long-term retention at the same workplace. These factors need to be understood in relation to each other to create sustainable conditions for sustained employee retention. After an identification of the factors, it appears which factor that needs to be optimized to create good work conditions that promote motivation and prevent dissatisfaction.