Miranda Visser (2015): Loyalty in Humanity. Turnover Among Expatriate Humanitarian Aid Workers

The field of humanitarian organizations has grown tremendously, both in size as in economic volume. These organizations represent an enormous economic force around the world. Demands for better governance and greater accountability have increased significantly. More and more criticism has been expressed towards humanitarian organizations for being inefficient and wasting money. The public and donor organizations were highly indignant about the fact that not all their money was spent directly on the victims. Less attention is paid to the humanitarian organizations and their employees. Is it not for the sake of the victims that their helpers are well-trained professionals who are fully prepared in order to provide appropriate aid in the most remote and violent work contexts? Moreover, for humanitarian organizations to function efficiently the retention of highly qualified employees is essential. One of the questions to be answered is for example: Does investing in training of humanitarian employees lead to more or less organizational turnover? In a broader sense this project will focus on the professionalization of humanitarian employees, their relationship with the organization and the effects on organizational factors like turnover, retention and performance.

Supervisors: Liesbet Heyse, Rafael Wittek, Melinda Mills

Defended: April 9, 2015

First Job: Researcher, College voor de Rechten van de Mens

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