The Efficacy of Low-Intensity Acceptance and Commitment Therapy on Employee Turnover Intentions and Team Productivity: A Single-Group Pre-Post Study

Abstract

Employee turnover and declining productivity remain pressing concerns for organizations operating in competitive labor markets. Acceptance and Commitment Therapy (ACT), a third-wave behavioral intervention centered on psychological flexibility, has shown promise in occupational settings, yet brief, low-intensity adaptations suitable for workplace delivery remain comparatively underexplored. The present study examined the efficacy of a six-session, low-intensity ACT intervention on turnover intentions and self-rated productivity among employees recruited through snowball sampling via social media and LinkedIn. Using a single-group pre-post design, 30 employed adults completed the Turnover Intention Scale (TIS-6, adapted from Mobley's conceptualization of withdrawal cognitions) and the Task Performance subscale of the Individual Work Performance Questionnaire (IWPQ) before and after the intervention. Paired-samples t-tests revealed a statistically significant reduction in turnover intentions and a statistically significant increase in self-rated productivity from pre- to post-intervention, both with large effect sizes. Findings suggest that even a brief, low-intensity ACT protocol may meaningfully reduce employees' intentions to leave their organization while improving perceived task performance. Implications for organizational mental health programming, along with limitations related to design, sampling, and measurement, are discussed.