Integrating Content and Process Models to Study Turnover in the Canadian Forces

Content models of voluntary employee turnover explore why people quit organizations; while process models explore how they quit. The present research integrated content and process models to explore if why military members quit was related to how they quit. A thematic analysis of quit decisions was conducted along with an analysis of the decision path, in terms of time it took to make the quit decision and how difficult it was to make it. Results suggest that 50% of personnel quit as a result of a shock with the most frequent internal shocks being related to postings (transfers), and the most frequent external ones related to family matters. Significant differences for length and difficulty of quit decision were also found. The findings of this study contribute to the existing content - process integration in the turnover research and to the understanding of the quit decision process in a military organization.