A Meta-Analysis of the Antecedents of Voluntary Turnover in Studies Involving Active Duty Military Member Populations

Studies have explored the antecedents to turnover in the military; however, results vary. This research used a meta-analytic method to evaluate reported correlations between antecedents of turnover intent and turnover in an effort to understand the true relationship between them and offer insight to leaders as to where they can affect turnover within their organizations. Included studies reported a military sample and were published between 1973 and 2009. The meta-analysis revealed no correlation between OPTEMPO and turnover intent. Not enough studies were included to evaluate the relationship between OPTEMPO and turnover. Varying definitions and measurements of OPTEMPO raised concern. Additional primary research is needed with consistent definition and measurement of OPTEMPO. This study did validate that turnover intent and turnover had the strongest positive relationship with an 80% credibility range of 0.43 to 0.58. Organizational commitment and turnover had the strongest negative relationship with an 80% credibility range of -0.49 to -0.34. For the dependent variable turnover intent, job search had the strongest positive relationship with an 80% credibility range of 0.41 to 0.56. Organizational commitment also had the strongest negative relationship with turnover intent. The 80% credibility interval was -0.65 to -0.50. Leaders should focus their efforts on organizational commitment to influence subordinates' turnover decisions.