APPLICABILITY OF CIVILIAN RETENTION THEORY IN THE NEW ZEALAND MILITARY

1. APPLICABILITY OF CIVILIAN RETENTION THEORY IN THE NEW ZEALAND MILITARY John Capon & Sasha Chernyshenko University of Canterbury, NZ Stephen Stark University of South Florida

2. Acknowledgements We would also like to thank Major Rachael Stott and Captain Stephen Kearney, of the NZ Army Field Psychology Service for assistance in this research.

3. Overview Importance of retention �Data-mining� approach to modeling retention and its limitations Modeling retention/turnover in civilian settings Proposed model of military retention Empirical NZ study Implications

4. The Importance of Personnel Retention Military forces worldwide have struggled to maintain required staffing levels (Greig, 2001). In 1999 - 2000 there were 4,947 enlistments in comparison to 6,467 separations in the Australian Defence Force. Increased competition with civilian employers for talented individuals.

5. The Importance of Personnel Retention New Zealand Army is no exception Staffing levels are maintained entirely by voluntary service. Economy is growing at a record pace Nationwide campaign to attract new recruits Active recruitment Adds to direct interested individuals to the New Zealand Army website Unfortunaltely, there is a less coherent compaign for retention of existing personnel

6. Modeling Retention in Military Most published studies of military retention have involved data-mining approaches Designed to identify demographic and organisational characteristics related to turnover (Walker, 2003) Limited theory based reserch to date

7. Problems with Data-Mining Many demographic characteristics, such as gender, are inherent and cannot readily be changed Demographics-based recruiting would further decrease the already diminishing source of potential recruits Research on actual causes of turnover is neglected E.g., female soldiers may have a significantly lower retention rate than their male counterparts, but no explanation for such a discrepancy can be tested empirically What is the psychological process that drives voluntary turnover?

8. Civilinain Retention Modeling In contrast Civilian research has treated retention/turnover as an instance of motivated personal choice. Focus on intentions to remain as proximal cause of turnoover Relatively coherent and integrated theory of civilian retention (see Griffeth, Hom, & Gaertner, 2000).

9. Civilian Retention Modeling Why intentions? Fishbein and Ajzen (1975, in Hulin, 1991) �theory of reasoned action� asserts that behaviour is the outcome of intentions to behave, which are governed by attitudes and subjective norms. Hom, Caranikas-Walker, Prussia and Griffeth (1992) meta-analysis results suggest that military samples may have even closer agreement between intentions to leave and turnover. Measurement of intentions is convenient, because cross-sectional surveys can be used.

10. Recent Civilian Research Griffeth, Hom & Gaertner (2000) meta-analysis of the antecedents of turnover - Intentions to leave (0.39) - Organizational commitment (-0.23) - Job satisfaction (-0.19) - Met expectations (-0.18) - Promotional opportunities (-0.16)

11. Modeling Retention as Personal Choice in the Military Research Regrettably, there has been only a limited effort to assess the applicability of civilian retention theory in the military. Notable exceptions are unpublished studies by Walker (2003), Schreurs and Lescreve (2001), and Van de Ven (2001) Examined relationships between retention and variables, such as �met expectations� and job satisfaction. Found highly predictive validities in military settings Suggested that other traditionally �civilian variables� should also be explored.

12. Modeling Retention as Personal Choice in the Military Research Having a theoretical model is important Identifies sources of voluntary turnover Explicitely postulates psychological processes behind intentions to remain Helps in developing effective interventions and provides basis for their evaluation Hence, this study.

13. We proposed, tested, and revised a preliminary �personal choice� military retention model. Included a number of distal and proximal antecedents of retention that were derived from several streams of civilian research. The initial list of antecedents was intentionally broad to reflect the breadth of the current approaches. Each antecedent was hypothesised to exert either a direct or indirect effect on intentions to remain in the Army Aim of This Study

14. Proximal Predictors of Intentions to Remain - Organisational Commitment (Mathieu & Zajac, 1990) - Work Satisfaction (Tett & Meyer, 1993) - Job involvement (Lawler & Hall, 1970) Highly involvement higher intentions to remain (Brown, 1996). Lodahl and Kejner (1965) argued that JI is independent of WS and OC, and contributes uniquely to prediction of retention. - Community identification (Mitchell & Lee, 2001) Links to community increase intentions to remain In NZ Army, community involvement initiatives are prevalent, so CI links may be more potent

15. Proximal Predictors of Intentions to Remain

16. Distal Predictors of Intentions to Remain - Dispositions (Judge, Heller & Mount, 2002) predict work satisfaction. Judge, Erez, Bono, & Thoresen (2003) found that a combination of self esteem, generalised self efficacy, neuroticism and locus of control, which they called core self evaluations (CSES), had the highest correlation with job satisfaction. - Work�family conflict studies suggest direct and indirect relationship between inter-role conflict and intentions to remain, especially when periods of separation is high (Castro & Huffman, 2001) . - Perceived organisational support (Rhoades & Eisenberger, 2002) is indirectly related to intentions to remain, but relationship is fully medited by organizational commitment - Met expectations theory (Porter & Steers, 1973) used by recruiters to give potential employees a balanced picture of their future job roles (a.k.a. realistic job preview, Wanous, 1975).

17. A Model of Military Retention

18. Present Study Conducted in conjunction with NZ Army Field Psych Service and HR Executive Survey of 95 currently enlisted personnel 169-item questionnaire, consisting of robust, empirically derived scales Used structural equations methodology to test and revise the model

19. Participants Gender - 18% female and 82% male Age - 18 to 55 years, with a mean age of 29.5 years Participants� tenure in the NZ Army ranged from 4 months to 28 years, with a mean of 10.04. Ethnic composition: 71% European, 21% Maori, 1% Pacific Islander; 7% �other�

20. Measures Job involvement - 6-item, shortened version of Lodahl and Kejner�s (1965) Job Involvement Scale; Organizational commitment - 9-item, shortened version of the Organisational Commitment Questionnaire (OCQ, Mowday, Steers & Porter, 1979); Work satisfaction - 10-item scale from the Illinois Job Satisfaction Index (IJSI, Chernyshenko, Stark, Crede, Wadlington, & Lee, 2003); Perceived organisational support - 8-item shortened scale from Eisenberger, Huntington, Hutchison & Sowa (1986);

21. Measures Work-family conflict � 5-item scale by Netemeyer, Boles, McMurrian�s (1996); Community involvement - 7-item scale constructed based on the community variables in Mitchell and Lee�s (2001) paper; Dispositions - a 12-item core self evaluations scale (CSES, Judge et al 2003) Met expectations - 5-item scale developed for this study Intentions to remain - 7-item scale developed for this study. All 9 measures had reliabilities ranging from .72 to .94

22. Results Organizational commitment and work satisfaction were significant proximal predictors of intentions to remain Equal weights R = .465 Adding community identification and job involvement improved prediction (R= .483), but the two variables were not significant Path analysis showed that our initial model fit relatively well, but some fit indices were below recommended levels (i.e., NFI = .80) Several revisions were made

23. Chi-square � n.s., RMSEA = .01; GFI, NFI, CFI > .90. Path coefficients are all significant at the .05 level

24. Conclusions Valuable information about the determinants of retention in NZ Army Established relevance of civilian retention theory in the military. Found work satisfaction, community identification, and organisational commitment to be the leading predictors of intentions to remain. Influence of dispositions, job involvement, organizational support and met expectations were fully mediated by satisfaction and commitment. Contrary to civilian findings, work family conflict had no relation to intentions to remain

25. Implications Several aspects of civilian retention theory may be useful in military settings. Results emphasise the importance of organizational interventions targeting work satisfaction and commitment. Creating realistic expectations about a military career or providing consistent levels of organizational support are some of the strategies for increasing retention that should be considered.