Understanding voluntary turnover from an intentional change theory perspective

The present study used the intentional change theory to understand why so many people choose to leave their jobs, by exploring the possible influence of a discrepancy between a person’s ideal and real selves (RISG) and their perceptions of the learning and development resources that their employers provided. These two predictors were hypothesized to predict turnover intentions and organizational commitment over and above the effect of key covariates. Perceived barriers to learning and development was also expected to moderate these relationships. Results supported these hypotheses, from analyses of data gathered from a sample of 248 insurance workers. RISG and perceived adequacy of learning and development resources predicted approximately 60% of the variance in turnover intentions and organizational commitment. These effects disappeared when accounting for barriers. The implications of this study are that understanding a workforce's RISG is a critical aspect to take into consideration when designing learning and development systems.