| This study examined a critical operations management problem for the United States military. Personnel attrition rates have increased significantly for the past few years. Army leaders lacked empirical explanations as to why these rates have increased. The rise in attrition rates and their variability place significant pressure on the Army's personnel system, reducing recruiting and training efficiency.; The methodology used for the study consisted of three separate phases that included both qualitative and quantitative research techniques. The first phase, the Organizational Data analysis, included the development of a trend analysis on attriting soldiers. A research taxonomy was created for evaluating personnel attrition along with the survey data collected to refine models of voluntary versus involuntary attrition. The second phase, a Case Study analysis, included structured interviews with trainees who were being discharged from training. This research provided a richer understanding of the reasons or factors affecting trainees' inability to meet Army standards or their decision to be discharged from the Army. The third phase consisted of an extensive survey analysis. The survey analysis identified the underlying reasons trainees gave for being discharged, determined soldiers' expectations and perceptions of various aspects of the enlistment process, and differentiated the responses of those individuals who completed versus those who did not make it through Army training. The opinion portion of each survey instrument was an adaptation of Parasuram's SERVQUAL used for measuring individual opinions regarding an organization's service process. The service quality dimensions were evaluated in each phase of the enlistment process (recruiting, military entrance processing, reception and training).; While researchers have typically investigated and modeled personnel attrition in the aggregate, this study decomposed attriting personnel into four categories based upon a taxonomy developed for evaluating personnel attrition. The resulting four personnel attrition models provided enhanced identification of those individual and organizational characteristics that are associated with personnel attrition. These models also provided better prediction of those trainees who would complete, versus be discharged from, Army training. The study results were used to identify a ten-point strategy for changing enlistment procedures in order to reduce training attrition and improve Army readiness. |
