Book Description

The purpose of this research is to illuminate an important interaction between personal characteristics and organizational factors as they affect first-term attrition. This study tests the hypothesis that first-term completion is positively related to predicted performance on the job and estimates the attrition reduction that would accompany the utilization of better methods for assigning recruits to jobs so as to improve their predicted performance. The testing is conducted with the 1991 accession cohort using the U.S. Army Research Institute for the Behavioral and Social Sciences' Enlisted Panel Research Data Base (EPRDB). Regression analysis is used to test for a relationship between attrition behavior and predicted performance on the job, holding other factors constant. This relationship is then applied to estimate the attrition reduction that could be brought about by increased soldier performance through improved job-person matching procedures such as the Enlisted Personnel Allocation System (EPAS).