Intention to Leave of Volunteer Rangers in the Fourth Royal Thai Army Area
Chompunuch Sriphong*
Department of Business Administration, Faculty of Management Sciences, Yala Rajabhat University
*Corresponding Author, E-mail: [email protected] Abstract
including the military. This present work aimed to 1) investigate the level of the intention to leave, 2) compare this intention based on demographic factors, and 3) study the factors which influence intention to leave. The tool used to gather the needed information was a questionnaire. The sample was 430 volunteer rangers in the Fourth Royal Thai Army. Descriptive statistics, t test and One-way ANOVA, were used for data analysis. The results revealed that intention to leave is at a medium level. Differences based on age and tenure were found to have differences in intention to leave (p<.
most are personal and family problems, job stability and job advancement. It is thus recommended that to reduce turnover rate, military leadership should focus on volunteer rangers aged less than 30 or those with tenuresless than 3 years because these groups have the highest intention to leave when compared with other groups. Additionally, support for rangers, families, job security and advancement should be given primary consideration when making policies to reduce turnover rate of volunteer rangers.
Keywords: Intention to leave, Thai volunteer ranger, The fourth royal Thai army area
Introduction
The volunteer rangers are both male and female Thai citizens from all over Thailand who qualified and volunteered to work for the Royal Thai Army. So, the volunteer rangers are responsible for south Thailand has more volunteer ranger forces than all the other army areas in Thailand combined. This is due to the insurgency situation in the southern border provinces, i.e., Yala, Pattani, Narathiwat and 4 districts of Songkhla province. Both the civilian and army casualties have been high. So, the Royal Thai Army approved the establishment of additional ranger regiments and ranger forces for the southern army.At present, there are 9 ranger regiments from number 41 to 49. This increase inforceis for them to be the strategic holding forces, to protect and to suppress the terrorism by developing the communities in various ways and securing the lives properties of the people in the communities. These are the key strategies for success to win the hearts and minds of people in this southernmost area for them to trust and cooperate with the army, and to reduce the conditions that support terrorism (The Southernmost Provinces Ranger Force, 2011). For the aforementioned strategies, the major operating forces are the volunteer rangers.
However, the turnover rate of volunteer rangers is rather high, around 50-60volunteer rangers from 9 ranger regiments quit their job every month. This leads to discontinuous operation and loss of budget of the Thai army to replace, recruit, train and other expenditures for new volunteer rangers (Sriphong, 2015). High turnover rate may jeopardize efforts to attain the organizational objectives (Ampomah & Cudjor, 2015). In addition, it has negative effects on the productivities, profitability, knowledge, skills and competencies of an organization (Butali,
& Mamuli, 2013).The turnover decision and actual leaving of the employees stem from their intention to leave. This is according to the planned behavior theory which explains that intention leads a person to take action (Ajzen, 1991). In addition, intention to leave has a strong link with employees leaving their jobs (Parry, 2008) and itis a significant predictor of employee turnover (Blau, 2007).
Theref
management of any organization. Moreover, there taining and reducing intention to quit of personnel, especially military officers lead to the efficiency and effectiveness of the army Williams, 2000).So, a study onthe intention to leave of volunteer rangers in the Fourth royal Thai Army Area is necessary for the ranger regiments in order to obtain empirical data, which can be used as guidelines for the managerial policy to retain the volunteer ranger forces for the security achievement in bringing back sustainable peace to Thai people in this area.
Objectives
This study will specifically discuss three research objectives which are:
1. To study the intention to leave of volunteer rangers in the southern border provinces.
2. To compare the intention to leave of volunteer rangers in the southern border provinces based on demographic factors.
3. To study the factors which influence intention to leave of volunteer rangers.
Materials and Methods Research design
This research was a cross-sectional descriptive study.
Population and sample
The population of this study was 10,568 volunteer rangers from 9 ranger regiments (The Data collection
Paper-based survey was used to collect data. The response rate estimate was 90%, so 428 questionnaires should be given out. The sample was selected randomly by using a disproportional allocation stratified random sampling distributing the same number of questionnaires to 9 ranger regiments. Therefore, 50 questionnaires were distributed to each ranger regiment totaling450 questionnaires.430questionnaires were returned resulting in an overall 95.56% response rate.
Research Instrument
The survey instrument comprises three sections. Section one includes demographic variables which are gender, age, educational level, hometown, tenure, fighting experience.
Section 2 is the four-item intention to leave scale developed by Kelloway, Gottlieb and Barham (1999). A 5-point rating scale (1-5) ranging from very low, low, average, high and very high was used. The last section is the open-ended question about the factors which influence intention to leave of volunteer rangers.
Validity and reliability analysis
Content validity of the measurement items was assessed by the expert opinions of one higher level officer of the southernmost provinces ranger forces and two university professors who are research specialists in organizational behavior disciplines. The index of consistency (IOC) is equal to 1.00. The scale was then pretested with 40 volunteer rangers. These participants were not was 0.879. These values provided a form of confidence on the data gathered and its results because of the proven track record and the valid reliability was greater than 0.700. The alpha value of 0.700 is often considered the criterion for internally consistent established scale (Nunnally, 1976).
Data analysis
Descriptive statistics, t test and One-way ANOVA, were used. Data processing was done using the commercial available computer program.
Results
Demographic information from 430volunteer rangers who completed the questionnaires is presented on the table 1.The results from the study revealed that the mean value for overall and every item of intention to leave of the volunteer rangers is at the medium level. The descriptive statistics for the intention to leave scale is shown on table 2. The last section of the questionnaire asked the respondents what they think are the factors that influence their intention to leave. So, the qualitative data showed that personal and family problems, job stability, and job advancement.
Frequency and percentages for these factors are displayed on Table 3.
Table 1 Frequency and percentages for demographic variables
Variable Category Frequency Percentage
Gender Male 322 74.88
Female 108 25.12
Age (Min = 20 years old, Max = 57 years old, Mean = 29 years old
Less than 30 years old 250 58.14
30-35years old 85 19.77
More than 35 years old 95 22.09
Educational level High school degree/Equivalent 253 58.84
diploma 65 15.12
112 26.04
Home town location The 3 southernmost provinces (Pattani, Yala, Narathiwat)
126 29.32
In southern Thailand but not in the 3 southernmost provinces
170 39.53
In other region 134 31.15
Tenure (Min = 1 years, Max = 33 years, Mean = 5 years
Less than 3 years 158 36.74
3-5 years 166 38.60
More than 5 years 106 24.66
Experience in fighting the unrest in the three
southernmost provinces
Never 201 46.74
Involved in Fighting 229 53.26
Table 2 Descriptive statistics for the intention to leave scale
Intention to leave Mean S.D.
I do not plan to stay with this organization much longer 3.20 0.98
I am thinking about leaving this organization 3.12 0.88
I am planning to look for a new job 3.01 0.90
I intend to ask others about new job opportunities 2.79 0.99
Overall average 3.03 0.65
Table 3 The factors which influence intention to leave of volunteer rangers
The factors which influence intention to leave Frequency Percentage
Personal and family problem 113 39.79
Job stability 94 33.10
Job advancement 77 27.11
Hypothesis testing
One hypothesis proposed was, there is no significant difference in intention to leave based on demographic factors, i.e. gender, age, educational level, hometown, tenure, and experience in fighting of volunteer rangers. The hypothesis testing was shown on the tables4 to 11.The result revealed that there are no significant difference in intention to leave among volunteer rangers in the fourth royal Thai army area based on gender, educational level, home town location, and experience in fighting. On the other hand, there are significant differences in intention to leave among volunteer rangers based on their age and tenure. The intention to leave mean scores decreased when significant difference in the mean level between volunteer rangers aged less than 30 years old and more than 35 years old, and between those aged 30-35 years old and more than 35 years old. Based on tenure, there are significant differences on intention to leave. The mean level of intention to leave of volunteer rangers with tenures less than 3 years differ significantly from those with more than 5 years. Those with 3-5 year tenures also differsignificantly from thosewith more than 5 years.
Table 4 t-test for the differences in intention to leave based ongender
Intention to leave
Gender n X S.D. t P
-1.475 0.141
Male 332 3.01 0.64
Female 108 3.15 0.65
Total 430 3.03 0.65
Table 5 ANOVA fordifferences in intention to leave based on age Intention
to leave
Age n X S.D. F P
4.986* 0.007 Less than 30 years old 250 3.07 0.62
30-35 years old 85 3.05 0.63
More than35 years old 95 2.76 0.78
Total 430 3.03 0.65
*p<.05
Table 6Scheffe Post Hoc Test: Mean differences in intention to leave based on age
Age Age
Less than 30 years old
- years old More than years old
Less than 30 years old -0.2735 -0.31920*
30-35 years old 0.2735 . -0.29185*
More than35 years old 0.31920* 0.29185*
*p<.05
Table 7 ANOVA for differences in intention to leave based on educational level Intention
to leave
Educational level n X S.D. F P
1.004 0.367 High school
degree/Equivalent
253 3.06 0.64
Diploma 65 3.07 0.69
higher
112 3.12 0.64
Total 430 3.08 0.65
Table8 ANOVA for differences in intention to leave based on home town Intention
to leave
Home town location n X S.D. F P
1.596 0.204 The 3 southernmost
provinces
126 2.99 0.66
In southern Thailand but not in the 3 southernmost provinces
170 3.09 0.68
In other region 134 3.01 0.59
Total 430 3.03 0.65
Table 9 ANOVA for differences in intention to leave based on tenure Intention
to leave
Tenure n X S.D. F P
7.104* 0.001
Less than 3 years 158 3.12 0.63
3-5 years 166 3.06 0.61
More than 5 years 106 2.75 0.75
Total 430 3.03 0.65
*p<.05
Table 10Scheffe Post Hoc Test: Mean differences in intention to leave based on tenure
Tenure Tenure
Less than 3 years
- years More than years
Less than 3 years -0.05187 -0.35759*
3-5 years 0.05187 . -0.30572*
More than5 years 0.35759* -0.30572*
*p<.05
Table 11 t-test for the differences in intention to leave based on experience in fighting
Intention to leave
Experience in fighting
n X S.D. t P
-1.510 0.132
Never 201 2.97 0.68
Involved in fighting
229 3.07 0.63
Total 430 3.03 0.65
Discussions
Differences based on demographic factors, i.e. gender, educational level, home town location and experience in fighting the unrest in the three southernmost provinces showed no differences in the level of intention to leave. This confirms the result of some previous studies showing that there is no significant difference in intention to leave between males and females (Jonathan, Thibeli & Darroux, 2013; Suadicani, Bonde, Olesen & Gyntelberg, 2013). There is also no difference in intention to leave based on educational levels (Choong, Keh, Tan & Tan, 2013;
Jonathan,Thibeli&Darroux, 2013).Additionally, geographical workplace location was not found to be a predictor of intention to leave(Aguiniga, Maddenb, Faulknerc & Salehinb, 2013). This implies thatthe distance from theworkplace to their hometowndoes not matter. Difference in experience in
fighting was not found to have any difference in intention to leave. This is in line with the results from the studies on the British army personnel which showed strong retention trend despite experiencing combat operations in Iraq (Dandeker et al., 2010).This is similar to that of the US army personnel retention trend after returning from deployment in Iraq and Afghanistan (Kapp, 2013). So, in spite of their demographic differences, volunteer rangers are bound by the same rules, receive the same compensation, and are fixed on the same mission, thus their intention to leave is alike.
On the other hand differences in age and tenure were found to have significant differences in tenure increased. It is possible that older volunteer rangers have lower intention to leave than younger ones because they have been working for the ranger organization for a long time and are more committed to the same organization. In addition, their age is increased but the job alternative for them is decreased and th
lives. An individual career stages are similar to biological cycles of growth and decay. Individuals may change several jobs and careers during the early stage of their career cycle than in the later stage of the cycle London & stumpf, 1982). In addition, age has a significant negative correlation with intention to leave (Baultum, 2011; Hemdi & Rahim 2011; Benjamin, Ilevbare, & Alausa, 2012). The employees who were over 35 years of age were less likely to have intention to leave than other groups (Tschannen, Kalisch & Lee, 2010). Employee tenure has significant influence on intention to leave
differences in the level of intention to leave (Wilson, 2008; Pusapanich, 2010). The employees who have been working in a job within the first 5 years tend to have higher intention to leave than other employees Wilson, 2008).
that personal and family problems, job stability, and job advancement is supported by previous studies (Ghayyur & Jamal, 2012; Habib, Muktar & Jamal, 2010; Perryer, Jordan, Firns &
Travaglione, 2010) Conclusion
The intention to leave of volunteer rangers is at a medium level. Differences based on age and tenure were found to have differences in intention to leave (p<.05). The findings also showed stability and job advancement. It is thus recommended that to retain volunteer rangers, the fourth royal Thai army are a organization should pay more attention to those aged less than 30 and those compared with other groups. Family welfare and support especially for deployed vo
families should be given particular attention. Additionally, military leaders should take support for policies to reduce turnover rate of volunteer rangers.
Acknowledgement
Thank you to Col. Somchart Plemjit, vice commanding officer of the southernmost provinces ranger forces, associate professor Dr. Pajaree Ponprasert, and associate professor Absorn E-sor for valuable suggestions, and thank you to the ranger regimental commanding officers from regiment numbers 41-49 that facilitated data collection.
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