Fear not, thou little flock : Why do personnel of the Swedish Armed Forces change employer?

The personnel are said to be the most valuable asset of the Swedish Armed Forces. The efficiency of the organisation is nevertheless challenged by lack of personnel. This in times of deteriorating stability in the Baltic region and one of renaissance of the mission of national defence. In order to meet these challenges, it is imperative to attract, develop and to keep the personnel. This study aims to answer the question of what the main causes of turnover focusing on the officers and non-commissioned officers. The methodical approach has been that of a qualitative interview study, using Frederick Herzberg´s Two-Factor theory as a theoretical lens. The main factors emerging in this study are those of the impact of family-work conflict, uncertainty of the career development and the lack of a leadership to manage these factors to a positive outcome. As of this it is recommended by the authors of this study to more strongly emphasize the role of the employer in the training and the profession of the modern officer. This in order to cope more efficiently with the above challenges in order to maintain the most valuable asset of the armed forces, namely the officers, non-commissioned officers, and last but not least, the rank and file