In making a major decision, like the voluntary decision to leave ones current organization, there are opposing forces that push us towards or pull us away from making the change. Traditional turnover models have focused mainly on the push (i.e., the desire to leave) and paid little attention to the pull (i.e., the ability to leave) or those factors influencing an employee to stay. Furthermore, prior research has not measured these variables separately from their predictors (i.e., desire to leave has been represented by satisfaction and ability to leave has been represented by perceived alternatives). Given the weak and inconsistent findings in prior turnover research, the current dissertation improves upon the explanatory and predictive capabilities of turnover models by establishing the independence of desire to leave and ability to leave and directly measuring these key constructs. In addition, I posit that ability to leave acts as a moderator to the relationship between desire to leave and actual intention to leave the organization. The model developed here was tested using a two phased approach. First, in-depth interviews were conducted to establish the practical distinction between desire to leave and ability to leave the organization. This phase also explored the potential antecedents (i.e., job satisfaction, organizational commitment, perceived alternatives, and elements of job embeddedness) to these two key variables. In the second phase, a survey was conducted and structural equation modeling was used to test the turnover model. Using 204 full-time employee respondents to the survey, I found that, as hypothesized, an individuals desire to leave had a direct and positive relationship with intent to leave, and that this relationship was moderated by ability to leave. In addition, findings suggest that while keeping employees satisfied and committed are important factors for organizations to consider, there are other factors such as providing a work-life balance and opportunities for personal growth, that are important factors driving both an employees desire and ability to leave the organization.