By differentiating turnover rates from individual turnover, and discussing turnover as the depletion
of human capital resources that “are intangible unit-level constructs that can possess the characteristics
needed to influence unit performance and competitive advantage” (Nyberg & Ployhart, 2013:
113), CET theory describes collective turnover as part of a dynamic system. It emphasizes the microfoundations
of human capital resource depletion by describing the emergence of collective turnover.
CET theory also embeds the consequences of collective turnover within the nomological network of
human capital resources, and discusses how they are affected by the timing of turnover and the flows
within a dynamic system (Nyberg & Ployhart, 2013). It also highlights the reciprocal relationship
between unit-level turnover and human capital resources, while at the same time noting that the
quantity and the quality of voluntary turnover can independently affect the human capital resource.