Defence

Feature

Getting recruiting right

"The biggest strategic challenge we continue to face is the challenge of recruiting and retaining our people so that we can have an Australian Defence Force (ADF) well into the future."

-Chief of the Defence Force, Air Chief Marshal Angus Houston, February 2006.

By Amy Hawke and Emma Gorny

A systems approach to ADF recruiting

ADF recruitment is not solely the responsibility of the Defence Force Recruiting Branch (DFR). Recruitment for the ADF involves a whole system of elements from within Defence, linking policy, targets, recruiting operations, training schools and capability. Working with the Services across many levels, DFR helps to ensure that the ADF recruiting system meets its mission to provide the right people, in the right numbers and at the right time, in order to generate Defence capability.

Last year, DFR provided 7109 personnel to the ADF. This financial year, the recruiting target has increased to over 9000 personnel. White Paper and Hardened and Networked Army personnel requirements, plus the announcement of the establishment of two new battalions, have added to the pressure on DFR to meet recruiting targets.

DFR, under the leadership of Brigadier Simon Gould, is up to the challenge with a broad range of activities and initiatives underway at the strategic, operational and organisational levels to ensure that ADF people requirements can be met.

Strategic

The ADF Recruiting Strategic Plan 2005-2010 (ADF RSP) looks at the big picture and seeks to ensure the fundamentals of the system are right.

The Directorate of Strategic Recruiting (DSR) has been energetically developing and implementing initiatives against the Action Plans in the ADF RSP since its establishment less than a year ago. As a result, major policy changes have been implemented, new schemes and initiatives developed to enhance attraction to ADF careers, and activities undertaken to raise the profile of the ADF.

The media has provided extensive coverage on changes to ADF entry standards - although the facts have not always been reported! As always, high entry standards are required of ADF applicants to ensure that members can perform their duties effectively, cope with the rigorous demands of military life and be deployed to meet operational requirements. Accordingly, entry standards have been reviewed to ensure their relevance in contemporary Australian society. Defence will not change any existing recruiting policy if it believes that it provides a real risk to ADF capability.

In June, the Chiefs of Service Committee endorsed changes to the following policies:

• Non-medical use of drugs. Admission of previous use of a prohibited substance by a candidate will now not lead to immediate removal from the process. All admissions will be explored by a DFR psychologist to ensure that drug use is not ongoing and, along with lifestyle and personal characteristics, an assessment and recommendation will then be made on suitability for Service life. Defence maintains a no tolerance drug policy for ADF members, but prior experimentation by a candidate will no longer exclude them from applying to join.
• Tattoos. Tattoos are common; therefore, it was appropriate for Defence to review related policies. Now, any candidate with a tattoo is eligible to join the ADF providing the tattoo is not offensive (indicating either violence, inappropriate language or a sexual nature), and the tattoo does not appear on the face or neck, except for valid religious or cultural reasons.

Further review was also endorsed on:

• Maximum Body Mass Index.
• Vision (myopia). The relaxation of visual standards for myopia is proposed following a review of the visual standards required for specific occupational groups.
• Colour perception. The current colour perception classification process is being reviewed, and the screening process changed to enhance accuracy. ADF colour vision standards are also being researched and reviewed to ensure that they are appropriate for all specific ADF occupations.
• Asthma. Research studies will be conducted to determine the impact of asthma on military service. If impact is found to be minimal, ADF entry standards will be relaxed to allow mild asthmatics to enter the ADF.

Another initiative from the ADF RSP that is well underway is the ADF Technical Trades Recruiting Strategy. This strategy has been developed to enhance recruitment to Technical Trade categories using a three-tiered approach.

One of the new schemes developed to increase the applicant pool for the ADF is the Alternative Educational Entry Scheme (AEES). This scheme will provide an alternative approach to assessing candidate educational qualifications, through nationally comparable tests for candidates who do not possess certain Year 10 or Year 12 credentials. Mature-age candidates, or those who were educated overseas, will now be able to have their equivalent education level assessed. The tests are currently being developed with the scheme to be available to applicants from early 2007.

Increasing the number of women who might consider an ADF career is another important priority under the ADF RSP. The proportion of women in the ADF has increased slowly over the last decade (by 0.5 per cent), but does not reflect the overall community increase, with statistics indicating that only 13.2 per cent of the permanent ADF are women. DSR has established a working group to help identify impediments to women joining the ADF and develop strategies that will reduce these impediments. If you have any comments about how to improve recruitment of women to the ADF, please email: adf.recruiting@defence.gov.au. The working group will also link with other work being undertaken by Defence on the retention of women in the ADF.

A range of activities have been implemented to increase awareness of Defence and ADF jobs in the community as part of the ADF Youth Connection Program. The Leadership and Teamwork Awards were launched across schools in July this year. These awards have been developed to reward and recognise the achievements of young leaders in Years 10, 11 and 12 through cash prizes of up to $500 and a certificate of commendation. There has been an excellent uptake of this initiative, with almost two-thirds of all secondary schools Australia-wide registering to be involved. The Youth Connection Program also includes participation in Step to the Future - a program of motivational speakers addressing 15-18 year olds; and reinvigoration of Defence 2020 - an interactive multimedia resource program designed to encourage informed discussion by secondary school students of Defence issues.

ADF Cadets are a section of the community who have already expressed interest in the ADF. The ADF Recruiting Framework for Cadets has been established to increase Cadet access to ADF career information, as well as improve ADF recruiters' awareness of the Cadet experience. The Framework includes 17 initiatives, one of which is the production of a DVD using testimonials from currently-serving ADF members who were once Cadets. The aim is to provide Cadets with real-life stories of ex-Cadets who subsequently joined the ADF, thus motivating more Cadets to follow in their footsteps and join. Thanks to the ADF members who volunteered to be a part of this initiative and gave up their time to be interviewed. The DVD will be distributed in December.

Operational

At the operational level, the Director and General Manager of DFR are also working tirelessly to meet recruiting targets and improve the way business is done. The DFR Business Improvement Plan 06/07 includes a number of continuous improvement activities currently being implemented. The plan is based on improving the number of quality enquiries for an ADF job to over 125 000 this year, while improving the conversion rate of these enquiries to ADF enlistments.

DFR intends to focus on attracting more candidates through improved marketing to increase the enquiry rate. Sponsorship of the Women's National Basketball League and 'defencejobs' Opals was recently launched, as was the highly successful on-line game Extreme Battleships. DFR has also worked closely with Navy to launch the Navy Lifestyle website www.defencejobs.gov.au/navy. Additional funding has recently been approved to further enhance ADF advertising.

Process improvements are also underway, particularly aimed at reducing the length of the recruitment process and improving the conversion rate. Candidate relationship management is being enhanced and the documentation and administration requirements for candidates at initial testing stages have been reduced. The Army Reserve will also be able to move much quicker through the process with the One Day Recruitment Model. Working together with Army, DFR will be able to provisionally enlist Army Reserve candidates after one day, subject to blood and criminal record checks. To improve the process for the ADF's critical categories, the Services have allocated medical, engineering and technical trade personnel to staff specialist recruiting cells, which will increase career promotion, liaison and mentoring for candidates interested in these employment categories.

DFR is also improving business through enhancing 'Powerforce', the candidate management IT system, to ensure it best supports all aspects of the recruitment process.

Organisational

The evaluation of DFR services was performed by Ernst & Young between May and September this year. A large number of key stakeholders from across the ADF recruiting system were consulted during the evaluation, including the Senior Leadership, Service personnel agencies, training establishments, recruits/cadets, Workforce Planning and DFR.

The main aims of the evaluation were to assess the performance of DFR, including Manpower and Defence functions, in the provision of recruiting services since the initiation of the contract. The evaluation also aimed to recommend whether Defence continue with the current model of DFR, or revise the structure, role and responsibility of the recruiting organisation to better support recruiting outcomes.

The evaluation determined that the strategy of contracting a partner to assist in delivering recruitment services is sound. However, the evaluation reported that despite the benefits that have been delivered to date, the current recruiting model is unlikely to meet the future increased requirements of the ADF.

A new model has been proposed, which aims to have enhanced careers promotion and Defence attendance at community events; increased interaction between ADF personnel and candidates at Recruiting Centres; and, better case-management of candidates to assist them through the process as quickly and smoothly as possible.

The Minister for Defence will decide on a way forward for ADF Recruiting and changes will be implemented from July 2007, after the completion of the current recruiting services contract.

It's been a busy 12 months for the new Defence Force Recruiting Branch - with more busy times ahead. Nonetheless, with application of initiatives and improvements at the strategic, operational and organisational level, the Branch will be better equipped to perform its role in the ADF recruiting system and help deliver people capability well into the future.

Amy Hawke and Emma Gorny work at Defence Force Recruiting.

If you would like to find out more about ADF recruiting, visit the new DFR Branch intranet site at http://defweb.cbr.defence.gov.au/dpedfro/ or if you have any comments about recruiting, let us know by emailing: adf.recruiting@defence.gov.au

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