Defence Magazine

Striving to do more with less has its limits. When your team is dwindling at the same time your demands are mounting, pressure is rising and the pace of work accelerating, there comes a point when doing any more with the little you have is no longer possible.

Too few ADF personnel have continued to serve beyond their initial period of service in recent years. The cost of current separation trends is not only financial, but a gradual decline in the experience and leadership base of our ADF. Such a decline has implications for our ability to grow and nurture the next generation of recruits joining the ADF, and recover the specialist employment categories and cohorts already facing critical personnel shortfalls.

The solution to this problem lies in how we motivate and inspire commitment in our people. The challenges and enticements that draw a young, new recruit to the ADF are not necessarily the same motivators and incentives that keep fully trained and experienced personnel within the ADF. The DSWP calls for more targeted measures to appeal to personnel at critical career and life stages to ensure we not only grow in number, but also in strength.

Defence regularly surveys its workforce to gauge personnel attitudes, behaviors and trends that shape our organisation. Managers at all levels can draw from the finding of this readily available research to better understand what motivates their people, and how they can better harness the potential of their workforce and ensure their ongoing commitment to Defence.

For further information regarding current personnel research, access the Defence Strategic Personnel, Policy and Research website on the Defence Restricted Network at: http://intranet.defence.gov.au/dpe/ and click on "Personnel Research".

Since 2004, the number of Australian Defence Force (ADF) personnel has declined, when it should have been increasing. In many ways, our ability to do so much, so well at home and abroad with our current workforce is a testament to the strength and quality of our people. But this situation is neither ideal nor sustainable, and we plan to do something about it.

This plan is the Defence Strategic Workforce Plan 2007-17 (DSWP). The DSWP is the principal planning document for Defence's workforce and provides the necessary direction to build a balanced and sustainable military and civilian workforce over the next decade.

Finding this enduring balance is a considerable, but not insurmountable challenge for Defence. The strategies and actions outlined in the DSWP aim to address key workforce challenges and risks and provide the guidance necessary to effect real change at all working levels across the organisation. The key result areas that shape the Plan encompass broad issues from how we manage the nexus between workforce and defence capability, recover critical shortfalls in ADF and Australian Public Service employment groups, negotiate the challenges of an ageing public service and promote the character and conduct of the Defence organisation.

The strategies and actions that address these issues draw from, and complement, initiatives and programs already underway, including Navy's Sea Change Program, Air Force's Personnel Strategy and Army's Hardened and Networked Campaign Plan, as well as the Enhanced Land Force (Project STAN).

It's hard to escape media discussion about Australia's ageing population, national skill shortages, and changing career expectations. What does it all mean for Defence? It means increased competition for our skilled and experienced personnel and a declining pool of potential recruits to the ADF. Simultaneously, our demand for specialist and technical skills and experience is continuing to grow, driven by the sustained, high pace of operations, plans to rapidly grow the ADF, and Government's strong investment in major capital acquisitions.

Success in addressing these challenges and risks relies not on the actions of a few human resource professionals or a dedicated Personnel Executive. It will be realised through substantial changes to the way we manage people and business. From our relationships with colleagues and the way we manage and provide meaningful opportunities, rewards, support and respite for our staff, to how we plan major projects in concert with other organisational and operational demands; the implications for the individual are real and enduring and often make the difference between a lasting commitment and a sudden departure.

Defence's understanding of the workforce challenge presented in the DSWP emerges from robust research and analysis conducted within our organisation. The Defence Personnel Environment Scan 2025 (DPES) provides an in-depth study of the pressures facing the organisation over the next 20 years and beyond. This kind of research equips us to make informed decisions that will positively shape and position Defence to meet the workforce challenges of the future.

The Future Workforce Concept (FWC) is one such document that has emerged from the direction set by the research presented in the Personnel Environment Scan and will guide future DSWP iterations. The FWC examines the ends, means and ways to gain and retain a workforce able to keep pace with changing operational demands and developing military technology. The DSWP has also informed strategic documents, such as Defence 2020 and the Defence Capability Strategy currently under development.

The DSWP was recently endorsed by the Defence Committee and will be soon available to Defence personnel. It will ensure the decisions we make across the organisation support our people and address the workforce challenge we face to 2017 and beyond.

For further information concerning the DSWP, contact Brigadier Gerard Fogarty, Director-General, Workforce Planning or Mr Brian Brennan, A/Director, Workforce Strategy.

Catherine Smyth is Staff Officer: Planning, Workforce Strategy, Personnel Executive.

So you don't wear a uniform in blue, green or white? Perhaps you are one of many Defence civilians. Defence civilians represent the second largest portion of the Defence workforce (behind Army), yet it is often an invisible contingent of the organisation. Nevertheless, Defence civilians make a considerable contribution to Defence capability: working in operational theatres, providing intelligence and ministerial advice, delivering necessary project management, logistics support, equipment acquisition, and financial, administrative and policy support.

Workforce planning for this key component of our workforce has been largely overlooked in the past. The current iteration of the DSWP attempts to remedy this oversight by examining risks arising from an ageing public service, high turnover between Groups and the effects of upward classification movement. It also proposes a number of strategies to more effectively manage and develop the civilian workforce.

Defence

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