Publication:Plan Blue 2006/Fundamental Inputs to Capability - People
| 53. | a. | Recruit, develop and retain high quality people[1] for the Navy. |
| b. | The delivery of quality training and education must align with the expectations of Future Navy people and future employment requirements at sea and ashore. The individual readiness of people must be maintained. | |
| c. | Conditions of service and Navy’s organisation and administrative procedures must reflect increased societal expectations and ensure balance is maintained between career, family and an individual’s private interests.[2] | |
| d. | Future Navy leaders must be highly competent business managers. |
Guidance
54. Career Navy. The Future Navy faces increasing competition from the private and public sectors for a decreasing number of skilled and talented young people. Navy must be considered as an employer of choice to recruit and retain talented people in the future. Navy must ensure that it is a career option for all Australians across the increasingly wide range of age groups and cultures that will make up the population in the coming decades. Flexible entry and re-entry processes are required to recruit people who have commenced their working life in other sectors of the work force and to regain trained Navy people who have chosen to break their naval careers. The acknowledgment of relevant civilian skills and experience through pay and/or rank will be required, as will the ability to offer employment flexibility such as combinations of full and part-time employment.
55. Smarter Navy. Continuous education remains the key to providing Navy's future people with the skills to operate effectively in complex security and organisational environments. Navy leaders will have to be able to perform in joint positions as the role of joint agencies in the administration and conduct of Defence activities continues to grow. Navy's through-career education and training must adapt to changes in our demographic environment. The individual levels of training and education will have to increase with an emphasis on leadership, decision making, the application of technology and the operational art. The delivery of this training and education must be consistent with other strategic themes to train cost-effectively, reduce time away from home and leverage flexible training delivery methodologies, such as e-learning. The appropriate use of simulation in individual training will enhance individual capabilities, save resources and reduce risk. The individual readiness of Navy people should be maintained as a priority within this flexible training system.
56. Conditions of Service. The demands of sea postings will need to be balanced against the desire to attend to personal matters and career issues when in home port. Alternate crewing strategies and flexible training delivery methodologies are ways of addressing this balance. For example, career advancement courses, Navy-sponsored higher education and some personal readiness elements of work-up training might be done from home. These types of initiatives should complement and build upon the innovative crewing and administrative retention strategies of Sea Change. The way Navy runs duty routines, fuels, maintains and stores ships in home port may also generate options for relieving personnel of duties to spend more time at home.
57. Personnel Management. Innovative Personnel Management initiatives must be implemented so that high future operational tempo and operational availability for future ships do not overburden our people. The use of technology to streamline and automate business processes must make it easier and faster for Navy people to administer their careers, while retaining face-to-face access with their career managers. Network access for all Navy people and appropriate early career training is required to support this process.
58. Business Management. Costs must continue to be driven down in all areas of Navy's business while balancing the requirements to retain our people, balance workloads and maintain operational capability. The future fiscal environment will require Navy leaders to have improved business and resource management skills, which will include an understanding of the relevant tools and decision making support systems. Savings will have to be made in Navy's personnel costs while balancing the need to attract people to Navy careers. It is likely the Future Navy will have incrementally fewer people; the key will be to ensure they have better conditions of service and a manageable workload.
