Publication:Sea Talk Spring 2008/Recruiting now
By Annie Casey
Defence is the employer looking for the largest number of people in Australia at a time when the labour market is tightening amidst the backdrop of an ageing population.
Savvy employers are also competing to attract the same people with similar professional, technical and trade skills and Defence is becoming increasingly innovative and flexible to gain an edge in attracting those people to meet our particular standards - including in the critical areas of immediate need.
Defence has been meeting these challenges through a variety of modifications which include organisational reform of Defence Force Recruiting (DFR) - just completed, as well as identifying the most successful methods to recruit the right people at the right time.
Methods include establishing specialist recruiting cells in health, engineering and technical trades with four uniformed people and one contractor at the frontline of each cell.
New areas have been penetrated in the TAFE areas of medical, engineering and technical trades which have been difficult to tackle. Another specialist partner, Alliance People Solutions, has been brought into the mix in addition to Manpower specifically to deliver an extra 200 people to our recruiting priorities.
An Australian company Chandler MacLeod has recently been awarded the five year contract to carry DFR forward from next February.
Recently appointed Director General of Defence Force Recruiting, CDRE Tim Barrett, acknowledged the immediate challenges. “At the same time as meeting the ongoing goal of achieving and maintaining target numbers we will be consolidating the changes of the new DFR model, along with the transition of the recruitment contractor,” he said. “To meet these demands we have selected a specialist transition manager whose dedicated task is to track and oversee these changes. “
The DG also has some simple and direct advice to currently serving Navy people - especially if they meet someone looking at joining. “I would say; Give them your story - what’s good about life in the Navy and the ADF,” he said. “Be open and encouraging but also be honest - and then get them to call 13 19 01.” We have also widened our scope of enlistment at the career counselling stages by advising exactly what jobs are available to candidates. In the past we asked people to nominate three preferences. The current message highlights the fact there is a diverse range of opportunities to place interested candidates.
And recruiters need to have the people skills to engage with candidates but importantly must also have product knowledge for more than 200 different jobs.
In view of that, DFR has identified the need to look after our recruiters with plans for their personal and professional development.
Other challenges being addressed include widening the recruiting pool and the need to significantly improve recruiting women, indigenous Australians and people from non-English speaking backgrounds.
Recent changes to the way in which Navy approaches recruiting include forming the Directorate of Recruiting Management Navy (DRM-N), which is responsible for a broad range of recruiting functions including the creation, promulgation and subsequent management of officer and sailor targets (vacancies) to meet with Navy workforce priorities, liaison with initial training authorities and career management agencies, implementation of strategic initiatives, and extensive involvement in the development and implementation of specific Navy marketing and branding activities.
The DRM-N also monitors recruiting system shortfalls and is responsible for the implementation and review of all Navy recruiting policy including new strategies and modes of entry into the Navy such as ADF GapYear, non-category specific entry, sailor early enlistment, etc.
The overall picture for Navy has improved with a marked increase in our recruiting intakes from 05/06 - with Navy improving its intake by 318 in 06/07 and a further increase of 96 in 07/08. Over the same years the total ADF intake has increased by about 1000 annually.
More information on recruiting directions, current recruiting initiatives and achievements can be found at www.defencejobs.gov.au and http://intranet.defence.gov.au/navyweb/sites/DRMN/
