INTRODUCTION

OVERVIEW
The Case Study being analysing in this report is taking the other path (Robbins et al. 2011, p. 181). It is about the Australian Defence Force, and how they attract potential employees through study and their struggle to retain these skilled people within the organisation. To become an attractive employer for potential candidates, the Defence Force need to adapt their human resource management policies and practices to suit the nature of modern workplaces.

The Australian Defence Force recognises that retaining skilled people is a huge challenge and has commissioned the Australian Defence White Paper (2000) and the Personnel Environment Scan (2001 & 2003), which highlighted the need for this organisation to review their human resource management strategies and practices in the light of research related to workplace attitudes and the relationship between selection standards and training in terms of the concepts of organisational fit, psychological contract and organisational commitment (Thomas and Bell 2007, p. 97). The Defence Force needs to gain a superior position in the labour market to keep their employees.

The Australian Defence Force consists of the Army, Navy and Air force. Robbins (et al. 2011, p. 181) states they need to be competitive as a potential employer by offering University qualifications including bachelor and master degrees in areas like health, law and engineering as well as basic trade types such as plumbing, mechanics and electricians. The Defence Force has taken on a motto, Learning for Life as their philosophy for attracting and retaining staff.

One of the key elements for attracting candidates is their work/study program which has many benefits, including earning up to $41,000 a year. Gaining a qualification through the Defence Force means having dental and medical cover, subsidised housing and meals, a textbook allowance,

assistance towards HELP FEEs, on the job skill development as well as the potential for travel. Further to this, the Military Superannuation and Benefits Scheme financially benefit candidates who see 15+ years of enlistment. This encourages people to stay as long as possible, and those staying for the short-term wont see this benefit.

Thomas and Bell (2007, p. 100) reports that peak exit points are less then a year, normally because of medical or administration reasons. Often people realise in this time that military life is not for them. The next exit point is 3 years as it is the minimum period of service requirement for junior noncommissioned personnel. The third exit point is 10 year, which is often the end of services requirements for the completion of tertiary studies. Finally the last exit point is 20 years, the traditional exit under Defence Force Requirement, Death and Benefits Scheme.
A specialist organisation dedicated to finding the right people in the right numbers at the right time by focusing on the needs of ADF and candidates (Robbins et al. 2011, p. 181).

The Defence Force is hoping to increase its permanent workforce of 54,000 by 5% by 2010, although at the time many concerns were raised about how achievable this would be. Challenges of achieving this include the impact of technology as well as peoples ability to meet new objectives and human resource management goals. This is defined as a demand for the Defence Force. Similarly the Defence Force has a supply side, which includes the civilianisation of some military positions.

The criteria for candidates for the Defence Force, there is a focus on drug history including any recent uses or recreational drugs. Perceptual issues, Physical capabilities as well as meeting current trends for skilled labour. Generally these people are Australian born, young, white Angleo-Celtic males, however widening this net to include people of all ages and gender as well as ethnic backgrounds would mean more potential candidates.

The Australian Defence Force has centralised recruitment activities, which are aimed at school career sessions and advertising to entice potential candidates. They particularly focus on positive experiences as well as the

ability to gain valuable skills and credentials from time in service. The Recruitment Centre (2012) says that if you met the key criteria for the Defence Force, you will then need to apply for jobs within the organisation as well as take an Aptitude test, speak with a recruiter and have a medical history review. Further down the track candidates have second doctors visit, see a psychologist and meet with a senior Australian Defence Force member.

While the Defence Force has recognised that the challenge has become keeping the candidates once they have graduated, Thomas and Bell (2007, p. 101) say that the ideal separation rate for the Defence Force is 7%, so a greater recruitment rate will subsidies this; [a]ssuming a force of 51,000, a one percent improvement in recruitment will realise some 500 enlistees. This report analyses the challenge facing the Australian Defence Force in keeping skilled employees, and will discuss potential solutions.

CASE STUDY ANALYSIS Step 1:

Step 2: * By redefining the role of Defence Australia Public Servants and looking at the
employment of Private Sector or Professional Service Providers, the Defence Force could fill front line positions more easily.

Step 3:

Step 4:

CASE STUDY QUESTIONS

Question 1:
1. What are the key HR challenges does ADF faces? How has the organization addressed them? The KEY Human Resource problem [choice of words, its a challenge relate it back to the question] that the Australian Defence Force faces is that it is doing almost everything possible but fails to keep the employees [its not failing, just not keeping high numbers once qualified otherwise we wouldnt have a defence force] with them [think about wording and grammar, sentence reads funny]. Paragraph Employee retention has become a problem [repeating, wording] for them. Human Resource management is considered as an integrative process to nurture people so as to develop and harness their skills as well as competencies and integrate them with the goals and objectives of the ADF [where did you find this information? In-textreference needed]. It is important for the ADF to focus on the effective utilization of the Human Resource as it helps the ADF to attain its set goals and objectives. For this the ADF needs to motivate their employees and take due care of them [where does it say they arent doing these things? Isnt the health care etc taking due care?]. Paragraph [The human resource department needs to make sure that the working environment of the ADF is healthy so that the ADF is able to achieve its goals and is able to properly utilize the skills and abilities of the workers so as to accomplish the task. ADF is trying to give all the facilities it can give to make sure that the employees are retained with it.] This is your opinion a. not necessarily shared by the group & b. not answering the question how has the organisation addressed the challenges. The answer is in the case study; look at talks about the benefits of being in the defence force inc. health care etc. Also this is a report so you need to spell out everything highlighted in PINK and think about creating paragraphs. Otherwise it looks GOOD

Question 2: 2. Evaluate the recruitment method used by ADF? What other methods would you recommend they use? [[I am basically not satisfied with the recruitment process of ADF]. Personal opinion, get rid of it!!] They have an organization [American spelling] who [who is it?] keeps

hiring for them [where does it say this? In-text-reference if gained from outside source, scrap if its your assumption]. Paragraph Though the organization is very good in its work but still i think [personal opinion not needed, scrap. This is a report, no I statements or opinions] that the ADF should focus on following the principle of ONE GREAT PERSON IS EQUAL TO THREE GOOD PEOPLE; following best fit policy of recruitment [where does it say this? In-text-reference?] for which the ADF should focus on extensive selection procedure, for selecting the best capable employee for the ADF as this will help in reducing the high turnover of the ADF. Paragraph Training or human resource development provides employees with the knowledge and skills to perform more effectively. This allows them to meet current job requirements or prepares them to meet the inevitable changes that occur in their jobs. However, training and human resource development is only an opportunity for learning. What is learned depends on many factors, such as the design and implementation of training, the motivation and learning style of the trainees, and the learning climate of the ADF. [good closing, but need in text references for where you got these opinions from]. Too much of your own personal opinion in this question. You need to re-write it! State the facts, use references and bare in mind you are part of a group that might not hold the same opinion as you so stick to the facts, safest thing to do. Dont forget paragraphs. Need to do more on the recommendations Cannot use I STATEMENTS or show they are your opinion use references i.e it may be beneficial for the Australian Defense Force to consider practices like the American Milarary which . [in text reference] Etc etc

Question 3: 3. Consider the various training and development approaches used by ADF. What benefits and drawbacks are there for the ADF? The ADF should focus on following extensive internal training program for their employee as it helps in nurturing the personality and skills of the employee [why

should they? Is this your opionion?]. By training the employees the ADF will be able to Increase its productivity, reduce the possibility of errors and reduces the employee turnover [who says? In-text-reference needed. If its your opinion, its good but re-write it in a that doesnt sound absolute ie. it is possible to assume that if the Australian Defence Force was able to increase . do you see the difference in the wording?]. Paragraph The training should [omit should, it DOES start with orientation] start with the orientation program [who says? In-text-reference ]. The overall goal of orientation is to help new employees learn about the ADF as soon as possible, so that they can begin contributing [who says? In-text-reference needed]. The orientation will help in building favourable employee impression and enhance interpersonal acceptance who says? In-text-reference needed]. . Paragraph The intense training program followed by the ADF will help to motivate the employees and helps in building employee loyalty [who says? In-text-reference needed]. The training aims at aiding the employee to identifying and satisfying the customer needs. They are also trained to cater low cost driven customers [who says? In-text-reference needed]. Through the intensive training program provided to the employees will help in developing and building several skills. Need to idiot proof this response a bit more there is no CLEAR answer to the various training programs / development approaches the Defense Force uses; surely there are more then just the orientation program. Worth listing with brief description some of the others.

The closing paragraph also needs to look at the pros/cons (benefits/drawbacks) of these programs remember you cannot use your opinion you will need to look for argumentative research that says push ups are crap or rope climb is valuable because.

You have included lots of references in the list you provided so please go back and put in the in-text-references that are needed and it will be worth a second look to add a bit more bulk to the questions where I have asked for more information etc also bare in mind that even though these questions to require you to have an opinion with things like the drawbacks and benefits you cannot use I statements etc but must

show these opinions through other peoples work (ie. Quotes, research, etc etc) does that make sense?

CONCLUSION