Retention in the Armed Forces

Recruitment and retention of military personnel is facing myriad challenges, such as changing nature of employment in general, demographic changes related to increasing diversity and aging populations, and continued transition from compulsory military service to all volunteer forces. Military personnel are a critical component for the effectiveness of the armed forces within which they serve. Although attrition of valued personnel is costly for most organizations, it is more costly in military organizations than in the general labour force due to the unique factors related to military service. In particular, many of the requirements of military service require skills and knowledge that can only be acquired through institutionalized military experience and cannot be acquired outside of a military context. Further, to this, armed forces do not generally make use of lateral entry options, but instead require that personnel be selected, trained, promoted, and retained from within the organization. As such, personnel retention of trained and valued personnel is a critical objective for the armed forces, one that is continually challenged in today’s competitive and changing labour context. This session aims to examine key retention-related challenges facing today’s modern militaries, as well as practices, strategies, programs, and policies for facilitating the retention of military members.