In recent years, interest in the different ways in which military employment affects individuals’ work-life balance (WLB) has grown. At the same time, research on military organizations and personnel has increasingly included time-related factors such as deploy-to-dwell (D2D) ratios to help explain adverse health effects of overseas deployments. The aim of this article is to explore connections between organizational systems for regulating deployment frequency and dwell (or respite) time with a particular focus on potential consequences for work-life balance. We focus on personal and organizational factors that shape the nature and outcome of work-life balance, including stress, mental health problems, job satisfaction, and turnover intentions. To explore these links, we first provide an overview of research on the impact of deploy-to-dwell ratios on mental health and social relations. We then turn to the regulation and organization of deployment and dwell time in Scandinavia. Here, the ambition is to identify potential sources of work-life conflict and associated effects for deployed personnel. The results provide a basis for further research into time-related effects of military deployments.
European armed forces still remain predominantly white, male organizations; their societies, however, are becoming more diverse and older. How will these armed forces be able to cope with this challenge? In order to answer this question, in the first semester of 2017, a group of scholars working within the framework of the European Defense Agency conducted an online survey among international experts in human and social sciences, defense managers, policymakers, and journalists specialized in defense issues. The aim of the survey, which followed a previous survey among young people on the attractiveness of the military as a job, was to measure their opinions and ask their suggestions concerning possible ways for increasing diversity in European armed forces. This paper presents some of the results of this multinational online survey.The unique feature of the study is that it is forward-looking and international: experts from various NATO and EU countries were asked how Defense organizations could deal with future challenges of demographic characteristics. The study, therefore, adds to our understanding of possible solutions for ensuring increased diversity in armed forces.
The purpose was to examine relationships between individual characteristics, leadership, group cohesion, and risk and safety attitudes among Swedish conscripts (N = 389). The longitudinal questionnaire study revealed positive associations between safety-specific leadership and safety attitudes, while safety skepticism and leadership promoting risk taking were associated with stronger attitudes of necessary risk taking. Attitudes of unnecessary risk taking, on the other hand, were negatively related to safety-specific leadership and group cohesion, but positively associated with safety fatalism and leadership promoting risk taking. Decreases in safety attitudes were found between basic and unit training. The results highlight the importance of a balanced leadership.
Military activities inevitably include an element of calculated risk taking, while at the same time the unnecessary taking of risks must be minimized. Within the context of the specific mission and situation, a number of factors relating to demographic variables, traits and beliefs may influence individual inclinations towards risk behaviour. The purpose of this study was to examine the relationship between such factors and individual risk propensity. Questionnaire data were gathered from two samples of Swedish soldiers and officers (N = 169) under contract for international missions. Data were analyzed using regression and cluster analyses. Our results show that demographic variables as well as traits and safety values constitute important explanatory factors of individual variations in risk propensity and sensation seeking. Men demonstrated a more skeptical view of safety measures and a higher risk propensity than women. Individuals with a higher degree of risk propensity and sensation seeking tendencies seem to be characterized by a lack of deliberation as well as a skeptical attitude towards safety issues. Furthermore, different “risk profiles” could be identified based on variations in risk propensity, impulsivity and safety values. The results highlight relevant aspects for identifying functional as well as non-functional risk takers. The implications should be of interest for recruiting processes as well as for training and leadership education.
Issues concerning risks in the military have gained increased attention within the Swedish Armed Forces, particularly relating to the new focus on an all voluntary force participating in international missions. Military activities inevitably include an element of calculated risk-taking, while at the same time the unnecessary taking of risks must be minimized. Within the context of the specific mission and situation, a number of factors relating to demographic variables, traits and beliefs may influence individual inclinations towards risk behaviour. The purpose of this study was to examine the relationship between such factors and individual risk propensity. Data were collected from two samples of Swedish soldiers and officers. Examining demographic variables, negative safety values and risk propensity were found to decrease with age, while men demonstrated a more sceptical view of safety measures and a higher risk propensity than women. The trait known as lack of deliberation, reflecting an inability to think ahead and foresee consequences, was positively related to risk propensity. A more sceptical view of safety was shown to be associated with a higher sense of personal invincibility and together with lack of deliberation predicted variations in danger-seeking scores. The distinction between functional and non-functional risk-taking is discussed on the basis of the relationships found in the study. Implications for recruitment to the military as well as for training and leadership are suggested, emphasizing the need for military leaders to balance their leadership in terms of safety-oriented and risk-promoting behaviours.
The Swedish Armed forces has been transformed to an all-volunteer force where the first soldiers began their employment in May 2011. The number of applicants has been satisfying but experiences from other countries indicate that it has been easier to recruit soldiers than to retain them. The aim of this study was to investigate factors affecting the job satisfaction of soldiers. Twenty-one informants who had been employed as soldiers for about a year participated in the study. They came from all three fighting services (army, air force, navy). The data was analyzed according to a grounded theory approach.
The results show that the soldiers’ job satisfaction is related to their inner motivation to join the armed forces. The inner motivation can be divided into: (a) primarily searching for a job and a steady income, (b) a great interest in the armed forces and military tasks, and (c) an aim for a certain education/position. Factors that appear to affect the job satisfaction are, for example: co-workers, salary and experienced meaningfulness. Another result from the study is that strategic decisions at the Head Quarter level that involve unexpected readjustments at the local level tend to have a negative effect on of the soldiers’ motivation and job satisfaction because the leaders at the local units are poorly prepared to handle the changes. This will be more thoroughly discussed during the presentation.
The aim of this study was to investigate whether constructive or destructive leadership behaviors are the best predictors of soldiers’ experienced meaningfulness of work and general job satisfaction. Data were collected among 300 employed soldiers using a questionnaire. The questionnaire contained questions about the immediate leader’s constructive and destructive leadership, meaningfulness of work and general job satisfaction. The results show that the constructive leadership factor inspiration and motivation was the best predictor of both experienced meaningfulness of work and general job satisfaction. None of the destructive leadership factors gave a significant contribution to the models although both the passive and active forms of destructive leadership showed a weak to moderate significant, negative correlation with experienced meaningfulness of work and general job satisfaction.
International operations have become one of the main tasks for the Swedish Armed Forces (SAF). The SAF and Swedish National Defence College organize annual international staff exercises with the purpose of training officers to carry out effective staff work. This study analyzed a staff exercise using Edmondson's team learning model in a military setting. The model was developed by including group cohesion. As defensive routines are a threat to team learning behavior, the possible presence of these was examined. The results indicate that team leader coaching is crucial to support all the variables in the model. The added variable of group cohesion contributed with insights on how the commander used task solving to create group cohesion. Some examples of defensive routines were also revealed but there seemed to be challenges in identifying such routines in this type of exercise setting.
The critical dependence of armed forces on teams carrying out tasks in a continuously changing, uncertain and often dangerous environment, raises questions about how to better understand factors that enable or hamper effective team learning. So far there is no developed field of research into team learning in the Swedish Armed Forces. This is the first of several studies within the Swedish Armed Forces to explore and gain a better understanding of team learning. In this first study of team learning we followed a military staff exercise. The theoretical base in this study is Amy Edmondson’s theoretical model for studying and analyzing team learning. The model consists of context support, team leader coaching, team psychology safety and team learning behavior. The results of this study supports the theoretical model of team learning and describe factors that are important for creating good conditions for team learning behavior.
Although the last few decades have witnessed a shift from conscription to all-volunteer forces in many European countries, recent changes in the European security environment have raised new concerns and prompted several countries to reconsider conscription. However, modern conscription systems have also had to adapt to changing societies and an increasing emphasis on individualistic and neoliberal values. This study aims to examine the various forms of military conscription and illuminate the continuing viability of the conscription model in six European countries: Estonia, Finland, Lithuania, Norway, Sweden, and Switzerland. Four of these countries have consistently maintained conscription (Estonia, Finland, Norway, and Switzerland), while Lithuania and Sweden have recently reinstated conscription. Although conscription systems differ among these countries, there is overall an increasing emphasis on conscript motivation and female participation. Three key aspects are identified to describe different conscription systems: the proportion of conscripted individuals in the birth cohort, motivation to serve, and the approach to female conscripts. Combining these aspects, the study identifies three types of conscription system in these six countries. This article demonstrates that conscription has evolved and adapted to changing societies and security situations instead of merely retaining its traditional form.
Sweden is one of the most gender equal countries in the world, but this is not reflected in the representation of women in the Swedish Armed Forces. Women have increased in both numbers and proportion since the transformation to an all-volunteer force in 2010, but the gender distribution is still skewed and women tend to drop out of the selection process for basic military training to a greater extent than men. The 2014 White Paper emphasizes that the Swedish Armed Forces should actively work to increase the proportion of women at all levels in order to achieve a more even gender distribution. This article describes a project that aims to increase the proportion of women who start basic military training in the Swedish Armed Forces. The project aims to identify successful methods and activities that motivate women and optimize their chances of passing the admission test, and basic military training. Women who passed the first step in the selection process for basic military training were contacted by the project. Women who were contacted and participated in activities were positive, stayed longer in the selection process, and looked forward to beginning basic military training.
One important objective of the Swedish Armed Forces, as expressed in the plan for implementing gender mainstreaming from 2015 onwards, is to increase the number of women in the organization, especially in the higher ranks. Recruiting more women to the Officers’ Programme, while at the same time ensuring that women who have already enrolled as officers will remain in the military, are therefore of utter importance. This article is based on a qualitative study where six recent and present female cadets were interviewed focusing on their experiences of their time in preparing to become officers at the Swedish Military Academy as well as how they perceive a future career with in the Swedish Armed Forces. A thematic analysis was used to analyze the results from which three dimensions emerged : ambition, culture and visibility. Ambition relates to expectations before and during the education, personal grit, perceived demands and family planning. Culture covers traditions, personal treatment and jargon, idealizing of masculinity, as well as servicewomen’s adaptation strategies. The last dimension, visibility, derives from the way females are made visible in the form of “tokens”, and is enhanced through the recruitment and marketing campaigns of the Swedish Armed Forces where women are often singled out as the main focus. Women are made visible because of their sex, not for their achievements. The study suggests that the Swedish Armed Forces should reconsider their focus on women in their internal and external communication. Further suggestions include involving lower-ranking defence employees in the work related to implementing the value system, and seeing to it that its practical application is an integrated part of the education at the Officers’ Programme, while also introducing a mentorship programme for female cadets.
With the demographic change taking place all over European societies, the number of young people entering the labor market will decline. As a result, European Defense organizations will likely face severe recruitment and retention problems and find themselves in ever more direct competition with the private sector to attract the best candidates. To offset the shrinking base of recruitment, they will have to become more attractive to potential recruits and to increase the number of candidates in previously under-represented segments (for example, women and ethnic-cultural minorities). The paper presents selected results from an online survey carried out between Spring 2015 and Spring 2016 in five countries (Belgium, the Netherlands, Norway, Sweden, and Switzerland) among samples of young people. The paper presents how young people from these countries in general, view their armed forces, what their job expectations are, and what they think the armed forces can offer them. The multinational survey on which the analyses were based is part of a collaborative project conducted within the framework of the European Defense Agency on the impact of demographic change on the recruitment and retention of personnel in European armed forces.
With the demographic change taking place all over European societies, the number of young people entering the labor market is declining. As a result, the armed forces of Westernpostindustrial societies are facing severe recruitment problems and find themselves in ever more direct competition with the private sector to attract the best candidates. To offset the shrinking base of recruitment, they have to become more attractive to potential recruits and to increase the number of candidates in previously under-represented segments, particularly women. The paper presents selected results from an online survey carried out between Spring 2015 and December 2016 in 6 countries (Belgium, Canada, The Netherlands, Norway, Sweden, and Switzerland) among samples of young people. Following previous papers which dealt with the attractiveness of a military career among young people in general, and women and ethnic-cultural minorities in particular, this paper analyzes various factors that, presently, deter a lot of young women to consider joining the armed forces. The multinational survey on which the analyses are based is part of a collaborative research project conducted within the framework of the European Defense Agency on the impact of demographic change on the recruitment and retention of personnel in European armed forces.
This article examines the experiences of newly graduated officers and specialist officers, as they recently entered employment in the Swedish Armed Forces. Building on 35 interviews, this article illustrates the dynamics of excessive workload and an unstructured working environment, and how embedded strategies for mentoring and guidance can reduce negative outcomes associated with the workload. The article introduces the concept of career time, reflecting the participant?s propensity to perform unpaid work to pursue a career in the organization. This study reveals tensions between organizational and employee interests, and experiences of exclusion from the officer profession, contextualized drawing on classical theorists Foucault and Habermas. When restructuring organizations, the quest for efficiency can outweigh professional values, such as esprit de corps and taking pride in work and professional identity.
Background: A military career puts great demands on the individual as regards combining working life and private life. The military and the family both demand time, energy, engagement, and commitment from the individual. Finding an appropriate balance between work and non-work might be particularly complex during military training and deployments that require extended periods away from home. The aim of this study was to investigate newly employed officers’ perceptions of work-life balance and its implications for future careers.
Participants and procedure: This article is based on 34 semi-structured interviews with newly employed officers and non-commissioned officers in the Swedish Armed Forces (SAF). The interviews were analyzed according to the six-phase approach of coding and theme development by thematic analysis.
Results: The analysis resulted in the emergence of three main themes: coping with different loyalties, individual and organizational strategies, and concerns about the future. All officers expressed loyalty to their work and organization, but these perceptions were influenced by significant others in private life. High ambitions in combination with stressful working conditions made organizational supportive strategies important, but these differed between units. Concerns about a constantly high workload and lack of recovery were highlighted, as well as concerns about future career and family building.
Conclusions: In order to retain qualified personnel, the SAF should provide support and create conditions that help employees to balance work and non-work. A career in the Armed Forces will inevitably entail a reduced work-life balance, and our results show that the newly employed officers are highly aware of this. To ease the pressure, the SAF could be clearer about the expectations on their new employees.
The purpose of this study was to assess personality traits, psychological fitness, and hardiness among conscript soldiers volunteering for international missions (n = 146), by comparing them with conscripts from the same year class and unit who did not apply for international missions (n = 275). The sample consisted of all mandatory enlisted soldiers assigned to a supply and maintenance regiment. There were no demographic differences between the groups. The volunteers reported greater stress tolerance, concern for others, extraversion, and self-confidence than the non-volunteers. There were no differences between the groups in orderliness, temper instability, or independence. Volunteers repeatedly reported greater psychological fitness for military missions and greater hardiness over the period of military service compared to the non-volunteers.
The Swedish Armed Forces are in a growth phase where increased volumes of conscripts accentuate the already strained supply of officers to the organization. The organization is facing the challenge of recruiting among the conscripts for the various officer training programs, while there is also an immediate need for officers to be able to take care of and train the conscripts who constitute the personnel of the future. In connection with the reintroduction of conscription, the categories of conscript platoon commanders and group commanders were also reintroduced. The purpose of this study is to gather the experiences of the training with complete advantage that these conscripted officers undergo, as well as the desire for continued involvement in the Swedish Armed Forces. Twelve conscript officer recruits at one of the military units that have reintroduced conscripted commanders were interviewed in focus groups in September 2022 and May 2023. The interviews were analysed through thematic analysis. The results indicate that experiences varied primarily based on the reception and treatment within the companies. The initial training was considered predominantly educational and of high quality. Challenges arose regarding ambiguity in roles and responsibilities, lack of knowledge about the new officer categories within the unit, and varying treatment. Personal challenges could be managed, while structural obstacles were perceived as more difficult to overcome. Inadequate utilization of one’s full capacity led to frustration, while high motivation and commitment was reflected in this experience. The motivation to continue commitment within the Armed Forces was influenced by factors related to the organization's offerings, job nature, and the global situation. 'Location' was a dual-impact factor where flexibility and mobility were attractive, while distance and its impact on civilian life negatively affected attractiveness. Motivational factors were linked to perceptions of different career paths within the Armed Forces. The vertical and horizontal dimensions of career development connected to the different officer categories influenced interest, while a lack of early information created uncertainty about career choices and the options available. The report concludes with some recommendations intended to further improve the effect of conscription training and increase motivation for continued commitment, which in the long run can have a positive impact on military capability.
Syftet med föreliggande studie var att med kvalitativ metodik fånga in de upplevelser av GMU som finns hos rekryter och utbildningsbefäl. Intervjuer utfördes därför med 25 rekryter och befäl under GMU 2 2011 på Amf 1 och I 19. Synen på Försvarsmakten präglades av att organisationen har en viktig uppgift samt att den erbjuder gemenskap och frihet i arbetet. Negativt är bland annat att FM upplevs som byråkratisk och att alla förändringsprocesser leder till osäkerhet. Inställningen till GMU var i stort positiv men vissa problem upplevdes kring själva omställningsprocessen. Rekryterna uppfattades generellt som motiverade men de ådrog sig många skador och att de fysiska kraven vid rekryteringen ansågs lågt ställda. Utbildningstiden är kort och GMU blir därför väldigt komprimerad. Då GMU-rekryterna är frivilliga och blivande kollegor menade flera att det krävs ett annat förhållningssätt och ett mjukare ledarskap. Detta kan dock kontrasteras mot att det beskrevs en förväntan om att det ska vara en viss grad av tuffhet i en militär utbildning. Vardagliga glädjeämnen var att få vistas i naturen, möjligheten att få åka på internationell tjänst, kamratanda och att ha möjlighet att förändra något i samhället. Irritationsmoment var oro för utbildningens krav och för examinationer.
By identifying components relevant to conscripts' success in and positive attitudes towards the military, we may be able to make it a more attractive employment option for current and future age-cohorts, thus solving the recruitment crisis not only in Sweden, but in several other European countries that have recently made the shift from conscription to an all-volunteer force. Precisely, this study aims to identify and examine conscripts' values and attitudes towards their mandatory tour of duty. The objective of this study is to analyze the components important to Swedish conscripts in order to determine what components should be included or emphasized in future military education programmes. Data were collected from 55,239 conscripts between 2002 and 2010 (when conscription was suspended in Sweden), using an anonymous course evaluation questionnaire. Data from 2002-2005 were combined and used as a baseline to compare against data from later years. Principal component analysis was conducted and resulted in 3 components being extracted for each year (except 2008, a year for which only 2 components were extracted). Those components were individual development, group cohesion, and competence/ state of readiness. The study's most important conclusion was that conscripts' attitudes and values were in line with those of younger generations and that a focus on these values may lead to the development of more attractive educational and career opportunities for today's youth.
The Preparatory Military Training (PMT) project, a labour market programme, resulted in 2012 from a collaboration between the Swedish Armed Forces (SAF) and Public Employment Service (PES), with the former in the lead role as organizer. The project wanted to attract long-term unemployeds of non-EU immigrant extraction and prompt them to undertake ten weeks of training and practice in SAF facilities on a voluntary basis. The SAF's aim was essentially to incite them to enlist at a later stage so as to benefit from their expertise in non-European languages and cultures on international missions, and also to strengthen the SAF's image as an attractive employer. Implementation results showed that while PMT failed to attract as many participants as anticipated and to generate a significant number of later enlistments, it was successful in most other respects : the Swedish military managed to reach out to a much sought-after recruitment target group, and saw its image improve in the eyes of participants who were overall very satisfied with it, notably with the military part of the training. The Public Employment Service, for its part, regarded it as one of the most successful labour programmes ever conducted in Sweden as most participants found jobs or pursued further studies upon completion of PMT. Yet, the programme was discontinued after 2014, not least because of another round of military downsizing. But the recent reinstatement of conscription in Sweden will likely make the findings derived from it useful in making the armed forces more representative of society's diverse composition.
The purpose of this thesis was to study the prerequisites for the Swedish Armed Forces (SAF) in order to recruit sufficient numbers of suitable individuals to the organization, and to retain those within the organization.
The thesis comprises three studies (Study 1-3) where Study One comprises data gathered, with a longitudinal design, when Sweden relied on conscription for the manning of the Armed Forces. Results show that those wanting to do international military service assessed themselves higher for required qualities than those individuals not volunteering for international military service. Study Two shows that job satisfaction, according to Hackman and Oldham´s Job satisfaction model, is higher when job characteristics are good, and they in turn affect the Critical Psychological States, as proposed by Hackman and Oldham. Study Three indicates that there is a relation between performance orientation, job characteristics, job satisfaction and retention. In sum, this thesis suggests that there are different incentives for recruiting and retaining personnel to a conscripted force, and an all-volunteer force. Furthermore, the thesis indicates that an all-volunteer force concept is not the best way of manning the armed forces, for Sweden and countries with similar society, size and likewise a critical geopolitical position.