2024: Crisis Management Days Conference Proceedings
International and European Security (contemporary migrations, professionalization of the armed forces, future of European defense, etc.)

Compensation as a tool for attracting employees to the military organization

Slobodan Čurčija
Croatian Defence Academy „Dr. Franjo Tuđman“
Mladen Trnski
Croatian Defence Academy „Dr. Franjo Tuđman“

Published 2024-10-20

Keywords

  • human resources,
  • attracting employees,
  • military organization,
  • compensation

How to Cite

Čurčija, S., & Trnski, M. (2024). Compensation as a tool for attracting employees to the military organization. Crisis Management Days. Retrieved from https://ocs.vvg.hr/index.php/DKU/article/view/624

Abstract

Every company aims to attract employees who can contribute to its success. However, in today's business environment, simply posting job ads isn't enough to secure top talent. Instead, companies need to target specific candidates, advertise job openings effectively, and leverage their marketing efforts to highlight the opportunities they offer. One potential strategy is to enhance the compensation package to attract skilled candidates.

While attracting for military organizations wasn't a significant challenge in the past, factors like technological advancements, competition from civilian sectors, and the stress of combat operations have made it increasingly difficult to attract new recruits, especially those with specialized skills. Furthermore, the lack of soldiers and officers candidates has become a serious problem in the execution of the missions of military organization.

To address this, military organizations are exploring ways to offer more appealing benefits and incentives to potential candidates.

Regarding everything previously mentioned, the paper investigates the impact of elements of compensation on attracting employees to the military organization. Accordingly, the research goal is to explore and analyze the impact of compensation on the attraction of employees to a military organization. Based on this aim, a fundamental hypothesis is formulated for this study, and it states: compensation and its aspects have a significant influence on the attraction of employees to a military organization.

To explore the aforementioned hypothesis and fulfill the research goals, various scientific research methods were employed in this study. Initially, the descriptive method was used to describe and explain variables related to the hypotheses. Additionally, the comparative method was applied to compare the subject variables, processes, phenomena, and relationships. Throughout the study, methods such as generalization, specialization, analysis, synthesis, induction, deduction, abstraction, and concretization were also utilized to deepen the understanding of the research subject.

The results obtained from the research show that, in addition to traditional direct financial elements such as salaries, some other indirect financial elements such as benefits have an impact on the increased interest in entering a military service. In addition, the results indicate that individual countries have more closely been studying the reasons for a decreased interest joining military forces, while trying to create short-term and long-term strategies to overcome that situation. The paper also considers attracting employees to civil firms.

References

  1. Aguiar, M., Bils, M., Charles, K., K., Hurst, E. (2021). Leisure Luxuries and the Labor Supply of Young Men, Journal of Political Economy, Vol. 129, No. 2
  2. Amadoru, M., Gamage, C. (2016). Evaluating Effective Use of Social Networks for Recruitment, SIGMIS-CPR '16: Proceedings of the 2016 ACM SIGMIS Conference on Computers and People Research, Pages 125-133
  3. Armstrong, M., Taylor, S. (2014). Armstrong’s Handbook of Human Resources Management Practice, Kogan Page, London, pp. 226
  4. Asch, B., J. (2019). Setting Military Compensation to Support Recruitment, Retention, and Performance, RAND Corporation
  5. Asch, B., J. (2023). Addressing the Recruiting Crisis in the Armed Services, RAND Corporation
  6. Bundeswehr, Voluntary Military Service Instead of Compulsory Military Service (2023), available at: https://www.bundeswehr.de/en/about-bundeswehr/ranks-and-careers/voluntary-military-service/access October 31 2023
  7. Carter, P., Kidder, K. (2015). Military compensation and retirement modernization: A Primer, Center for a New Military Security, pp. 1-10
  8. Cengage Group (2023). Where are They Now, available at: https://mma.prnewswire.com/media/1988564/Cengage_Group_The_Great_Resigners_Survey.pdf?p=pdf/access October 31 2023
  9. Cisco (2020). Cisco Annual Internet Report (2018-2023) White Paper, available at: https://www.cisco.com/c/en/us/solutions/collateral/executive-perspectives/annual-internet-report/white-paper-c11-741490.html/access October 28 2023
  10. Chu, J. (2019). 20 Mind-Blowing Social Recruiting Statistics, available at: https://www.careerarc.com/blog/20-mind-blowing-social-recruiting-statistics/access October 28 2023
  11. Congressional Budget Office (2020). Approaches to Changing Military Compensation, available at: https://www.cbo.gov/system/files/2020-01/55648-CBO-military-compensation.pdf/access November 19 2023
  12. Deutche Welle (2023). German military facing recruitment gap, available at: https://www.dw.com/en/german-military-facing-recruitment-gap-says-commissioner/a-65206735/access October 18 2023
  13. Čurčija, S. (2022). Vojna izobrazba i stimulativno nagrađivanje u funkciji unaprjeđivanja efektivnosti ljudskih potencijala u vojnoj organizaciji, Doktorska disertacija, Ekonomski fakultet u Splitu, Split, str. 296-298)
  14. Eurostat (2023), available at:https://ec.europa.eu/eurostat/cache/countryfacts/,access November 21 2023
  15. Forbes (2023). 18 Up-And-Coming Trends For Attracting And Securing Top Talent, available at: https://www.forbes.com/sites/forbesbusinesscouncil/2023/08/25/18-up-and-coming-trends-for-attracting-and-securing-top-talent/?sh=7e33b48a209c/access October 31 2023
  16. Galetić, L. (2020). Reward strategy and practice as a tool to retain employees: case of Croatia, Strategic Management, Vol. 20, No3, pp. 003-013
  17. Glassdoor (2018). Looking at job Ads, According to Glassdoor Survey, available at://https://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/salary-and-benefits-are-most-important-for-us-workers-and-job-seekers-looking-at-job-ads-according-to-glassdoor-survey-300686484.html/access October 29 2023
  18. Gond, J., P., et al. (2017). The psychological microfoundations of corporate social responsibility: A person-centric systematic review. Journal of Organizational Behavior, 38(2), pp. 225-246
  19. HINA (2022), Nisu svi online_Internetom se koristi 5,3 milijardi ljudi, a čak tri četvrtine svjetske populacije posjeduje mobitel, available at: https://www.tportal.hr/tehno/clanak/internetom-se-koristi-5-3-milijardi-ljudi-a-cak-tri-cetvrtine-svjetske-populacije-posjeduje-mobitel-foto-20221130/access October 28 2023
  20. Hosek, J., Orvis, B., R. (2023). Army Enlistment Options Optimizer, RAND, Santa Monica, California
  21. Jobvite (2020). Recruiter Nation Survey 2020, available at: https://www.jobvite.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/10/Jobvite-RecruiterNation-Report-Final.pdf/access October 29 2023
  22. Jones, J., M. (2022). Confidence in U.S. Institutions Down; Average at New Low, Gallup, July 5
  23. Kaap, L., Torreon, B., S. (2020). Military Pay: Key Questions and Answers, Congressional Research Service, pp. 1-24
  24. Keller, M., K., et al. (2023). Attracting and Employing Top-Tier Civilian Tehnical Talent in the Department of the Air Force, RAND Corporation, Santa Monica, California
  25. Klindžić, M., Galetić, L. (2020). Combining Individual and Collective Employee Incentives to Enhance Organizational Performance, Journal for General Social Issues, pp. 71-90
  26. Knapp, D., et al. (2018). Resources Required to Meet the U.S. Army’s Enlisted Recruiting Requirements Under Alternative Recruiting Goals, Conditions, and Eligibility Policies, RAND Corporation
  27. Kurilla, M. (2023). The U.S. Military Recruiting Crisis, with Nora Bensahel, available at: https://www.cfr.org/blog/presidents-inbox-recap-us-military-recruiting-crisis/access October 18 2023
  28. Lavan, I. (2023). Government is working to retain and attract personnel to the Armed Forces, available at: https://www.portugalpulse.com/government-is-working-to-retain-and-attract-personnel-to-the-armed-forces/access September 16 2023
  29. Ministry of Defence UK, Armed Forces Compensation Scheme (2020), available at: https://www.gov.uk/guidance/armed-forces-compensation-scheme-afcs/access October 09 2023
  30. Ministero della Difesa, Italian Army – Preparing together for the challanges of tommorow
  31. (2023), available at: https://www.esercito.difesa.it/comunicazione/Le-5-Sfide/Documents/Italian%20Army%20%20Preparing%20together%20for%20the%20challenges%20of%20tomorrow.pdf/access October 09 2023
  32. MORH (2023). Postani kadet oružanih snaga Republike Hrvatske, available at: https://www.morh.hr/vojno-inzenjerstvo-23/access November 19 2023
  33. Ruby, D. (2023). 84 Video Marketing Statistics in 2023 (Data&Infographics), available at: https://www.demandsage.com/video-marketing-statistics/access October 28 2023
  34. Schlechter, A., F., Hung, A., Bussin, M. (2014). Understanding talent attraction: The influence of financial rewards element on perceived job attractiveness, SA Journal of Human Resource Management 12 (1)
  35. Stroud, J. (2020). Talent Attraction: What it is and things to think about, available at: https://blog.proactivetalent.com/talent-attraction-what-it-is-and-things-to-think-about/access November 04 2023
  36. Taylor, S. (2022). On target: Canadian Armed Forces in Crisis, available at: http://espritdecorps.ca/on-target-4/on-target-canadian-armed-forces-in-crisis/access August 23 2023
  37. Thayer, R., L. (2023). Pentagon Reviews Whether 38 Medical Conditions Should Remain Disqualifiers for Military Service, Stars and Stripes, March 7, 2023
  38. Tiron, R. (2022). US Military Faces Biggest Recruiting Hurdles in 50 Years, available at: https://about.bgov.com/news/us-military-services-face-biggest-recruiting-hurdles-in-50-years/access October 19 2023
  39. U.S. Department of Defense (2023). Financial Management Regulation (DoD FMR), Volume 7A Chapters, Office of the Under Secretary of Defense (CFO), Washington, D.C.
  40. Wrzesniewski, A., et al. (2014). Multiple types of motives don't multiply the motivation of west point cadets, Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America, 111 (30), pp. 10990-10995