Johan Österberg | We want you as our new recruit | Österberg | We Johan We want you as our new recruit On 1 July 2010, conscription was made to rest in Sweden, in favor of an all- We want you as our new voluntary force, in so doing leaving a 100-year tradition. There were several reasons for this transformation of the Swedish Armed Forces (SAF), most important was the new security situation in Europe after the Cold War, which recruit 2018:8 led the SAF focusing more on participation in multinational missions abroad. Prerequisites for recruitment to and retention This thesis focuses on the recruitment and retaining of soldiers during the period when Sweden shifted the manning system for their armed forces. Results suggest in the Swedish Armed Forces that there are different incentives for staying in the SAF depending on manning system. In a conscription system, personality is a more prominent predictor of retention than in a voluntary system. The findings in this thesis emphasize the possibility to get the best from the two manning systems; to use the compulsory Johan Österberg military service as a pool for recruitment to officer programs and NCOs, and the AVF system’s work on improving the psychosocial working conditions in order to retain personnel. At the completion of this thesis, the SAF again changed the manning system, this time to a gender-neutral conscription, as the system with voluntariness failed in providing the SAF with sufficient numbers of soldiers with the right qualities. ISBN 978-91-7063-837-4 (print) ISBN 978-91-7063-932-6 (pdf) Faculty of Arts and Social Sciences ISSN 1403-8099 Psychology DOCTORAL THESIS | Karlstad University Studies | 2018:8 DOCTORAL THESIS | Karlstad University Studies | 2018:8 We want you as our new recruit Prerequisites for recruitment to and retention in the Swedish Armed Forces Johan Österberg DOCTORAL THESIS | Karlstad University Studies | 2018:8 We want you as our new recruit - Prerequisites for recruitment to and retention in the Swedish Armed Forces Johan Österberg DOCTORAL THESIS Karlstad University Studies | 2018:8 urn:nbn:se:kau:diva-66086 ISSN 1403-8099 ISBN 978-91-7063-837-4 (print) ISBN 978-91-7063-932-6 (pdf) © The author Distribution: Karlstad University Faculty of Arts and Social Sciences Department of Social and Psychological Studies SE-651 88 Karlstad, Sweden +46 54 700 10 00 Print: Universitetstryckeriet, Karlstad 2018 WWW.KAU.SE 1 We want you as our new recruit Prerequisites for recruitment to and retention in the Swedish Armed Forces Author: Johan Österberg Supervisor: Leif Rydstedt 2 To Linus and Christian – Fathers pride, lights of my life 3 Doctoral dissertation: We want you as our new recruit Prerequisites for recruitment to and retention in the Swedish Armed forces. Johan Österberg, Swedish Defence University, Department of security, strategy and leadership and Karlstad University Sweden. Abstract 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. 4 Doktorsavhandling: Vi vill ha dig som vår nya rekryt – förutsättningar för att rekrytera och behålla personal för den svenska Försvarsmakten. Syftet med denna avhandling var att studera förutsättningarna för Försvarsmakten för att rekrytera tillräckligt antal lämpliga personer till, och behålla de inom organisationen. Avhandlingen består av tre studier (Studie 1-3) där studie ett består av data som samlats in med en longitudinell design, Försvarsmakten hade ett värnpliktssystem för att personalförsörja organisationen. Resultaten visar att de som vill göra internationell militärtjänst skattade sig högre för önskvärda kvaliteter än de personer som inte frivilligt sökte internationell militärtjänst. Studie två visar att arbetstillfredsställelse, enligt Hackman och Oldhams jobbkaraktärmodell , är högre när jobbkarakteristika bra, och de påverkar i sin tur de kritiska psykologiska tillstånden, som föreslagits av Hackman och Oldham. Studie tre indikerar att det finns en relation mellan prestationsorientering, jobbkarakteristika, arbetsnöjdhet och viljan att stanna i organisationen. Sammanfattningsvis föreslår denna avhandling att det finns olika incitament för att rekrytera och behålla personal i ett värnpliktsförsvar, jämfört med frivilligt försvar. Vidare indikerar avhandlingen att ett frivilligt försvar inte är det optimala sättet att för försvarsmakter, som i Sverige och länder med liknande samhälle, storlek och likaledes en geopolitisk placering. 5 This thesis is based on the following three studies: 1. Rydstedt, L. W., & Österberg, J. (2013). Psychological characteristics of Swedish mandatory enlisted soldiers volunteering and not volunteering for international missions: an exploratory study. Psychological reports, 112(2). 678-688. Doi: 10.2466/17.02.PR0.112.2.678-688 2. Österberg, J. and Rydstedt, L, W. (In Press). Job satisfaction among Swedish soldiers- Applying the Job Characteristics Model to newly recruited military personnel. Military Psychology. 3. Österberg, J. and Rydstedt, L. W., Kleiven, J. & Fors Brandebo, M. (2017). The Path to Job Satisfaction - Applying the Theory of Purposeful Behavior to Military Conditions. Journal of Defense Resources Management 8:1: 27-42 Related publications Österberg, J., Jonsson, E., & Berglund, A., K. (In Press). Officer recruitment – Improving the Process. Journal of Contemporary Military Challenges. Österberg, J. (2017). Preparatory Military Training: An Experiment in Integrating Minorities in the Swedish Armed Forces”, Res Militaris, ERGOMAS issue n°5, “Recruitment & Retention, Part 1”November 2017. Jonsson, E., & Österberg, J. (2017). Effective Recruitment of Military Women : Developing New Methods, Res Militaris, ERGOMAS Issue n°4, “Recruitment & Retention, Part 1”, July 2017. Börjesson, M., Österberg, J., & Enander, A. (2017). Profiling the Swedish Ranger: Perceptions of motivation, profession and risk and safety issues, in Glicken Turnley, J., Michael, K., & Ben- Ari, E. (Eds) Special Operations Forces Around the World: A Social Scientific Agenda. Routledge. Weber, M. & Österberg, J. (2015). An Analysis of Swedish Conscripts’ Values and Attitudes Towards their Military Education: A Principal Component Analysis of Swedish Conscription. Res Militaris, vol.5, n°2. Hedlund, E. Börjesson, M. & Österberg, J. (2015). Team Learning in a Multinational Military Staff Exercise. Small group research, 46, (2), pp. 179-203. 6 Börjesson, M., Österberg, J., & Enander, A. (2014). Risk propensity within the military: a study of Swedish officers and soldiers. Journal of Risk Research, ISSN 1366-9877, E-ISSN 1466-4461. Österberg, J. & Rydstedt, L. (2013). Core values and attitudes among Swedish conscripts volunteering for international missions: an exploratory study. Journal of values based leadership (6), 65-73. Hedlund, E. & Österberg, J. (2013). Team Training, Team Learning, Leadership and Psychology Safety: A Study of Team Training and Team Learning Behavior during a Swedish Military Staff Exercise. Sociology Mind, (3), 89-98 Österberg, J., & Jonsson, E. (2012). Recruitment to international military service: The officers’ view. In G. Kümmel & J. Soeters (Eds.), New wars, new militaries, new soldiers? Conflicts, the Armed Forces and the soldierly subject (pp. 233-245). Bingley, UK: Emerald. Börjesson, M. Österberg, J. & Enander, A. (2011) Risk and Safety Attitudes among Conscripts during Compulsory Military Training. Military psychology, 23 (6), 659-684 Österberg, J., & Carlstedt, B. (2010). Conscripts willingness to sign up for international military service. In T. Szvircsev Tresch & C. Leuprecht, (Eds.), Europe without soldiers? Recruitment and retention across the armed forces of Europe (pp. 109-126). Montreal and Kingston: Queen’s Policy Studies Series, McGill-Queen’s University Press. 7 Acknowledgements The accomplishment of this dissertation has been a long and nonlinear journey, including the Swedish Armed Forces changing their manning system halfway throughout the process of this thesis, forcing me to re-think the aim. Furthermore, illness struck me, forcing me to a halt with the thesis for roughly one year. Nevertheless, finally I have put my thesis together for which I am very proud and happy. I have not been able to complete this academic journey without my supervisor, Professor Leif Rydstedt,