Promotion of the Military Profession, Recruitment and Selection of Candidates

International Conference KNOWLEDGE-BASED ORGANIZATION Vol. XXV No 1 2019

PROMOTION OF THE MILITARY PROFESSION, RECRUITMENT AND SELECTION OF CANDIDATES. CONCEPTUAL DELIMITATIONS

Aurelia Teodora DRĂGHICI*, Adina Eleonora SPÎNU**

*“Nicolae Bălcescu” Land Forces Academy, Sibiu, Romania **“Aurel Vlaicu” University, Arad, Romania [email protected], [email protected]

Abstract: Romania's security interests and objectives, the army missions in the current geopolitical context and Romania's obligations as a member of NATO have imposed the continuation of the process of quantitative and qualitative restructuring of the human resources and determined the decision to renounce compulsory military service in favor of the one based on volunteering, starting with the first of January of 2007. The transition from the army based on compulsory military service to the one based on voluntary service imposed the repositioning of the military profession on the Romanian labor market, especially in relation to the competition represented by other similar institutions.

Key words: military, promotion of military profession, recruitment, selection, human resources

The practice in the developed countries those channels of information and messages signals the penetration of economic logic considered to be the most appropriate for the in all sectors of social life in recent years. profile of the target groups of recruiting in In this context, and in the army, any staff order to attract and increase the interest of a policy is subject to the labor market rules, greater number of young people for the accepting to compete in attracting human military profession” [2]. resources. First of all, we note that in this definitive At the same time, the idea of the financial vision, the author circumscribes benefit deriving from the economic logic promotion strictly as a component of the changes the image of the military and the recruitment marketing, which in turn motivation for the military career. Instead “represents the totality of the activities of the body spirit stemming from tradition, and techniques used by an organization national customs and even nationalism, in order to increase/maintain the number there emerges the idea of the professional, and quality of its staff and to satisfy the the citizen of the civil society, motivated expectations of potential candidates for by an appropriate salary [1]. vacant positions” [2]. There are, however, other connotations, 1. Promotion of the military profession such as the one in which promotion is “Promoting the military profession is a understood as a “complex communication component of marketing and represents all program, using a combination of various the actions undertaken and the means used techniques and actions of information and to valorize the military profession, using persuasion; communication is not only

225 information, but also influence, i.e. the what makes them more specific, to a generation of a certain behavior, attitude or greater extent, than the recruitment and action”[3.] selection activities, which prevail only for Moreover, the Reference Strategy states: the target groups. “The promotion campaign is more and more At the same time, we cannot agree, under like a psychological warfare, because, the above conditions, and not only, with ultimately, it uses methods to influence the the meaning given to the notion of de- target audience in order to get a certain recruitment in the sense that it “means the answer. The winner is the one who delivered entire process of promoting the military the right message through the most effective profession, information, processing and means at the right time”[3]. selection of candidates. In fact, attraction With this latter comparability we cannot and selection are factors of the recruitment agree, for any of the following reasons: process”[4]. In our view, such assertions  For those familiar with the are likely to create confusion, including environment of national defense system among politicians directly responsible for and national security, it is known that a implementation, not to mention that psychological warfare also includes not performance indicators cannot be just “Orthodox” elements, as long as they introduced for periodic evaluations, which appeal, from the strict logic of gain, to the are reported in each of the three detriment of the adverse side, to dimensions of the targeted system - manipulative methods and techniques, promotion, recruitment, selection. even in particular cases, to Moreover, to a great extent, the “brainwashing.” Or the target groups must methodologies, methods and techniques to be fully aware of what they are going to be used differ, for each stage. assume and their firm attitudes should not On the basis of all the above, regarding us, be controlled, often fully justified, by and using the above-mentioned definitive artificially created initial question marks, valences, by promoting the military and then through successive feedings with profession we understand the set of arguments, persuasive types, not always concepts, strategies, policies, activities, preferable, at least in relation to some measures and actions as well as specific potential candidates, who, once entered the means, methods and techniques, aimed at system, realize that their place is not there; transmitting/receiving, in the Romanian  The second counter-argument - In the Armed Forces system, in its internal and, conditions of “psychological warfare” we in particular, external dynamics of can invoke and retain the existence of the consistent and reliable information and legal imperative of fair and inter messages about the professional military institutional competition, at least from the career, with its strengths and risk factors, school environment? We think not. to/from the target groups and support In other respects, we note the critical groups in order to strengthen the aspect in both the above-mentioned motivations and interests of young people definitions, in the way that their promoters to take up and pursue a career as well as address only “target groups” and “target to maintain and develop more generally audiences”, completely eluding the trust and good image of the addressability to “support groups” (school, Romanian Army in the public opinion. family, press, etc.). In our opinion, it is precisely the increased emphasis on the activities of promoting the military profession towards such support groups is

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2. Recruitment of military human issue. The new NATO membership led to resources the abandonment of compulsory military For Donald Currie, recruitment is a service and the introduction of separate function, which “begins when a volunteering, which forced the military post has been identified and ends when a organization to review the recruitment list of candidates could have been made up process of human resources. of job applications resulting from the Volunteering is the method based on the disclosure of the existence of the job free choice of the citizen to do or not to do vacancy”[5]. the military service. Thus, the Romanian On some of these nuances, we express our Armed Forces joined the NATO member opinion that they are reductionist in the states, which set up their exclusive sense that they treat recruitment only by volunteer army, including the United strictly referring to vacancies or to the new States, Great Britain, the Netherlands, ones created at a given time. However, it is France and Luxembourg. known that the recruitment also targets the At the level of the Romanian Army, a candidates waiting for the expected recruitment and selection system of curriculum of some organizations professional military personnel is (institutions) such as the Ministry of organized hierarchically on two levels: National Defense, and not only. management (central) and execution (in Moreover, there is also the modern and the territory). contemporary practice of some private sector managers recruiting young middle 3. Selection of the Army's human school students, especially high school resources students, who after selection are provided, Selection should be regarded as a two-way entirely or partially, with subsidies for communication process. The organization tuition fees, under strictly defined is usually in front of the people about conditions, in order to cover the needs of whom they do not have a lot of future employees, educated and trained, information (other than that in the with multiple professional and transversal application form, which can be distorted). competences, needed for their own Because of this, the organization needs a institutional development. minimum of information about that person At the same time, some managers engage before going through the selection process. in a conjugated-conscious action with the According to the managerial theory and educational factors in the practice of some practice in the human resources field, the people's internship, and then, after personnel selection process takes place in completing the studies, they actually do several stages, as follows: their selection and employment, or most of  preliminary selection of applicants; them.  filling in the application form; In conclusion, recruitment can also be  interviewing for employment; made for future posts necessary in the  testing for employment; medium and long term.  checking the references; The recruitment of human resources for  medical examination; the needs of the army is a topical subject in  the final interview; the theory and practice of the human  the employment decision; resources management of the defense,  installation on the post. given the new security environment At the level of the Romanian Army, the developed after the end of the Cold War candidates' files are drawn up by the and the review of the national defense information and recruitment offices. After

227 completing these, they are submitted for the interviewer wishes to assess the approval to the Human Resources candidate's motivation to fill the job, how Management Department. The enrolled well the candidate will fit in the team to be files are sent to the selection and part of, etc. orientation centers. The selection tryouts The selection interviews must be well for these candidates take place in the structured, i.e. include a predetermined set selection and orientation centers, and of behavioral and situational questions copies of the certificates with the final formulated to make it easier to highlight selection results are submitted to the the degree to which candidates have the Human Resources Management Division. skills and competencies sought. The selection of human resources at the All these tests are eliminatory, level of the Romanian Armed Forces is conditioning the participation on carried out on the basis of testing tools that admission. ensure the identification of skills and  Testing the theoretical knowledge. potential for the military career, with The military institution must pay particular emphasis on the qualities of military attention to the selection process at all leadership. levels, especially for volunteer soldiers and The selection of candidates (young boys sergeants, who are at the basis of the and girls) recruited by the information and military hierarchy and represent the main recruitment offices is organized and source of the NCOs and warrant officers. carried out in the selection and orientation centers of Alba-Iulia, Breaza and Conclusions: The recruitment and Câmpulung Moldovenesc, according to a selection of professional military personnel program, and consists of: has become more and more difficult in the  psychological testing; conditions of the transition of the  medical examination; Romanian economy towards a market  sports test - testing the physical economy, the erosion of traditional values potential. (patriotism, the pride of the country) and The testing of the physical potential of economic development. The decreasing candidates recruited for admission to birth rates and aging population, the military education is carried out in the youth's reduced appetite for education, as selection and orientation centers. Physical well as the existence of tempting offers on potential testing is only carried out by the civilian labor market direct the military candidates who have the medical institutions to highly skilled and more examination performed, with the “fit for expensive professional work to ensure the exercise” specification. Testing of the necessary personnel of the army. Thus, the recruited candidates comprises two army extended its recruitment and tryouts: the utilitarian-applicative route selection environments to other “target and the running on the 1000/2000 m populations”, such as women, immigrants, distance. ethnic minority groups, and young people  Final evaluation interview with low levels of education who were not G. A. Cole [6] considers that the selection considered before volunteering. interview can get maximum returns when

References [1] M.B. Alexandrescu, De la conscripție la marketingul recrutării și selecției resurselor umane în armata română, în Perspective ale securității și apărării în Europa, “Carol I” National Defence University Publishing House, Bucharest, 2009.

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[2] Counselor Valentina Agulescu, Concepţia privind sistemul de promovare a profesiei militare, recrutare şi selecţie a personalului military profesionalizat, pe timp de pace, draft of Order of the Ministry of Defence, Not classified, 2011, p.14. [3] Strategia de promovare a profesiei militare (2011-2015), Human Resources Management Directorate Publishing House, Bucharest, 2011, p. 8. [4] Concepţia privind sistemul de promovare a profesiei militare, recrutare şi selecţie a personalului military profesionalizat, pe timp de pace, p.15. [5] Donald Currie, Introducere în managementul resurselor umane, Editura Codecs, București, 2009, pp. 109-110. [6] Cole G.A., Managementul personalului, Codecs Publishing House, Bucharest, 2005, p. 213.

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