87
Haythornthwaite Review recommends flexible service and total reward to boost recruitment and retention.
Conclusion
The Haythornthwaite Review ‘Agency and agility: Incentivising people in a new era’, was an independent study commissioned by the MOD and published in June 2023. The Review looked at a number of areas where recruitment and retention could possibly be improved within the UK Armed Forces. 183 Q349; 427 184 Oral evidence taken on 12 December 2023, HC (2023–24) 54, Q40–2 185 Q212 186 Q23; 37; 67 187 Oral evidence taken before the Public Accounts Committee on 22 January 2024, HC (2023–24) 451, Q114 188 Policy changes relating to the MOD’s engagement with industry are covered in the final chapter on strategic readiness. 36 Ready for War? Box 3: Agency and agility: Incentivising people in a new era The Review considered the offer to personnel in relation to: their accommodation and food; their family life; their career structure; working conditions and renumeration; the training available to those in service; and a reduction in bureaucracy.189 The most far-reaching recommendations related to career structure, working conditions and renumeration: the ‘spectrum of service approach’ and the ‘total reward approach’. The spectrum of service approach (often referred to as the ‘zig zag career’) is a recommendation to replace the current blanket terms of service with individualised ones. This would allow an individual to determine their engagement type, engagement length, compulsion, mobility and military training factors, making their service much more flexible. The Review describes this as allowing the differing expectations placed on those serving to range “from those giving 24/7 whatever their Service asks of them, to increasing levels of control over working patterns or geographical stability, through to occasional weekends or short-term projects”. It would also allow personnel to leave and re-join the service after working in a different profession (such as in government or industry). The total reward approach, a complementary recommendation, would allow personnel to determin
Government Response
A response document is linked to this report, dated 25 April 2024. Response attribution to this conclusion has not been verified. Read the response document.
Source
Committee
Defence Committee
Inquiry
Armed Forces Readiness
Report
First Report - Ready for War?
04 Feb 2024
HC 26
Addressee Bodies
Ministry of Defence
Timeline
Recommendation age
2.6 yrs
Report published
04 Feb 2024