Australian Army Journal

Family Friendly Army —
ORGANISATIONAL CULTURE
First Class Policy, Second Class Implementation
Alongside the problems of finding suitable education, day care and housing,
there are myriad personal challenges caused by relocation such as separation
from friends and merging into a new school culture. Both children and the service
spouse require enormous confidence to meet these challenges. Unless the spouse
can work remotely, he/she is:
Required to restart in her [or his] employment every posting. This causes
a huge amount of financial and emotional stress each move ... If we go
MWD-U [i.e. the member moves alone while his/her family remains in
the former location], her [or his] employment and the stability of the kids
schooling will be the main factors for making that decision. 32
As a result many spouses choose to leave the workforce to look after the family
and assist with the transition:
At the time of initial [career] sacrifice the loss is tangible, unavoidable (child
bearing) and within a honeymoon period; when children commence school
reflection rightly kicks in and unfairness/tiredness/appreciation deficit is
questioned. 33
This article does not suggest that Army has a role in the allocation of
responsibilities within a family, particularly as offering ‘a one size fits all’ approach
to family problems is ‘certain to result in costly failure for the organisation and
resentment on the part of employees.’ 34 Instead, Army’s role extends to creating
a policy framework for the serving member, which ‘does not dictate behaviour
directly … but provides a framework for rational choice.’ 35 This can allow a serving
member to craft the work arrangements that support the family, whether through
standard working hours or flexible working arrangements.
When this observation is placed in context of the cycle of Army’s two and threeyear
posting cycles and internal position change within the unit, this becomes
an almost constant challenge for serving members. For those who are primary
caregivers and are negotiating the ins and outs of a new posting, that challenge
can be intensified:
When children need more attention and this stage coincides with a new
posting it is hard to convince a new chain of command that while you are
normally committed to your job and prepared to work towards achieving
appropriate work-related goals, that at that particular time the balance needs
to swing more away from work and toward family. 36
Australian Army Journal
Culture edition 2013, Volume X, Number 3 Page 182