Almost two decades after US business management expert Jim Collins said this, finding and retaining the right people remains just as critical to any organisation’s success.

Talk to any business leader about recruitment, and they will tell you how hard it is to find the right staff and how much recruitment costs them. According to figures from the Open University’s 2018 Business Barometer, 86% of Scotland's senior business leaders reported difficulties finding staff with the required skills. The same study found that over the previous year, organisations across Scotland paid an additional £70m in recruitment fees, £87m for temporary staff, and an extra £114m for training to upskill workers hired at a lower level than intended.

But what if employers had access to a source of qualified and highly motivated individuals who were desperate to work but unable to for a reason which had nothing to do with their skills or abilities?

What if this was a talent pool which contained candidates from virtually every sector and industry whom you didn’t need to hire full time but could dip into on a project-by-project basis to meet demand in your business? If you had access to this pool, wouldn’t it be worth your business to invest a little time and resources to tap into it?

The good news is that this talent source does exist

Its members are military spouses, and since 2014 I’ve been visiting military bases around the UK, talking to spouses and researching their experiences to develop ways to allow employers to access them.

​The Ministry of Defence estimates there are around 70,000 partners and spouses currently serving members of the armed forces, 90% female. In 2016 I surveyed over 2,000 of them, asking them various questions about their careers, qualifications, skills and abilities. The range and breadth of experience were astonishing; respondents had degrees in almost every subject imaginable; Management and Technology, HR & Employment Relations, Optometry, Biomedical Sciences, Maths, Animal Care and Tourism, to name just a few. There were police superintendents, corporate lawyers, surgeons and artists, morticians, scientists, HGV drivers, athletes, train drivers, engineers and jewellers. The diversity was incredible, but they all shared the experience of having their careers negatively impacted by marriage to someone in the military.

The military lifestyle makes it difficult for many spouses to hold a traditional ‘9 to 5’ job. Military bases tend to be located in remote, rural places where jobs in their chosen fields are hard to come by. Frequent moves every few years to different parts of the country, the absence of military duties of their partner, a lack of childcare, and geographical separation from family and friends all means that the support networks relied on by other working parents are unavailable to them and makes working full time virtually impossible. Many choose to take positions for which they are vastly overqualified simply to remain in the workforce or retrain into professions more suited to life in the military community. I know corporate lawyers who have become yoga instructors and emergency theatre nurses acting as classroom assistants. Many more simply drop out of the workforce altogether.

It doesn’t have to be like this

How businesses recruit, employ and retain staff is changing, and this offers an enormous opportunity for spouses and employers. Employers who are prepared to overlook potted career histories and gaps in CVs and offer roles which can be done remotely and flexibly will have access to an untapped wealth of talent. Not only that, if you make it possible for a military spouse to work in their chosen industry and enable them to take that role with them whenever they move, you will have a loyal, motivated employee who will stay with you for a long time.

​Emma is an IT software developer who works remotely from a military base in Scotland for an employer based in Slough. “I’ve worked for this company for over 12 years and five house moves. I love my job and consider myself lucky to have it. Taking it with me every time we are posted is one of the main reasons I’ve stayed with them so long, and I have no plans to leave.”

Social value-aside, there are clear commercial advantages too. Access to a skilled, part-time, flexible workforce is much cheaper than the costs and overheads associated with employing full-time staff.

What can you do if you are an employer who wants to recruit military spouses?

The main thing is to think about the jobs in your business which could be done remotely by qualified, skilled spouses working flexibly from military bases. Don’t just think of ‘traditional’ remote working roles. Think about the skills your business needs to deal with peak demand and work back from there.

Be prepared to invest in training and equipping this workforce

Spouses can help you. Many spouses will have been out of work for a while or may not have the exact experience you are looking for, but they will have soft skills such as resilience, flexibility, communication and multitasking garnered from their military lifestyle, which could be invaluable to your business.

By employing a military spouse, you will not only be creating social value by helping disadvantaged group members into employment, but you will also be creating economic value for your business and giving you access to a valuable pipeline of talent.

How we can help

At Samtaler, we understand the importance of your social value commitment. You’re here because you care about the impact your business has on society and want to be better. We want you to succeed, and we know from experience that achieving social value requires skill, strategy, and support.

To find out how we can help send an email to hello@samtaler.co.uk

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