Being in a modern civilian workforce

Only someone whose head is on the moon or in the sand will not appreciate that Britain’s workforce is radically different to the one of 30 or so years ago. Expectations, motivation, legislation, culture and rewards have changed dramatically, along with education, training and qualifications. But it is one thing to write this, and quite another to live it – to understand the opportunities and pitfalls, the plusses and minuses that this represents for the Service leaver.

Even those used to working alongside civil servants and contractors will probably not be exposed to the full spectrum of attitudes and changes of recent years. They may have more experience than the individual in a front-line unit who is primarily concerned with operations, but they still only see a very small segment of a complex civilian workforce; and they are not yet part of it.

The military is one of several hierarchical organisations that work through a system of command and control that essentially receives information from all directions and passes instructions downwards. Whenever possible there will no doubt be discussion and consensus, but people generally do what their superior tells them. Anything else may be called insubordination or even mutiny.

Despite the recent removal and ‘re-education’ of a Royal Navy warship captain, which astonished many external observers, the Services are not yet renowned for their development of soft skills. Indeed, considering many of the places in which they operate and many of the people they are operating against, a soft approach might be singularly inappropriate and lead to people getting killed. Circumstances are of course different in barracks and during tour intervals, but there is still a respect for rank and a readiness to obey orders.

By contrast, workers at Happy Computers can ask for, and get, a new boss if they do not like the one they have; while any of the 6,000 employees of travel agent Flight Centre can call its founder on his direct line whenever they wish. Retail giant Asda uses ‘listening groups’ and monthly surveys to find out what its workforce is feeling, while ‘duvet days’ are by no means rare in creative market sectors. Although the Armed Forces do survey their people, and make some occasional movement towards the other practices mentioned here, it would be fair to say that the above is pretty radical stuff that is far removed from normal uniformed practice. (Although they are becoming more widespread, they are not common practice in many civilian organisations either!)

When the implications of employment law and regulation are considered, the picture becomes even more complex. Few employers are fully conversant with the diktats and decisions coming from Brussels and Westminster, so lawyers cash in on claim and counter-claim. Headline cases are sensational, featuring gross abuse or controversial legal issues. Behind them lie a host of minor decisions and fraudulent claims that employers settle for relatively minor sums rather than incur horrendous legal expenses.

This is a multicultural society and, like it or not, culture means whatever the individual takes it to mean. For example, the government currently proposes a definition of religion that includes ‘non-deity’ faiths, so a faith that specifically does not believe in any form of God can now be called a religion. This makes the Navy’s practising Satanist appear mainstream.

The Service leaver will emerge into this topsy-turvy world. Some parts of the UK’s workforce will take longer to change than others, but all will change in time. Gay, lesbian, bisexual and transsexual relationships are as valid as heterosexual ones. Pension rights and other privileges are becoming available to ‘partners’ with all the difficulty that defining that term brings, while the employer may even have to decide which of two competing rights has priority in a conflict.

Does the right to be free to practise a religion that prohibits homosexuality allow someone to forbid an individual to bring a gay partner to the office party? Is it wrong to wish a Muslim ‘Happy Christmas’? How is it possible, without breaching their right to privacy, to ensure staff are not accessing paedophile websites from their office computer? It may be possible to find theoretical and long-winded answers to these and other questions, but this hardly helps the person on the spot to make a decision that will stand up in court months or even years later with 20:20 hindsight.

Apart from not telling your favourite joke about the dyslexic, one-legged, black, Irish, single-parent, Jewish chapess, there are some pieces of guidance that may help, First of all, keep as current as you can with employment issues. Second, remember that it is what the recipient of the remark or action feels that matters, and not what the person who said or did it meant. Finally, always feel your way gently into a new workplace culture; it has developed over time and you have only just become a part of it. But remember that you are responsible for your own actions and will answer for them personally.