Reorientating for second innings-Defence personnel

Defence personnel are released from service at a comparatively early age. On an average, officers hang their uniform at the age of 54. It is earlier for those seeking premature release. For JCOs it varies between 45 to 48 years and for NCOs it is between 35 to 40 years. Now this is the age when people in other professions are approaching their peak and we have these armed forces personnel ‘retiring’. It is that phase of life when the children are growing and expenses are the maximum on meeting their requirements. Education, helping them settle into a career and marriage is the foremost concern. Quite a few of us adopt a passive attitude and reconcile ourselves to not having a ‘second innings’. Over the past few years, the economic pressures have been forcing ex-servicemen to seek re-employment in the civil street after retirement. However not many of our ex-servicemen prepare themselves for this. An attempt has been made in this article to highlight the various steps that need to be taken at organizational, local and personal level to be gainfully employed after retirement. The article focuses only on PBOR. As an HR consultant I meet a number of ex-servicemen who are looking for a job. In most cases, the attitude when they step out of uniform is one which can be called casual and unrealistic. This is a result of ignorance about what works outside. Plus the financial cushion available at that time makes them complacent. What saddens me is that over a period of time as the funds received at retirement deplete, they become cynical and lose their ‘spark’. Having said that, I must acknowledge that the PBOR retiring from the Air Force and the Navy are better equipped to deal with life after retirement. This largely has to do with their better educational background and service conditions including skills acquired. To that extent people from the Corps of Engineers, Signals or EME do better than those from Infantry or Artillery. This is largely due to the skills that they acquired in service are needed outside too. Quite a few of them are absorbed in the infrastructure field. Let us now examine the basic skills required for firstly getting into a second career and the steps that need to be taken at personal and organizational level to make the transition smooth. Skills Required and Actions at Personal Level a. Computer Skills. In this day and age of technological advancement, a large number of PBOR retiring are not able to operate a computer. They do not have an email id also. I, personally have created email ids for a number of such ex-servicemen who came to meet me. There is a need for them to be conversant with the basics of MS Office. In case a JCO/ NCO is looking at a position as a Security Officer, it is expected that he should be capable of sending reports on mail. This report requires knowing Excel and typing a covering letter involves knowing MS Word. b. Basic Record Keeping Skills. The PBOR should be familiar with basic record keeping. This is one area in which they are strong, having done duties of Mess NCO or Canteen NCO or other regimental assignments. However they need to learn to adapt that knowledge to the present work. c. Be mentally prepared to deal with uncertainties. In the Army we get used to certain predictability especially at the PBOR level. If there is problem, a deviation,the “Sahab ko bataa diya” syndrome must be curbed. PBOR must learn to deal with problems themselves. That is the need outside. d. A flexible approach to work timings. A number of PBOR who come looking for a job want that their duty timings should not exceed 8 hours and be sacrosanct. Unfortunately, that is not realistic in the outside world. There are duties which have fixed timings, but then the pay is also fixed. The scope for growth is also fixed. e. Prepare yourself and be positive. Starting a second career can be mentally and emotionally challenging. Therefore we have to prepare ourselves for the shock. Do not be disheartened by setbacks or the feeling that ‘nothing seems to be happening’. We have to make things happen. f. No Comparisons. Do not compare yourself with other ex-servicemen. While in the services, the ground conditions would have been similar for everyone. The focus was on team work. Out in the civil world it is different. Each one us is an individual and we have to bank on our own uniqueness and our own skill sets. And we have to find or form our own support group. Do not lose heart by comparing yourself with others. In fact draw inspiration from them. Examine what is it that they are doing differently which has contributed to their success. g. Introspection and Self Assessment. Each one of us needs to introspect and carry out a self assessment. We must ask ourselves the following questions:- i. What are the skills that I possess? ii. What is their relevance outside? Which industry needs these skills? iii. With my current skill set, would I be satisfied with the salary I’ll get or should I upgrade myself and then enter the job market? iv. Would I be happy doing this job or am I doing it out of compulsion? This question may seem odd but it helps us identify our real motive for taking up a job and then we can deal with it appropriately. To further elaborate, I may take up a job that is not paying very well but it is adding to my kitty. Simultaneously I would take steps to upgrade myself and having done that, would look for a better paying assignment. h. Upholding Military Ethos even after Retirement The military man must continue to uphold the military ethos even after retirement. This is a challenge for quite a few of our people. To put it simply, with the ‘danda’ missing, they find themselves incapable of governing themselves. Their discipline and conduct which was impeccable till a few months ago, goes for a toss. Our honesty, integrity and disciplined approach is respected in the civil street and are our strongest points. We must not abandon them. Organizational Measures The DGR is doing an yeomen service in helping ex-servicemen settle into a second career. However to give a fillip to their efforts, the following steps seem very important to me. a. Having an Aptitude Assessment Centre and Career Counselors at each regimental centre. In conjunction with DIPR, an Assessment Centre could be established at each regimental centre. When the person goes for the discharge process, this assessment centre can help him in finding his aptitude and latent skills that would be useful in civil street. Then along with a career counselor, the person could examine various career options open to him. This would prepare him suitably for a smooth transition. The degree of disillusionment would go down. b. Computer Training. All units must ensure that people proceeding on pension have been trained on MS Office and can do basic operations. It must be incorporated in the check list for people proceeding on discharge. c. Promote Ex-servicemen Groups. The DGR could make formal cognizance of various Ex-servicemen groups active in most cities and towns. Members of these groups are capable of providing critical and substantive support towards resettlement efforts. As a matter of fact they are already doing so by employing ex-servicemen in their organizations. However their efforts need to be coordinated. The DGR should facilitate, without seeming to exercise control, all these groups coming on a common platform and sharing information about employment opportunities. Yes, there would be a need to shed the ‘seniority syndrome’ and ‘egos’ for this platform to function effectively. Inter-services rivalry or past individual conflicts will have to be forgotten. It should be a platform for promoting other ex-servicemen and not for personal advancement. d. Timing of Resettlement Courses. Presently, most of the PBOR or even officers undergo the resettlement training while still in service. At this time the realities of retirement have not been understood by them. As a result the course is perceived as an opportunity to spend time at home and ‘relax’. The courses are subscribed to by the PBOR on the basis of the convenience of location of the training institute and not on what their aptitude demands. The focus for these courses has to shift from convenience to learning value. I feel that if PBOR attend a resettlement course after proceeding on pension, there will be two benefits. Firstly, they will be more serious about learning and secondly their availability in the units will increase. Conclusion. The popular refrain of people proceeding on pension say 25 years back was, “Sahab, bahaut kaaam kar liya. Ab ghar jaa kar khet samhaloonga”. The families and the land-holdings have fragmented. ‘Khet samhalna’ is no longer a viable economic option, save for few. The current economic scenario and increasing urbanization has thrown up the need for ex-servicemen to quickly adapt themselves to the civil street. This would entail deep introspection and reorientation of skill sets. There is also an urgent need to strengthen the organizational measures and initiation of ‘out-of-the-box’ solutions to effectively help ex-servicemen settle in a second career. Having said the above, I see a silver lining in the fact that the problem of resettlement will be less acute when PBOR recruited after 1995 start coming up for retirement. They would be better tuned to harsh realities of the outside world and be more adaptive.