EMPLOYER SUPPORT

Throughout Canada's military history, the Reserve Force has always played an important role in shoring up the country's defence structure in times of both war and peace, but it has faced a severe test over the past two decades with a steadily shrinking defence budget. Although the dollars may have disappeared, the taskings have not.

The most recent formal linking of what was once considered by some military personnel to be the two solitudes (the Regular Force and the Reserve Force) was initiated in 1987 when the term Total Force was written into Canada's defence strategy. Since then, and perhaps more than at any time during the past fifty years, there has been an increasing need to fit larger numbers of reservists into the military mainstream.

Canada's current Chief of Reserves and Cadets, RAdm. Ray Zuliani, joined HMCS Griffon in Thunder Bay as an ordinary seaman, and has been in the Naval Reserve for 31 years. He cites the work of the Canadian Forces Liaison Council (CFLC) to be one of the key elements in ensuring that Canada's reservists are available when they are needed.

"There has been a slow but steady increase in the level of support offered by employers over the past decade," he said recently. "The work of the CFLC has been directly linked to this improvement as they expand their contacts within the employer communities."

Canada has had an employer support vehicle for the Reserve Force in place administratively since 1978, but the programs of CFLC have only been in active operation for eight years.

The CFLC is essentially a civilian organization comprised of a group of influential Canadian businessmen, backed up by a network of military liaison officers located all across Canada. The CFLC national chairman, currently Mr. John Craig Eaton, CEO of Eaton's of Canada, reports directly to the Minister of National Defence.

There is no legislation in Canada that obligates civilian employers to provide time off for the military reservists on their staff. This is by the government's choice. There is evidence to suggest that where employer support legislation is mandated by law, a form of subtle discrimination may be practiced by employers when it comes to hiring reservists or their career progression. Where two candidates for a position have the same qualifications, and one is a reservist, a company may choose not to hire him or her because of the perceived potential extra financial liability that is attached to a person who may be called up to perform reserve service. In Canada, because reserve service is voluntary, the government has chosen to make employer support voluntary as well.

The CFLC has a number of programs that market the benefits of supporting the Reserve Force, to companies and organizations across Canada. The most visible of these is called the ExecuTrek Program whereby decision makers from civilian companies and organizations are invited out for a day-long military experience, shown the benefits that accrue to them if they have a reservist on their staff, and then asked to sign a voluntary statement of employer support for the Reserve Force. Most employers are happy to sign a statement of employer support when they see the quality of the training that members of the Canadian Forces receive. This support ranges from two weeks extra unpaid leave each year to allow an employee to do military training, to granting up to a year off for an overseas mission.

Two other CFLC programs contribute toward the overall employer support goal. They are the Outreach Program and the Reserve Employment Assistance Program (REAP). The Outreach program disseminates the CFLC key messages to civilian employer groups through articles and promotional inserts in trade publications and exhibits at conferences and trade fairs. The CFLC REAP program provides a service to employers looking for personnel. Civilian employers looking for skilled personnel may place their employee-wanted advertisements with the CFLC at no cost. The CFLC then distributes these ads to reserve units in the employer's geographical region or, depending on the employer's need, across Canada. The Reserve Unit Support Program (RUSP) and the Mediation Program, round off the CFLC arsenal. The RUSP program is targeted toward distributing the employer support messages toward reservists and the reserve units. The Mediation Program addresses conflicts that may arise between reservists and their civilian employers.

Commander Barbara Carter is one of CFLC's Liaison Officers on the West Coast. While she felt that some current employer support issues that Canada's military faces are not necessarily unique to the Naval Reserve, she outlined several of challenges that still lie ahead for CFLC.

"The operational tasks of the Naval Reserve are not in support of the Regular Force Navy-they are integral parts of the Navy. The MCDVs are crewed 24/7 by Naval Reservists-many of whom are on long term contracts. It would be fair to say that the majority of Naval Reserve personnel are not in the two week class B a year category, because there are few two week jobs on the ships, although there are some ashore and in Port Security/NCS. So a Naval Reservist, in general, is looking at longer chunks of time away from an employer, measured in months, not weeks and often looking for a sabbatical or leave without pay if they are keen to do a one or two year stint on a ship."

Capt.(N) Jennifer Bennett currently holds the position of Director of Reserves at NDHQ in Ottawa. When she looked at the impact that Canada's employer support programs have had on her own career, she gave the CFLC high marks.

"Personally I've had experience utilizing the programs for my own career, and I think that by making my employer aware of what I could offer, and showing them my résumé and being able to translate my skills from military jargon into civilian terms, I was offered the opportunity to have a leave of absence from my civilian job and to be able to pursue full and part time employment. I can't guarantee that it was because I let my employer come to sea, or come down and see the unit, but I think that probably had a hand in it. I'm pleased with the way that CFLC has expanded."

Cdr. Robert Bonnell is a CFLC Liaison Officer in Toronto, and a human resources consultant in civilian life. He sees CFLC's programs becoming even more relevant with the current military recruiting drive and the increased focus by DND on recruiting and retention.

"We had always relied on the employers to be flexible when it came to releasing Naval Reserve members for such things as natural disasters, etc. Before the arrival of the MCDV, Naval Reserve units across Canada were gearing up for the arrival of these new pieces of kit and each unit was required to train a number of teams, one of which was the equivalent of an MCDV crew. There are a number of positions on these ships that require skills that were in short supply within the system and the Reserve only had a couple of years to make up the shortfall. Without the cooperation of employers, the Naval Reserve would probably never have been able to meet the obligations."

Capt.(N) Réal Thibault has thirty years of service with the military and twenty-four with the Naval Reserve. He is now employed with the Canadian Coast Guard in civilian life but also holds the current position of Regional Coordinator, Laurentian Region with the Naval Reserve. He suggested that the reservist's dual demands of meeting both civilian and military work obligations are increasing.

"Just ask a high percentage of personnel who are leaving the reserves today. The majority are having difficulty balancing both."

When asked if he had the power to change anything within DND that would increase the effectiveness of the CFLC programs, he replied as follows:

"Change HR policies to allow greater work flexibilities. The current culture is demanding a more effective balance of work, family and professional development. In the future, a greater partnership between the CF and industry to allow members to remain current on the rapid pace of technology and information management is vital. This will necessitate the ability of various full and part-time employment plans to ensure CF personnel gain valuable high tech skills and industry gain highly skilled management and leadership skills. The demographics of the future will see many institutions competing for the same skill-sets, and partnerships evolving for highly skilled personnel is essential. This will build a stronger alliance for all Canadians."

Given the same latitude, RAdm. Zuliani advised that he would formalize a reciprocal accreditation program.

"I would amend the rules to allow recognition of equivalency for civilian and military training, allowing accreditation for civilian skill-sets within the military and military skill-sets with the civilian work place. This process would have a value-added to the employer and would enhance the effectiveness of the member when in a uniform capacity."

An extract from the civilian personnel evaluation of a young woman who is also a member of the naval reserve, demonstrates the high regard that civilian organizations have for military training and experience.

"Communicating with others is one of [her] strengths.... It is apparent that [her] experience with the Canadian Forces has played a considerable part in her effectiveness in this field. She is confident and professional… [She] is a reliable and resourceful employee who contributes a high level of personal effort in meeting the demands of her position… [Her] work reflects well on both herself and the organization.... She has attended training under the Military Leave provisions of the Provincial Government which has, I believe, contributed to her skills and abilities."

That's what we want from our employer support program-recognition from employers that military training is of direct value to their civilian organizations and a willingness to grant time off to reservists to undertake that training.

Is Canada's strategy of voluntary employer support working? In 1993, the CFLC started out with a list of twenty employers who had signed a statement of employer support for the Reserve Force. Today, the employer information database numbers more than 3,200 supportive employers and is growing every month.

RAdm. Zuliani summed up one of the main reasons for the success of the program.

"The most significant comment made on all ExecuTreks is the fact that the business leaders, although impressed by the state of the equipment and training, are far more impressed by the quality of the people they encounter. Our reservists are our best advertising."

(Capt. Richard E. Gower is a project Officer with the CFLC in Ottawa. For more information about the CFLC and Canada's employer support program for the Reserve Force call: 1-800-567-9908 or search http://www.vcds.dnd.ca/cflc.)

Copyright © 2001 Captain Richard E. Gower
All Rights Reserved

(Originally Published in Vol. VII, No. 14, Spring 2001 issue of Starshell)