The War For Talent - the British Army's Strategy

The British Army must nurture its future generals from its cadets as it cannot buy talent from elsewhere. This ‘War for Talent’ is being fought on two fronts: firstly, the military talent is being targeted by civilian employers (pull); and secondly, officers leave due to decreasing remuneration amongst other factors (push). Like many organisations, the British Army has not yet defined ‘talent’ or ‘talent management’, which has meant that much of the career management practice has been obfuscated and is not trusted by its officers. The annual Appraisal Report is the cornerstone of the Army’s career management and is based on a subjective report by the officer’s chain of command. However, only 49% and 47% of officers believe in the fairness of the appraisal and promotion systems respectively, which contributes to the fact that 46% of officers are satisfied with the way that their careers are being managed. Could a shift away from this subjective process increase retention? In initial officer selection, candidates are assessed through physical and cognitive psychometric tests, the results of which have traditionally been kept within the recruiting organisation and have not been used beyond initial selection in either training or for career management. The research will determine the validity of existing measures of personal attributes for predicting future performance and potential.