Academic Scientific JournalsWork-life balance among newly employed officers – a qualitative study
Keywords:
work-life balance, career, military officersAbstract
Background
A military career puts great demands on the individual as regards combining working life and private life. The military and the family both demand time, energy, engagement, and commitment from the individual. Finding an appropriate balance between work and non-work might be particularly complex during military training and deployments that require extended periods away from home. The aim of this study was to investigate newly employed officers’ perceptions of work-life balance and its implications for future careers.
Participants and procedure
This article is based on 34 semi-structured interviews with newly employed officers and non-commissioned officers in the Swedish Armed Forces (SAF). The interviews were analyzed according to the six-phase approach of coding and theme development by thematic analysis.
Results
The analysis resulted in the emergence of three main themes: coping with different loyalties, individual and organizational strategies, and concerns about the future. All officers expressed loyalty to their work and organization, but these perceptions were influenced by significant others in private life. High ambitions in combination with stressful working conditions made organizational supportive strategies important, but these differed between units. Concerns about a constantly high workload and lack of recovery were highlighted, as well as concerns about future career and family building.
Conclusions
In order to retain qualified personnel, the SAF should provide support and create conditions that help employees to balance work and non-work. A career in the Armed Forces will inevitably entail a reduced work-life balance, and our results show that the newly employed officers are highly aware of this. To ease the pressure, the SAF could be clearer about the expectations on their new employees.
Downloads
References
Allen, T. D., Johnson, R. C., Saboe, K. N., Cho, E., Dumani, S., & Evans, S. (2012). Dispositional variables and work-family conflict: a meta-analysis. Journal of Vocational Behavior, 80, 17–26. https:// doi.org./10.1016/j.jvb.2011.04.004.
Anderson, J., & Goldenberg, I. (2019). Balancing act: The demands of family, military service, and civilian employment for reservists. In R. Moelker, M. Andres, & N. Rones (Eds.), The politics of military families: State, work organizations, and the rise of the negotiation household (pp. 152–168). Routledge.
Andres, M., Moelker, R., & Soeters, J. (2012). The workfamily interface and turnover intentions over the course of project-oriented assignments abroad. International Journal of Project Management, 30, 752– 759. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ijproman.2012.01.006.
Braun, V., & Clarke, V. (2006). Using thematic analysis in psychology. Qualitative Research in Psychology, 3, 77–101. https:// doi.org/10.1191/1478088706qp063oa.
Casper, W. J., Vaziri, H., Wayne, J. H., DeHauw, S., & Greenhaus, J. (2018). The jingle-jangle of worknonwork balance: a comprehensive and metaanalytic review of its meaning and measurement. Journal of Applied Psychology, 103, 182–214. https:// doi.org/10.1037/apl0000259.
Clark, S. C. (2000). Work/family border theory: a new theory of work/family balance. Human Relations, 53, 747–770. https://doi.org/10.1177/0018726700536001.
Dupré, K. E., & Day, A. L. (2007). The effects of supportive management and job quality on the turnover intentions and health of military personnel. Human Resource Management, 46, 185–201. https:// doi.org/10.1002/hrm.20156.
Evetts, J. (2003). Explaining the construction of professionalism in the military: History, concepts and theories. Revue Française De Sociologie, 44, 759–776. https://doi.org/10.2307/3323236.
Fors Brandebo, M., Österberg, J., & Berglund, A. K. (2019). The Impact of constructive and destructive leadership on soldier’s job satisfaction. Psychological Reports, 122, 1068–1086. https:// doi.org/10.1177/0033294118771542.
French, K. A., Dumani, S., Allen, T. D., & Shockley, K. M. (2018). A meta-analysis of work-family conflict and social support. Psychological Bulletin, 144, 284–314. https://doi.org/10.1037/bul0000120.
Frone, M. R., Yardley, J. K., & Markel, K. S. (1997). Developing and testing an integrative model of the workfamily interface. Journal of Vocational Behavior, 50, 145–167. https://doi.org/10.1006/jvbe.1996.1577.
Greenhaus, J. H., Collins, K. M., & Shaw, J. D. (2003). The relation between work-family balance and quality of life. Journal of Vocational Behavior, 63, 510–531. https://doi.org/10.1016/S0001-8791(02)00042-8.
Greenhaus, J. H., & Beutell, N. J. (1985). Sources of conflict between work and family roles. Academy of Management Review, 10, 76–88. https:// doi.org/10.5465/amr.1985.4277352.
Hedlund, E. (2013). Civil-military control over the Swedish military profession: an analysis from the perspective of officer rank and officer education. Armed Forces & Society, 39, 135–157. https:// doi.org/10.1177/0095327X11426256.
Hill, E. J., Hawkins, A. J., Ferris, M., & Weitzman, M. (2001). Finding an extra day a week: The positive influence of perceived job flexibility on work and family life balance. Family Relations, 50, 49–58. https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1741-3729.2001.00049.x.
Huffman, A. H., Culbertson, S. S., & Castro, C. A. (2008). Family-friendly environments and U.S. Army soldier performance and work outcomes. Military Psychology, 20, 253–270. https:// doi.org/10.1080/08995600802345162.
Huffman, A. H., Payne, S. C., Koehly, L. M., Culbertson, S. S., & Castro, C. A. (2014). Examining time demands and work-family conflict on psychological distress. Military Behavioral Health, 2, 26–32. https://doi.org/10.1080/21635781.2013.844662.
Huntington, S. (1957). The soldier and the state: The theory and practice of civil-military relations. Harvard University Press.
Janowitz, M. (1960). The professional soldier. Free Press. Johansen, R. B., Laberg, J. C., & Martinussen, M. (2013). Measuring military identity: Scale development and psychometric evaluations. Social Behavior and Personality, 41, 861–880. https:// doi.org/10.2224/sbp.2013.41.5.861.
Lock-Pullan, R. (2001). “And the wall came trumbling down”: The current debate on the changing nature of the military professional. Defence Studies, 1, 122–132. https://doi.org/10.1080/714000039.
MacDermid, W. S., & Southwell, K. (2011). Military families: Extreme work and extreme “workfamily”. Annals of the American Academy of Political and Social Science, 638, 163–183. https:// doi.org/10.1177/0002716211416445.
Moskos, C. C., Jr (1977). From institution to occupation: Trends in military organization. Armed Forces & Society, 4, 41–50. https:// doi.org/10.1177/0095327X7700400103.
Österberg, J., Oskarsson, E., & Nilsson, J. (submitted). Perceptions of officer training among newly employed officers and specialist officers in the Swedish Armed Forces – a qualitative study. Manuscript submitted for publication.
Österberg, J., & Nilsson, J. (2019). A diary-based case study in the development of unit cohesion during basic training in the Swedish Air Force. Res Militaris, 9, 1029926.
Österberg, J., & Rydstedt, L. W. (2018). Job satisfaction among Swedish soldiers: Applying the job characteristics model to newly recruited military personnel. Military Psychology, 30, 302–310. https://doi.org/10.1080/08995605.2018.1425585.
Österberg, J., Rydstedt, L. W., Kleiven, J., & Fors Brandebo, M. (2017). The path to job satisfaction. Applying the theory of purposeful behavior to military conditions. Journal of Defense Resources Management, 8, 27–42.
Pickering, D. (2017). Balancing the demands of military and family life: Understanding the challenges faced by military personnel. In A. MacIntyre, D. Lagacé-Roy, & D. R. Lindsay (Eds.), Global views on military stress and resilience (pp. 79–101). Canadian Defence Academy Press.
Pleck, J. H., Staines, G. L., & Lang, L. (1980). Conflicts between work and family life. Monthly Labor Review, 103, 29–32.
Rydstedt, L. W., & Österberg, J. (2013). Psychological characteristics of Swedish mandatory enlisted soldiers volunteering and not volunteering for international missions: an exploratory study. Psychological Reports, 112, 678–688. https:// doi.org/10.2466/17.02.PR0.112.2.678-688.
Sachau, D. A., Gertz, J., Matsch, M., Johnson Palmer, A., & Englert, D. (2012). Work-life conflict and organizational support in a military law enforcement agency. Journal of Police and Criminal Psychology, 27, 63–72. https://doi.org/10.1007/s11896011-9095-x.
Segal, M. W. (1986). The military and the family as greedy institutions. Armed Forces & Society, 13, 9–38. https://doi.org/10.1177/0095327X8601300101.
Strand, S., & Berndtsson, J. (2015). Recruiting the “enterprising soldier”: Military recruitment discourses in Sweden and the United Kingdom. Critical Military Studies, 1, 233–248. https:// doi.org/10.1080/23337486.2015.1090676.
van Knippenberg, D., & Sleebos, E. (2006). Organizational identification versus organizational commitment: Self‐definition, social exchange, and job attitudes. Journal of Organizational Behavior, 27, 571–584. https://doi.org/10.1002/job.359.
Voydanoff, P. (2005). Consequences of boundaryspanning demands and resources for work-tofamily conflict and perceived stress. Journal of Occupational Health Psychology, 10, 491–503. https:// doi.org/10.1037/1076-8998.10.4.491.
Vuga, J., & Juvan, J. (2013). Work-family conflict between two greedy institutions – the family and the military. Current Sociology, 61, 1058–1077. https://doi.org/10.1177/0011392113498881.
Weber, M., & Österberg, J. (2015). A principal component analysis of Swedish conscripts’ values and attitudes towards their military education. Res Militaris, 5, 1022278.
