3 December 2024 13h30-14h00
Lise Blokerije & Delphine Resteigne (Chair of Sociology)
Recruiting new military personnel has been a top priority for Belgian Defence, especially with around one in five of its current workforce set to retire in the coming years. However, the significant costs and time investments involved in training new recruits underscore the critical need for effective training completion and long-term retention. Attrition during the training phase not only wastes valuable resources but also leads to a loss of skills, knowledge, and social capital. Additionally, the burden of starting new recruitment processes can strain current personnel, potentially undermining their own retention. Understanding the motivations behind attrition is essential, both for addressing current trends and predicting future developments. This deeper understanding can guide efforts to improve working conditions and employee well-being, ultimately boosting retention across all levels. A comprehensive analysis of attrition allows us to explore how it has evolved over time, comparing social and military groups, and revealing key differences in exit motivations related to gender, language, training types, and more. To investigate further into this topic, we invite you to join a webinar where we will present the findings from a study that uses data collected by the Cell Exit of the Belgian Defence from exit interviews and surveys conducted between January 2013 and June 2023 (with a brief hiatus during the Covid-19 pandemic). While the Cell Exit publishes annual reports on attrition, our study offers a comprehensive look at attrition motivations over time, and how these insights can inform the development of tailored retention strategies and further research into the issue. Join us to explore the evolving patterns of attrition in the Belgian Defence and discuss with us how these findings can be related to future retention policies.
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