Continuity of Employment

Higate (2001) suggests that continuity of employment in a masculine space, for former military personnel, essentially delays the transition process. Amongst the participants in this study, at least 25 out of the 32 participants were in jobs that showed a continuity of this type of employment. Two participants are not working due to disability. Interestingly, four of the five participants in employment that does not demonstrate continuity are female. However, the remaining five female participants do have continuity of employment post-service. When considering job satisfaction for former police, military and emergency services in Australia, continuity of employment in the masculine space and lack of continuity in the masculine space can both contribute to issues in the new job. Each will be addressed in turn.  

Considering that individuals in the police, military and emergency services have undergone basic training that enforces masculine characteristics and encourages membership of a group with collective goals in line with the organisational needs (King, 2006), it is not surprising that participants can succinctly narrate their feelings of having lost who they were before they joined or enlisted. For some participants, they were so young when they joined or enlisted that they know of no conscious identity other than their police, military or emergency services one. For those who were older upon entry, or who had other substantial employment prior to entering, the identity issues are still the same, however, they do have a greater recollection of who they were before. Yet, none of the participants could definitively describe what they needed to do in order to redefine themselves in the post-service environment. Higate (2001) suggests that breaking the continuity of employment in the masculine space is one factor in improving transition experiences for the military.  

For former police, military and emergency services, continuity in the masculine space post-service allows the individuals to work in an environment that is somewhat familiar and to use their skills in a manner they are accustomed to. In Australia, some examples of the usual options include security work for police and military; hospitality risk management, including loss control, for police; emergency response roles with the mining sector for emergency services; government and private investigations for the police; project management and logistics management for the military. When using the terms risk management, investigations, emergency service response, and logistics there is an inherent indication of a continuity of skill use from the service organisation. Whether they are utilising these skills in a masculine space involves a closer examination of the organisations. However, the roles continue to be borne of masculine characteristics and this alone seems enough to create job continuity. For these participants, these options present for both the men and the women. As such, it is likely that the new organisations are not hegemonic masculine environments to the level seen in the police, military and emergency services, but the characteristics of the roles remain in the masculine space. For many participants this allows them to sense a comfortable space and make the transition. However, according to Higate’s (2001) model, the participants may not actually be transitioning effectively post-service but prolonging their identity connection to the service organisation. Rather than allowing for an identity connection to be created with the new employment, this continuity maintains their identity connection to their past employment and does not encourage any identity work for transitional development. Based on the participants for this study, this means that many do not transition at all, and remain in a state of identity disconnection from their new employment. For others, it delays the process and they begin to transition a considerable amount of time after leaving the service organisation. This can be confusing for the individual as they do not understand the impact such continuity had on their transition. 

There were several participants who had maintained continuity of type of employment post-service, for example Lucy moving from the military to the Australian Border Force, and Walter from the fire service to an emergency services role with the mining sector. Higate (2001) suggests that breaking the continuity is better for identity work for his target group as it allows them to disconnect from identifying with the masculine characteristics of their previous employment and start to function more effectively in the civilian world. This was partially the case for participants in this study. Where continuity of employment was maintained, the participants faced several transition issues, including not recognising where they fit in the new role in comparison to the service role. Although there was continuity in factors such as regulatory enforcement, teamwork, uniforms, and rank, it was still considerably different to the skills and activities undertaken in the service organisation and as such a gap between ‘us and them’ still presented. The gap was the same for the participants who saw little to no continuity in their post-service employment, but they found it easier to explain and understand the differences, whereas those with continuity had expectations that it would be similar and found this was not the case. This indicates that continuity in employment post-service blurs the transition processes and confuses the individual more than if they seek employment that is not in any way like their service role. 

On the other hand, based on the narration of some of the participants, an immediate step into employment that has no continuity in the masculine space is confronting and uncomfortable at a time when these individuals are often not ready for such a drastic change. Maria explained  

I’m just doing personal injury matters which I would never thought I’d ever, ever do. So I’ve gone from the top of the pile to coming down several rungs so it’s hard   

and Julie agreed, stating 

 No, no. So it was really difficult. I thought I’d be able to just…due to you know being so long in the cops and the fact you’re multi-thinged at everything…but yeah…so I thought I’d be able to walk into a job one day and say I want this job and I’d get it. It didn’t happen.   

When faced with such a scenario they falter primarily because they do not see how their skills, previously built from activities and roles in the masculine space, apply in the new role. If nothing else, the reports of some of the participants indicate that they do not understand why their skills are not more easily recognised. This, again, feeds the ‘us and them’ mentality and makes them feel excluded from the civilian world. However, it does hasten their transition process as they learn to adapt to the changes quickly. Their job satisfaction is still affected by the lack of common goals with their peers, a lack of shared activities and skills, and a lack of understanding amongst employers (or colleagues) of their background and experience. They become isolated and soon realise that work is a place they go and secure income and is no longer the place that they immerse themselves in as part of their life goals. The participant reporting in this area is often laced with regret and resigned acceptance of the change in their life. Some participants report making a greater effort to seek satisfaction in other parts of their lives and relying less on job satisfaction to complete their day. They do, however, still address this with a sense of loss for what they were once capable of, and the way in which they were acknowledged and recognised in the workplace. Against assumption, this does not present with arrogance over a loss of power, which was expected amongst the police and military participants in particular, but shows a level of humility as they come to the realisation that they will not have the same job satisfaction that they had once known.  

A discontinuity in employment can create alternative challenges for the participants. In particular, the transfer of their skills to the civilian sector is, to a certain extent, dependent upon them finding new employment that requires similar skills. However, it is at that point in the transition process that it is important to ensure that the skills that are transferred are as generic and adaptable as possible, thereby allowing the individual to transition more effectively. For example, for a police officer, a focus on their administration and leadership skills is more generic than focusing on their investigation skills. Similarly, for military, a focus on their project management skills is more transferable than a focus on their risk management abilities. It is at this point that there is the first divide between the three services in this study. The emergency services are the group who see the highest tendency for continuity of employment. Both firefighters and paramedics have unique skills that are difficult to translate to employment outside their sector. In the research group, all but two emergency services participants had maintained continuity of employment. For the two who had not, this was a direct result of a serious physical and psychological injury that limited their ability to continue in the emergency services sector. Military and police participants indicated that with persistence and new learning, they could transition to new sectors and begin to understand how their skills were transferable. They were learning that they needed to let go of the fact that they were a police officer or a soldier, and to adapt in the civilian world by denying how things used to be and focusing on what skills were acceptable to continue to use. Amongst the firefighters and paramedics there were stronger perceptions that they were trapped by their skills and abilities within this sector. Their sense of identity was more strongly aligned with the profession and they could not distinguish those skills from more generic ones that could be used in different sectors. Although their initial training is not as rigorous as that of police and military, and they have activities and roles that are focused on helping the community with little to no instance of confrontation and certainly no instance of lethal force, their identity connection to the service organisation is the strongest. This is because of the higher number of options for emergency services to continue in similar employment with other organisations, such as in the mining sector, private response employers, hospitals, and private first aid organisations. In all these roles, the tasks are similar, and continuity is easily maintained. In contrast, there are no similar roles for police and military in the community. Whilst security roles may be equated, they do not compare to the broad range of skills and knowledge held by former police and military, utilising only a small proportion of the skills and training, so the continuity is weak, at best. As such, police and military must react to a lack of continuity much faster and learn to equate their generic skills with roles in the civilian sector more swiftly than those from the emergency services. Of course, this also means that employment opportunities for the emergency services are more limited than those for police and military. 

Higate (2001) suggests that continuity of employment often appears to be an immediate solution to transition issues for this group, but in fact, may simply delay the complete transition and identity disconnection from the service organisation. However, amongst the participants there were more indicators of job satisfaction in those who had continuity of employment than in those who did not. It is a natural tendency for individuals post-service to seek employment that is similar to what they were doing in the service organisation, particularly as they attempt to maintain an identity connection. They will look for employment in the masculine space where they are most comfortable operating and will seek opportunities to continue to utilise their skills and knowledge. This continuity of employment addresses some immediate hurdles, by minimising the impact of change and allowing better use of existing skills and knowledge, but such continuity does not conclusively contribute to, nor detract from, job satisfaction. The participants who chose continuity of employment indicated that although they thought it was the same, or similar, there are vast differences that they struggle to overcome. Often, the depth of camaraderie and focus on collective goals is not the same, even though the job content could be seen to be the same. This makes it harder for this group as they become disillusioned that things are so different and this impacts on their job satisfaction. For other participants, it is not what is lacking in the post-service employment, when continuity is sought, but what is similar. Adding in the issue of mental health, operating in similar environments with levels of confrontation and rank and uniform, the reminders can become triggers for mental health episodes and bode poorly for both the ability to commit to the new employment, and the individual’s health, wellbeing and employment longevity. Higate’s (2001) work on breaking continuity is valid in encouraging transition from the environment in which mental health issues were developed and pursuing employment in areas that are less likely to trigger negative psychological responses. 

Overall, members of this group need the opportunity to understand their identity connection to their former service organisation and undergo training and education to commence identity work that will help them disconnect. Understanding their individual goals and how they are aligned with the post-service employer’s goals is a starting point. Being able to work with the experience and memory of good camaraderie and a collective goal can be used to contribute to new commitment to the post-service employment but should not be sought out as a replacement for the service role. Individuals need to redefine their individual self in the context of their new employment and start to re-create their identity around their new reality.