Occupational Mobility

An examination of contributing theories in the area of occupational mobility helped support the assumption that a level of confusion amongst former members of the police, military and emergency services about the transferability of their work skills was contributing to their post-service job satisfaction. In 2011, Otto, Baumert and Bobocel conducted research on ‘distributive justice principles’ in a cross-cultural study (p. 255). What is most relevant about this research is that it draws upon social resource theory and provides an interesting perspective on uncertainty management theory (Otto et al., 2011). In terms of self-identity, these elements strongly influence the capacity for an individual to identify with their personal goals and dreams in addition to, or alongside, their employment goals and dreams. The literature provides some explanation why this may not be as clear cut for the members of the police, military and emergency services given the nature of organisational identity. Social resource theory, in this context, is best described by Behtoui and Neergaard (2012) as the ‘pool of resources embedded in an individual’s social network’ (p. 42). These resources reinforce social hierarchy and influence the quality of jobs that an individual obtains and the subsequent income and workplace status (Behtoui & Neergaard, 2012). This is commonly referred to as social stratification and explains not only one individual’s capacity to obtain certain levels of employment and create a certain position in the social hierarchy, but also the manner in which other individuals are excluded from positions on the social hierarchy and the obstacles encountered when trying to change that exclusion (Adkins, 2005). This is particularly significant for members of a group whose workplace is hierarchical in a military and/or para-military way where the stratification occurs within the organisation as well as outside. 

This led to an examination of uncertainty management to ascertain whether the lack of certainty of the individuals from police, military and emergency services in relation to the use of their skills post-service was situational or based in theory. Uncertainty management theory is a term commonly associated with Lind and van den Bos (2002) and is a useful tool to apply when measuring the benefits of education in relation to employment. This is particularly significant for the assumption amongst the former members of the police, military and emergency services that education influences the ease of their transition. According to Otto et al. (2011) uncertainty management theory states that it is a basic function of fairness in human lives to help people cope in the world on the basis that it is an uncertain place (p. 259). Typically, uncertainty management theory supports the idea that education during a person’s lifetime contributes to a reduction in uncertainty and therefore improves a person’s ability to cope in life. However, the training within service organisations is often so specific and non-transferable that it lends itself to a different interpretation of lifetime education and in a post-service environment broaches the reality that an individual has not been undertaking ‘education’ for the lifetime of their career but instead simply training and retraining for singular roles. The levels of uncertainty differ throughout the period of an individual’s life and Hofstede (1980) believes that it is intensified in different cultures, but perhaps even intensified in different occupations. Whilst Otto et al.’s (2011) research was focused upon cross-cultural differences between Canada and Germany, the principles of uncertainty avoidance and uncertainty tolerance that they apply have a wider reach (Otto et al., 2011, p. 259). Interestingly, the terms were first referred to by Hofstede (1980) and they provide good insight into the reasons why individuals may remain in one form of employment over the long term. This is common in some members of the research group. Ruiz and Morrow (2005) state that this is normally the case in policing because there are no other options clearly available to the individual, not as a fact, but as a result of the individual’s inability to identify outside the organisation. Whilst commonly applied on a social scale, uncertainty avoidance can lead to reliance on social norms, rituals and bureaucratic practices, but it is interesting to consider whether the same uncertainty avoidance practices can be applied to occupation scenarios. This allows for the use of uncertainty management theory in other sectors, such as specific occupations, to see whether it is a factor in the manner in which employers invest in human capital, as well as the manner in which individual employees invest in them. It also has some significance as to the reasons why employees may, or may not, remain in employment long term. And, further, it may contribute to an inability to leave employment after long-term engagement as the degree of uncertainty increases over time. Otto et al. (2011) explain that individual differences in uncertainty management can be highlighted by an individual’s tendency to avoid uncertainty but also by an individual’s ability to tolerate uncertainty. This could be a significant factor in occupational mobility and should not be overlooked as an underlying motivation for individual decision making when it comes to employment choices. 

At the heart of discussions of occupational mobility is the presence of boundaries and the way in which these are firstly identified, and secondly breached or crossed. The boundaries for occupations such as police, military and emergency services in Australia are tight, and cannot be crossed. For example, police cannot transfer from one police service or force to another without applying as a recruit and recommencing recruit training. No recognition is given for firm-related skills. They are viewed as non-transferable. This is explained by Hayes and Fitzgerald (2009), who use the term ‘boundary crosser’ when referring to those individuals who can not only exist across different occupations but can do so with the ability to translate occupational specifics to others (p. 432). The defining element for boundary crossers is that they hold certifications such as educational and professional qualifications that allow them to easily permeate occupational boundaries. This continues to be a common thread in the literature in that education is present in many of the defining elements of all areas contributing to occupational mobility. This is especially significant for the in-group comparison between emergency services, and police and military. Paramedics can transition to similar work, in or out of Government, and in or out of the same State or Territory, which is not the case for police, military and firefighters. Yet, many police organisations in Australia train their recruits to the same Diploma level (AQF 5) as the paramedics9. Interestingly, Hayes and Fitzgerald (2009) focus upon the need to accommodate differences in occupational subcultures in order to breach occupational boundaries. With consideration of their work, combined with work-related skills discussed by Dobbie and MacMillan (2012), it becomes clear that the focus on occupational mobility being limited by occupational boundaries is a real consequence of the investment in human capital within the occupation and the movement of general skills across sectors. This raises some interesting questions in relation to the way employees can be developed within the firm and the investment return on the part of the firm if the skill development breeds general skill outcomes. To an extent, this explains the restricted occupational mobility of individuals from police, military and emergency services, because the organisational investment in the individual needs return within their own location, and not through transfer to another organisation. This is particularly so for the state funded police and emergency services, but the question could be asked whether this is a valid reasoning for the federally funded police and military.  

The extent to which Hayes and Fitzgerald’s (2009) work applies to general occupational mobility is limited by the fact that their study involved individuals who remained invested in their original occupation whilst working with other occupations. This is not typical of occupational mobility, where employees are normally exiting one occupation to enter another. However, it is even more common for employees to be exiting one firm to enter another, whilst still in the same occupation. This is extraordinarily difficult in the area of policing and military and breeds the need to change occupations rather than firms, particularly if individuals wish to remain in their current geographical location. But what is useful in Hayes and Fitzgerald’s (2009) work that should be applied in occupations is the use of innovation and motivation to ensure inter-occupational cooperation. Their data is too small for generalisation, but interesting concepts arise in their ideas of using appraisals, evaluations, incentives, financial rewards, and idea generation as motivation for collaboration between occupations (Hayes & Fitzgerald, 2009). The extent to which such practices could be applied to occupational mobility is far from conclusive. 

So, it can be clearly stated that one of the important focuses of occupational mobility is the boundaries between occupations themselves and the use of broad occupational groupings. However, it remains to be seen whether police, military and emergency services transition issues could be better managed if occupational mobility was more fluid amongst these organisations. DiPrete, in his 1988 study of clerical workers in the US, identifies that occupations generally exist in a hierarchical relationship to other occupations and the boundaries between these are socially defined but can vary over time (DiPrete, 1988). DiPrete (1988) argues that the process of social redefinition of occupational boundaries is twofold with changes to the ‘tasks’ inherently creating changes to the ‘job’ and the comparison of these across occupations and across time is problematic (pp. 728–729). Essentially, occupational hierarchies are the starting point for an understanding of the skills associated with job titles and to attempt to compare these to other job titles in other occupations is defensible only when the comparison is conducted at a point in time (DiPrete, 1988). To compare across time is to risk a comparison that does not consider the shifting boundaries of the internal hierarchy and what it means to perform in that occupation at a particular point in time. This has an impact on police who are working pursuant to state legislation that is different across locations. Similarly, changes in technology and social organisation of work can create changes in the functional hierarchy of an occupation, and roles within an occupation will change because of changes to the component tasks (DiPrete, 1988). But the existence of these tasks and the fact that the tasks can be placed on an internal hierarchy is what allows for the change of the location of the boundary between adjacent occupations on a social hierarchy.  

This is an easily understood concept when considered in terms of job titles that cross occupational boundaries, such as administrative roles, farming, legal or medical occupations. Grouped together, these roles are defined by their inherent tasks, not just in one occupation, but across a range of occupations. The boundaries are permeable and the capacity for change as a result of technology or social organisation spreads across all the occupations. DiPrete (1988) focuses on clerical workers in the US but this work raises some interesting issues for the research group in Australia, as the individual State and Territory organisations firmly hold their occupational boundaries, usually refusing to acknowledge the transferability of skills between organisations. A serving police officer in one State can be required to undergo full recruit training in order to join a police organisation in another State. And whilst the military has no state or territorial boundaries, the capacity to transfer locations is only on the basis that they remain in the employ of the military organisation. Unlike police and military, there are private organisations that employ the services of emergency services workers and allow a transition from one occupational environment to another. DiPrete (1988) would suggest that this was a result of the lack of a culture of professionalism within the occupation and the inability to equate the skill level of jobs within the same occupation. The greatest point of interest here is that if the research group organisations cannot equate skill levels across boundaries of the same occupation, then the capacity for the skills to be recognised across the boundaries of different occupations is highly limited.  

The theories related to job satisfaction and an examination of the labour market lends context to the way in which job satisfaction can be measured for individuals from the police, military and emergency services in their post-service environment. Importantly, an understanding of where they have come from is as important as the understanding of where they are now in their post-service employment. The literature has provided insight into a small part of the issues affecting these individuals in transition, but it also showed that a greater examination of the overall factors influencing these groups was required to try to ascertain the source of all issues related to transition. As such, further literature searches were conducted for specific information pertaining to police, military and emergency services to try to piece together the full picture of the career and post-service experiences of these individuals. It was considered that to understand what was impacting their lives when they left, a good starting point was to understand what made them join the service organisation in the first place. 

Human Capital and Occupational Mobility

Recognition of human capital contributes considerably to the opportunities available for this group in post-service employment. The service organisations invest heavily in the training and development of their members but with the view of generating return on investment inside the boundaries of the organisation. This means that often such training and development is not easily traded in the civilian world. The individuals seeking employment post-service often have a view of their human capital that is inconsistent with the understanding of the potential new employer. This is usually a direct result of the inability to effectively communicate the skills and knowledge to civilian employers and to describe how they will benefit the new organisation. As such, the human capital from the time spent with police, military and emergency services quickly becomes a low economic currency and individuals, like Maria who struggled to find employment post-service, are often surprised by this. 

Becker’s (1964) theory is most relevant here and suggests that human capital can be separated into two distinct categories: skills that are transferable and skills that are not. Firm-specific skills have the lowest return on earnings and general skills have the highest (Dobbie & McMillan, 2012; Kwon & Milgrom, 2014; Lazear & Oyer, 2004; Shaw, 1984). As such, it is logical to commence the skills transfer with the general skills and work back through the other categories. 

Given the high post-service employment rate amongst the participants (29 out of 32), overall, the human capital of this group has proven to be quite good. However, for the participants, the transfer of their skills to nationally recognised qualifications translated their experience into language better understood by civilian employers. Without this, their human capital is not fully understood nor appreciated in the civilian employment sector and this can greatly undermine their sense of worth. By their own admission, the participants tend to focus most on their firm-specific skills that naturally have the lowest return on investment, yet for them as individuals have the highest worth in terms of their commitment and the physical and mental demands of their training to achieve those skills. As such, there is a natural imbalance in the way firm-specific skills are perceived by the holder and the new employer. 

Of the three service groups, emergency services participants present with the highest concentration of firm-specific skills. For some participants in this service group, some of the skills are also occupation- and industry-specific, but they have the lowest concentration of general skills across all ranks. The higher ranks in the emergency services do start to acquire general skills, but their number is low per capita of emergency services employees. As a result, the skills transfer process for emergency services employees translates to very specific qualifications, such as emergency management, and therefore reduces the opportunity for employment outside of their service sector. As is seen amongst the emergency services participants, all but two are working in organisations like their service organisation, with similar if not identical roles. Vanessa is one of the two participants for whom this is different. As a direct result of a severe physical injury, she is running her own business, outside of the emergency services sector. This transition has resulted in a substantial loss of income and savings. Neil, the second participant in this situation, is currently not employed due to injury. 

The lower ranks of the military have firm, occupation and industry-specific skills (Dobbie & MacMillan, 2012). For these members of the ADF, training in a plethora of general skills designed to ensure they have a force that can function in times of peace and war is provided. As such, basic administration and communication skills are taught early amongst the ranks, and leadership is encouraged almost immediately, given that the organisation functions in an environment with many teams. These skills are generally well translated. 

For the police, their role within the community allows for the development of general skills that are transferable. Further, the demands on their roles for constant record keeping and reporting to superiors as well as external stakeholders such as courts, ensures that their skills in administration are strong. Leadership is encouraged and skill development is consistently ongoing. Their skills are the most transferable amongst the three service groups. 

Without the capacity to translate the skills, the human capital for former members of all three service groups is difficult to measure in the civilian employment sector. This encourages continuity in the masculine space, as the firm, occupation and industry-specific skills are easier to relate to when the activities in the new employment resemble those performed in the service roles. However, the participant descriptions indicate that even in a similar environment, the full extent of their skills is never truly appreciated. This is because any non-service job will harness a reduced range of their skills.  

Having identified the issues related to human capital, occupational mobility for this group presents several restrictions that are borne from the same issues arising with the recognition of human capital (Becker, 1964). Occupational mobility is a concept that impacts the transition of this group yet is rarely understood by them as individuals. The investment in their human capital as members of the police, military and emergency services is extensive and they recognise this through the constant training, repetitive activities, and equipment provided. However, as individuals, they often fail to see that this training and preparation is conducted within occupational boundaries. These boundaries ensure the best return on investment for the organisation but can negatively impact the individual when they choose to separate. Instead of being able to take all their skills and knowledge, including direct experiences and information, to another employer they are left with a set of skills that they personally recognise as valuable but are unable to actively use in a post-service role. Some participants, who could use their skills in post-service employment, found that the partial use of their skills within a different context was not as personally satisfying. This leads to a level of confusion amongst the individuals as they try to discern what their actual worth is in the post-service employment environment. The military participants are the most accepting of the fact that many of their skills cannot be utilised in the civilian world. Operating in unique environments, with unique training and unique equipment, prepares them for the fact that they may not be able to use all those skills post-service. The participants in this situation are surprised at how little credit they are given in post-service employment for their general skills. Where their new employers see only their firm-specific skills, the individuals start to become aware of their more general skills that are not being fully utilised. This is often described by members of this group as frustration that although they may have led a team of 350 on a military operation, for example, their new boss will not let them lead a team of five. 

The former police members in Australia are possibly the most aware of the concept of occupational boundaries because they know that they cannot move from police service/force to police service/force across state lines without redoing academy training. Further, they are aware that separating from their service or force will mean they have to redo academy training should they choose to re-join. However, they often do not understand this in terms of occupational mobility. Often, the former police members refer to themselves as ‘once a police officer, always a police officer’, but they do not understand that in doing so they are constraining themselves to specific occupational boundaries.  

The emergency services have the greatest level of occupational boundaries, and therefore the lowest levels of occupational mobility because they have the lowest level of general and transferable skills. That is, the specific skills that they acquire during their service are such that they are often only transferable within the same sector. Of course, higher ranks and greater years of service start to improve their general skills, but overall this is the most restrictive of the three service organisations in terms of occupational mobility.  

Mental Health Challenges 

A final critical finding is that the incidence of mental health injury amongst this group is high, both professionally diagnosed and self-diagnosed. This potentially has an impact on the way in which the group view their job satisfaction as their life satisfaction can be distorted by the presence of illness such as PTSD. This creates complexity for this group when trying to re-deploy them and ensure job satisfaction at the same time. It is also a difficult area to research because the identity issues together with mental health issues are intertwined post-service for most participants and cannot be studied separately or in isolation from each other. This prohibits the research from being able to conclusively ascertain whether job satisfaction issues post-service are related to mental health issues alone, to identity issues alone, to poor job satisfaction with the new role alone; or to the interconnection of one or more of these issues.