Recruit and retain. Evaluation of the Armed Forces' personnel policy tools aimed at newly hired soldiers and sailors

Researchers at the department have conducted several previous research-based studies of FM's personnel policy tools, then mainly aimed at older employees. There is a good familiarity with FM's organization and personnel policy in the research group. The current project includes interviews with soldiers and sailors, LoK supervisors, HR managers and line managers in different parts of the organization. A cohort of new employees will be followed for a three-year period. The evaluation has a summative and formative approach, and is process-oriented. It follows the model for evaluation which is called "realistic evaluation" and which consists, in simple terms, of three elements: mechanisms, context and results. The target group analysis takes place using, for example, push-pull-jump theories for understanding mobility in the labor market. Furthermore, special hypotheses are added against the background of young people's lifestyle and views on careers in particular. The lives of young people have changed relatively sharply in recent decades. Important contexts, such as education, labor market experiences and patterns of dependence, have been transformed in various ways. Young people are spending an increasing proportion of their lives in education and more and more are also acquiring higher education. The transition from youth to adulthood has become more extensive in time and the previously linear movement from education to work and an independent life has become complex and fragmented.