An Cosantóir

An Cosantóir March / April 2024 www.military.ie/magazine 10 | INTERVIEW WITH DEFENCE FORCES HEAD OF STRATEGIC HR MR DECLAN CARVILLE BY SGT RENA KENNEDY PHOTOS BY AIRMAN SAM GIBNEY How have you settled into Military life as a member of the Defence Forces Board since you took office in September 2023? Fairly seamlessly from my perspective, people have been incredibly welcoming and engaging. The fact that I don't have a uniform or a badge, has not held me back in any way, shape or form. In fact, a different perspective on things has been encouraged by the Chief of Staff and the DF Board. Whilst I thought at the very start it might be a confined environment before I joined, my lived reality is that it is very inclusive and very welcoming. I have spent the first few months travelling and meeting as many people as I could, this will continue as I am keen to understand the organisation and what people think needs to be done. This will help form the basis of what we all need to do. Everyone I have met have been inclusive and very engaged on improving the environment for people and continuing to build the right Culture for the future. This is a huge positive and augurs well for the future. Can you introduce the new members of the HR Division and the various offices that report to you now? We are determining what is the right structure for HR for the DF. As of now, the Strategic HR Division is made up of the following; • Office of Strategic HR • Joint Recruitment Office • Office of CELO (Civilian Employee Liaison Officer) • GENAD (Gender Advisor) / Diversity, Inclusion & Equity • Data Management • Elements of J1 (Human Resources). We maintain a very close working relationship between Strategic HR and Operational HR, particularly in the areas of Recruitment and Retention and the implementation of the Cultural initiatives as identified in the Strategic Framework, IRG and DIP over the course of 2024 and 2025. This will require a joined up approach across the DF. Your background is HR, what was your first impression of HR structures in the DF and instinctively what did you want to fix first (recruitment/retention/promotion etc)? There is a huge amount of excellent People & Cultural initiatives well underway. We will need to pull all the strands of HR activity under one umbrella and this starts with the structural modifications outlined above. This will evolve over time and in the coming months we will be aligning the activity under one "People & Culture" Strategy for the DF, one which will resonate with all of us. This will be complete before the Summer. So watch this space. Resourcing or lack thereof has been a common theme in the last 5 months as I speak to people across the DF. To me, Resourcing is made up of 3 elements, Recruitment, Retention and how work is prioritised. So Retention & Recruitment are key to this but also critically, making sure all of our people are working on the areas of highest value to the DF and clear on their expectations. I would urge all leaders, to the extent that this is possible, to focus our efforts on priority areas. Whilst it will take teamwork, we will grow the force over the coming years and provide compelling career paths for our people through modern HR strategies and our plans under the DIP. Before we get into specifics, what are your views on the overall Detailed Implementation Plan and does it go far enough to address HR issues? The DIP, which combines People & Culture elements from the CODF & IRG recommendations, & ultimately the Strategic Framework as the overall seminal document, is a comprehensive plan for the next 3 years. We will make significant progress on all the elements of the plan whilst at the same time, keep informed of wider HR practices and implement as we go. You joined the DF when the DIP was well under way to publication. Would you have done anything different within the HR Strategic Objective? The DIP was well under way to publication by the time I joined. The DIP provides a clear roadmap for People and Culture transformation. If we can make progress together on the current HOSHR Mr Declan Carville in a recent meeting with COS Seán Clancy

• Cover