Enabling system management through process modeling the Australian Defence Force Recruiting System

Abstract

Defence Force Recruiting (DFR) is responsible for all ab initio recruitment of full-time and part-time Officer appointees and general entry enlistees into the Australian Defence Force (ADF) to serve in the Australian Army, Navy or Air Force. Despite the merging of single-service selection systems into a tri-service system and the commercialization of significant components of ADF recruitment functions in 2001, recruiting achievement continues to be below the targeted levels essential to maintain the ADF personnel strength necessary for operations. An assessment of the recruiting system to enable managerial overview and performance evaluation is warranted. Using avant-garde commercial-of-the-shelf (COTS) process modeling software a Recruiting System Model (RSM) will be built that captures the entire recruiting system in three dimensions. This will become a tool for Defence and DFR managers at all levels that will enrich their ability to assess, analyze, and improve the recruiting system. Ultimately it will help identify the components of the Recruiting System that are functioning in a manner detrimental to achieving ADF recruiting goals and provide the means to predict the effects on recruiting achievement of multiple courses of actions. The RSM incorporates a visual graphical depiction of the ADF recruiting system as well as numerical throughput rates and yield ratios for the processes and sub-processes internal to the recruiting system. The RSM enables cross-functional managerial control in a versatile and adaptable platform.