When does 18 not equal 18? When you set an arbitrary number in the name of #innovation and #talentmanagement before getting a thumbs up from your boss. As it turns out, "the boss" likes 12 more than 18.
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SECNAV to Implement Sweeping Changes
- Thread starter usnavymle
- Start date
Just how much longer will we have to put up with this SECNAV? Tomorrow would be too long.
As for the balance of the new SECDEF initiatives, most I can support. But the notion that we have a serious problem because we are retaining age bearing women at a rate 30% less then men is pretty ridicules. Holy cow, anyone want to guess at what rate women leave the workforce to raise children? I have read it is 43% . Maybe the Navy is doing as well as we can. Now if you give me a minute to go chase those damn kids off my lawn....I just happen to think some women either planned all along to leave work when they had children, or after the birth of their first, things changed. Now they don't want to work. I think we used to call it a maternal instinct. If some women are inclined to leave the Navy to raise children I am thinking that is nature nudging them along. Now before I am crucified, let me point out my wife is a career women who worked very long hours when our children were young. Although she worked her butt off, she was not in the military. And I had a non traditional job that gave me a great deal of schedule flexibility and time off. Some jobs/careers are just more adaptive to working women, or single parents ( father included) than others. In general, the military is harder than most careers in this regard. Good though many of the changes are, identifying a 30% lower retention rate for women as something we have to make a priority or spend great amounts of money on is crazy.
As for the balance of the new SECDEF initiatives, most I can support. But the notion that we have a serious problem because we are retaining age bearing women at a rate 30% less then men is pretty ridicules. Holy cow, anyone want to guess at what rate women leave the workforce to raise children? I have read it is 43% . Maybe the Navy is doing as well as we can. Now if you give me a minute to go chase those damn kids off my lawn....I just happen to think some women either planned all along to leave work when they had children, or after the birth of their first, things changed. Now they don't want to work. I think we used to call it a maternal instinct. If some women are inclined to leave the Navy to raise children I am thinking that is nature nudging them along. Now before I am crucified, let me point out my wife is a career women who worked very long hours when our children were young. Although she worked her butt off, she was not in the military. And I had a non traditional job that gave me a great deal of schedule flexibility and time off. Some jobs/careers are just more adaptive to working women, or single parents ( father included) than others. In general, the military is harder than most careers in this regard. Good though many of the changes are, identifying a 30% lower retention rate for women as something we have to make a priority or spend great amounts of money on is crazy.
My hard working attorney wife used to say "When I grow up I want to be a full time mother." I honestly can't think of another job more honorable than the military except for motherhood.
Hey you delinquents, keep that damn ball over in your yard.
Hey you delinquents, keep that damn ball over in your yard.
So what happens when you target recruiting efforts to increase the numbers on a demographic that you typically struggle to retain? Does retention increase due to potential second order impacts of greater density or do you experience massive manning shortfalls and loss of roi related to training costs?
I think one problem with some of the stuff that comes from on high with policies concerning women is that it comes from folks from a generation or two older than the one in service right now, either from men or women who sacrificed a lot to get to the top. The current generation of JO's and their peers who might think about joining the service strike me as wanting more balance and some sort of middle path or '3rd option' to the two previously offered, sacrifice enormously for a military career or quit. I just don't think an active-duty military career can realistically give you that third option in most cases, especially the Navy or Marines. We have a gal in my unit right now that would be on her way to CO easily if she had stayed active duty but transferred to SELRES so she could have a family. She isn't the only one I have run into in the reserves who has taken that path.
And is it just me or is this the second time in as many months SECDEF has publicly rebuffed SECNAV?
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I am curious. You think she is disappointed things worked out as they did? Seems to me the selres thing is a decent compromise for anyone, particularly a mother, to stay engaged in the adult world and contribute when active duty become untenable for family life. Probably the closest you can come to the career woman nirvana, "having it all".
Ahhh...yeah. I seem to recall someone over at Information Dissemination wondering just how long SECNAV will endure at this rate.
That's a great, and pretty common, story. The young woman, her family, and the Navy "win." Unfortunately, that's not good enough in this SECNAV's eyes.
To be clear, 12 weeks is better than the previous 6, but there is a certain clumsiness to how it's all transpired that betrays the entire effort.
I think she misses the flying but is the type to have few regrets, she makes a decision and charges forward without worrying too much about the past.
Well then. Glad she stayed USNR. Those kind of people are always valuable.
Hopefully they don't implement this immediately. I have a friend who is on about week 10 of her leave and is now freaking out that she's going to have to start finding child care 6 weeks earlier than she had planned.
It is specifically noted that those who got pregnant before this change fall under the previous Navy 18 month leave policy.
The 12 weeks is less than the Navy's decision last year to institute 18 weeks of fully paid maternity leave, Carter noted. Sailors and Marines who are currently pregnant or who become pregnant within 30 days of the enactment of the policy can still take the full 18 weeks of paid leave, he said.
Damn... you're more generous that Ray.
I guess I was thinking of my wife's maternity leave courtesy of the Canadians, 50 weeks at 55% percent pay. Go socialism!
Ah good to know. The first article I read about this didn't mention this factoid.