Issue 1/03 – 29 January 2003
DHRRE: Survey results will help achieve PERSTEMPO
balance
The past decade has been a demanding one for the CF.
Increases in the tempo of domestic and international operations
combined with personnel reductions have resulted in many members
spending an increased amount of time away from home, and the workload
of those who remain behind has increased substantially. That there
is a significant impact on both members and their families is now
well known and accepted.
The CF initiative to address the impact of time away
from home is sponsored by ADM (HR-Mil) and is known as the PERSTEMPO
Project. The aim of the project is to provide the basis needed for
leadership to develop PERSTEMPO policies and programs balancing
the time members spend away from home for duty reasons with personal
and family needs.
 DHRRE
Administration team: Ms Shirley Langer (Admin Assistant), left,
Ms Dianne Majaury (Desktop Publications Support), Col Cheryl Lamerson
(Director, DHRRE), Cpl Doris Tessier (Admin Support Assistant),
and Mr. Eric Trudel (Survey Admin Assistant). Missing: Ms Penny
Schinzel (Admin Officer).
By CFPN
Effective policy must be based on supportable analysis,
and PERSTEMPO policy is no exception. Information regarding how
time away from home is spent across the CF and the effects of that
time away on members and their families is essential to meet the
end state. To that end, the Directorate of Quality of Life (DQOL)
has been collecting facts to use as a foundation for PERSTEMPO policies
and programs. Known as the Human Dimensions of Deployment Study
(HDDS), this collection and analysis effort is one of the most comprehensive
social scientific efforts undertaken in the CF in at least the last
decade. The design group includes defence scientists in partnership
with university professors, experts from other federal government
departments, and military staff from all environments of the CF.
The first step in determining PERSTEMPO facts was
a series of face-to-face interviews. In 2000, focus group sessions
and interviews were conducted with more than 1,500 members and spouses
at every base and at many small sites across Canada. Interviews
with personnel in Kosovo, Bosnia, Eritrea and the Middle East also
took place. While this personal contact provided DQOL an excellent
overall understanding of the issues from the perspective of those
directly affected, it was evident that more facts from a broader
cross-section of people were needed to make an eventual PERSTEMPO
policy both balanced and supportable.
Five survey instruments are being used to capture
the information. The first was mailed to more than 11,000 CF personnel
in Canada in April 2002. The high response rate, especially given
the length of the survey, illustrates the connection members make
between the effects of time away from home and their own quality
of life. Analysis of the data from this first survey began in October
2002, and will be a key factor in providing the foundation upon
which effective PERSTEMPO policies and programs can rest.
Members who are deployed outside Canada or who have
recently returned from OPERATION APOLLO will soon have an opportunity
to provide feedback to the study through a second survey. A third
questionnaire will go to medical, pastoral, and other CF service
providers in 2003. A fourth survey will be sent country-wide to
members' civilian spouses, whose participation will be crucial
to our understanding of the spousal perspective of members'
time away from home. The final questionnaire will be sent to former
members; their participation will ensure we receive as complete
a picture as possible of what has occurred in recent years.
The HDDS will give the CF the information it needs
to develop effective PERSTEMPO policy, striking the right balance
between the needs of the CF and the needs of members and families.
If you, or your family, receive a PERSTEMPO survey, please take
the time to complete it.
We are reading what you write. We are listening.
Your input counts, and will impact the CF for the
better and for the long term.
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