Staffing data helps put Navy on course

The Royal Navy (RN) is using statistical analysis software to help predict its future recruitment needs.

Commander Ross Rennison, HR research fellow at the RN's directorate for naval personnel strategy, says that new technology continually reduces the number of people required on board its ships.

In 1805, Nelson's HMS Victory needed 820 crew. By contrast, the new T45 class ship coming into service in 2008 will require just 218 people, says Rennison.

'This relative enrichment is mostly due to less need for junior personnel as more tasks become automated. We need a greater proportion of senior personnel, and we also have high rates of attrition to contend with,' he said.

The RN cannot simply recruit high-ranking staff when there is a shortfall. 'We're a bottom-fed organisation, so we can't just bring in people from the outside,' said Rennison.

To obtain more accurate staffing predictions, which can have an impact on future budgets allocated to the RN, Rennison is using software from SAS to analyse the thousands of Navy personnel records.

'We're using these tools to predict what that curve might look like,' he said. 'We need to make sure we get the right people in who will be ready for the job they might have to do in 15 years' time.

'This affects our budgeting. If we overstate how much money we need there is a penalty, because money will be taken away from other activities. And it's also a problem if we understate how much we need.'

Adding to the complexity, personnel are grouped into 1,300 clusters, according to their rank, skills levels, training and other variables.

'With the SAS system, we can now prove why we will need, say, six additional people in the Royal Marines, using the records we have on the entire navy,' said Rennison.

'We can also strike the right balance between deployable personnel and non-deployable personnel.'

Today, the RN employs about 42,000 people and takes on an average of 4,000 recruits a year to handle about 25 frigates and destroyers in the fleet.