Professional Socialization During Restructuring: A Study of Workload and Career Time

• Author: Joel Nilsson,Johan Österberg
• DOI: http://doi.org/10.1177/0095327X211022225
• Published date: 01 October 2022
• Date: 01 October 2022
• Subject Matter: Articles

https://doi.org/10.1177/0095327X211022225

Armed Forces & Society

2022, Vol. 48(4) 872 –891

© The Author(s) 2021

Article reuse guidelines:

sagepub.com/journals-permissions

DOI: 10.1177/0095327X211022225

journals.sagepub.com/home/afs

Article

Professional Socialization

During Restructuring:

A Study of Workload

and Career Time

Joel Nilsson

1

and Johan ¨

Osterberg

1



Abstract

This article examines the experiences of newly graduated officers and specialist of-

ficers, as they recently entered employment in the Swedish Armed Forces. Building on

35 interviews, this article illustrates the dynamics of excessive workload and an un-

structured working environment, and how embedded strategies for mentoring and

guidance can reduce negative outcomes associated with the workload. The article

introduces the concept of career time, reflecting the participant’s propensity to perform

unpaid work to pursue a career in the organization. This study reveals tensions be-

tween organizational and employee interests, and experiences of exclusion from the

officer profession, contextualized drawing on classical theorists Foucault and Hab-

ermas. When restructuring organizations, the quest for efficiency can outweigh

professional values, such as esprit de corps and taking pride in work and professional

identity.

Keywords

officer, newcomer, organizational change, military socialization, career time

1

Department of Security, Strategy and Leadership, Swedish Defence University, Karlstad, Sweden

Corresponding Author:

Joel Nilsson, Department of Security, Strategy and Leadership, Swedish Defence University, V˚

axn¨

asgatan 10,

Karlstad, V¨

armland 651 80, Sweden.

Email: Joel.nilsson@fhs.se

Nilsson and Österberg 873

Professional Socialization

During Restructuring:

A Study of Workload

and Career Time

Joel Nilsson

1

and Johan ¨

Osterberg

1



Abstract

This article examines the experiences of newly graduated officers and specialist of-

ficers, as they recently entered employment in the Swedish Armed Forces. Building on

35 interviews, this article illustrates the dynamics of excessive workload and an un-

structured working environment, and how embedded strategies for mentoring and

guidance can reduce negative outcomes associated with the workload. The article

introduces the concept of career time, reflecting the participant’s propensity to perform

unpaid work to pursue a career in the organization. This study reveals tensions be-

tween organizational and employee interests, and experiences of exclusion from the

officer profession, contextualized drawing on classical theorists Foucault and Hab-

ermas. When restructuring organizations, the quest for efficiency can outweigh

professional values, such as esprit de corps and taking pride in work and professional

identity.

Keywords

officer, newcomer, organizational change, military socialization, career time

1

Department of Security, Strategy and Leadership, Swedish Defence University, Karlstad, Sweden

Corresponding Author:

Joel Nilsson, Department of Security, Strategy and Leadership, Swedish Defence University, V˚

axn¨

asgatan 10,

Karlstad, V¨

armland 651 80, Sweden.

Email: Joel.nilsson@fhs.se

Introduction

This article explores professional socialization through a detailed examination of

officers and specialist officer entrance into the Swedish Armed Forces (SAF) after

completing officer training. Entering an organization and adapting to the profes-

sional role and the norms that accompany it constitute a transition associated with

uncertainty and anxiety (Ashforth & Saks, 1996), interlinked with expectations of

producing results (Pratt et al., 2006). Stepping into employment as an officer in the

SAF may institute itself as a particularly challenging conversion. Military orga-

nizations’discipline-oriented and institutionalizing practices, which have come to

constitute the archetype for structure and hierarchy (Borell, 2004), are now

characterized by restructuring. These elements set the dynamics surrounding the

presented study, which focuses on newly graduated officers entering military or-

ganizations upon completion of education.

The Swedish Military Context

The end of the Cold War coincided with the economic recession, where organi-

zations needed to adapt to market forces (Sennett, 1998) and government regu-

lations. Thereafter, the SAF underwent extensive downsizing, following a trend

among western armed forces, focused on reducing military expenditures by de-

creasing the number of employees and units (Bergstr¨

om et al., 2014). The current

restructuring phase follows the new direction of the SAF, focusing on national

defense, the altered security policy situation in the Nordic region, and intertwined

difficulties with staffing the organization during the years of an all-volunteer force

(¨

Osterberg, 2018). The shortcoming in recruiting sufficient numbers of individuals

to basic military training is reflected in the Swedish officer corps. In addition to staff

reductions, most systematic mentoring programs were dismantled, although

mentoring newcomers still constitutes a central element in the SAF’s guidelines

(Swedish Armed Forces, 2006).

Abbott (1988) points out that professions often set high entry barriers. The

Swedish Officer program is under the superintendence of the Swedish Defence

University and is a 3-year university education that leads to a bachelor level degree

in War Science.There are four additional basic prerequisites for entrance, which are

Swedish citizenship, completed basic military training, security clearance, and

personal suitability. All applicants are tested at the Swedish Defence Recruitment

Agency, and undergo tests, including, for example, assessment of sufficient cog-

nitive abilities, physical and psychological health, basic fitness, and ability to serve

in the military. The training of specialist officers (NCOs) is nonacademic and

undertaken at service and specialist branch schools within the SAF. Career pro-

motion is regulated through the SAF’code of statutes, and promotion is regulated

by the number of years served in the previous position and/or depending on ac-

ademic degree.

2Armed Forces & Society 0(0)