Senior Fleet officers are looking at ways to improve life in the Royal Navy – and everyone has a part to play in ensuring changes are implemented.

The man at the centre of the initiative to drive through improvements to the work-life balance is Capt Simon Ancona, who has taken on the title of Captain Rebalancing Lives – or ‘Captain Rebal’ to his friends.

Capt Ancona said he is targeting ‘enemies’ including disruption, uncertainty, drudgery and boredom, wasteful working and unreasonable pace or weight of work.

The initiative is closely linked to Second Sea Lord Rear Admiral James Burnell-Nugent’s focus on the individual, which itself is designed to boost retention and to make the Navy more attractive to recruits.

The Second Sea Lord, as the Navy’s top personnel manager, takes the lead in all such matters, and although the Fleet initiative is its own response to the retention challenge it is designed to compliment the 2SL campaign; indeed, Capt Ancona's work represents one of 2SL's ‘pillars of activity’.

Capt Ancona has the authority and the budget to act as a catalyst for change, fielding ideas and reports from working groups and ensuring that working practices and mindsets are as favourable as possible to the men and women on the front line, without compromising operational requirements.

"There is a lot of work being done out there already – studies into work routines, that kind of thing. There are a great many small, bright lights of activity – my job is to bring them all together into one large bonfire," said Capt Ancona.

"The Fleet does studies into IT and the core working week, there are people trialing remote watchkeeping systems for minor vessels – lots and lots of things "I have got to make sure they are all working in the same direction, with the same impetus, or that studies are discarded if they are not working.

"But more than that, we might have to change work practices and ethos from the top down.
"Often we forget people, and the most important thing I have to achieve is to ensure that people are held accountable for how their actions affect people at the waterfront – Royal Marines, Fleet units, squadrons and the like.

"The effects and impact on personnel of any activity should be as central to headquarters culture as, say, flight safety is to the aviation community."

Particular areas of interest to Capt Ancona include education, sport and adventurous training and quality time in support of the family and home life, and he is prepared to cast his net wide to find workable solutions to perceived problems.

"Work-life balance is Government-wide business, and although it is not particular to the Navy, we have to apply it in a particular way.

"For example, some navies shut down ships at the weekend when they are alongside, and use harbour fire cover. They have an innovative way of protecting ships. I’m not I’m not necessarily saying we should do something like that, but most things are worth looking at."

The need to draw threads together and to put work-life balance at the heart of policy-making evolved from a recognition that rebalance was the business of the Fleet.

"There has been an acknowledgement, from the highest to the lowest level, that there has been too much hassle for units in the Fleet area when they return from deployments or operational activity," said Capt Ancona.

One such hassle might be the fact that a sailor recently returned from a long deployment may wish to take his or her children to school on occasional mornings, but conventional work patterns make that impossible. In such cases, a more flexible regime may allow the work to be done and the children delivered to school.

"Let's not forget the recent significant spend on such things as laptops, learning centres and exped equipment - and there are more funds available, but this is not about cushions for the mess deck or Playstations for all. This is smarter working to mean that people have the space and the facilities to balance their lives.

"Everyone’s aspiration is different, and so are the pinch points within ships. It may not be the length of the working day is a problem – it might be drudgery, or that in some areas, junior rates may be better off than senior rates.

"Ships are different, branches are different – we have got to ensure that we are conscious of it all, although we have to acknowledge that, post Operation Fresco and Operation Telic, things have got a bit settling down to do."

Capt Ancona said he is anxious for good ideas, and ways in which his budget can be used to make improvements.

"Ask not what Rebalancing Lives can do for you, but what you can do for rebalancing lives,” he said.

"I do not want beefs and gripes – I need genuine areas of difficulty which are causing work life imbalance.

"What I want is: ‘This is the problem, here is our suggested solution.’ I want people to come up through the chain of command and suggest innovative ways of doing business.

"Money will ideally be linked to initiatives to improve work-life balance by saving work time."

He is careful to stress that this is not a quick fix, but a permanent aspect of Navy life.
"We have got to be careful of expectations.

"There are always initiatives which arrive quicker than others, but this is not overnight stuff – it’s a commitment to improvement, but it’s not something that is going to change everybody’s lives when they wake up next Monday morning. But in the medium and long term it will make a difference."

Capt Ancona has wide experience across the Navy – small ships, Fleet Air Arm squadrons, frigates and destroyers, carriers – and believes that is a big advantage as he seeks to embed the work-life balance factor into Naval culture.

He hopes that in two years, when he is due to move on, the post will no longer be needed as the word will have spread to everyone in the Service and the idea will have taken firm root in management consciousness.

• Post-summer leave has been identified as a peak period for Navy personnel handing in their notice to leave the Service – and personnel chiefs are keen to ensure that sailors know just what they are giving up.

Part of the process for such candidates for Civvy Street is the issue of a booklet entitled If I leave, what will I leave? which outlines some of the benefits of the Navy which have to be taken into any final calculation.

Commodore Peter Wilkinson, Director Naval Service and Conditions (DNSC) said the first version of the booklet was produced about a year ago, and proved such a success that bespoke versions for officers, ratings and Royal Marines have been produced.

"Although we are not trying to influence their decision, we are drawing their attention to the advantages of the whole package of life in the Royal Navy," said Cdre Wilkinson.

He identified the value of pensions and gratuities as being a particular advantage of staying in when compared to the cost of building an equivalent on a commercial basis.

Other benefits identified by Cdre Wilkinson included job security, leave, subsidised housing, free medical and dental treatment, allowances such as children’s education or training, and recreation facilities.

The Commodore said that when the RN package as a whole was compared with navies from around the world, it proved to be one of the best.

He said that the need to find smarter work practices and flexibility was high on the agenda: "We are desperately trying to be a caring employee, but operational commitments need to be fulfilled."

The leaflets are issued to personnel when they first approach their Divisional Officer or Unit Personnel Office, but the Commodore’s department is seeking ways of becoming more pro-active, allowing people to make informed choices by having all the arguments to hand earlier in the process.