Q. What is the MOSART project?
MOSART stands for Military Occupational Structure Analysis, Redesign and Tailoring. In essence, we are looking at the entire Military Occupational Structure (MOS) and then redesigning and tailoring it to meet two key objectives:
Modernize the MOS so it supports the mission of the Canadian Forces â “ now and in the future.
Develop a MOS that helps the Canadian Forces become an employer of choice.
This will be achieved through the use of more flexible and cost-effective classification structures.
Q. What does MOSART mean for me?
MOSART means:
Better career options.
The ability to make better career decisions because of clearer career paths.
Greater flexibility with respect to career choices and career advancement.
MOSART does not necessarily mean:
Alternate service delivery.
Job cuts.
Pay cuts.
Q. I have issues with my (pick one) Pay, Rank, Training, Etc. Will MOSART fix this?
MOSART understands the broader issues facing members of the Canadian Forces today but we cannot directly address these problems. Our aim is to develop a modern, flexible military occupational structure that will ultimately make it easier to solve many human resource related issues.
Q. What exactly is the Military Occupational Structure (MOS)?
The MOS provides the essential structural framework for personnel management. It consists of Career Fields, Occupations, Sub-Occupations and Occupational Specialties around which most personnel management activities occur. Personnel planning and production, HR policy development, recruiting and selection, training, pay, promotion, assignment and career management are some of the key human resource activities that use the MOS framework.
The MOS plays a vitally important role in military human resources. Initiatives that lead to changes in human resource policy in areas such as pay, terms of service, and promotion can have a profound impact on the MOS. A change in CF roles, force structure, unit organizations, capital equipment and maintenance doctrine can also impact the MOS if they lead to any significant change in the type or number of CF jobs. The impact of these changes on the MOS can range from simply amending occupational specifications to the deletion or creation of entire occupations.
Q. Why are the MOS and MOSART important?
One of the things the MOSART team keeps top of mind is, â Å“we have 90,000 reasons to succeedâ ?. The current MOS has many deficiencies, which in turn causes frustration for members of the Canadian Forces, as well as commanders leading the organization in today's challenging environment. By modernizing the MOS, we can increase operational effectiveness while giving members the widest possible spectrum of employment and career opportunities. It is anticipated that MOSART will result in:
A more effective organization.
Cost benefits
More motivated and satisfied members of the CF.
Q. Why do we need the MOSART project?
There are a number of reasons behind the MOSART project. The MOS was created almost 40 years ago and since then it has been updated using a patchwork approach. It is time that the MOS is reviewed in its entirety. Not only do we need to modernize the MOS but we also need to update the policies and management structure that supports the MOS.
It goes without saying that much has changed in the last three decades. Budget cuts, changing requirements, increasing demands, and difficulty recruiting and retaining people have put enormous pressure on the CF and, ultimately the MOS.
In recent years it has become clear that the current MOS is not able to meet occupational requirements for increased operations. A MOS built around careers rather than operations has led to a higher ratio of personnel costs to operational capability. We have inadequate numbers of people in the right occupations and an inflexible MOS policy that limits our ability to do anything about it.
For more information, visit the Why MOSART? section of the Web site.
Q. What MOS structural changes are we making?
Better employment flexibility and more comprehensive organization of all required CF work functions will depend on:
Designing and implementing broadly-based career fields; and
Identifying and implementing, where necessary, sub-occupations.
The first of these structural initiatives, â Å“Career Fieldsâ ? are defined as â Å“a grouping of military occupations and/or common/generic jobs, which is used for the purpose of both improving operational effectiveness and broadening individual career development to meet the environmental and CF requirements.â ? Logically grouping and managing occupational and/or professional development functions achieve this.
The second of these structural initiatives, â Å“Sub-occupationsâ ?, may be formed within a parent military occupation when there is a requirement to employ an identified group of officers or NCMs with additional skills and knowledge in a series of related jobs. These jobs may be career-developmental in nature and form a significant part of the overall function of the occupation, but include unique requirements of a more advanced or specialized nature for which it is not effective to train all members of the occupation. The reason for having sub-occupations assumes the pre-existence of the jobs/developmental conditions necessary for an occupation, beyond which these further characteristics apply.
Q. Why career fields?
The advantages of using Career Fields include:
Improve the CF's ability to develop the right person for the right job at the right time to meet mission requirements.
Enhance the effectiveness of the personnel management system in meeting CF requirements while addressing members' expectations.
Give the CF the ability to identify and capitalize on synergies, particularly in professional development, created by grouping occupations in career fields.
Provide operational commanders with more flexibility and efficiencies in employing and deploying qualified CF members.
Allow the CF to effectively address and manage emerging operational and corporate work requirements in areas such as Human Resources, Information Operations, Space Operations, Information Management, Project Management, and Policy Development/Analysis.
Q. Why sub-occupations?
Using sub-occupations will result in the following advantages:
Save money on training and professional development because it is not cost-effective to train all members of the occupation.
Permit the CF to tailor specific pay, compensation, benefits, and other personnel cycle activities to a select and more specific group of members.
Sub-occupations make it possible to organize the work into more manageable elements.
Sub-occupations will also mean:
Selection and professional development will be easier to achieve and it will be easier and faster for members to reach a certain level of competence.
Greater flexibility to react to changing requirements.
Q. What is the MOSART project timeline?
MOSART is a long-term project. In project management terms it is currently in the â Å“Project Definition Phaseâ ?. Analysis of specific Career Fields began in April 2003 and implementation of the new MOS and its supporting policies scheduled to start in 2005 with completion in 2008.
Q. Has Mosart conducted a pilot project to test its vision?
Yes. The MOSART Project is now in the process of conducting and implementing a MOS pilot project using the Health Services MOS's as a test case on which to evaluate MOSART options. The pilot project has been an excellent review and an opportunity to co-ordinate the writing and re-writing where necessary of existing MOS policies to ensure conformation with test aims and objectives. This interim policy will ultimately replace A-PD-055-001/AG-001 during the course of the project implementation phase.
Q. How is MOSART linked with other Human Resources (HR) initiatives?
There are currently about 13 different HR projects and activities going on within the CF. You may have heard of some of them, like the Terms of Service Project, the Recruiting and Retention Project, the Reserve Force Employment Project, and the Quality of Life initiative.
All HR initiatives will have an impact on MOSART because of the interrelationship between HR functions and the MOS. While some initiatives will have little or no direct impact on the MOS progress is monitored closely to make sure MOSART is in step with these activities. Other initiatives have a greater impact on MOS modernization and the MOSART team is proactive, working to ensure changes do not have a negative impact on the project.
