The Strategic Defence Review: Innovation Without the People?

Whether this leaves space for people and culture innovation is less clear, however. Although there is some emphasis placed on recruitment ideas and strategies for increasing public engagement, the retention of currently serving personnel appears progressively side-lined as a strategic priority.

In this Defence in Depth piece, I analyse the newly launched Strategic Defence Review alongside results from the UK Regular Armed Forces Continuous Attitude Survey Results 2025 (AFCAS). The published figures in AFCAS suggest that only 42% of Service personnel “are satisfied with their Service life in general.” These figures have not changed since 2023, suggesting a status quo. It is impractical to strategise about military innovation in a technological sense without incorporating a people-centred approach—or at least prioritising people in the broader rhetoric on innovation. Without people, can the aims of the SDR be achieved?

The basics for improving retention

The SDR identifies a collection of factors that could be improved to address the recruiting and retention crisis—a well publicised issue in the military and the defence sector more broadly. However, most of these recommendations pertain to concerns around inadequate housing provisions and accommodation for personnel, streamlining recruitment processes for certain roles, flexible working models, and prioritising engagement with the public, particularly young people.

While these are clearly challenges that need addressing, there is a notable absence of focus on culture—a significant area of concern for personnel, as identified in AFCAS and elsewhere. Enhancing public awareness of the challenges and opportunities available in defence is a welcome and necessary step in the right direction, but ownership of cultural issues in the people space must be prioritised as a moral and strategic imperative.

Policy, practice, and previous reports

There are moments where this seems to occur tangentially. For example, the connection between the SDR and previous policies on addressing unacceptable behaviours implies that these challenges remain insufficiently addressed. JSP 769: Zero Tolerance to Sexual Exploitation and Abuse (released in 2022) is alluded to in the SDR (although not explicitly mentioned). On page 67, it notes: “Where wrongdoing is proven, there must be zero tolerance: those who cannot change their behaviour should be dismissed – and this must be widely noticed to have an effect.”

It can be inferred from this that the protocol has not been implemented on a wide enough scale to have had a significant effect in the Forces. Given that bullying, harassment, and discrimination remain significant issues across the Services—and that “10% of all female personnel report being subject to sexual harassment in a Service environment”—the commitment to creating lasting and positive cultural change needs to be taken much more seriously.

Who owns the problems?

The SDR also mentions the Ministry of Defence’s need to “take a data-led approach to understand and address the systemic behavioural, structural, and leadership problems that currently prevent people from progressing within, and delivering for, Defence.” However, there have already been a plethora of review and report (as well as ongoing research) identifying these exact challenges from a range of perspectives. The often unsatisfactory or inconsistent action taken on these reports’ recommendations reflects ongoing challenges in taking ownership of the people space—challenges that require immediate attention and action. Of course, it is important to celebrate the wins as well—but we should not let these distract from the problems that remain and how they can be better addressed strategically.

The SDR rightly states that “there is no quick fix to these challenges,” but that should not become an excuse for passing the baton of responsibility. Recommendation 15 is to “Develop a plan to prioritise and address the structural, behavioural, and leadership barriers to the creation of a more representative and meritocratic workforce that resolutely delivers a more capable warfighting and deterrent force.”

According to the recommendation, “This plan should be established by June 2026. Recommendations for independent oversight of implementation should be made by October 2025.” For those of us with a keen interest in organisational resilience from a people perspective, it was somewhat deflating not to see these plans embedded within the SDR—but we will be waiting eagerly to see what comes next.