SECURITY RISKS AND HUMAN POTENTIAL DEVELOPMENT IN THE MILITARY ORGANIZATION

Abstract

Human potential is a term that refers to human resources within organizations, where it represents human abilities and skills. Based on that, it can be said that human resources in modern working and business conditions represent the most valuable and significant resource of every organization, including military organizations, if they are effectively and adequately managed. However, it should be kept in mind that human resources can be one of the biggest sources of risk for any organization. Risk is a situation in which we are not sure what exactly will happen, and it reflects the probability of possible outcomes around some expected value. The scientific discipline and practical activity that deals with issues of risk management is Risk Management. It deals with procedures for identifying, assessing, analysing and taking measures to avoid, mitigate or accept risks, as well as monitoring progress in those procedures. In recent decades, organizations have been making an increasing effort to assess risks at all levels in order to minimize possible negative effects on the achievement of goals. It is clear that risks cannot be completely avoided, but they need to be identified and analysed in time in order to measure their impact on the desired results and determine the probability of occurrence, and then define effective measures for their management.

When it comes to military organizations, the specificity that arises from the very character and purpose of this institution determines the importance of a special type of risk, i.e. security risks. That is why the phrase "security challenges, risks, and threats" is often used in military vocabulary. During the last decades, the emergence of new and different security challenges, risks and threats has led to a significant change in the importance and role of the human factor in the military organization. Perhaps the most significant change can be seen through the introduction of a professional instead of a recruited army. Such army is less and less in need of numerically large formations, while the need for highly trained staff of various specialties has increased. The use of information technology, and especially artificial intelligence, as well as the need for quick manoeuvre and further reach of joint formations, led to the fact that the efficiency of the professional army increasingly depends on human abilities and skills, that is, the human potential of the military organization. The development of human resources, especially under such conditions, certainly carries significant security risks. The main purpose of this article is to identify security risks in the field of human resources development on the example of the Serbian Armed Forces, to analyse existing measures, as well as to consider possible improvements to avoid, reduce or possibly to accept them. In order to successfully realize the research idea, the descriptive method was used when describing real conditions and situations, as well as the method of content analysis of scientific literature and all available normative-legal and other documents.

The basis of the research is the aspiration to effectively and efficiently use the available personnel in the form of a comprehensive strategic concept of human resource management, which in any case includes risk management in the development of human resources of a military organization.