A veteran of the Royal Canadian Navy, Darren Hawco’s life in the Canadian Armed Forces brought him from coast to coast, with command postings at sea, to top level positions in Ottawa and Europe. But when you ask him about his life in the military, he reminds you that he was not alone in serving.
Hawco’s wife and four daughters shared in the experience, which included 7 moves during his 36-year career. It’s a fact of life: if you’re going to be in the military, you’re going to be transferred.
“I always speak about members AND families of the Canadian Armed Forces because the member has to move and the family feels the impact,” said Hawco, who is now an Executive Advisor at Deloitte Canada and retired senior military officer.
Spouses and children have to adapt to a new environment, which means new friends, new schools, and perhaps a new job for the partner of the service person. New everything.
Providing essential assistance for people on the move is one of the many things Deloitte Operate does. By leveraging the vast resources of a global network, they can address the complex and myriad challenges of moving people across the country or around the world.
“We want to make every move as smooth as possible,” said Fatima Almeida, Partner, Operate, Deloitte Canada.
“Deloitte is trusted by thousands of clients to move their employees across the globe because we have demonstrated we know how to navigate the logistics, everything from advising on and administering relocation policies to providing guidance on tax implications, immigration, or social security issues. We know how to mitigate risks, whether the move is within the country or across international borders,” said Almeida.
“No matter how many times they move, we’re looking for ways to make it more efficient and enhance the employee experience. We’ll know them from previous moves so we can custom build their experiences, without having to always re-ask the same list of questions,” said Almeida.
Roughly 13-thousand members of the Canadian Armed Forces are transferred every year, mostly within Canada, with a smaller number abroad. It’s a big job, affecting a lot of people, but Hawco says each member and their families should be able to get the information they need, including speaking to somebody who understands what they’re going through. If they want information about youth hockey leagues in Halifax, or the availability of specialized health care in Victoria, we should make it easy for them to find what they need.
“If a person is moving to Edmonton and they have a child with a hearing problem, they’ll benefit from help and insights in finding health care professionals who would serve their child,” he said. “That kind of human touch is so important.”
At the same time, he knows that younger members of the armed forces may prefer communicating digitally, flexibly and on the move. Deloitte’s deep knowledge of AI will power the creation of a digital support feature that is available 24/7 to people stationed anywhere in the world, one that will be capable of understanding and answering essential questions.
Says Hawco: “In this modern service era, people want to have multiple and responsive ways to be supported, knowing that their personal and financial information is diligently protected. We bring the best of our expertise to create a range of secure tools that don’t exist today to deliver the service CAF members and their families need and deserve.”
