Staffing and Recruitment of the United States Military - Term Paper Example

Report: Staffing and Recruitment of the United States Military Table of Contents Introduction………………………………………………………………………………………3 Overview of United States Military……………………………………………………………..4 History of Military United States Staffing & Recruitment……………………………………5 Current Scenario…………………………………………………………………………...…….6 Conclusion………………………………………………………………………………………12 References…………………………………………………………………………………….....13 Abstract ______________________________________________ Staffing and recruitment is a very important function of human resource management. Determining staffing needs and recruiting the best employees to fill these needs is the first step in effective HRM. If the first step is appropriately performed i.e. getting the best employees, the remaining functions are facilitated because of it. Every field has different staffing requirements as per the nature of the job. Recruitment in the military is not just a ‘jobs program.’ It’s a very serious business which includes the security and national interests of any nation. In this report, we discuss the staffing and recruitment requirements in military with particular emphasis on the US Military’s recruiting in light of human resource management. ______________________________________________ Introduction Human resource management has gained a lot of importance in the past few years. The concept of managing your company’s most valuable assets i.e. the people to get maximum results has gained a great deal of momentum and has become one of the integral functions of any organization (Schuler & MacMillan, 1984). An effective human resource system has various functions. Staffing and recruiting is first and very important function of effective HRM. This includes understanding the appropriate hiring needs of a particular organization and sector and appointing the best personnel according to these needs. Research shows that organizations which use sophisticated recruitment and selection strategies have positive effect on labor productivity (Koch & McGrath, 1996). Along with the respective education, various other criteria are present for each different job. The more difficult the nature of the job, the more complicated its recruiting requirements; Military is one these fields, and therefore it is not a simple business with simple job descriptions. It involves the defense of a country and a lot of care is required in military recruitment. Taking the U.S. Military as an example, let us discuss in detail about military staffing and recruitment. Overview of United States Military The military organizational structure of the United States Military, first known as the ‘War Department’, and later restructured as the ‘Department of Defense’, is headed by a civilian, The Secretary of Defense. Under this, there are three military departments, namely: The Department of the Army The Department of the Air Force The Department of the Navy These three departments are also headed by civilians. The secretary of defense and the three department heads, all are appointed by the President of the United States. The military has five branches, The Army, Air Force, Navy, Marine Corps, and Coast Guard. The first three are commanded by four star generals who report to their secretaries’ respectively. The Marine Corps also commanded by a four star general report to the Secretary of Navy as well. Now for the Coast Guard; these did not fall under the Department of Defense until recently, but now it is considered as a military service. This is because during periods of conflict, the President can transfer any or all assets of the Coast Guard to the Department of Navy. This is also commanded by a 4 start admiral. This is the basic structure and senior-most designations of the United States military. Under each branch are various troops and personnel responsible for various different functions in the military. Staffing and recruitment for all these functions and personnel have become extremely rigorous and more organized as compared to how it used to be before. History of United States Military Staffing & Recruitment As described in the above structure as well, there are various roles and jobs assigned in the military structure just like in any other organizational structure. First off are the heads of each division to whom everything is reported; then there are flocks or troops. Moreover, there is a military staff, which is a group of officers who facilitate flow of information between commanding officer and sub-ordinate military units. Prior to the late 19th century, organizational support for staff functions like logistics, planning, personnel or military intelligence. Unit commanders were responsible for handling such functions for their units, with informal help from their subordinates. These subordinates were not usually trained for or assigned to a specific task. Hence, the whole function was organized in a very informal manner. Moreover, military recruitment was an act of recruiting people, usually male adults to join a military voluntarily. Before that, involuntary military recruitment also took place which was known as conscription. Conscription was abolished and military recruiters persuaded people to join often at early ages. Militaries established recruiting commands, which were units solely responsible for increasing military enlistment. Main purpose was to acquire large amount of forces in a short period of time and that too voluntarily. Along with recruitment centers, recruitment posters were also a popular way to increase military enlistment. While certain criteria were still followed in recruitment, the system was fairly informal matching the needs of the circumstances and resources then. However, with the passage of time, this system has become more formalized and rigorous, and staffing and recruitment in military is given a lot of importance aligning with the rules of effective human resource management. Current Scenario Military staffing system has become extremely organized over the passage of time . As compared to unit commanders looking over all operation with informal help, the structure has become more formalized with proper attention paid to each function separately, and proper people engaged for each type of job. Officers oversee staff sections, senior enlisted personnel task are designated for the maintenance of tactical vehicles and equipments, senior analysts finalize reports, enlisted personnel handle the acquisition of information from subordinate staffs and units etc. The purpose of this military staff is basically providing information which will form the basis of command decisions. This information needs to be accurate and timely as these decisions are of utmost importance. Flow of information towards the commander is priority, while other useful information is also needed to be communicated to the lower staff for other decision making. There are various separate functions and each are separately handled and organized. A record of these roles is described as below. This is a general list and with changing needs more can functions can be added to it. Moreover, at a certain time two may be combined together if they are over-lapping. These are: Personnel or Administration: This section handles the administrative and personnel functions. It also handles the co-ordination between subordinate units and headquarters. This would include managing bottom up or top down i.e. from a soldier to the top command and vice versa. Intelligence/Security/Information Operations: This department has the responsibility for handling intelligence information to determine the activities of the enemy in order to prevent them for completing their mission. Along with this, it also controls maps, geographical information etc and anything related to the intelligence and security function. Operations: This office handles the plans, training and other operations needed for the appropriate flow of information to accomplish the mission. This entails current operations, organizing future ones, planning and carrying out training procedures, keeping track of schedules etc. Logistics: As the word suggests, the job of this department is to look after logistics support which includes ammunition, food, fuel, engineering, transportation, materials etc. In the U.S. Military staff structure all medical personnel are also part of this department. Plans: This section is responsible for looking after the military affairs and strategy and checking that all layout and markers are appropriately scheduled and go according to it. Communications and/or IT: All communication including being point of contact for instructions and protocol during operation, communication issues etc come under this office. Training: Training is a very important part of military and people who enlist in the military have to undergo very rigorous training programs. All aspects of training from organizing and co-ordination to support and supervision come under this section. Finance: Finance could be linked with administration but they have different tasks and are kept separate so each task is carried out properly. This section deals with the finance policy of the operations. CIMIC: This stands for Civil Military Co-operation and is responsible for relations between military forces, government or non-government civilian organizations, authorities and the civilian population. Its job is to maintain a healthy relation amongst these for the facilitation of military procedures and operational objectives. This is a very important section as civil-military relations are a very delicate issue and various theories are present as to the level of military intervention in a civil-military scenario (Schiff, 1995). Organization of all the military staffing needs in such a manner that each section is looked into separately is reflective of good human resource management. When functions are defined and people are engaged according to each function, work can be done in a more organized and productive manner. Also, the military recruitment system has become very precise. The respective departments hire personnel according to the needs of the department and want only the best because military operations have a lot at stake and mistakes can’t be afforded. Other than the military staff, enlisting in the military also has various standards. Various people want to join military organizations because of its organizational attributes (social/team activities, task diversity etc.) and trait inferences (excitement, job prestige etc.) amongst many other factors (Filip, Greet & Bert, 2005). But, the military won’t accept anyone who wants to join. Under the current federal laws and regulations, one must be qualified for this job i.e. one must satisfy a number of criteria for military enlistment. The various standards that decide if you qualify to be in the military or not are as follows: Age: By Federal law, an age limit has been set to enlist in the military. The minimum age is 17 (with parental consent) and 18 without it. The maximum age is 42. Other than this, individual services are allowed to specify maximum age as per their own requirements, but an age limit is present. This limit must be set, keeping in mind the fact that after a certain age you are not ass efficient to work in this particular field and won’t be able to provide maximum output. Moreover, after a certain age it won’t be suitable for the person as well so both factors are kept in mind. Citizenship: For enlisting in the U.S. Military, a person must be a U.S. citizen, or a legal permanent immigrant living in the United States. Along with this condition, some legal immigrants may not be eligible to enlist based on the country they are from. Number of Dependents: The military also limits the number of dependents an applicant can have to join the U.S. Military. This condition is set because the military requires one to provide adequate financial support for their dependents. The number of dependents and other requirements are different for each branch. Credit and Finances: Unpaid loans or a history of bad credit would make it difficult for a person to join the military. The military ensures that an applicant is able meet his financial obligations before enlisting. Single Parents: Single parents are not allowed to enlist in the U.S. Military. This is a very valid condition as in Military, the mission always comes first. Having such a job nature and being solely responsible for a child are two jobs which don’t go hand in hand with each other. No exceptions can be made when it comes to the military job and hence either one’s children would suffer or he won’t be able to handle his job properly. Applicants Married to Military Members: Applicants who are married to military members are allowed to enlist in the military if they don’t have children. If they have children, the applicant is not eligible for enlistment. Moreover, qualification for enlistment does not guarantee that both spouses will be stationed at the same base. Education: Education is also gauged before joining the military, and this criterion is divided into three tiers. Tier 1 is that applicants should at least have a high school diploma or 15 college credits. This tier covers most of the employees. Tier 2 includes home study, certain diplomas etc which can be considered equivalent to 15 college credits and the number of applicants for this category is limited. Moreover, applicants who have no high school diploma or equivalent degree and are also not attending high school fall in third tier. These are almost never accepted and are asked to get at least 15 credits to qualify. Drug/Alcohol Involvement: Illegal or improper use of drugs or alcohol disqualifies a person to be enlisted in the military. Any current or history of dependency on illegal drugs or alcohol is not permitted if one wants to join the military. Criminal History: Moral quality of potential employees is thoroughly judged before they are allowed to join. The recruiting services have access to FBI records and other law enforcement records to gauge the criminal record of recruits. Sexual Preference: The military does allow homosexuals to service but no individual is asked their sexual preference. The current policy is that homosexuals can be enlisted, but they should not perform any such homosexual act which may disqualify them. Height/Weight Standards: The military has also set height and weight standards for both men and women before joining the military. One of the reasons for this rule is that the military doesn’t have time/money to waste to order custom-made uniforms for recruits who fall outside the standard ranges. Medical Physical: People who want to join the military also have to pass a proper medical/physical test to qualify for enlistment. Along with list of criterion, the military also checks various other provisions that may arise in compliment to the above criteria, or related to a particular individual or otherwise. All these standards are devised keeping in mind the nature of jobs in military, and the precision required while performing these jobs. Recruitment techniques are modified over time in order to meet the needs of changing times and particular situations that arise (Ross, 1994). This represents good human resource management. Recruiting the right people helps eliminate many problems at a later stage and also helps to bring out best results for that particular organizations and nature of job. Research also shows that managers should pay close attention to the behavioral traits of a prospective employee along with the technical skills, as this is very important for managing human resource later (Ahmed & Schroeder, 2002). So, we see that keeping in mind the nature of the military profession and the jobs related to it, effective recruitment is very important and the recruiting procedure and criterion listed are reflective of the fact that all aspects are appropriately covered for hiring people. Conclusion Recruitment is a very important function of human resource management. Understanding the people needed for a particular kind of job and recruiting them as per the requirements, can increase productivity of a job to a great extent (Koch & McGrath, 1996). Recruitment is also different for each type of profession. While recruiters do a very good job of selling the military as just another occupation, that is not the case. Being a member of the United States Armed Forces cannot be compared to having any other civilian job. The natures of job, the work-hours, the level of commitment required are all extremely different and a lot of sacrifices are required. One needs to put the needs of the country ahead of his own. Keeping this in mind, the US Military has various recruitment conditions for people who want to enlist in the military and they keep modifying it so they can recruit the best people for one of the most important professions of the country. References Ahmed, S. & Schroeder, R.G. (2002) The importance of recruitment and selection process for sustainability of total quality management, International Journal of Quality & Reliability Management, Vol. 19, Issue 5, Pp 540-550. Arkin, W. & Dobrofsky, L.R. (1978) Military Socialization and Masculinity, Journal of Social Issues, Volume 34, Issue 1, Pages 151-168. Filip, L., Greet, V. & Bert, S. (2005, December) Examining the relationship between employer knowledge dimensions and organizational attractiveness: An application in a military context, Journal of Occupational & Organizational Psychology, Volume 78, Number 4, pp 553-572. Koch, M.J., & McGrath, R.G (1996, May) Improving labor productivity: Human resource management policies do matter, Strategic Management Journal, Volume 17, Issue 5, Pages 335- 354. Ross, T.W. (1994, April) Raising an army: A Positive theory of military recruitment, Journal of Law and Economics, Vol XXXVII. Schiff, R.L. (1995) Civil-Military relations re-considered: A theory of concordance, Armed Forces & Society, Vol. 22, No. 1 7-24. Schuler, R.S., & MacMillan, I.C. (1984) Gaining competitive advantage through human resource practices, Human Resource Management, Volume 23, Issue 3, Pages 241-255. Read More