Talent Management is utilized to shape how the Army is meeting the priorities established by the highest levels in regards to taking care of the force. Army priorities over the years change alongside national values and leadership. In recent years, the Army has set a focus on Soldiers and their management throughout the lifecycle of their career. The current Chief of Staff of the Army, General Mark A. Milley communicated the Army’s priority to take care of Soldiers in his Initial Message to the Army when he stated under his number one priority of Readiness, “We must never send our Soldiers into harm’s way untrained” and in his number 2 priority of Future Army, “We need to listen and learn…developing a lethal, professional and technically competent force requires an openness to new ideas and new ways of doing things in an increasingly complex world.” He also states “Our Soldiers are the crown jewels of the Nation.”
The current logistics talent management strategy possesses an unbalanced emphasis on tactical proficiency. “The last decade of war has seen the culture of our logistics force transform dramatically. We have a generation of sustainment leaders with more combat experience than most other generations, yet we have sacrificed technical expertise…” Technical expertise should encompass all logistics competencies. Strategic enterprise development is considered broadening for logistics officers. The majority of strategic enterprise broadening assignments are during command. Strategic enterprise commanders at the battalion and brigade level are not being selected for promotion to General Officer (GO) in proportion to command opportunities although GO level commands are primarily inside the strategic enterprise field. The technical expertise and experience gained inside the strategic enterprise commands at the battalion and brigade level is not being transferred to the General Officer Corps due to low selection rates of these commanders. Currently only ten of the 39 General Officer commands are in the tactical category. Most Generals will command in the strategic or training category with minimal previous experience. This paper reviews the current talent management programs and promotions inside logistics to identify the loss of strategic enterprise technical expertise and experience of officers at the General Officer level. Recommendations to increase balance between tactical and strategic enterprise leader development will also be provided in the areas of culture change, assessment and increasing experience opportunities. The first area to review is talent management in total and how logistics talent management nests inside Army programs and priorities. Understanding Talent Management The Army describes the process of maintaining the right personnel and selecting those individuals for the right jobs as talent management. …show more content…
Talent management can be a difficult function within any organization and can have positive and negative strategic impacts to the organization depending on the quality of the program. As the priority of talent management has grown across all aspects of Army leadership, advancements have taken place. In the past two years, the Army has developed a Talent Management Task Force and strategy. The Talent Management Task Force focus is to develop programs that enhance talent management, can be well communicated across the force, and enables assessments for future improvements. Talent management and the importance of a quality program is emphasized at the highest levels. The former Secretary of Defense Ash Carter displayed his commitment to the people and the development of talent management when he developed the Force of the Future program that represents the Defense Departments commitment to gaining and retaining talent. In 2015, former Secretary Carter charged the Acting Under Secretary of Defense for Personnel and Readiness to review the Department’s civilian and military personnel system with one of the reviews major focus area as talent management. The Force of the Future has a myriad of initiatives. Two are directed actions centered on talent management. These two initiatives are the establishment of Talent Management Centers of Excellence to be developed by the Military Services and a Center for Talent Development that is a Department of Defense center. Former Secretary Carter emphasizes that in order to advance our talent, the Department of Defense must show a commitment that is tangible and communicated to the force. As stated earlier, General Milley and the Army understands the guidance and the future of our readiness is
The current logistics talent management strategy possesses an unbalanced emphasis on tactical proficiency. “The last decade of war has seen the culture of our logistics force transform dramatically. We have a generation of sustainment leaders with more combat experience than most other generations, yet we have sacrificed technical expertise…” Technical expertise should encompass all logistics competencies. Strategic enterprise development is considered broadening for logistics officers. The majority of strategic enterprise broadening assignments are during command. Strategic enterprise commanders at the battalion and brigade level are not being selected for promotion to General Officer (GO) in proportion to command opportunities although GO level commands are primarily inside the strategic enterprise field. The technical expertise and experience gained inside the strategic enterprise commands at the battalion and brigade level is not being transferred to the General Officer Corps due to low selection rates of these commanders. Currently only ten of the 39 General Officer commands are in the tactical category. Most Generals will command in the strategic or training category with minimal previous experience. This paper reviews the current talent management programs and promotions inside logistics to identify the loss of strategic enterprise technical expertise and experience of officers at the General Officer level. Recommendations to increase balance between tactical and strategic enterprise leader development will also be provided in the areas of culture change, assessment and increasing experience opportunities. The first area to review is talent management in total and how logistics talent management nests inside Army programs and priorities. Understanding Talent Management The Army describes the process of maintaining the right personnel and selecting those individuals for the right jobs as talent management. …show more content…
Talent management can be a difficult function within any organization and can have positive and negative strategic impacts to the organization depending on the quality of the program. As the priority of talent management has grown across all aspects of Army leadership, advancements have taken place. In the past two years, the Army has developed a Talent Management Task Force and strategy. The Talent Management Task Force focus is to develop programs that enhance talent management, can be well communicated across the force, and enables assessments for future improvements. Talent management and the importance of a quality program is emphasized at the highest levels. The former Secretary of Defense Ash Carter displayed his commitment to the people and the development of talent management when he developed the Force of the Future program that represents the Defense Departments commitment to gaining and retaining talent. In 2015, former Secretary Carter charged the Acting Under Secretary of Defense for Personnel and Readiness to review the Department’s civilian and military personnel system with one of the reviews major focus area as talent management. The Force of the Future has a myriad of initiatives. Two are directed actions centered on talent management. These two initiatives are the establishment of Talent Management Centers of Excellence to be developed by the Military Services and a Center for Talent Development that is a Department of Defense center. Former Secretary Carter emphasizes that in order to advance our talent, the Department of Defense must show a commitment that is tangible and communicated to the force. As stated earlier, General Milley and the Army understands the guidance and the future of our readiness is