Any tips for the narratives on the new NCOERs?

SSG Private RallyPoint Member — Tue, 19 Jan 2016 22:22:58 -0500

Response by SFC Private RallyPoint Member made Jan 19 at 2016 10:29 PM

SFC Private RallyPoint Member — Tue, 19 Jan 2016 22:29:48 -0500

They are confusing for sure.... There is going to be a learning curve for us all.

Response by SFC Randy Purham made Jan 19 at 2016 10:43 PM

SFC Randy Purham — Tue, 19 Jan 2016 22:43:52 -0500

Go to the HRC website and check out the classes or see your S1 for some guidance. Your CSM may have some NCOPD lined up for it. Check the S3 training calendar for that also. You may check out the NCO Support Forum on FB for it also.

Response by SFC Private RallyPoint Member made Jan 19 at 2016 10:52 PM

SFC Private RallyPoint Member — Tue, 19 Jan 2016 22:52:48 -0500

Here is something that can help you out
http://usacac.army.mil/sites/default/files/documents/cal/NCOERPerformanceMeasuresSupplement20151130.pdf
NCOER PERFORMANCE MEASURES SUPPLEMENT TO THE
U.S. ARMY PERFORMANCE EVALUATIONS GUIDE
30 November 2015

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Response by SSG Private RallyPoint Member made Jan 20 at 2016 5:19 PM

SSG Private RallyPoint Member — Wed, 20 Jan 2016 17:19:18 -0500

What narratives are we talking about? Senior rather narratives? Easy answer. Leave it to the senior rater. Or you can look at the weak generic performance measures that HRC pushed out for guidance.

Response by SSG Private RallyPoint Member made Jan 22 at 2016 1:52 PM

SSG Private RallyPoint Member — Fri, 22 Jan 2016 13:52:34 -0500

Be honest, if they failed at something, then make the bullet point. Last year on the first page, I put a bunch of No's in the army values, backed by my counselling statements. Got a comment from my 1SG that he never in his career has seen such an honest NCOER.

Response by SSG Daniel Deiler made Jan 26 at 2016 6:59 AM

SSG Daniel Deiler — Tue, 26 Jan 2016 06:59:54 -0500

If possible request to look at an officers OER. They have been using narratives for a long time now and you should be able to gain some understanding and insight into how it should be constructed.

Response by SGM Private RallyPoint Member made Jan 26 at 2016 1:47 PM

SGM Private RallyPoint Member — Tue, 26 Jan 2016 13:47:05 -0500

YES! First and probably most important is to step back and look at purpose of the NCOER. It is used to measure performance and potential. Short answer it is used to get promoted and selected for positions. With that being said, we have to think about the audience that will be reading the NCOER and making the assessment/selection. Need to pitch to your audience.

The panel that reviews the NCOERS is comprised of a broad range of career fields. Why is this important you ask. It is very important because an Infantry Soldier on the selection board will have a different definition of a Team Leader than another MOS like EOD. Team Leader in Infantry is vastly different than an EOD Team Leader. Both are important jobs, but both have very different levels of responsibility. Again, you may ask why is this important? Because an Infantry Team leader is typically an SGT with 4 or 5 Soldiers on the Team. An EOD Team Leader is a SGT or SSG that has undergone an intensive technical certification process with 2 to 3 Soldiers on a Team. So to level the playing field, the bullets and comments need to be written for common understanding and be quantifiable and show results. If it doesn't do that, I call "fluff". The Team leader example may not be a good one but you get the point. Every MOS has terms that mean things that other MOS's don't know or completely understand. If you take this approach, it will help your Soldiers out.

Response by SGM Private RallyPoint Member made Jan 26 at 2016 3:46 PM

SGM Private RallyPoint Member — Tue, 26 Jan 2016 15:46:10 -0500

YES! But first we need to look at the purpose of the NCOER. It is used to asses performance and potential. It is also used to select Soldiers for special assignments. This is important to realize because the Soldiers who will be reviewing the NCOERs for promotion and special assignments might not have the same MOS as the rated Soldier. Selection boards are comprised of multiple MOS's. This is where words REALY mean something. The example that comes to mind is the word Team Leader. There is a huge difference in the roles and responsibilities of an Infantry Team Leader and an EOD Team Leader. Both are important, so don't beat me up and say SGM Smith said one was better than the other! LOL! This may not be the best example to illustrate my point, but I think you get the gist. The other advice I can give is to make your comments quantifiable and show results. I see bullets all the time that fall in to this. Example: SSG X planned and implement a new SOP for the Battalion Commo Section. Ok, so what? Did it work? Did it improve efficiency? I use the term fluff for comments that don't meet the above criteria. I use Fluff because it fills the empty space! LOL My Soldiers don't like me calling it that, but that is what it is. Here is an example of fluff: meticulously maintained 100% of assigned equipment worth over 4 million dollars. This is fluff because it is EVERY NCO's JOB to be accountable for their equipment. But, there are ways to make it "not fluff". 4 million is a lot of money, but if that 4 million is a vehicle and its equipment parked in the motor pool, what has the NCO really done? Nothing special. But if the NCO maintained accountability of 4 million dollars of equipment dispersed across 3 different FOBs with zero discrepancies, I would say this is a bit more complicated than the vehicle in the motor pool. Same can be said for personnel. When I was a BN CSM, we provided Mission Command for EOD companies on two different installations. I still had to mentor the 1SG and senior NCO's just had to take a different approach with less contact time. There is one other thing that bothers me and I can't understand why it happens. Blank spaces. Ok, got it. if the Soldier is an under performer and is not the greatest, no issue. But when I get an NCOER of a high speed Soldier and the rater didn't use all three bullets, I just shake my head. The NCOER is the one chance we have as leaders to tell the Soldiers story why not tell as much as you can? The old NCOER was very limited with space, but why wouldn't you use all of it? Perception is reality and when you take a glance at an NCOER that has white space in some of the sections, I wonder what did this Soldier do to make their rate not fill out all the areas? The new form gives more space, but I am willing to bet that I will see the same issues. I have one more piece of advice I will offer. Some how some way get your Soldiers in to a Leadership Enhancement program. Fort Hood has a good one http://www.hood.army.mil/esd/Leader%20Skills%20Enhancement.aspx This will help the next generation of leaders in effective communication. I made it required for my Team Leaders in the BN. Regardless of the career field, this training will be beneficial and help writing NCOERS and other reports. Sorry to be so long winded, but this is important for us as NCOs and professional Soldiers.

Leader Skills Enhancement

Response by SFC Jason Evans made Jan 26 at 2016 5:31 PM

SFC Jason Evans — Tue, 26 Jan 2016 17:31:54 -0500

Use the narritives from completed OER's senior rater comments as a template. That was the best resource I could find.

Response by SGM Private RallyPoint Member made Feb 5 at 2016 3:08 AM

SGM Private RallyPoint Member — Fri, 05 Feb 2016 03:08:45 -0500

Rater
Bullet comments for SGT through 1SG/MSG
Narrative comments for CSM/SGM
Senior rater – narrative comments for all NCOs
The Senior Rater will address potential in a narrative format. As mentioned, most of your S/R are Officers so they are the SMEs in this department. Look for them for guidance if you are unsure. Also, look at the Modules in EES. Not just the PPT, but the videos that are there also. The videos get into more detail. Next step is to do an NCOPD with your CSM/SGM and S1 leading it so everyone understands. There are some quirks with EES also. For instance, you need to add S1 as a delegate for them to look at the NCOER. To me, S1 OIC/NCOIC should be automatic delegates for admin and tracking purposes. Sorry to go off topic.

Response by SFC Private RallyPoint Member made Feb 7 at 2016 5:53 PM

SFC Private RallyPoint Member — Sun, 07 Feb 2016 17:53:03 -0500

i had to rate 1 soldier and senior rate 3 last month... yes there is a learning curve with the new system, but if you really look hard at the details of the 'new' sections, they are not that different from the old form.