How to quantify and/or enumerate bullets on NCOERs?

2019-06-21T22:55:13-04:00

After reading this article a few weeks ago (https://news.clearancejobs.com/2019/05/28/reading-between-the-lines-understanding-the-language-of-evaluations/) I came to the conclusion that all these years I have not done a good job at writing NCOERs for soldiers I've rated and allowed my Senior raters to do a poor job on my NCOERs.
I'm not the best writer in the world and I'm looking for some guidance and examples on how to quantify and enumerate bullets. Maybe I'm overthinking things, but I want to become better at writing NCOERs for my junior Soldiers and provide feedback to other Senior raters.

I'm a visual learner, so seeing and reading an example would help me understand the concepts a lot faster. I have a few examples of accomplishments that I've seen in the past from junior Soldiers and how I would attempt to quantify it:

1. Soldier took it upon itself to study for several months in order to increase their GT score in order to meet the requirements to put in a packet to become an officer. The soldier increased their score by 25% from their original GT score. Here is my attempt to quantify it:

"Soldier displayed initiative and courage by taking it upon herself to self study in order to increase her GT score for two months which resulted in a score increase of 25%"

2. A Soldier was tasked to cover a training topic and train 10 soldiers on it in order to enhance all of the trainee's skill sets necessary to do their jobs. The Soldier at the end of the two day course conducted a quiz and lab which resulted in all soldiers passing their evaluation. The Soldier went above and beyond on how the content was put together and how the Soldier taught the course.

"Soldier demonstrated their expertise and credibility by training 10 Soldiers on [training topic] in order to enhance their skill sets necessary to perform their newly appointed duties."

I am finding it difficult to quantify and enumerate every single NCOER bullet. I have Soldiers that are constantly learning on their own time to enhance their skill sets and become experts in similar areas that are beyond their duties. Something like that I don't know how to quantify and enumerate because what they are learning is outside their appointed duties but makes the Soldier more versatile.

Any help is truly appreciated!

Reading Between the Lines: Understanding the Language of Evaluations - ClearanceJobs

No one takes pleasure in the uncomfortable conversations necessary when telling someone that their performance isn’t that remarkable, but if you’ve taken the time to counsel and at least issue some “steering guidance” along the way it shouldn’t come as a surprise.

Response by MSG Private RallyPoint Member made Jun 22 at 2019 12:02 AM

2019-06-22T00:02:48-04:00

Quantified; to be able to measure results, numbers; percentages. To quantify, to be able to meet results, you have to be able to display what was met. You must be able to verify both. GT improvement is great, but I don't think it's NCOER material. Yes, it demonstrates self improvement, but is not as good or strong as completing 12 semester hours of college per say. Or to increase the PT average by 25 points.

Response by SGT Joseph Gunderson made Jun 22 at 2019 12:12 AM

2019-06-22T00:12:57-04:00

I'm not at my computer at the moment but I can definitely give you some help with this tomorrow morning. It sounds a lot more daunting than it actually is and, in fact, it is quite easy to write bullets that fulfill the necessary elements and modify them in such a way that allows you to make almost any accomplishment fit into the level you are aiming for (i.e. outstanding, on par, meh).

Response by SFC Private RallyPoint Member made Jun 22 at 2019 8:30 PM

2019-06-22T20:30:05-04:00

With the lack of character space for each bullet, you will unfortunately need to cut out a lot of the contextual information, because it won't all fit. One way to find a correlation between their outside work and their duty work, is to link it to other activities you've seen them display. For instance:

Has her self-study efforts for the AFQT translated to better research skills for job related duties? Did her score improvement motivate others to increase their scores as well? Did the knowledge gained from the self-study improve her accuracy of document production or error correction? Did she actually submit her officer packet? (e.g. sought to fill critical Army gap in officer corps).

1. NCO increased GT score to [actual GT score]; a 25% improvement achieved through diligent self-study on top of expected daily duties.

2. NCO trained 10 Soldiers on [training topic]; created advanced training tools to establish a higher baseline of Soldier proficiency and a 100% pass rate.

Those are just examples and aren't necessarily passable, as they are fairly subjective to each reader. Sometimes you have to pick out and highlight one or two great things, leaving the other context behind.