SECDEF wants to overhaul antiquated personnel systems; MilitaryTimes highlights RallyPoint as a possible solution... how should we respond?

LTC Yinon Weiss — Sun, 12 Apr 2015 10:29:46 -0400

From MilitaryTimes:

Defense Secretary Ash Carter says the military should build an internal social media platform that would transform the way jobs are assigned and how troops are evaluated.

The idea is emerging from corporate America, where some large organizations are spending millions of dollars to create their own Facebook-style systems that can have far-reaching effects on the way they do business every day.

Since taking over the Pentagon's top job in February, Carter has repeatedly cited the professional networking site LinkedIn as an example of what the military needs for better internal management.

"That's an example of a kind of technology that you can use, and we can use, to improve performance evaluations; to make sure that onward assignments, next assignments, that you have the greatest visibility into ... how you find a next assignment that fits you — your skills, your family, your future and your goals in life. We need to be competitive in that way," Carter told a group of soldiers during a recent visit to Fort Drum, New York.

Carter's push for new technology in part reflects a growing anxiety about recruiting and retaining the best and brightest among today's so-called millennial generation.

Many of today's young recruits join the military to gain technological expertise. Yet after boot camp, they are often dumbfounded by the gap between the cutting-edge technology used in war-fighting operations and the antiquated, paper-based systems that the military uses for managing its own personnel.

A wholesale upgrade of military personnel systems could have many cultural implications not least because automating some aspects of manpower management may reduce the military's traditional reliance on personal connections and relationships.

"It's hard to justify making a decision of picking someone because it's an old buddy or a friend when you have a system that is clearly showing you that there are one, two or three people who are much better suited," said Luke Marson, a technology consultant who helped Norway's armed forces create a new personnel management system last year.

"There are certain areas where a system is going to help pick the pick the right candidate over a known candidate," said Marson, a human resources technology expert with Hula Partners.

No easy task

Creating a system like what Carter describes would be a massive undertaking; by some accounts, the current system is a total mess. Military personnel offices rely on dozens of aging, independently developed computer systems that cannot be easily merged or searched collectively.

For example, the details of a service member's past assignments are kept in a database that may be separate from the details about the member's training and education. Details on a member's deployment history is stovepiped somewhere else, and all of those are separate from any health issues or family situations that might affect an individual's needs or preferences for future job assignments. In addition, letters of reprimand and other disciplinary measures often are not included in permanent personnel files.

For military leaders, a technological upgrade would offer several benefits. The current retention system is based on raw numbers. But big-data analysis would create new visibility on the quality of who stays and who leaves the military, giving leaders new insight into the talents and skills of troops who are retained — or lost.

Data in an individual's file might include pre-military information such as school grade-point averages or aptitude test scores. That might be combined with performance metrics from military training programs along with data from fitness reports or evaluations.

Woven together with real-time information about re-enlistments and duty assignments, that data would provide senior leaders with a "dashboard" offering much clearer and more complete visibility on the health of the force and current retention trends.

Such sweeping changes are a long way off. The Pentagon's personnel directorate has created "working groups" to tackle the nuts-and-bolts issues underlying Carter's proposals.

Yet the Defense Department's track record regarding information technology is spotty.

For example, DoD is still unable to seamlessly share basic medical information with the Veterans Affairs Department. And on March 8, the DoD inspector general reported that the department has not updated its long-term information technology plan since 2006, despite the creation of U.S. Cyber Command in 2009.

Still, the basic premise is gaining some traction. The Navy recently issued a three-page "enterprise challenge statement" intended to give technology companies a general description of what kind of system the Navy is looking for, one that can:

•Consolidate information from the "more than 40 databases" now in use by the Navy personnel system.

•Have a mobile app for smartphones.

•Provide real-time analytic reports.

•Help training instructors identify trends and weaknesses.

•Improve evaluation of senior leaders by analyzing the retention and career success of the troops under their command.

•Help target stress-reduction and morale improvement efforts by analyzing "individual, operational, health, environmental and other characteristic data ... to predict when and where to apply resources."

The goal of the future system is to compile and track 4,000 to 6,000 pieces of data on each sailor, a Navy official said.

"We are doing a lot of work right now to try to upgrade our 'weapons system for people,' our information technology, to get a better site picture of our workforce," said Vice Adm. Bill Moran, chief of naval personnel.

Constructing a large-scale personnel data system will cost millions of dollars. Navy leaders hope to include significant funding in the fiscal 2017 budget request that is under development, a Navy official said.

Sharing information

The idea of a dedicated military social media site connecting troops around the world has inspired some unofficial efforts. The biggest, Rallypoint.com, is a social networking site that claims one in every eight active-duty troops as members. It was founded three years ago by veterans at Harvard Business School who saw an opportunity in the Defense Department's antiquated systems.

"The number one complaint of everyone I've ever known in the military is about the human resources and personnel system," Yinon Weiss, Rallypoint's CEO and a former Army Special Forces officer, said in an interview.

Rallypoint provides troops with important official information. For example, the site tracks and publishes when military jobs will become available with a far longer lead time than the military's official system.

"The military will not tag a position as open until a few months before it's vacated," Weiss said. "But the individual person knows two years before when his or her orders are up. We give that information to our members so they can see what jobs are coming available in the future."

Rallypoint also sends out alerts when new members join a new unit.

"We'll send an email notification and say, 'Hey, check out who is coming to your unit in 30 days.' And people can go see what their experience is, when they deployed, who their connections are, what skills they have," Weiss said.

"Those are all things that the military has acknowledged would be helpful and has tried. But being social and being consumer-centric is just not in the DNA of the military."

The end of evals and fitreps?

Creating a social media-style network could change the way individuals are evaluated or even lead to the end of the traditional system fitness reports and bureaucratic performance reviews.

Michael Moon, who researches social media's use for human resources for the Aberdeen Group in Boston, said some companies no longer bother with evaluations from a single manager but instead rely on "cloud-sourced feedback on an individual."

Companies are creating ways for all employees to be constantly evaluating and providing feedback on each other, potentially combining input from supervisors, peers and underlings.

"If there is a performance issue that needs to be corrected, you want that employee to know about it right away, not six months later or a year later," Moon said in an interview. "Having that feedback right away helps the employee know that they are on the right track."

Some companies' networks use searchable hashtag-style identifiers to tag individuals with particular skills and encourage workers to solve problems collaboratively by searching out colleagues with subject matter expertise.

For example, that might allow helicopter mechanics who are facing a particular problem to share information with their counterparts in other squadrons who might work with the same equipment but be assigned to a different unit on a different continent.

Leaders can also more directly engage with their organization. For example, the chairman of the Joint Chiefs, Army Gen. Martin Dempsey, periodically conducts a "Facebook town hall" where he responds to questions posed by service members.

In some companies, that kind of communication occurs routinely at every level of management, Moon said.

"It can create an air of trust in leadership. It creates a certain bond when leaders are engaging in conversations and asking questions and responding. It makes them more human and increases the sense of commitment to the organization."

A communications system can create the sensation that the organization is less hierarchical and flatter because there is more than just top-down communications.

"The organization can appear to become flatter, but it isn't necessarily flatter. It's still hierarchical, but there is more communication happening laterally and diagonally."

http://www.militarytimes.com/story/military/pentagon/2015/04/12/carter-social-media/25513773/

Carter: Toss vintage personnel systems

Defense Secretary Ash Carter says the military should build an internal social media platform that would transform the way jobs are assigned and how

Response by SFC Michael Hasbun made Apr 12 at 2015 10:34 AM

SFC Michael Hasbun — Sun, 12 Apr 2015 10:34:11 -0400

Congratulations on the PR! I bet that was a great article to find...

Response by COL Jason Smallfield, PMP, CFM, CM made Apr 12 at 2015 11:13 AM

COL Jason Smallfield, PMP, CFM, CM — Sun, 12 Apr 2015 11:13:31 -0400

- How should RallyPoint respond? Ready to support in any way possible.
- How to transform the way jobs are assigned? It was called Green Pages. There was a pilot program about three years ago but the Army walked away from it. Gues the SECDEF was not informed of this.
- How troops are evaluated? New OER is already in place. New NCOER will be in place in the next year. Army is already looking at 360 evaluations. Army already has EES (Evaluation Entry System). Not sure how an internal social media platform is going to help in this area.
- Yes the Army should look at Corporate America for new and better ways to operate but let's not make the German mistake in 1945 and think technology alone is going to solve all of our problems. Technology did not help the Germans to recover from significant strategic mistakes made from 1943-1945. Likewise technology alone will not help the US in 2015. Let's quit looking for quick solutions in technology and start looking for good (and enduring) solutions in our processes, procedures, and systems.

Response by CW3 Private RallyPoint Member made Apr 12 at 2015 10:54 PM

CW3 Private RallyPoint Member — Sun, 12 Apr 2015 22:54:00 -0400

RP should offer a follow up interview to Military Times in order to facilitate a more in depth review of RP for Military Times' readers.

On the subject of the DoD adopting something similar to RP or anything that resembles social media...I'm highly skeptical. The innovation that many start ups turn into inertia will be strangled by buearacracy -- DoD will have something that looks like RP in 2030 when social media has evolved 10 times.

Response by SGM Matthew Quick made Apr 12 at 2015 11:17 PM

SGM Matthew Quick — Sun, 12 Apr 2015 23:17:05 -0400

"Platform established...we're up for the challenge!"

Response by SFC Mark Merino made Apr 13 at 2015 12:09 AM

SFC Mark Merino — Mon, 13 Apr 2015 00:09:15 -0400

I think that would be awesome. I'm sending my old branch manager to somewhere special. Paybacks are a beeotch.

Response by CSM Private RallyPoint Member made Apr 13 at 2015 7:59 AM

CSM Private RallyPoint Member — Mon, 13 Apr 2015 07:59:02 -0400

They already tried, it was called AKO and we all see how well that worked out.

Sir, if you can get me stationed in Hawaii again and give me 1/1 blocks on my NCOER, I am all for the Army using RallyPoint!

In all seriousness the Army machine will ruin RP as we currently know it but sounds like an excellent opportunity for you. Go for it!

Response by PV2 Private RallyPoint Member made Apr 13 at 2015 8:13 AM

PV2 Private RallyPoint Member — Mon, 13 Apr 2015 08:13:30 -0400

Sir I think you and the folks at RP should be prepared to skyrocket!

I think this is a great way for the Army to leverage the RP Platform (or similar) and really take the HR portion into the 21st Century.

I only wish Federal Agencies would do the same. Our HR is horrendous, and I mean horrendus. They are shortstaffed and undertrained on HR issues. It took me 6 months to get my Service Computation Date right and to get the back vacation hours I was owed. I've got coworkers who have even worse stories that affect their pay.

I think this is a great opportunity for you to extend a hand of support and who knows, they may have some tricks that may help RP. I would look at it as a possible mutual learning opportunity. Not to mention the Army has some rather awesome mobile folks who could maybe help RP with their mobile issues. ( hint hint ;-) )

Response by LTC Private RallyPoint Member made Apr 13 at 2015 8:23 AM

LTC Private RallyPoint Member — Mon, 13 Apr 2015 08:23:27 -0400

It will be frought with challenges but who am I to say it cant be done. Aggregating the hard personnel fact and nuanced issues will be problematic but worth pursuing.

Response by SPC David Shaffer made Apr 13 at 2015 8:43 AM

SPC David Shaffer — Mon, 13 Apr 2015 08:43:41 -0400

Thank you for sharing, Sir. I have read over the comments on this post and noticed many are against this. I have read that other attempts to do this have been a total failure, but I would like to remind everyone that some of the biggest success stories in history began as failures. I believe everything in every soldiers file could be made readily available if the government would start using a system that utilizes the cloud and a social media like platform. This whole system could mean a lot of positive change for SMs and retirees alike. This technology could mean the end of lost files, shorter wait times for benefits, and more efficiency in the daily management of our military. That being said, I am all for it.

David Shaffer

Response by TSgt Private RallyPoint Member made Apr 13 at 2015 9:15 AM

TSgt Private RallyPoint Member — Mon, 13 Apr 2015 09:15:51 -0400

RallyPoint works because all the people involved are actually, INVOLVED. They care about RP and are passionate about it. Any attempt by the DoD to take over or create a clone will fall flat because they will have people who don't care, who hate it, and who feel like their soul is sucked out by the mention of social media in a watercooler conversation.

Social Media is powered by willing participation and as soon as mandatory participation becomes part of the equation it implodes. Spectacularly.

Response by SFC Private RallyPoint Member made Apr 13 at 2015 1:23 PM

SFC Private RallyPoint Member — Mon, 13 Apr 2015 13:23:39 -0400

Is this going to be an automated system that really would take into account the synchronization of what would be best for the Army and us as Soldiers? I don't know about any of you but my branch manager is not the greatest to talk to about assignments. I can see this working to alleviate budget cuts and personnel shortages but even simple things such as OMPF constantly are missing documents and needs to be updated constantly. This is going to cost billions of dollars and won't be ready for some time. Good idea but when it comes to good ideas in the Army.....well they either work in theory and not practically or it's just a dumb idea to begin with from the Good Idea fairy.

Response by SSgt Private RallyPoint Member made Apr 13 at 2015 6:06 PM

SSgt Private RallyPoint Member — Mon, 13 Apr 2015 18:06:53 -0400

It could be great, but being that this is the second revolutionary idea I've heard from the sec-def in as many weeks, I'm starting to smell the good idea fairy.

Response by SSG Leonard Johnson made Apr 13 at 2015 6:16 PM

SSG Leonard Johnson — Mon, 13 Apr 2015 18:16:45 -0400

Ummmmmm NO!!!! I'd be more inclined to it with just a small maybe conservatives were in charge. But this dude iS over regulated overbearing camel in the tent liberal. they can come up with their own without even using yours or mine rally. As an example

Response by Lt Col Private RallyPoint Member made Jun 24 at 2015 9:11 PM

Lt Col Private RallyPoint Member — Wed, 24 Jun 2015 21:11:00 -0400

Immediately determine how to utilize the processes proposed to move towards this type of assignment system. Give commanders/SNCOs more flexibility is selecting individuals for the higher profile/responsibility billets in their units. You'll need some protections against favoritism, etc., but lets get this rolling ASAP.

Response by SSG John Erny made Jun 30 at 2015 1:28 PM

SSG John Erny — Tue, 30 Jun 2015 13:28:23 -0400

I have seen this tried before with limited success in the corporate world. The product used was called Microsoft share point, it sucked IMHOP. There are all kinds of canned software solutions that can be used to assign tasks. The last time I looked at AKO their was a function already built in to do it. I pointed it out to some NCO's and they were quite happy to keep using Pen and paper. The great risk to using this type of technology is that if it is knocked out they you are up a creek with out a paddle. It would be a prime target for hackers and Governments.

For the same reason I hate cloud computing, cloud computing by the way means the internet, nothing more. It is a corporate buzzword made up to make corporate big wigs sound important. Before you had cloud computing you had a product called citrix doing the same thing, only the buzzword had yet to be coined.

Response by CPT Private RallyPoint Member made Jul 1 at 2015 3:44 PM

CPT Private RallyPoint Member — Wed, 01 Jul 2015 15:44:53 -0400

I like this article. I think it is important to protect service member's past and present information. The part I like best is: "For example, the details of a service member's past assignments are kept in a database that may be separate from the details about the member's training and education. Details on a member's deployment history is stovepiped somewhere else, and all of those are separate from any health issues or family situations that might affect an individual's needs or preferences for future job assignments. In addition, letters of reprimand and other disciplinary measures often are not included in permanent personnel files."

Response by MAJ Ken Landgren made Jul 1 at 2015 4:32 PM

MAJ Ken Landgren — Wed, 01 Jul 2015 16:32:00 -0400

It will require a huge investment.

Response by SCPO Penny Douphinett made Aug 27 at 2015 3:58 PM

SCPO Penny Douphinett — Thu, 27 Aug 2015 15:58:41 -0400

An interesting idea for sure. In the era of so much joint service, this system should be usable across all branches I'll assume as SECDEF didn't specify. None of the branches can get it right for themselves, so he'll do it DOD wide? Bring it on! I know I'm out of date, but the last time I worked in a Navy personnel det., we had 4 different computer systems that did not talk to each other, can't get much worse than that.

Response by 1SG Darren James made Jan 14 at 2017 1:13 AM

1SG Darren James — Sat, 14 Jan 2017 01:13:58 -0500

I do think that RallyPoint could be used in some form to achieve this. Everyone would have to get a profile though.

Response by Capt Daniel Goodman made Jun 28 at 2018 1:22 AM

Capt Daniel Goodman — Thu, 28 Jun 2018 01:22:34 -0400

That would he a clever use of an already existing software environment, certainly....

Response by SGT Joseph Gunderson made Jul 27 at 2021 7:50 PM

SGT Joseph Gunderson — Tue, 27 Jul 2021 19:50:42 -0400

I think think this is moronic. Carter wants the military to "be competitive" with the private sector? The fact is that it can't be. Nor does the military have any business competing with the private sector. Finally, I don't see there being any added value to the military by dumping time and money into such inane projects. The only people who have any real pull in their careers are those who have already managed to attain a certain level and learned how the current system works. A military LinkedIn would do nothing for those below the rank of E5, and even those at E5 and E6, the enefit would be negligible. E7s and above already navigate the current systems and reach out to branch managers when necessary, and these are the SMs who would be the only real beneficiaries of a new system.

For officers, it may be of benefit, but from what I've gathered, much of the career progression for officers, at least from O1 to O3 or 4, is already very structured, meaning a new system would truly only benefit O4 or 5 and above. And where general officers have little stopping them from picking through duty assignments except other generals refusing to move or retire, it seems for them this system would be entirely superfluous.

And since when did the military start working itself into knots in an attempt to provide for each SMs desires? The entire notion is asinine. This is the military, and you do what you're told, when you're told, and if there happens to be the ability to both complete the mission and fulfill the want of a SM then so be it, but it need not be at the top of the list.