Manpower and Personnel Needs for a Transformed Naval Force (2008) / Chapter Skim
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4 The Role of Research Tools in Implementing Change
4 The Role of Research Tools in Implementing Change
Pages 88-109
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From page 88... ...
Navy and Marine Corps requirements for a transformed force demand new manpower and personnel policies that are more flexible and adaptive. Research tools ranging from surveys and analyses of administrative data to pilot demonstrations and experimentation have always been key tools in formulating policies that support military manpower transformation.
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From page 89... ...
Establishing and sustaining transformation in Navy and Marine Corps manpower and personnel policies will require the use of a variety of research tools to address the many facets of the naval services' transformation equation. The external and internal forces that affect the ability of the Navy and Marine Corps to shape their manpower processes, investments, and personnel inventory will require that experiments and pilot demonstrations be conducted when appropriate, that surveys and analyses of existing data sources continue to be conducted on a routine basis, and that funding, forces, and equipment be made available to support an ongoing research agenda.
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From page 90... ...
A good survey has the following features: • Reliable and valid survey instruments, • Sound research design that enhances the precision of the results, • Sound choice of population or sample to reduce bias, • Specific objectives that can be measured, • Appropriate analysis plan leading to an accurate reporting of survey results and logical conclusions, and • Reasonable resources to conduct a statistically valid survey. For instance, two manpower factors sometimes considered for a survey are those that reveal attitudes and preferences about existing personnel and compensation issues, as well as proposed changes to these policies. Surveys are not reliable for getting good earnings data because people have poor recall.
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From page 91... ...
For example, in 1994 Warner and Asch used a computer simulation to look at military retention, cost, and productivity for each of a variety of retirement and personnel systems. Analysis of Administrative Records Administrative records offer a solution for generating timely statistics at much lower costs than survey data collection. For the purposes of evaluating the effectiveness of military pay and personnel policies, administrative data provide information on the effects of military compensation on enlistments, attrition, and retention.
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From page 92... ...
However, pilot programs have limited scope, calling into question the advisability of generalizing their results. Pilot programs do not randomize treatment and control groups as a well-designed experiment would, so they do not produce findings as statistically powerful as do experiments.
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From page 93... ...
2002. Effects of Food Assistance and Nutrition Programs on Nutrition and Health: Volume 1, Research Design, Food Assistance and Nutrition Research Report Number 19-1, U.S.
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From page 94... ...
It is much better to realize problems and unintended consequences of the design during an experiment than it is to go out and just implement a new policy based on anecdotal evidence or some academic sense of what is right or wrong. Military leaders are particularly sensitive to the fact that the treatment group in an experiment may be provided with special privileges, raising questions of inequity. Given the magnitude of the costs associated with adopting ineffective personnel policies in the military and the foregone opportunities to invest these resources in other ways, the military has an obligation to evaluate new programs as carefully as possible before they are implemented.
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From page 95... ...
Beyond the methodologies discussed above, there are other ways to gather information and evaluate the impact of proposed policy changes. The opinions of experts and the views of focus groups also provide indirect evidence useful in evaluating the potential effects of personnel policies.
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From page 96... ...
The results showed that: • An $8,000 bonus for 4 years had the potential to produce 4.1 percent more high-quality Army enlistments than did the control programs; • A choice of an $8,000 bonus for 4 years or a $4,000 bonus for 3 years produced 5 percent more high-quality enlistments; and • The experimental results showed that bonuses are a very flexible policy tool. Without altering the fundamental structure or level of military compensation, bonuses can be quickly altered when shortfalls appear in specific personnel categories.15 The Army's experiment in 1973 to test the feasibility of shortening the term of enlistment in the reserves is a demonstration of the hazards of conducting a manpower experimentation study without taking precautions to assure the validity of the experimental results.
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From page 97... ...
The Army also suffered a shortage in reserve strength for a substantial period as a result. Given the magnitude of the costs associated with adopting ineffective personnel policies in the military and the foregone opportunities to invest these resources in other ways, the naval services have an obligation to evaluate new programs as carefully as possible before they are implemented.
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From page 98... ...
If the Navy needs to rotate crews among ships its leaders will be able to do so in a more informed way as a result of Sea Swap. As is sometimes the case in pilot programs most of the issues that would arise during the program were identified in advance.
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From page 99... ...
The committee suggests a trial to help Navy leaders evaluate their plans for dealing with the special requirements imposed by the crewing needs of the LCS and other new ship classes. At least six new issues arising from the Navy's LCS crewing concept appear worthy of testing:
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From page 100... ...
Here is a way that new procedures and concepts for accommodating LCS could be tested on a larger scale at the same time as the Navy is moving forward in actually manning the first LCS crews. The committee suggests that subsets of existing combatant crews assigned to existing ships be used to simulate the crews of LCSs in service, as follows: 1.
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From page 101... ...
The crew's experience on the LCS would be valuable in normal service because future Navy ships will require skill sets similar to what the LCS would require. Since the embedded DDG/LCS crew members will be performing in an operational ship well before LCSs join the fleet in numbers, the Navy Personnel Research, Studies, and Technology Office of the Navy Personnel Command will have something like an operational laboratory in which to test the performance of hybrid sailors (both officer and enlisted)
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From page 102... ...
Consideration of sabbaticals and other types of temporary leave options is not new to the Department of Defense. In 2003 the RAND Corporation conducted an analysis for the DOD on extended leaves for officers.18 Descriptive in nature, the work lays out various kinds of extended leave programs, evaluates the return on investment likely from different programs, and offers recommendations for specific programs as well as observations about how extended leave programs, more broadly, might be instituted.
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From page 103... ...
Lateral Entry Pilot Demonstration The Navy and Marine Corps appreciate the value of cross-fertilization of ideas and experiences with other organizations, as demonstrated over the years by provision of a variety of personnel exchange programs, opportunities for schooling for marines and sailors, experience tours, and short programs like "Executives to Sea." The committee believes that creating a more fundamental kind of exchange of people, skills, and perspectives has a place in the manpower and personnel system for a transformed naval force. At least four new issues or opportunities present themselves for the transformed force in the new, distributed battle space: (1)
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From page 104... ...
The services could benefit from people such as these serving for some period of time on active duty, and such people would ultimately return to their prior employment with genuine Navy or Marine Corps experience. The committee believes that these people would function as service advocates.
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From page 105... ...
Upon completion of their assignments, these individuals would return to their civilian jobs with the benefit of understanding how the naval services function and be in position to be a more fully informed asset to their employer, as well as the services. The transformation of the naval service manpower system could benefit from having real corporate world and academic expert assistance in the areas of organizational design, systems engineering, and human relations design and better enabling implementation of a human capital strategy.
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From page 106... ...
Special pays in particular constitute an area where the services have substantial latitude to try new things. The Navy and Marine Corps pay career sea pay in accordance with a formula that considers the grade of the recipient and the amount of sea duty served.
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From page 107... ...
It could be used also to create an experiment in the allocation of sailors to sea duty by variable economic incentive that might replace the blanket amount of sea pay now in use. Encouraging Warfare Behaviors and Service Appropriate to the Requirements of Irregular Warfare In the committee's view, the naval services need to recognize deliberately the service and encourage the behaviors that are appropriate and necessary to the transformed naval service in the new reality of warfare.
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From page 108... ...
Experiments, surveys, analyses, and pilot demonstrations inform these decisions by collecting data that will estimate the potential impacts of proposed policy changes. Therefore the committee offers the following finding and recommendation: Finding: Establishing and sustaining transformation in Navy and Marine Corps manpower and personnel policies will require the use of a variety of research tools.
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From page 109... ...
Recommendation: The Assistant Secretary of the Navy for Manpower and Reserve Affairs, the Chief of Naval Personnel, and the Deputy Commandant of the Marine Corps for Manpower and Reserve Affairs should continue to develop and use research tools and experimentation to address the many facets of the naval services' transformation equation. In particular, the committee recommends the following projects: • Evaluate Navy plans for dealing with the special requirements imposed by the crewing needs of the littoral combat ship (LCS)
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