MEETING GLOBAL DEMAND
civilian workforces across the Army, and it’s critical we get this right. Looking at talent management across the Army, we’re a little bit ahead on the military side compared to the civilian side. Tere are some legislative proposals that may come through that would change that
Shoffner: Another big milestone for us will be the implementation of
the some-
what, but whether or not those legislative changes occur, we still have to figure out how to better manage our civilian work- force. I know the assistant secretary of the Army for manpower and reserve affairs looks very closely at this; they started a civilian workforce transformation effort. We’re looking at some other cohorts across the Army to see what best practices we might be able to adapt.
One of the ideas we embrace is this idea of timeline flexibility. We do have the law on the military side, the Defense Officer Personnel Management Act. Obviously many laws govern our civilian workforce, but for both military and civilians, we are trying to figure out how we can allow for some more flexibility. Tat might be things like allowing folks greater flexibil- ity for education, allowing them time to take a break and do something different, then come back to the workforce.
Similarly, some of our former military who are now in the civilian workforce, we’ll look to bring them back—and it could be bringing them back wearing a uniform or bringing them back as a DA civilian. Tat ties into the whole “Soldier for Life” idea, that we want this interconnected network of current and former Soldiers who all talk to one another, they talk to industry, they are all sharing ideas and thoughts and looking for opportunities to help one another.
Jones-Bonbrest: What are the next steps for the Talent Management Task Force, now that you have moved on to a new assignment?
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Integrated Personnel and Pay System – Army (IPPS-A), which will actually be fielded first with the Pennsylvania Army National Guard in the summer of 2018. We’ll have a full capability there by 2021. IPPS-A is really important. It does three things for us: It’s a total Army approach with active, National Guard and Reserve; it gives us that talent management capa- bility; and it also gives us auditability. IPPS-A combines 30 different
stand-
alone data systems, and if you think of what just happened with [the pay contro- versy at] the California Army National Guard, I think that’s a great example of something we can’t afford to have fail.
Jones-Bonbrest: Te Rapid Capabili- ties Office is still fairly new, having been stood up less than a year ago to rapidly deliver prototype capabilities to counter urgent and emerging threats. What are your goals for the office?
Shoffner: Looking forward, we’re going to leverage currently planned exercises— the Network Integration Evaluation 17.2 at Fort Bliss, Texas, this summer will be a big one for us—to get Soldier feedback on urgently needed capabilities. We’ll also be looking at exercises in Europe as opportunities to get some of the pro- totypes out, especially with regard to electronic warfare. Positioning, naviga- tion and timing will be another one that we will put a lot of emphasis on between now and the spring of 2018. Tose opera- tional assessments and rapid fieldings are the methods we’ll use to accelerate these prototypes to parts of the world and units out there where we can close those gaps and ultimately deliver overmatch. Te other parallel effort is the Emerging Technologies Office, which is within the Rapid Capabilities Office and specifically focused on emerging technologies. Tey
look to find those potential gaps and stop them from forming, so we make sure we are not surprised in the future.
Jones-Bonbrest: Is there anything about Army talent management that surprised you the most when you first got there, or that most people don’t know?
Shoffner: Yes. I think most people think of it as military-officer effort only. It’s not. It’s military and civilian. It is officers, warrant officers and Soldiers. Some peo- ple think it’s really about taking care of your best, and that’s talent management. It does include that, but it’s truly much more than that. It’s about maximizing the ability of everyone to contribute in a meaningful fashion. So if I had a bumper sticker it would be: “Right Soldier, Right Job, Right Time.”
Jones-Bonbrest: What’s the bumper sticker for the Rapid Capabilities Office?
Shoffner: Bringing technology to bear before you know you need it.
For more information, go to http://rapid
capabilitiesoffice.army.mil or email the Rapid Capabilities Office at rapidcapabil
itiesoffice@mail.mil. For more informa- tion on the Army Talent Management Task Force, go to
https://www.ipps-a.army.mil/ army-talent-management-task-force/.
MS. NANCY JONES-BONBREST is a staff writer for Data Systems Analysts Inc., providing contract support to the Army Rapid Capabilities Office. She holds a B.S. in journalism from the University of Maryland, College Park. She has covered Army modernization for several years, including events.
multiple training and testing
Army AL&T Magazine
July-September 2017
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