WORKFORCE
Remote work, telework and distributed teams are not new. They aren’t even new for the Army.
Location-independent work and distributed teams also support the retention of individual talent. A service member qualified for a distributed team might take a position remotely where they other- wise might have opted out of the Army to remain in a particular location, to be close to family or a support network, to main- tain school locations, or to provide their family general relief from the stress of a permanent change of station. Regardless of the reasoning behind a service member’s interest in stability or location, recruiting talented individuals into distributed teams may allow the Army to retain individuals who might otherwise choose other opportunities. It also allows the leaders of distrib- uted teams to create a competitive environment for competent talent to seek these opportunities.
THE WAY AHEAD Remote work programs are still nascent for the active-duty force. Te Army is updating policies and regulations to include remote and telework status as duty status updates, and defining the processes for selecting, managing and caring for its remote workforce. Still, the Army adds new organizations to the lists of distributed teams daily. Current organizations piloting programs include Army Futures Command, V Corps, U.S. Special Opera- tions Command, the Army Talent Management Task Force, U.S. Army Human Resources Command (HRC), and more. New commands express interest regularly in remote work to retain talented individuals, prompting additional pilots and planned expansion to the effort.
As one major said shortly after HRC announced digital perma- nent change of station opportunities for remote workers a year ago: “Yesterday, while in my senior rater counseling, we were going over my career timeline. … He said that I should keep an open mind about positions with jobs I want in locations that wouldn’t work for my family because of this program. He said he wouldn’t be surprised if within the next five years, [technical branches] across the Army would be doing this.”
CONCLUSION While we’ve only looked at one benefit of remote work and distributed teams to service members here, it is a critical one. Even though these programs are nascent, the nature of work and the support of families has proven essential to maintain the trust necessary to continue supporting an all-volunteer force. DOD must continue to embrace solutions like distributed teams and location independence, or else force individuals to decide between supporting their career or supporting their family. While Soldiers personally embrace selfless service and sacrifice, if we ask them to sacrifice needed support for their families, they will find oppor- tunities to serve elsewhere.
For more information contact the U.S. Human Resources Command Public Affairs Office at 502-613-4211 or Col. Saling at 808-783- 3279 or
Kristin.c.saling.mil@
army.mil.
COL. KRISTIN SALING is the director of Army Human Resource Command’s Innovation Cell and serves as the principal adviser to the commanding general on leading technologies and business practices in the people enterprise. She previously served as the acting director of Army People Analytics for the assistant secretary of the Army for manpower and reserve affairs. She holds an M.S. in systems engineering from the University of Virginia and a B.S. in operations research and systems analysis and an active-duty commission from the United States Military Academy at West Point.
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