Searching from Within: The Challenge of Intraorganizational - PowerPoint PPT Presentation

Searching from Within: The Challenge of Intraorganizational Recruitment in Specialized Units Mike Mourouzis 14 May 2020 1

The Problem Enlisted “Operators” in USSOCOM GREEN BERET ENLISTED RECRUITS Active-Duty Enlisted Special Forces Recruits 2025 1908 1839 10% 1694 1644 1494 1410 1350 1206 1159 29% 1042 61% 2009 2010 2011 2012 2013 2014 2015 2016 2017 2018 2019 Fiscal Year (1 October - 30 September) Green Berets Navy SEALs Marine Raiders 2

Scope Beyond the scope of my research: • Recruiters o Special Forces Training o Size of Special Forces o Focused only on generating more active-duty • enlisted recruits 3

Research Design Academic 2017 Survey Similar Literature Reexamination Organizations 4

Army Special Forces / Green Berets WWII lineage • Established 1952, Army branch 1987 • Specially trained and educated • Small teams • More senior, mature, and • experienced Indigenous approach, Special • Warfare emphasis 5

ACTIVE-DUTY ENLISTED ARMY SOLDIERS (PFC - SSG) Staff Sergeant Sergeant Corporal/Specialist Private First Class 400000 Difference of 90,000 Soldiers 366,450 364,132 351,771 352,040 350000 326,019 71629 69824 306,369 62272 67293 293,397 300000 283,601 280,848 57180 276,725 276,686 53096 46215 49628 47289 47451 250000 50488 142720 147112 143090 135107 128372 200000 118406 119318 110178 114509 110337 106466 150000 85788 83653 83277 83109 100000 78627 74392 70068 68070 65544 64861 65441 50000 65718 65800 64432 63569 61840 60475 57796 55725 54189 53496 54188 0 2009 2010 2011 2012 2013 2014 2015 2016 2017 2018 2019 6

Recruit Demographics ENLISTED ARMY POPULATION BY ENLISTED SPECIAL FORCES POPULATION AGE/RANK/GENERATION BY AGE/RANK/GENERATION PVT PV2 PFC CPL/SPC SGT SSG SFC MSG SGM PVT PV2 PFC CPL/SPC SGT SSG SFC MSG SGM Baby Boomers – 0.03% 35000 500 Gen Z – Millennials – 82% Gen X – 17% Baby Boomers – 0.04% Gen X – 7% Gen Z – 39% Millennials – 54% 450 0.4% 30000 400 25000 350 300 20000 250 15000 200 150 10000 100 5000 50 0 0 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 26 27 28 29 30 31 32 33 34 35 36 37 38 39 40 41 42 43 44 45 46 47 48 49 50 51 52 53 54 55 56+ 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 26 27 28 29 30 31 32 33 34 35 36 37 38 39 40 41 42 43 44 45 46 47 48 49 50 51 52 53 54 55 56+ AGE AGE Enlisted Active-Duty Army 2009 2019 Change Caucasian 61% 52% -9% African-American 21% 23% +2% Hispanic 12% 18% +6% Asian 4% 5% +1% Other 2% 2% - 7

Recruit Intention 1. Attitude 2. Subjective Norm 3. Perceived Behavioral Control Theory of Planned Behavior (Icek Ajzen, 1991) 8

Attitudes – Realistic Job Preview Positive and Negative Information Higher Organizational Credibility Improved Organizational Honesty Lower Organizational Attraction Better Organizational Retention Higher Job Satisfaction 9

Attitudes - Publicity 10

Attitudes – Confusion Misuse of the Term "Special Forces" in 255 U.S. Newspaper Articles All Newspapers 47% USA Today 18% Washington Times 69% Washington Post 0% San Francisco Chronicle 58% New York Times 30% U.S. Newspapers New York Post 72% Houston Chronicle 83% Dallas Morning News 77% Arizona Republic 33% Plain Dealer 20% Orlando Sentinel 33% NewsDay 2% Los Angeles Times 87% Detroit Free Press 67% Daily News 49% Chicago Tribune 57% Boston Globe 40% 0% 20% 40% 60% 80% 100% 11

Subjective Norms Social pressure of Important Person or Group of People Spouse / Mentor Family, Children Peers, Friends Significant Other Word-of-Mouth Referrals 12

Perceived Behavioral Control Support from chain of • command to volunteer Fitness preparation • 13

Survey Analysis Awareness Matters • Top Motivation - Serving with others who want to be there • and want to perform Top Barrier - Hardship on the family and home life and loss of • normal family life Spouse/Significant Other most important Influencer • Current/Former SOF mentor very influential for Recruits • and Graduates More Recruits and Graduates knew a current Green Beret • 14

Similar Organizations Smokejumpers FBI Hostage Marine Raiders Rescue Team 15

RECOMMENDATIONS 16

Expand the Recruit Labor Market Removing GT minimum cutoff score • Establish Special Forces ASVAB composite score • Develop new, easy to use screening tool • Recruit former military service members • DoD Issuance to simplify inter-service transfer • 17

ACTIVE-DUTY ENLISTED ARMY SIZE VERSUS NUMBER OF SPECIAL FORCES RECRUITS (2009-2019) 2009 2000 Annual Special Forces Recruits 2011 2012 1800 2010 2013 1600 2014 2015 1400 2019 2016 1200 2017 y = 0.0082x - 1071.7 R² = 0.8665 R=0.9309 2018 1000 275000 300000 325000 350000 375000 Active-Duty Enlisted Army Strength (PFC - SSG) 18

Recognize Recruit Demographics Mobile phone app • Realistic Job Preview product • Establish a Minority Advisory Group • 19

Increase Positive Attitudes Prioritize message – Serving with other volunteers • that want to be there and want to perform Incentives • Increase Publicity Campaigns • Advisory Panel for SF in Entertainment Industry • Correct Misuse of the name “Special Forces” • Embrace the SFAB • 20

Power of Subjective Norms Informing Spouses/Significant Others • Special Forces Mentorship Program • Special Forces Fellowship Program • Assignments outside of Special Forces • Referral System • 21

Improve Perceived Control Improving Preparation - Mobile • fitness app Improving unit leader support • Marine Raider Fitness App 22

Counterarguments Requires additional resources • Perception of changing/lowering standards • Already doing some recommendations • Lack of internal support from Green Berets • 23

Future Research Optimal size of Army Special Forces • Funding from USSOCOM (training vs. recruiting) • Overreliance on artificial intelligence in recruiting • 24

QUESTIONS 25