Serving in the Army for a decade did far more than build my skills as a soldier. It prepared me to be a strong leader and team player; it ultimately helped prepare me for a successful corporate career in human resources.
As HR leaders, we are charged with shaping countless policies, aligning employee-focused plans and programs with legal requirements, and establishing the proper application of policies throughout the organization. Additionally, the policies and practices we put into place help create the culture and identity of our organizations. It’s a tall order.
Before this career, I served in the U.S. Army for more than a decade. The Army is an institution that espouses and adheres to several fundamental principles and core values. While some are relevant only to soldiers, I have found that certain Army principles or ideologies can be applied in the corporate world to help shape effective HR policies and practices.
Here are three nuggets of practical Army wisdom that can help guide HR leaders as they establish and implement benefits plans, recognition and reward and training programs.
The military offers many well-rounded programs to support military families, such as generous parental leave, including 12 weeks for the non-birthing parent; on-site or subsidized daycare; excellent family care programs; high-quality healthcare; spouse education and career programs; scholarships; recreational perks and more.
While most companies don’t have the resources to match the plethora of family benefits the Army offers, the goal for HR is to find ways to communicate that same kind of commitment and connection to caring for employee families.
Army wisdom suggests that the best benefits plans positively affect the whole family, not just employees. In addition to healthcare, today’s HR executives must focus on offering childcare resources such as subsidies or payments to help employees cover childcare costs, flexible spending accounts, pre-tax accounts that allow employees to choose their preferred benefits such as Dependent Care FSA (DCFSA), and on-site childcare. Strong benefits planning aims to help attract and retain top talent and care for our employees and their families.
In addition, HR leaders must address benefits gaps from a diversity, equity and inclusion perspective. These gaps are often in financial planning, maternity, fertility/family forming, social support, caregiving and parental leave. It is up to us to recognize that not every family is a “traditional” family. If needed, HR leaders and their teams should correct existing benefits policies to be DEI-friendly, which creates a culture of acceptance, fairness and belonging. In short, when HR puts all families first, it builds goodwill and loyalty with employees and promotes a community-oriented corporate culture.
Army principle No. 2: Medals are earned.
In the Army, recognition is earned through hard work, outstanding commitment, unique skill or exceptional courage. Earning a medal is a reward that does not come easily.
However, in civilian society, we live in an era of “everyone gets a medal.” The message that everyone is a winner at everything—in the classroom, on the athletic field, etc.—can start as early as grade school and can be misleading. The fact is, individuals have unique strengths and talents, and very few are good at everything.
The real world is highly competitive. In business, everyone deserves praise, that is, recognition, for his or her contributions. However, not everyone should “get a medal,” meaning a tangible corporate reward.
As HR leaders, we would be wise to emulate the Army and shape recognition programs that reward top achievers for measurable results and significant impact. These employees become inspiring role models for others—empowering them to achieve greater success.
Throughout my career in HR, I’ve found that strong rewards and recognition programs start with truly challenging criteria that motivate people to strive to do their best while fostering healthy competition. These programs should not only be top-down driven but they should also be developed for peer-to-peer recognition.
Army principle No. 3: Set up every “soldier” for future success.
After active service duty is completed, many soldiers look to return to civilian life. The transition can be intimidating. That’s why the Army offers a Career Skills Program (CSP) to help soldiers develop new skills tailored to their interests and find internships and full-time employment—all while still enlisted and earning income.
Data shows that the CSP works. Over 49,965 soldiers have completed one of the 226 programs hosted at 31 locations and have partnered with over 4,000 employers to deliver a 93% hire rate since 2013. That kind of success is inspiring and proves that soldiers and employees at all levels can develop and master new skills given the right support.
The Army also offers continuing education opportunities. Active-duty members can take college courses and complete their degrees at no cost, passing their GI bill to a spouse or child. Whether it is the Army or a company, offering continuing education to your people is a way to ensure they continually grow. At Fujifilm, we take learning and development very seriously. Each year, we encourage our employees to create personal development goals that will help them enhance their skills. With these goals, employees are encouraged to participate in internal and/or external training programs or courses to meet their personal and professional career goals. Additionally, Fujifilm offers a tuition reimbursement program for our employees.
For HR leaders, today’s multi-generational workforce is a bit like an army of demographically diverse soldiers. This poses unique challenges to training and calls for a tailored approach. In other words, different employees need different types of training—and even different training methods. For example, some employees prefer to digest information by reading, and others may prefer to learn about an important new policy or training through an interactive video.
With 19% of people aged 65 and older employed today vs. just 11% in 1987, training to help keep pace with new technology might be a priority for older workers, for example. But Gen Z employees who grew up “on screens” and are comfortable with technology may benefit more from communication skills training, business etiquette and even basic grammar and writing.
Like the Army, HR leaders need to look beyond “basic training” and continually grow their people—setting them up for success in their current positions while developing their skills so they can transition to other roles successfully. HR should be the conduit in managing talent through human capital planning, succession planning and high potential programs to ensure the top talent is prepared to take on new, challenging assignments.
As commanding officer of your organization’s greatest asset—its people—it’s up to you to shape the most effective HR policies and practices that will best serve the organization and its employees. As the examples demonstrate, the type of benefits, recognition and rewards, and training programs you put into effect can have a big impact on the talent you attract, motivate and retain. By borrowing these three simple Army principles, HR leaders can build a stronger, more loyal team and give their organization a competitive edge.
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