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Human Resources Management Human Resource Management The human element is the most valuable asset in the Air Force and it takes precision people to get the job finished day in and day out. The thousands of individuals in their specific jobs are required to keep the Air Force functioning. Not everyone is suited for each type of Job though, depending on various dynamics during the recruitment process in the human resource process, each individual is rated and their occupation is decided on the aptitude each person possesses. The
Air Force human resources department starts with the recruiting of individuals Into the military; which essentially means that the process starts at the local recruiting office. The many factors that go Into Human Resources for the Air Force abide by the regulations set by our government and they cover all of the key aspects that pertain to Human Resource Management. The recruitment process is identifying and attracting qualified talent for organizational Jobs in a timely and effective manner. (House, 2012) Recruiting for the military in general can be compared to a normal selection process in society.
Linking recruitment to the strategic HARM process is critical to the success of an organization: it ensures that the recruitment process is aligned with organizational strategies. (House, 2012) The goals of a selection process may vary, but the core goal that needs to be achieved is ensuring candidates are selected that have the highest chance of meeting or exceeding the organizations standard of performance. Performance may be associated with quality of output, absenteeism, theft, employee satisfaction, and career development.
Individuals are recruited from many different places, whether the potential recruit s still in school or a self-elect themselves and arrive to a recruiting office themselves. The concept is to find certain people who have their own motivation to join the military. Basically, the military will take anyone who qualifies for duty and meets certain criteria such as having a High School diploma and being healthy with no previous medical problems. If they cannot meet the standard then they cannot enter the military. The reason behind meeting the standard is because the military would essentially view the person as a liability and not an asset.
The Air Force uses a point system for their recruitment process; which helps determine where the member will fall In the rating scale. This Is based upon multiple factors varying of education, experience, complexity of Job, relationships with others, and working conditions. The other three branches of military will accept a GEED, but the Air Force is the only branch that requires a High school diploma to military, if accepted the potential recruit will rewarded with a higher rank when you first Join for a four year service agreement.
Experience and past performance can be related to taking the SAAB test to qualify the individual for a certain occupation. Physical characteristics are considered on a height/weight ratio scale, which can prevent an individual from Joining if they are considered overweight or underweight. Lastly personal characteristics can be disqualifying factor, if the individual is a single parent; the military may deem it to be a conflict of interest. Affirmative action and Equal Employment Opportunities (EYE) operate hand and hand in the military, there is a zero tolerance policy on discrimination and is not tolerated.
They work together by keeping discrimination out of the Air Force by updating new in the event that unpredicted problems arrive. While selection may be narrow and some may not qualify for the Air Force because of their policies, there is never discrimination against someone for their race, sex, religion or beliefs. These policies hold true throughout the individual’s entire military career. After an individual is selected for recruitment and enters basic training, they are given formal briefings on their compensation and benefits.
The military in general are offered some of the best benefits available compared to an average untrained citizen within the same demographic who is not trained in any specific field. Firstly, there is the monetary compensation that is based on the recruits pay grade; which can be compared to a salary in society. Secondly, each service member is given compensation for housing and a food allowance that are given monthly to the member. Additionally, there are many special pays that are dependent on the career field the individual works in and other particular special pay are also given if members are deployed to foreign locations.
Active duty military members are also given free medical care to ensure that each member is deployment ready. There are also many facilities that members and families can use free of charge such as the Base Exchange department store, commissary and the base gymnasium. All of the useful benefits that are available to members make for an excellent benefits package for Active Duty Airmen. After the member has Joined the military, they will eventually travel to their first duty station.
The recruiting office played its role in the Human Resources department as the link to get the individual into the military. Their purpose is essentially the equivalent of a Human Resource manager in public society. Once the Airman has been assigned to their first duty assignment, the member’s supervisor and other specific unique offices will take over as Human Resource manager. There is no single person that is responsible for HER the position and the individual’s immediate supervisor becomes responsible for HARM duties such as performance feedbacks and managing of their personnel.
The Air Force has a performance evaluation system that provide service members with an initial feedback that outlines the supervisor’s expectations from the subordinate for the reporting period. After six months from receiving initial unseeing session the subordinate is given a mid-term feedback that readdresses all the areas from the initial feedback to ensure they are meeting the standard expectations. At the end of the reporting cycle, the subordinate is given an Enlisted feedback is then written in bullet form to recognize the individual’s accomplishments throughout the year.
The PER is based on a five-point scale covering all areas of performance. A five rating is truly among the best, a four is above average, three is average, two needs improvement, while a one represents extremely poor performance. Performance management is the one of the most important parts of Human Resource Management. This process molds the young Airman into who they will become later in their military career, if it is done correctly they can and will become a productive member of the Air Force and they will eventually move into their supervisor’s position and have subordinates of their own.
Performance appraisals are often linked to such incentive systems as bonuses, which sustain a culture of rewarding employees based on their Job performance rather than their seniority. (House, 2012) A good manager can give these skills a good start with their barbiturates and ensure these traits are passed from one generation of supervisors to the next. The PER system is a full evaluation as explained previously, but it is an evaluation of yourself against your peers of the same rank. If your peers seem to be leaving everyone behind it is because their supervisors are giving them feedback on their performance.
Providing a feedback ensures a follow-up that aids the individual in achieving their goals, the individuals who are left out may never have direction to prove themselves, especially when the supervisor is not providing the proper internship to set the individual up for future success. Since I am currently a supervisor and I mentor five employees, I have realized that each person requires different needs as employees. They also work separate from me and I am never really over them, I Just know what they are doing at all times.
I feel now that it is extremely important that I partake in their daily work as much as I can without slowing performance on my end. My subordinates already know and understand what I require from them, and these goals are quite attainable. Some of the basic goals for example involve being punctual, always complete their assigned duties following technical guidance, volunteer within the community and to further continue their education. I can use this and rate all 5 employees against each other to know where they stand on my scale as employees.
They will never know where they stand amongst each other, but they will know if I believe they are having difficulty meeting my expectations during the mid-term performance feedback before being rated on their annual PER. This will give the employees the opportunity to try and improve themselves with no further guidance. Since the subordinate understands where they are lacking, the work environment should be a lot more reductive. If the subordinate shows improvements then they have met the goals that I provided during the rating period.
Even though members of the military may have to put themselves in danger on a daily basis the point is to keep as many members safe as possible. There are many safety standards that military must abide by to include OSHA safety standards and their own standards depending on the risks involved with each operation. These standards are in the form of technical orders and safety instructions; they are also These instructions are written with safety in mind and must be used during every employ operation to prevent loss of life and limb.
They are also continuously updated with changes that may contain new operating standards. Safety standards do not pertain to Just the environment in the work center. The individuals off duty time are also included in a daily basis to ensure they do not put themselves in a detrimental safety predicament. This can include safety training for high-risk activities ranging from riding motorcycles to rock climbing to bungee Jumping. If there are any high-risk activities that a member is involved in, there is safety training for that particular activity.
This is because the military wants to protect their members and the investment they have in that member as a technically trained expert. Safety decisions come from the very top of management and handed down to all members in the Air Force. Safety practice is overall one of the most highly practiced priorities in the military and keeps our members aware of their surroundings. Employee and labor relations are always ever present in the Air Force, yet it is not as comparable to civilian society as we may think. Employee relations occur on a daily basis with what we would consider to be our Human Resource Department.
The higher-level supervision echelon that makes the decisions that affect us personally seems to be a never-ending process of changes within our immediate chain of command. These decisions are related to the duty hours that have to be worked, training time, safety decisions and benefits. Most of the time we do not have a set schedule of hours and we remain on duty until the Job has been completed, but on occasion there are decisions made that set us at a certain amount of hours to provide in depth training in order to make our personnel more efficient or to train personnel on safety hazards.
Labor relations are defined as the continuous relationship between a defined group of employees and management. The military is similar to this in the sense that there is a very thorough written contract that must be signed prior to the individual Joining the military. It is always written by the Human Resource department or what we have title the Air Force Personnel Center and filed in our duty records. It contains specific information such as a description of the members guaranteed Job, how many years they have enlisted for, and any specific compensation such as awarded ranks and bonuses that come with the reticular career field.
There are many factors that go into Human Resources to ensure the Air Force abides by the rules and regulations set forth by our government and they cover all of the key aspects that pertain to Human Resource Management. With all of these factors working into the process of Human Resources, there are many choices that I can make as a supervisor and mentor in particular that relate to what I can control. This includes my many decisions for my subordinates that must be made on all levels. This is includes performance management, which is the most important teeth I can contribute to the employees that are under my direct supervision.