Three U.S. Army Principles That Can Improve Your HR Policies and Practices

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, and ultimately helped prepare me for a successful corporate career in human resources (HR).??

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 at all levels 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.?

Prior to my corporate career in human resources, 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 only relevant 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.?

This article explores how three specific nuggets of practical Army wisdom can help guide HR leaders as they establish and implement benefit plans, recognition and reward programs, as well as training programs.??

Army Principle #1: Support Families?

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 benefit plans positively impact 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. The goal of strong benefits planning is to help attract and retain top talent and to care for our employees, as well as their families.??

In addition, it’s imperative for HR leaders to address benefit gaps from a Diversity, Equity & Inclusion (DE&I) perspective. These gaps are often in areas like financial planning, maternity, fertility/family forming, social support, care giving, 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 benefit policies to be DE&I 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 #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 then become inspiring role models for others—empowering them to 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 #3:? Set up Every “Soldier” for Future Success?

After active service duty is completed, many soldiers look to return to civilian life and transitioning can be intimidating. That’s why the Army offers a Career Skills Program (CSP) to help soldiers develop new skills tailored to their specific interests and find internships and full-time employment—all while still enlisted and earning income.??

Data shows that the CSP works. In fact, over 49,965 Soldiers have completed one of the 226 CSPs hosted at 31 installations, partnering with over 4,000 employers delivering a 93% hire rate since 2013.?That kind of success is inspiring and proves that soldiers, as well as 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 degrees at no cost while still passing along 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 new 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 also calls for a tailored approach. In other words, different employees need different types of training—and even different methods of training. 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 but also 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 to best serve the organization as well as its employees. As the foregoing 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 the three simple Army principles discussed, HR leaders can build a stronger, more loyal team and give your organization a competitive edge.??

My perspective on this topic was originally shared with HR Executive. The article may be viewed online here. ?