Military Leadership of Civilian Personnel: Achieving a Balance.
Abstract
Many Army officers do not receive formal instruction in the particularities of the Army civilian personnel management system. This leaves them ill-prepared to serve as managers, leaders, and mentors for approximately 270,000 Department of the Army Civilians (DACs) who serve alongside active Army members. We confirmed our thesis through interviews with students at the U.S. Army War College, senior DACs attending the Senior Executive Fellows Program at Harvard University, and other civilian Army leaders at U.S. Army Materiel Command. Additionally, a 1986 Department of the Army Inspector General Report documented similar problems. Although there have been changes since 1986 in the civilian personnel management system, the fundamental problem, Army officers who do not understand the rules governing their civilian employees, remains. Using Peter Senge's book, The Fifth Discipline, as the framework for analysis, this paper sorts through the personnel management changes currently underway, addresses the shortcomings of those solutions in solving the fundamental problem, and suggests the fundamental solution: integrated civilian and military personnel systems which simplify the task of leading for both civilian and military leaders by 'putting every one on the same sheet of music.'
Document Details
- Document Type
- Technical Report
- Publication Date
- May 02, 1996
- Accession Number
- ADA311162
Entities
People
- Donald G. Conaway
- Joseph B. Mcmillan
- Patricia B. Genung
Organizations
- United States Army War College