Johnson served more than 22 years in the Navy, retiring as a telecommunications Senior Chief Petty Officer. He’s been the lead U.S. Department of Labor TAP facilitator for six years at the naval station in Mayport, Florida and possesses 15 years of experience as a northeast Florida workforce professional.

He’s one of the team of veterans’ representatives that work for WorkSource, the regional workforce organization. The veterans’ reps, all former military themselves, help veterans with career advice and referrals to services in the eight careers centers WorkSource operates in the six NE Florida counties. Leveraging his military background and extensive human resources experience in representing and supporting local businesses in meeting their employment goals, Johnson counsels many TAP and Executive TAP participants each week. He’s been known to answer the commonly asked question, “Can you help me find a job?” with a question, “I’ll assist you, surely, but are you willing to help yourself find a job?”

Hiring Trends

While Johnson’s geographic area of employment expertise is Northeast Florida, his advice on market trends is as ubiquitous as it is indispensable. He warns that all veterans should be aware of significant differences in job market, salaries, and hiring trends depending on location (region, state, regions within the state, counties and metropolitan areas, and individual cities). Labor Market Information (aka “LMI”) is a topic addressed at TAP but often, according to Johnson, undervalued by veterans. It includes unemployment rates, business growth and loss, prevailing industries, occupational growth projections, and an estimated pay range for those occupations. “I highly encourage vets to research LMI before deciding on relocation and post-military careers,” says Johnson.

Common Military Transition Mistakes

When asked to pinpoint the most common mistake military job seekers make, Johnson is quick to rattle off an entire list of blunders and oversights, pointing out that he could go on. “The transition from military to civilian life will not be easy,” he states. “It requires serious effort.” Failure to focus, network, exploit resources, research, and translate skills and experience make the list of his biggest pet peeves.

Fortunately, Johnson has some tips to avoid committing the most common military transition missteps:

• Pay attention during TAP and commit to utilizing the tools and resources presented.
• Research and balance military experience, skills, and education with employers’ needs. Translate military experience into relatable civilian terminology.
• Establish a network within the local business community.
• Don’t expect an employer to pay significantly more than your military pay or assume you can easily slide into a position commensurate with most recent military rank/title.
• Focus on your values when considering your post-military career.

The #1 Military Transition Assistance Program Take-away

Johnson and his fellow military transition assistance program facilitators everywhere gladly provide a wealth of employment information to veterans. But the one thing they can’t do is instill vets with the determination and enthusiasm required to land a fulfilling post-military career. According to Johnson, “ individual commitment to attain results and realistic expectations (sans excuses) is the #1 key to success…. DO NOT pack your TAP ‘tools’ in some box in your garage.”

The announcement of this year’s Most Valuable Employer (MVE) for Military® award finalists will spur scores of savvy military experienced job seekers to apply to military-friendly companies, and rightfully so. However, military experience is not a guaranteed foot in the door. So if you are among this group, you may be wondering how to better your chances of landing a coveted MVE career. The following steps will lead you in the right direction:

Step 1. Get inside their heads.

What motivates MVE and other companies to consistently dip into the military talent pool? Why do military-experienced employees mesh well into these organizations? According to Eric Salzman, Executive Consultant at Bradley-Morris, Inc., the nation’s largest placement firm focused solely on military-experienced talent, “documented leadership experience” sparks a company’s initial interest in military-experienced candidates. “Military leaders have been pushed and tried earlier and harder than most of their civilian counterparts and they are not easily overwhelmed,” he said. When asked what keeps his clients coming back to Bradley-Morris, Inc. for their hiring needs, Salzman replied, “Because hiring military works… companies see a return on their investment.” Understanding what drives companies can go a long way in helping you to sell yourself.

Often, a company-specific answer can be uncovered through a little networking and research. Before applying, research the company of interest online. Pinpoint defining core values by analyzing the company’s history, reputation, products and services, and vision statement. Without asking for a job outright, connect to military-experienced employees through professional networking sites. Seek to understand what they bring to the table as individuals and as a group, gain insight into the company’s corporate culture and hiring needs, and discover your potential value-add.

Coming up empty-handed? Many military-to-civilian executives attribute their corporate success to leadership traits acquired unequivocally through military service, including excellent communication skills, a deeply rooted sense of ethics, the ability to calmly make sound decisions under pressure, defining a goal and motivating others to achieve it, organizational skills such as strategic planning and the effective use of limited resources, and adaptability. I think it’s safe to say most companies value these traits and most military leaders possess them.

Step 2. Target your sales pitch.

Through research and networking, let’s say you’ve uncovered a company’s penchant for loyal workers who work well as a part of a team, inspire healthy competition and goal attainment, and can maximize resources/manpower and minimize waste/downtime. Simply stating your ability to minimize waste, for instance, in your military resume or in an interview is not enough. You must prove it. Always backup something intrinsic, i.e. “cost-conscious”, with something extrinsic, i.e. “…saved $30k quarterly by developing and managing a first-of-its-kind parts reclamation program…” According to Salzman, “Companies want to see quantifiable data attached to experience such as number of people led, total value of a project or budget, and cost avoidance… that’s a big one.”

Step 3. Don’t make a you-know-what out of you and me.

Just because a company has a track record of hiring military experienced job seekers, don’t assume a military jargon-laden resume copied straight from your performance evaluations is going to do the trick. Salzman warns, “Your résumé should be easily understood by everyone from the HR specialist to the CEO.” As the former director of MilitaryResumes.com and a current recruiter at Bradley-Morris, Inc., I’ve seen hundreds, if not thousands, of military resumes. However, I have yet to master the meaning of every acronym or understand the purpose of every command, program, system, or specialty for every branch of service.

Briefly describe your command (mission, services, “customers”, etc.), the technical makeup and capability of military-specific systems/equipment (if applicable), and the scope of your duties to establish due context, no matter the target company. Focus not on your formal, DoD-approved job descriptions, but on the skills derived from each job with respect to the company and job opportunity at hand instead. Finally, add plenty of individual accomplishments to make you stand out as a top-notch performer worthy of corporate recruitment.

Salzman enjoys getting companies to see the value of military experience. He is a master of showing his clients how military experience fits into their organizations through comparable success stories. But perhaps the most rewarding aspect of the job is the service he is able to provide to veterans. “I really enjoy seeing candidates I’ve placed come back and use me when they have hiring needs again,” said Salzman.

This is the first interview in a series Salzman has graciously agreed to on behalf of MtC readers:

Everyone knows the economy has seen better days, yet Bradley-Morris continues to place military-experienced job seekers into civilian jobs. What motivates a company to turn to a military placement firm for talent in spite of a saturated job market?

Most of my clients turn to me for two main reasons: First is the speed and efficiency of our military hiring events. These events allow them to see 8 to 10 pre-screened candidates (all qualified and interested in the job, location and salary) in a one-day format. Second, companies are targeting candidates that are easily promotable. This adds bench-strength to an organization. The intangibles military-experienced candidates bring to the table (such as work ethic, discipline, problem-solving and decision-making under pressure) are seen as true assets.

Are there common misconceptions about military-experienced job seekers in Corporate America?

Corporate America harbors several misconceptions about the military. The main one I see pertains to a military-experienced job seeker’s ability to conform to a “corporate culture”, where the rules and duties are not always as clear as they are in the military.

As a seasoned executive consultant, how do you overcome those misconceptions to best position your military-experienced candidates for consideration?

I identify misconceptions and tackle them head-on with examples of successful candidates I placed into very satisfied companies. Because Bradley-Morris specializes in recruiting military-experienced talent, I am able to clearly explain a candidate’s skill set, how it relates to the job, and how the military has prepared them to exceed goals and expectations.

How should a veteran market their military experience, especially when it does not correlate directly with industry or vacancy requirements?

How has the playing field changed in the past two years, and what can we expect next year?

Companies are really looking for candidates with great energy and attitudes. This seems to be the case more now than ever. Companies are focusing on building teams that work well together and not just focusing on finding the candidate with the most qualifications. I’ve seen an overwhelming number of candidates selected for jobs because of their positive attitude.

For more information on Bradley-Morris, a free service for military-experienced job seekers, please visit www.Bradley-Morris.com. Eric Salzman can be reached at esalzman@bradley-morris.com or http://www.linkedin.com/in/ericsalzman1.

 They Will Know What I Did

While recruiting for a technical engineering position, an account manager became frustrated with a comment made by a talented, job-seeking engineer.  The said comment, “anyone familiar with my field will understand my resume… they will know what I did,” caused the recruiter to end the call and throw her arms up in frustration.   She was fielding resumes for a client who was very particular as to the keywords he wanted to see in applicant resumes.  The candidate refused to update his resume with the appropriate keywords, instead defaulting to laziness.  Inevitably, he did not get the job opportunity. 

 On another occasion, a veteran candidate heeded the advice of the recruiter and adjusted his resume to reflect specific experience the organization needed.  He eliminated reference to “combat, anti-terrorism tactics, and weapons” replacing them with “inspection, tools, and measuring equipment”.  This candidate landed an initial interview for the position of Quality Inspection Engineer.

 For job seekers, civilian or military-experienced, the lesson is: make your resume and interview dialogue relevant to the position you are applying for.  Although it may seem silly to spell out your accomplishments and experience in detail, knowing the hiring manager is familiar with the military and will understand your qualifications, the fact of the matter is the resume may not get to the hiring manager.  In order to get to the hiring manager, it must pass the initial screening process… and that process may be conducted by people not “in the know,” or worse, an electronic resume scanning system.

 A job posting is typically advertised via the Internet and will contain keywords the hiring team is looking for.  For example, an engineering job posting may reference Lean principles, Six Sigma, design, AutoCAD, etc.  A job posting for a purchasing manager may reference ERP/MRP, enterprise, inventory control, DoD, etc.  Tweak your military resume for each job you apply for, incorporating appropriate keywords and phrases.  

 Once military resumes are deposited into a database, recruiters perform quick electronic or manual searches for keywords.  Typically, the hiring manger will not be the first person to peruse the hundreds of resumes received for each open position.  So if keywords are not spotted quickly, your military resume could be overlooked.  Resumes that reflect the experience the job posting calls for are sent to the hiring manager for consideration.  View the job posting and description as an answer key, with the resume as the test.  Make sure the test has the answers from the answer key within it.

Professional military resume writing services and recruiters help military job seekers perfect their military resumes to ensure they are relevant to their target positions.  Recruiters have a relationship with the organization they serve and are able to prepare candidates for what the employer expects to see on a military resume and hear in an interview.  Seek advice on the presentation of your marketing materials (your military resume and cover letter).  The job market is competitive and those who are prepared rewarded with opportunity.

I would like to add that a good military placement firm will offer the assistance of a professional military resume writing service to candidates who qualify for their program for free.  I know that this is the case at Bradley-Morris, Inc. who relies on MilitaryResumes.com to polish their candidates’ resumes.  Once a military resume is in fighting shape, a Bradley-Morris recruiter will assist the military job seeker with highlighting experience requested by the target employer and adding relevant keywords form the job opening.  

Judy Navarrete, SPHR is an accomplished Human Resources Professional.  She is a civilian advocate for veteran placements, sharing her vast experience in recruitment, talent selection, and leadership development in commercial markets so that veterans can assimilate into civilian job market to compete for today’s jobs.  For more information and similar articles from Judy, please see portablementor.com or some of her previous posts on MilitarytoCivilian.com (keyword search “Judy”). You may reach Judy at judy@portablementor.com

Judy Navarrete, SPHR, an accomplished HR manager, contacted me at Military Resumes to express her interest in sharing her vast human resources and operations management experience and insight into the business world with military job seekers.  Her observations are food for thought as you reflect on your own military experience (and how it applies to corporate America) when preparing your military resume or for an interview. You may be familiar with her now famed writing through a series she authored for MilitarytoCivilian entitled “Leadership Basics.” In Leadership Basics and her latest article, “Shut Up and Listen,” she draws on her conversations with a poised and well-respected Marine Corps Staff Sergeant, who she has come to know very well, to craft informative lessons of her own.

Shut Up and Listen

We are all familiar with the saying “communication is key” and understand the importance of communication.  But I recently came to understand just how important communication is when I came across a metaphor that likened communication between a leader and his or her subordinate to the relationship between spouses.  The metaphor proposed the question, “If you had a spouse and you didn’t talk to him/her for weeks or months, how long do you think the marriage would last?”  Similarly, leaders who fail to effectively communicate with their subordinates or peers risk disintegrating their working relationships.

Early on in our conversations, a Marine Corps Staff Sergeant for whom I have a great deal of respect explained to me his understanding of communication.  Surprisingly, his biggest influence was not the USMC, but his mother.  She happened to be the wife of a serviceman and degreed in psychology.  His mother and experiences taught him that communication must always be civil.  One should never communicate argumentatively.  When emotions rise, it’s best to say nothing. He said, so long as people can constructively communicate their concerns and actively listen to one another, most issues can be resolved through understanding.

As part of military training, servicemen are taught the keys to communication.  Knowing how to communicate helps develop trust. They learn to communicate clearly and recognize that each individual sees things from a different point of view.  They learn to be open and honest, accept the feelings of others, ask questions, and listen without interruptions.  Sometimes communication is not about speaking or thinking about what to say.  But rather, communication is listening and being attentive to what the other person is trying to convey through words and actions.

“How to Be a Better Listener” by Sherman K. Okum, Nation’s Business, August 1975, and “Building a Professional Image: Improving Listening Behavior” by Philip Morgan and Kent Baker, Supervisory Management, November 1995, mark the traits of a poor listener as tunes out, is easily distracted, over stimulated, seeks arguments, and judges delivery.  Conversely, the traits of a good listener are fights distractions, interprets color words and doesn’t get hung up on them, finds what’s in it for me, holds eye contact, skips over delivery errors, and listens for central ideas.

At a previous employer of mine, the operations manager and department manager were constantly at odds.  After hour-long debates, the operations manager would complain to me that the department manager would not implement his new processes or set team expectations.  Later in the day, the department manager would complain that the operations manager refused to support his method of implementing new processes and would not agree to the expectations he had set for his team.  Ironically, both of them wanted the same things.  I asked each of them, “Have you talked to him about it?”  Of course each responded, “Yes.  We talked for hours, but I wasn’t being heard.”  In this case, their dysfunctional relationship was due to poor listening skills and, unfortunately, resulted in loss of talent for the organization.

To the civilian workforce, the loss of talent is difficult to bear as projects are delayed and recruitment costs rise.  Similarly, if too many servicemen and servicewomen leave the service when leadership fails to listen to their concerns, missions may not succeed and other detrimental affects may occur.

Much can be learned and communicated through listening.

Judy Navarrete, SPHR is an accomplished HR manager, whose experience extends to non-profit, for-profit, privately-owned, and Fortune 500 companies.  She actively pursues to facilitate former military personnel transitions to civilian careers, as well as educate and promote the hiring and placement of military-experienced talent into viable, honorable positions with established companies. Judy can be reached at jnavarretesphr@yahoo.com.

Read the first article in the series.

Read the second article in the series.

Read the third article in the series.

Read the fourth article in the series.

Be the Expert

What does being an expert have to do with leadership?  Think about it, and the answer becomes apparent.  Why would anyone follow a leader unless they found some value in doing so?  Most people follow a leader because he or she is an expert, or a champion in his or her field.  An expert is defined as a person with knowledge specific to a field of work.  An expert is a person with extensive knowledge or ability based on research, experience, or occupation in a particular area of study.  Not just anyone who practices fervently will become an expert.  Marie-Line Germain found 16 behavioral dimensions found in experts.  Some of these traits include: knowledge that is specific to his or her field of work, the ability to assess a work related situation’s importance, the capacity for self improvement, deduction, drive, and self confidence.  These behavioral traits are consistently held by all experts, whether he or she is an expert marksman, musician, lawyer, or business leader.    

I have witnessed leaders and managers from various organizations successfully transition into new roles with minimal difficulty.  Not because management and leadership is the same everywhere, but because these leaders were able to adapt to new environments.  They were able to pull from past experiences and use their behavioral dimensions to gain new expertise.  Many military and former military leaders also hold these behavioral traits.

Individuals transitioning from the military to the civilian workforce will find that businesses can benefit from the military’s method of creating experts.  The Marines Corps’ method of developing leaders and experts begins with boot camp, is followed by real-world experience, and further refined by guidance from tenured Marines.  During training, Marines are tested and, in some cases, qualification is required.  In contrast, civilian businesses tend to train by informing employees and opt out of testing at the end of training sessions.  I suppose we, as business leaders, refrain from testing and qualification requirements for fear of being sued or having our employment practices challenged.  It could be that our training and testing methods are not as developed as the military’s.  So the aforementioned behavioral traits, as well as skills in team cohesion, encouragement and coaching techniques, organization, and discipline, can provide transitioning military-experienced job seekers a firm foundation for civilian leadership roles. 

However, military leaders contemplating a career change may examine where their expertise truly lies.  Some may realize that their desire and passion is to continue to hone their military expertise and nurture those serving our country.  A career in the military is a fine choice as it reinforces strengths and this country needs expert marksmen, staff sergeants, trainers, and other military professionals.  The decision to stay in the service is a difficult one, since many military careers place strain on families.  But realize there are also civilian professions that cause equal strain on family time.  Lawyers, doctors, salespersons, entertainers, etc. all have extreme demands made on their time.  These challenges compromise their family ties and require much dedication and discipline to their trade.  Military careers are not alone in this.  Therefore, in choosing a profession, one needs to look inward and determine which career is best for them and whether or not they are willing to make the sacrifices required to become an expert in their field… even if it means leaving others behind.   

Judy Navarrete, SPHR, the author of this series, Leadership Basics, is a Human Resources Manager.  She has over 14 years experience in strategic management.  As such, she has extensive experience in understanding the needs of managers and businesses with respect to staffing and leadership performance.  She has worked in the private sector and union and non-union environments, both for profit companies and not-for-profit organizations.  Her understanding of military training and leadership comes from her conversations and interaction with a Staff Sergeant of the US Marine Corps.  This is the last article in the series of her contributions to MilitarytoCivilian.com.  This Staff Sergeant will deploy soon, with his team of Marines.  Once his tour is completed, he will most likely re-enlist.

• Atwater, California
• Dublin, California
• Herlong, California
• Victorville, California
• Tucson, Arizona

A 15-17% recruitment bonus will be paid to selectees who meet the recruitment bonus criteria. For more details on Federal Bureau of Prisons employment opportunities, keyword search www.usajobs.gov for the following announcement number: bop-n-0007-001.

For professional military resume and military-to-federal resume writing services, please contact the experts at Military Resumes.

www.MilitaryResumes.com

Read the first article in the series.

Read the second article in the series.

Read the third article in the series.

Composure 

Composure is a serene, self-controlled state of mind; calmness and tranquility, despite the hysteria.  What does one’s state of mind have to do with leadership?  Everything!  A leader is expected to make well thought-out decisions.  Logical decisions are hard to make with a hysterical and unfocused mind.  To make good decisions, one must maintain composure in high stress situations.  This takes practice, experience, and a cool disposition.

Cool is a state of mind.  Because Marines must maintain composure in all circumstances, they immediately start training to focus their minds as they prepare for their first inspection.  Many are still in “civilian mode”, but gradually gain confidence.  Once they claim the title of Marine, they are prepared and confident for the inspection.  Throughout the remainder of their training, which is continuous, they are placed in stressful situations that test their physical and mental aptitude.  It is through this continuous training and exposure to high pressure situations that they endure and are able to maintain calm while mayhem and disorder surrounds them. 

While in transitional leadership roles, I would often vent to a trusted confidant, a Marine Corps Staff Sergeant, in response to a range of tense situations at work… from major customer complaints that put business at risk to personnel issues.  Whenever I felt distracted and uncertain of what to do, I lost my composure.  Fortunately, the aftermath took place after business hours, out of employees’ view.  In each case, the first (and sometimes only) thing this Staff Sergeant would tell me to do was, “relax  … and calm down”.  He did not tell me how to solve my problems, but simply suggested, “just think about it”.  It is only with a calm and composed mind that a leader can think clearly and objectively.  Once the mind is calm, answers appear.  In some cases, the answer is to do nothing and just let the words or actions go unanswered. 

In business, it is critical that a leader maintain composure.  Employees who witness their leader or manager “lose it” can be adversely affected.  Today, such behavior could result in a hostile work environment claim or loss of creativity and productivity due to employees’ fear of a backlash.  Anyone can learn to develop composure and calmness.  Like anything, it takes practice.  First, realize that your actions are motivated by feelings, and those feelings are the result of thoughts running through your head at a given point in time.  To maintain a calm exterior, gain some insight into your habitual thoughts.  Empty your mind of the negative and self-defeating thoughts and fill it with positive views and constructive ideas.  Experience with high stress situations in general also helps.  When feeling pressed on all sides, reflect on similar challenges you were able to overcome.  Say to yourself, “if I could rise up and overcome xyz, then I can surely solve this problem”.

When a crisis arises, what thoughts run through your head?

 Judy Navarre, SPHR, the author of this series, leadership basics, is a Human Resources Manager.  She has over 14 years of experience in strategic management.  She has extensive experience in understanding the needs of managers and businesses with respect to staffing and leadership performance.  She has worked in the private sector and union and non-union environments, both for profit companies and not-for-profit organizations.  Her understanding of military training and leadership comes from her conversations and interaction with a Staff Sergeant of the U.S. Marine Corps.  For more information regarding the information contained in this article, you may contact her at jnavarretesphr@yahoo.com.

Read the first article in the series.

Read the second article in the series.

Encouragement

How do you get a team to perform at its best? How do you get normal people to perform superhuman feats?  For answers to these burning questions, look to the United States Marine Corps.  Marines train young high school kids to become leaders by the age of 22 and are often expected to set the stage for the remainder of the armed forces.  Therefore, who better to teach us about the art of motivation?  If the Marine Corps is able to encourage a high school graduate to risk his or her life to accomplish superhuman feats, then we, as managers, can learn to motivate persons with advanced education to accomplish less risky goals.

I have heard talk of the methods the military uses to motivate and encourage service-members.  It is the perception of most civilians that military personnel are motivated through intimidation.  We often see the screaming Staff Sergeant portrayed on the movie screen, humiliating recruits and dolling out harsh punishment to encourage conformance to standards.  In the real-world, this management style is outdated.  Intimidated employees are less creative; less self-directed. In dictatorial environments, employees pay less attention to safety, produce products of poorer quality, use less innovation, possess low morale, and are generally outperformed by employees who are encouraged to participate in the decision-making process.  Leading leadership books tell us that employees need managers to listen, recognize, and appreciate their contributions.  Those companies able to create this atmosphere are usually the most productive and profitable.

So how is this dichotomy – the (perceived) hostile military motivational techniques versus encouragement methods that actually work – reconciled?  I asked a Marine Corps Staff Sergeant for clarification.  What we civilians think is a hostile, degrading environment may simply be a part of military conditioning and training.  Marines are conditioned to withstand a great deal of stress under intense circumstances. If, during training, they are not exposed to hostile environments (such as someone screaming at them), then they would not be conditioned to handle a combat situation.  This conditioning to stress should not be confused with encouragement.

Encouragement is the act of soliciting a desired behavior through positive input.  Encouragement is done to uplift one’s spirit.  So, despite the stereotypes we see in the movies, we must conclude that there must be something else that drives Marines to excel.  Degradation destroys motivation and unmotivated employees or Marines do not succeed. Throughout my interaction with this Staff Sergeant, I have never heard a negative comment.  Rather, he always speaks of positive behaviors and outcomes, and this in turn makes me want to see defects and change my behavior.  I imagine that with his staff, he is the same way.  So ask yourself, “Have I been more receptive to change when scolded?” I am willing to bet you are more apt to change when someone enlightens you in a positive way.

The Staff Sergeant encourages his staff through the following: 1) allowing time for rest and relaxation and considering their life needs as a reward for their outstanding efforts and service; 2) providing a positive recommendation for a promotion or pay grade increase when possible; 3) recommending outstanding performers for medals or awards; and 4) by telling them that they are doing a good job.

In the military, a leader does not necessarily have to “budget” rewards or recognition or apply incentives “fairly and consistently” throughout the workforce.  He or she does not have the ability to increase pay as many of us in civilian business leadership do.  He or she does not worry about being limited by a certain number of rewards.  The rewards and medals are handled by the individual tasked with managing them.  When the Staff Sergeant told me this, I thought to myself, “What a novel idea!”  Why is it that, in business, we think we should “budget” employee rewards and recognition? Why don’t we consider it as a “cost of doing business”?  Why is it that, when sales plummet, we begin to ask, “What can we cut out?”  The answer is almost always training, holiday parties, incentive programs… We forget that people are people.  We forget that people have needs.  We forget that people have the need to be recognized, appreciated, and rewarded.  We forget that people …who are recognized, appreciated, and rewarded, perform… many times at superhuman levels.  We forget that sometimes all that a person really needs is that medal of recognition, additional time off to care for their personal and familial needs, a “good word” to set them up for their next opportunity or pay increase …and at the very least, to hear, “Job well done”.

So in a sense, military leadership differs from civilian leadership.  It is my belief that in some ways, military leadership is more advanced than that of civilians.  We civilians stand to benefit from the concept that rewards, recognition, and encouragement are essential to doing business rather than an “expense” to be minimized during poor economic times.

——

Judy Navarre, SPHR, the author of this series, leadership basics, is a Human Resources Manager.   She has over 14 years of experience in strategic management and extensive experience in understanding the needs of managers and businesses with respect to staffing and leadership performance.  She has worked in the private sector, union and non-union environments, and for profit companies and not-for-profit organizations.  Her understanding of military training and leadership comes from her conversations with a Staff Sergeant of the U.S. Marine Corps.  This Staff Sergeant’s team is deploying in April of 2010.  Your prayers and encouragement are appreciated and needed.  For more information regarding the information contained in this article, you may contact her at jnavarretesphr@yahoo.com.

Training to Read the Signs

I was destined for a location on an unfamiliar military base, in a hurry and desperately attempting to recall the directions given to me by a Untied States Marine Corps Staff Sergeant. But because I was only partially paying attention, I could not recall his instructions and quickly became lost.  When I called him in a panic, he calmly asked me to describe my whereabouts.   I was, as I explained, in the middle of the road, facing the ocean, with a building to my right and a parking lot to the left.  He instructed me to look at the building, read the surrounding signs, then look at the parking lot and read the surrounding signs. “The signs will describe the building or place and, most likely, its purpose; read the signs and pay attention to your surroundings,” he calmly stated. 

 As an experienced trainer, the Staff Sergeant opted for teaching me the way versus showing me, or asking me to merely follow him.   Although the destination was a quick left, right, another right, then a left into the parking structure, he asked me to turn off my radio and to give him my full attention as he guided me to the destination.  At each turn he instructed me to read the signs, see the markers (buildings) and reminded me as to what his initial instructions were.  Once I reached the destination, he took me back to where I started and guided me through the route, explaining again, the signs and markers.  Because it is my nature to ask silly questions, in an attempt to be charming, I would ask, “Why not go right (instead of left)?” etc.  Rather than lose his patience, as it was getting late and we had been through the route four times, he calmly guided me to the right and showed me where the road ended.  Then he asked me to read the building signs and markers as an indication as to where I was.   I admired his patience through this exercise; at no time did he raise his voice or lose his composure.  Most importantly, although I have not returned to that location in over five months, I am certain that I can recall the directions and would be able to explain to someone else how to get there.

I have used this example of training at work several times.  Employees need verbal instruction, but signage as a reminder is just as important.  Reminders to turn off equipment and lights, work safely, keep isles clean, do not enter, etc. are necessary.  One of the best run tortilla manufacturers in Los Angeles, Mission Foods, has signs all over its shop.  The signs indicate everything from performance, safety and productivity to reminders as to how they should behave.  Umberto, a plant manager, was cited as being the best manager in the US and he ran their best operating plant.  He attributed this to his employee relations skills and communication efforts, the signs and continuous training.  Many leading companies use shop boards to post performance metrics.  Performance metrics are signs that let employees know how the department or company is doing on key measurements such as safety, quality, productivity, etc.  In other words, it tells them ‘where they are’.  This brings to mind the old adage, ‘to get to where you are going, you have to know where you are’.  So to know where you are, you must read the signs.  Then, you can decide what you need to do next.

I also used this experience to relay a training model to a tenured staff.  Conventional wisdom dictates that telling or showing equates to training.  A trainer who simply shows or tells his or her training material to the intended audience, without real learning objectives, may end up wondering why a trainee’s performance is lagging.  Telling or showing someone what to do is an insufficient training model.  The model the Staff Sergeant used speaks volumes about the patience and communication and training skills he learned while in the service.  At no time did he degrade me or lose patience with me, which is important as a trainer.  He simply guided me through the correct method, over and over again, until I committed the process to memory.  He showed me the cons of not following directions, and going down the wrong path.  At the end of his instruction, he explained to me his motivational purpose, which was for me to truly learn my way around base.  The idea is that if a person does the same thing over and over and over again, it eventually becomes habit or an automatic response. 

Lastly, this military model of training demonstrates the patience and clarity of communication (instruction) required to train another person.  The Staff Sergeant engaged me in the learning process.  Employee involvement is key to effective employee training. Employees attending training may be preoccupied with their own thoughts and problems. Some may be willing to learn and some may not be.  There are those who are open to new ideas and others who resist.  When the trainer puts himself in the employees’ shoes and shows them what they stand to gain, it helps ensure training success.  In our Staff Sergeant’s example, by showing me the way and illustrating the gain (to be independent in his absence), he was using effective, transferable methods of training.

Key management traits to pull from this article are patience and the importance of clear instructions and signs when training others.  The service teaches servicemen and women how to focus and deal with challenges and calmly teach others to read signs, follow instruction and reach their destinations. Training, through repetition and practice, is a great way to ensure the lesson sticks.  And no matter where you are, whether it’s at work or on base, there will always be signs to train and guide you.

Judy Navarrete, SPHR, the author of this series, leadership basics, is a Human Resources Manager.   She has over 14 years experience in strategic management and extensive experience in understanding the needs of managers and businesses with respect to staffing and leadership performance.  She has worked in the private sector, union and non-union environments, both for profit companies and not-for-profit organizations.  Her understanding of military training and leadership comes from her conversations and interaction with a Staff Sergeant of the US Marine Corps. For more information regarding the information contained in this article, you may contact her at jnavarretesphr@yahoo.com.