For the first section of the Health Care Management (PMO 527) course there was quite a bit of time focused on mission and vision statements. I know this may seem like a very basic concept to many people, but I never really stopped and thought about the process of developing a mission and vision statement. I have not been involved in the process before, and in military establishments, most times these statements are just provided to you. I never knew so much time, energy, and effort went into the process. I did a search for ‘mission and vision development process’ online and it was remarkable how many websites came up. With so much work going into creating these statements, it only makes sense to have companies/business/military organizations follow them. When organizations fail to operate in accordance with their mission and vision statements, that is when issues arise. These issues are insidious though, people won’t stop working, or be flat-out lazy at work because operations aren’t functioning in accordance with the mission and vision statements. People may feel a little mis-guided, or not know how their work is contributing to the larger picture, which I believe impacts morale and ultimately productivity. I can say that I will no longer passively read the mission and vision statements of where I work in the future.
Tim Kane’s article “Why Our Best Officers Are Leaving” was extremely fascinating. I learned a lot about the American Military by reading this article. I believe it to be very true that the “military is creating a command structure that rewards conformism and ignores merit” (Kane), and as a result, some really great Officers are getting out of the forces early. I originally thought about ‘blogging’ about the bureaucracy of the military and how the process of promotions should change, but then I started thinking of the other reasons why people get out of the military... and those reasons are very valid and worth mentioning.
Specifically for John Nagl who Tim Kane speaks about in his article. Nagl got out of the military after 20 years of service, and yes, there was the matter of him not being a Colonel yet and there didn’t seem to be a strong likelihood that he would make General, so Nagl retired. Nagl is the head of the Center for a New American Security (CNAS), “known in Washington as President Obama’s favorite think tank” (Kane). Having other job opportunities is a valid reason for getting out of the military, and if a wonderful opportunity presents itself outside of the ‘uniform’, then why not take it? Nagl’s work at CNAS regularly reaches the White House and the National Security Council, and I doubt Nagl would have had such high level exposure if he remained in uniform. I just think it is okay for really great Officers (leaders) to retire after giving many years of service to their country. Any service in uniform is something to be proud about, and it shouldn’t be viewed of how a few more years of service could have been squeezed out of the member. If the issue is that the “Best Officers” are leaving, the probability that these individuals will continue to contribute to the workforce in a productive manner is very high, which in the end, still benefits America.
Additionally, I think (again, just my opinion), that it isn’t always just the military member’s decision to retire. Most times the military member has a family to think about, and this family has contributed to their country in a very special way - they have been supporting their active duty spouse/father/mother/child by standing by them over the years. Don’t they get a say in when military retirement should happen? I think military members get exhausted after many years of service, operational temp is very high and draining, deployments are long and hard, and moving takes its toll on a family. What if the military member wanted their children to graduate with kids that they spent their entire high school careers with, or that they wanted their spouse to have the same family doctor for years to come, or if they wanted to move closer to their parents as they’re getting older and aren’t well. There are a variety of reasons why military members (the Best Officers) get out of the military, and I don’t think it can all be weighed on the military having a command structure that rewards conformisms over merit.
I attached a link to the website I was viewing on how to create a mission and vision statement. Also, I attached the link which lists the mission statements for the top companies in 2011, it is actually a really good (and quick) read. The last link is one about U.S. Army retention, I came across this when I was trying to get some more background information about U.S. military releases and retention. It does state in this report that job satisfaction is the main reason for retention, and benefits being listed as the third reason. This lends support to Kane’s article, if people aren’t satisfied with their job, and if they are not rewarded on merit, then they may leave the military early.
