Wing Level Recruiting and Retention

[NC Hokie]

"Yes we need your pilot skills but intern we need an Administration Officer. That job entails........"

Why are these things the same conversation or viewed as the same people?

Because many (most?) units are undermanned based on the org charts, and need people to fill vacant positions or give relief to other members who wear multiple hats.  In my case, I don't present this as quid pro quo, but I do show them the org chart and ask if there's anything they'd be willing to help out with.

[Eclipse]

That's what perpetuates the "circle of life" that CAP needs to get out of.

Recruit a pilot?  Don't discuss anything but flying.

Need an admin officer, that's the discussion.

If they see a need they want to fill later, so be it, but CAP would be better off and better manned if treated recruiting that way.
The local FBO wouldn't (usually) expect their Instructors to also answer the phones and deposit checks, why should CAP?

[Snake Doctor]

I agree with that to a point. if the unit is undermanned that's one thing. CAP needs members that want to do one thing. It also needs those willing to wear multiple hats. 

[THRAWN]

I agree with that to a point. if the unit is undermanned that's one thing. CAP needs members that want to do one thing. It also needs those willing to wear multiple hats.

But those hats need to be handed to them after they become members. You're reinforcing the idea that since 3 new members joined the unit, there are 9 staff slots filled between them. People do not join CAP for another full time job and giving them one before the ink is dry on their check leads to loss of retention.

[Eclipse]

I agree with that to a point. if the unit is undermanned that's one thing. CAP needs members that want to do one thing. It also needs those willing to wear multiple hats.

But those hats need to be handed to them after they become members. You're reinforcing the idea that since 3 new members joined the unit, there are 9 staff slots filled between them. People do not join CAP for another full time job and giving them one before the ink is dry on their check leads to loss of retention.

Exactly.  If there are 10 jobs, we need 12+ new people, not 4.

That's the way it's supposed to work.  Everybody puts in a few hours here and there, and then goes home,
instead of CAP becoming another career. There's plenty of people, so plenty of hands and plenty of opportunities.

No one is living at their unit CC or the local FBO putting in 60 hour weeks just to keep the doors open, so
there's none of the improper sense of "ownership" that comes when you're a 1-man show.

It also insures the program doesn't collapse when one guy leaves, gets fired, or just wants to do something different.

Many CAP unit view recruiting as a one-time or once a year thing.  They have 27 staff openings, bring in
two guys, one who is a savior, and don't think about it again for a year.

[NIN]

I had a discussion with a squadron commander recently about retention techniques. He asked me what kind of things I would recommend that the unit do to improve their retention.

I said " think of all the things you could do that would make somebody unhappy about their participation and leave. Things like not communicating scheduled events, not following up with someone about expectations , not providing somebody with some guidance on how to do a job they have been assigned. Just outright not communicating with someone. This is some real basic stuff here"

And it reminded me that some years ago, when I was a squadron commander the first time, I had a person join my squadron who was later found to be not someone we really wanted to keep around. I'll spare the details, but suffice to say that this person was not really helpful to the unit, had actually sort of gained membership under a cloud, cause all kinds of he said/she said problems in the unit, and never really contributed anything. I really did not have anything to hang a solid slam-dunk termination action on with this number, only a combination of disruptive behaviour and a vague sense that a termination would actually lead to all kinds of repercussions, legitimate or not.

A number of members of my staff came to me and asked what we were going to do about this member. It was very clear there was a problem, and it was very clear this person had an agenda that was not in keeping with the mission and purpose of the organization. Frankly I kind of thought there was maybe some kind of mental disorder.

I finally said to my deputy commanders and my XO " you know all of those things we do to retain members? Communicate? Give clear guidance? That sort of thing? Yeah, let's not do any of that with this member."

Took less than 60 days. After we neglected to communicate a couple of training evolutions, held the member responsible for duties &  things that were not communicated, and really stop giving the member an opportunity to be disruptive. ( short version, we had to treat a senior member much like we treat cadets, to prevent unwarranted accusations of improper behavior toward my officers)

But that gave me a very good eye in to what would cause someone to basically join and then leave. It is very easy to lose members when you stop doing the real basic stuff like communicate well with them.

[FW]

But that gave me a very good eye in to what would cause someone to basically join and then leave. It is very easy to lose members when you stop doing the real basic stuff like communicate well with them.

Darin, although I would take issue with the way you "lost" that member, I would agree with your last sentence 100%.

Recruiting members, and retaining them is not rocket science (well, maybe for cadets...).  We just need to offer them a useful way to spend their time, a place to feel welcome, and a way to grow as a member of a team.  CAP offers that, and much more.  The difficult part is remembering why we joined and stayed in the first place; then impart that on others.  Squadrons live or die on the "family" that is created and sustained. Creating an environment for growth is key.  I think we all have the abiltiy to succeed at it, we just need a gentle "push".

[NIN]

Darin, although I would take issue with the way you "lost" that member, I would agree with your last sentence 100%.

Indeed. I'm often asked for advice about building a good effective squadron. I've done it enough darn times.   A couple things I use as "easy to digest answers" are:

"Operate to standard, either the ones provided by HHQ, or if you need additional, local guidance. Have a unit schedule, preferably at least a quarter in advance, and a 12 month rolling calendar would be even better.  Communicate both the standards and the schedule to your membership."

or

"In the military, its 'accomplish the mission, welfare of the troops'. In CAP, flip that: 'welfare of the troops, accomplish the mission'. Because without the troops, you have no mission."

WRT the loss of the member: My point to illustrate that to the unit commander was "I will tell you what we did, and you can see the immediate proximate results. We sort of intentionally did that.  Imagine what happens in units where they unintentionally do that?"

Did I like marginalizing  member to cause them to quit? No.  Absolutely not. 

(Full disclosure: this was a young lady who came to us before we did membership boards for everybody. She seemed interested in the program, so I took her CAPF 12 and print card, sent it off to NHQ.

Turns out:

• My leadership officer was a cop in her town.  They had a standing order in the PD to only send two officers to her house due to weird interactions with her. Like calling the PD for a prowler and then showing up to the door scantily clad and claiming she 'heard a noise'...
• She didn't write "NONE" on the Arrests line on the CAPF 12.  I assumed she missed it, hadn't said anything to me about arrests after filling out the CAPF12, so in an effort to be complete, I wrote NONE there for her.  Yeah, big mistake.  Turns out she'd been arrested and charged with embezzlement some years before, etc. We got it sorted out with NHQ, but she became the reason why we started doing membership boards for everybody.
• She outright accused my 70+ year old German immigrant AEO of being "inappropriate" with her. Turned out he spoke to her in a way that she felt was inappropriate.  I think it was the fact that English was a 2nd language for him, not anything he actually did. He later quit in a huff because he didn't think we were moving fast enough to eliminate her from the program.
• She made vague statements about how she didn't like the way my XO, a retired ARNG Major, talked to her.  (Huh?)
• Other weird 'not right' things that were inconsistent in her stories.

Pretty quickly, nobody wanted to be in a one-on-one situation with her. You know, cadet protection-style.

Both my deputy commanders and my XO were like "Nobody in the unit wants to be around this woman."  Proving "false statements" for a 2B would have induced a lot of 'he said/she said' issues and likely not resulted in an effective 2B. Plus she had a history of legal action (we found out later) against people and organizations she felt had wronged her.

I think we were lucky to get her to not renew without a fuss. )

[Eclipse]

This applies to everyone in CAP, and might as well apply to running to Walmart and every other part
of life, but it applies x10 if you are a Commander.

If you wouldn't do "x" in the context of your professional life, don't do it in CAP.  Period.

If the level of "complete, informed, communicated, or quality" isn't the same or better as your professional life, don't do it,
or accept the responsibility.

Ask for help well before you need it, or as soon as you realize you're in trouble.

Assume the best of people and prepare for the worst.

If you're not capable of being a commander, staff officer, or unit Snacko, simply don't take the job.
Nothing important will go undone, and nothing unimportant needs to be done - people fail to
understand that nuance and difference.  An ill-prepared staffer who feels put-upon and is non-performing
but "took the job because no one else will" is of NO VALUE to CAP and is actually more of a detriment then
a blank line.

Don't accept any less from the list above from your membership, and pay everyone, including the
organization, the respect they deserve by "dis-inviting" those who don't belong in CAP, or your unit or activity.

Also this, in spades.

"Operate to standard, either the ones provided by HHQ, or if you need additional, local guidance. Have a unit schedule, preferably at least a quarter in advance, and a 12 month rolling calendar would be even better.  Communicate both the standards and the schedule to your membership."

or

"In the military, its 'accomplish the mission, welfare of the troops'. In CAP, flip that: 'welfare of the troops, accomplish the mission'. Because without the troops, you have no mission."

If your unit is involved in CAP-appropriate activities, your members are invested and prepared (because you insured they were)
and everyone understands their role (or lack thereof), you will never have a retention problem, recruiting handles itself,
and people will smile even when they are busy.