Challenge

With more than three million personnel working for the Department of Defense (DoD) across active duty, the Ready Reserve, and civilian personnel positions, the personnel management challenges facing the Military are unlike those of any other employer. Managing the readiness and health of the DoD workforce is critical to ensuring that our Military stands ready to protect our nation’s interests at home and abroad.

Process

The Centers for Retention and Readiness (R&R) and Health and Resilience (H&R) within the Office of People Analytics (OPA) partnered with Fors Marsh Group (FMG) to conduct surveys designed to collect leading indicators of force readiness, including measures of satisfaction, organizational commitment, stress, and well-being. In recognition of the importance of military families to the readiness and retention of Service members, FMG also conducts surveys of military spouses to help the DoD understand the challenges facing military families and evaluate the usage of and satisfaction with resources for military families. 

Impact

The findings from these research efforts are used by a variety of DoD offices to make data-driven policy and program recommendations as well as to monitor force health and readiness across a variety of dimensions.