USAREC Manual 3-05
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J Poor followup. Too much time between making the appointment and conducting it. Interviews scheduled more than 7 days out increase the no-show rate. Medical professionals are generally busy and the appoint- ment may not be a high priority. The earlier an interview can be sched- uled the better the chance of conducting it.
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J Attempting to conduct an Army interview over the telephone. The Army interview is a lengthy and hopefully an emotionally charged event. Try- ing to do an interview over the telephone is generally fruitless especially when talking with a medical professional.
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J Making appointments just to meet a requirement. Recruiters can eas- ily lose their prospecting focus when they have multiple applications pend- ing board action.
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J Failure to confirm the time and place of appointment. Nothing says, “I wasn’t listening” more than showing up at the wrong place or at the wrong time. Once this occurs, rapport is all the more difficult to establish and maintain.
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J Expecting a professional to have the time to travel any great distance to see an Army recruiter is unrealistic.
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J Scheduling all appointments to be conducted in the station rather than going to the prospect. Even though the recruiter is generally more com- fortable in the station, the prospect may not be. Appointments should be conducted where the prospect will feel most comfortable.
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J Failure to confirm the appointment. A call the evening prior to the ap- pointment may reveal that the prospect has no interest, may be hav- ing transportation problems, or needs a schedule change. This elimi- nates wasted preparation and travel time.
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Where to look for appointments made to conducts shortages. JJ J J
J Use the “create a list” option in ARISS to view the prospecting efforts of recruiters. Look for patterns inconsistent with systematic prospecting efforts from all lead lists. Ensure recruiters are not just scanning lists trying to get an appointment. Validate that appointments made were good appointments, as a result of methodical prospecting. One or two calls resulting in an appointment might indicate a recruiter is striving only to satisfy MAP requirements.
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J Contact history on ARISS. Was there a factfinding prospecting session conducted, a firm appointment established, transportation accounted for, etc.
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J The processing list. Are weak appointments being accepted? Is followup being monitored?
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Conduct to PE shortfalls. J J J JJ Not asking for a commitment. Did the recruiter ask the prospect to accept a commission? Some recruiters will conduct an outstanding interview but fail to ask for the commitment, assuming the prospect is not interested.
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J Not completing an Army interview. Rapport, determining the pros- pect’s needs and interests, formulating a plan to meet those goals, and telling the Army story are all vital to gain a commitment to accept a commission.
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J Not satisfying the prospect’s needs. Presenting information that is unimportant to the prospect. Recruiters develop a habit of presenting programs like the Health Professional Loan Repayment Program to prospects simply because they are comfortable presenting it. The recruiter must lead the prospect to reveal their emotional reasons to commission, through effective communication, listening, and counseling.
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J Not handling objections and issues. Not all objections and issues can be satisfied. Not every prospect wants to, or should, commission. Many
objections however, can be handled if the recruiter uses proper counsel- ing techniques and the prospect can see how the advantages of a commis- sion outweighs the objection or issue.
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J Poor followup. Before departing the interview, the recruiter should set a date and time for completing the application, or the next face-to-face meet- ing. If a date is not agreed to at the close of an interview, the recruiter will be in the “chase” mode while some prospects will be in the “hide” mode. J
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J Poor prequalification. In some instances, the prospect should not have taken the PE at all due to an existing permanent disqualification. J
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J The prospect is being pushed by an influencer to commission and the recruiter has not identified the prospect’s real intentions. Recruiters must determine what the applicant’s motivation to commission is by deal- ing personally with the prospect, not just the influencer.
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J Gathering information. This falls squarely on the station commander. They must personally interview everyone prior to processing and elimi- nate window shoppers from the processing cycle.
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Where to look for appointment conduct to PE shortfalls. JJ J J
J Contact history in ARISS. Is a complete interview reflected? Is followup adequate? Did the recruiter get a firm commitment?
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J Processing list. Are followup requirements being enforced? Was an AAR conducted to determine validity of the interview and was a detailed followup plan established?
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PE to board shortfalls. Not conducting a thorough medical prescreening. A recruiter who continues this practice spends countless hours following up with people (chasing) who are not qualified, which effects their ability to achieve the mission.•
Taking shortcuts on the prequalification. A recruiter may have conducted an interview at a time when only a few minutes were available. A com- plete interview, including a detailed prequalification will take well over an hour. Interviews should not be scheduled unless adequate time is avail- able to conduct them. Where to look for PE to board shortfalls:J J J J
J ARISS, Applicant Screening. Was there a detailed prequalification? J
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J ARISS and planning guide. Was enough time given to conduct the inter- view? Was adequate followup conducted?
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J Processing list. Are followup requirements being enforced?
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Board to select shortfalls. JJ J J
J Convincing a prospect to see if they will get selected. J
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J Poor Army interview techniques. J
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J Failing to simply ask the prospect to accept a commission. J
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J Poor followup. Too much time from the completion of application until board selection notification.
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Where to look for board to select shortages. JJ J J
J Poor Army interview techniques. J
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J Expecting board results to obtain a commitment from the prospect in- stead of the recruiter.
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Where to look for selection to commission shortfalls. Processing list. Was the applicant personally interviewed by the station commander to:J J J J J Verify qualifications. J J J J
J Verify a complete interview was conducted. J
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J Ensure objections and issues were addressed. J
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J Ensure applicant has realistic expectations of boarding process, assign- ment preferences, waiver procedures, time lines, etc.
A-27. Chokepoint are trouble indicators that point station commanders in the right direction. Notice that the Army interview and followup are recurring root causes of Mission Accomplishment Plan
USAREC Manual 3-05
chokepoints. Always evaluate and assess subordinates in these areas to head off potential issues. Stations that prospect routinely with the intent of finding people to join the Army (not simply fulfilling MAP requirements), consistently outperform other stations.
A-28. Holding commissions for the next quarter or next FY is called “sandbagging” and can result in a station’s mission failure. Sandbagging occurs when a recruiter or station has achieved its mission, and holds commissions to posture for the follow- ing quarter or FY. Ideally, every recruiter and station would be in a position to take advantage of this, but that is rare. Despite a station’s current posture, holding com- missions increases the possibility of losing them altogether. Applicants feel the delay as a break in trust and may often decide not to accept the commission at all. Also of critical importance, recruiters entering the quarter or FY with what they think are guaranteed commissions tend to take prospecting too lightly, which re- sults in fewer commissions for the station. This is why every applicant going before the board, especially in the last quarter of the FY, must be commissioned if possible. Ideally, every recruiter in the command should start the FY with a rigorous prospect- ing plan to accomplish the new mission. The AAR process will identify any waiting commissions so they can be moved through the system.
A-29. The MAP outlines the prospecting and processing requirements that must occur if all conditions remain the same. Market and personnel conditions, how- ever, seldom remain the same. Leaders must constantly measure the effective- ness of their force against MAP requirements. They must take corrective action when activity in one step of the process does not result in the anticipated activity in the next. Using the data in figure A-2, 12 appointments conducted should result in 2.6 PEs. If the results fall short of the ratio, corrective action should be taken to make up the difference such as directing followup activities on all the conducted appointments.
A-30. The MAP is an ideal skill gap indicator. Leaders, who monitor MAP activities and take immediate corrective action such as, training, are more likely to accom- plish the mission. Personnel turnover has a direct impact on conversion data. These changes may be positive or negative depending on the losses and gains experienced. A-31. The MAP is an excellent tool for demonstrating the complexity of the mission. In the final 2 months of any FY, the station is actively engaged in two separate and distinct operations. The first is processing applicants to finish the quarter and FY, the second is prospecting for the next quarter’s mission. Stations that have yet to achieve their mission will use months T-2 and T-1 in an attempt to compress the processing cycle and board applicants generated for the next quarter.
A-32. Compression of the processing cycle is called “stove piping” and can confound any leader who is not aware of its impact on the MAP. Stove piping negates the prospecting activities of months T-2 and T-1, and must be compensated for with increased prospecting activities. The conversion data in figure A-3 indicates that the station will have to make 14 appointments for every stove-piped commission. A-33. Exceeding the mission, does not always equate to making additional appoint- ments. Stations with high conversion rates can use the data to target specific skill gaps during station training. If appointment made requirements of the MAP are met, and the number of conducted appointments increased, it is possible to exceed the mission. Improved interview skills as a result of station training can also in- crease the number of PEs and help the station exceed the mission. Prospecting and
MAP ANALYSIS
processing improvements through quality station training will eventually “norm” the MAP requirements for the field force.
A-34. Unexpected commissions such as walk-ins and call-ins can negatively affect most station’s MAP achievements. Recruiters tend to relax or cease prospecting efforts because the MAP portion of the mission is achieved. Prospecting must be a routine event, regardless of mission accomplishment. In addition to unexpected commissions, is the belief that the mission is already accomplished, as evidenced by a full processing list. It is common for recruiters to enter the quarter with four solid applicants, only to have each of them “fall out” for various reasons. Recruiters who ignored their prospecting activities based on a full processing list will surely miss the mission. One or two recruiters operating in this manner can effectively destroy any possibility of the station making its mission.
A-35. The MAP will always be a topic of discussion during the AAR. Effective execu- tion and analysis of MAP requirements will assist both recruiters and stations ac- complish their mission.