The purpose of this essay is to examine a specific article depicting an organizational issue in the context of organizational theory and models, leading to recommendations as to how the organization should respond to the situation identified in the article. The selected article was written by N.R. Helms (2004) and focused on recent studies and trends indicating that despite the efforts of the U.S. Army to retain active duty, Reserve, and National Guard soldiers, a major retention crisis is now underway, particularly in the Reserve component.
Helms (2004) reported that in key states such as Missouri and those of the Deep South and Midwest where the National Guard strength is concentrated, declines in both recruitment and retention are apparent. Helms (2004) discussed the data generated by a voluntary survey conducted by the Department of Defense which revealed that as of May 2004, only 66 percent of Reserve component members indicated a desire to remain in the National Guard and only 57 percent of regular Army service members indicated a desire to stay in the Army.
Further, said Helms (2004), while the Army has instituted a number of policies designed to increase retention (e.g., family readiness programs, strong employer support, and special recruiting and retention incentives) the war in Iraq is apparently having the effect of reducing the willingness of citizen-soldiers to remain in the National Guard or the Reserves. Long deployments overseas reduce the willingness to remain in the service while job losses and family concerns also decrease retention and tend to inhibit recruitment. The problem is exacerbated by the fact that U.S. military commitments at the present time in both Iraq and Afghanistan have created a situation, said Helms (2004), in which longer deployments are commonplace and multiple call-ups are also increasing.
Internally, the situation described by Helms (2004) represents a major challenge for m...