Developing Morale Officers

Quality of life is serious business for the Army. Civilians may think of soldiers in the context of combat. But soldiers, of course, are people with families. Like anyone else, they need rest and recuperation.

Each year, the U.S. Army’s Maj. Gen. Robert M. Joyce Family and Morale, Welfare and Recreation Academy trains thousands of civilian Army employees to run sports and physical fitness activities, child development and youth programs, and food and beverage operations. With that training, Army employees operate the golf courses, lodging, child care and youth operations, and myriad other services at military installations around the world. Training and professional development, in equal doses, underpin the academy’s work.

Those trained by the academy belong to the Army’s 35,000-person Family and Morale, Welfare and Recreation Command. The command’s roots stretch back to the battlefields of World War I, where the Salvation Army and Red Cross recharged battle-worn soldiers’ spirits behind the lines. From those early beginnings, the Army established the academy in 1986. The academy’s vision is to be the premier Army training institution for preparing the command’s civilian employees to strengthen and sustain soldiers and families.

A Uniform Approach
“We realized as far back as 2002 that we wanted to reach a global workforce with online tools that helped people make great choices for their careers,” said Janis Smith, chief of design and evaluation for the academy. “The Army is a great training institution, and we piggyback on that. But we wanted the academy to offer the command’s workforce a development program for each worker, so they could see how to fill gaps in their skill set and where to take their career.”

The academy’s journey began with the purchase from Meridian Knowledge Solutions of an LMS, which included a module for building individual development plans (IDPs).

According to Smith, the IDP module was a feature that initially sold the academy on buying an LMS.

“For years, we had requirements in place for employee development plans,” Smith said. “But, prior to buying the LMS, creating and reviewing those plans with a supervisor was often just an exercise. Supervisors and employees often lacked the information they needed to make informed decisions in charting their careers in the command.”