Essay on Employer Branding Initiatives of the U.S. Army and Attraction of Potential Employees

Since 1973, the U.S. Army has been known for its efforts in encouraging willing people to take up different careers with the organization. Nevertheless, in the early 2000s, the organization started experiencing problems in recruiting new employees due to the U.S. increased participation in wars in Afghanistan and Iraq. As a result, the United States Department of Defense (DoD) established the employer branding initiatives aimed at encouraging more new employees to join them. This case study explains the evidence that portrays that the employer branding initiatives in the U.S. Army promoted the attraction of new employees to their organization.

Employer Branding Initiatives Of The U.S. Army

The AD Campaigns by the U.S. Army started in the early 1970s, and they were aired on public television. Additionally, the Officership campaign was started in 2009 where army recruits were appointed to lead young recruits. Also, the Americas Army game was launched in 2000, and it entailed launching a game that would aid people to experience how it would feel to become a soldier. Moreover, the U.S. Army involved in the Halo 3 game development in 2009, which was a game offering a virtual military experience to its players. The other branding initiatives included the use of the Virtual Army Experience services and providing military experience at the Army Experience Center.

Statistical Findings That Support the Effectiveness of the Employer Branding Initiatives

The U.S. Army branding initiatives met their goal, in attaining new employees by July 2008. In this period, the DoD confirmed that all its military branches had met the recruitment for the month (Faheem and Purkayastha 2010). At the time, the recruitment targets for Marines, Army, Navy and the Air Force were 4,094, 10,000, 4,200 and 2,541 persons respectively (Faheem and Purkayastha 2010). Also, from October 1, 2008, all through to August 2009, the U.S. Army had recruited over 63,000 soldiers, who were already on active duty (Faheem and Purkayastha 2010).

Furthermore, according to the DoD, the success of the U.S. Army branding initiatives in 2008 was also supported by an array of economic factors that were in existence in the nation (Faheem and Purkayastha 2010). Such factors were inclusive of the high level of unemployment in the nation as a result of the weakening economy in 2008 (Faheem and Purkayastha 2010). On the other hand, the U.S. Army branding initiatives offered new employees bill benefits, added compensations as well as a chance for them to participate in community outreach initiatives (Faheem and Purkayastha 2010).

Ultimately, on September 30, 2009, because of the branding initiatives, the U.S. Army fulfilled its recruitment goal (Faheem and Purkayastha 2010). In this case, the U.S. Army sent 169,000 new recruits for military training, which was far above the Pentagon target of 164,000 persons (Faheem and Purkayastha 2010). Also, according to Pentagon, for the first time since 1973, all branches under the DoD had either met or surpassed their recruitment goals by the end of 2009 (Faheem and Purkayastha 2010).

Conclusion

In conclusion, the U.S. Army branding initiatives have helped in attracting potential employees. This can be supported by the statistics of the new recruitments in different branches of the DoD that were evidenced between 2008 and 2009. For instance, the Marines recruited 4,094, Air Force 2,541, Navy 4,200 and Army 10,000 new employees, which were figures that had surpassed the preset targets. Additionally, the U.S. Army branding initiatives that were used included the Ad Campaigns, Officership campaign, Americas Army Game, Halo 3, Virtual Army Experience, and visits to the Army Experience Center.

References

Faheem, H. & Purkayastha, D., 2010. Employer branding initiatives of the US Army. ICMR Center for Management Research, pp. 1-29.