Innovations

We design people programs and policies that make the Army better.

First we discover, then we deliver.

In OEMA, we recognize that creativity is not enough. Our research must translate into programs, policies, and frameworks that the Army can implement and benefit from. Check out some of our more important innovations, below.

Army Promotion Board Improvements

Our research demonstrates why causal analysis is critical to improving Army people practices.

OEMA discovered that candidate photos introduced unconscious bias to Army promotion board deliberations, disadvantaging women and minority candidates to a statistically significant degree. Our findings were consistent with other economic research that found strong correlations between race, gender, and decision-making. As a result, the Army removed candidate photos from all selection boards and is now carefully monitoring the results.

Recruiting Modernization

To attract the right talent, the message and the method are both critical.

OEMA was created in 1983 to help the all-volunteer Army compete for talent in the American labor market. While our research portfolio has grown, providing effective recruiting solutions to the Army remains central to our mission – the Army of tomorrow is being recruited today. To attract the right talent, we’ve created a new marketing career field for the Army. We’ve also designed new performance pay incentives for our recruiters. Together, these innovations are helping to attract new Soldiers to meet the Army’s ever-changing talent demands.

U.S. Army Recruiting Companies Hold Mass Swearing-In Ceremony at Arkansas State Capital

Strategy Development

The Army People Strategy speaks our language.

For the first time in its history, the Army has a people strategy, the culmination of years of OEMA work to create a talent management-driven, outcomes-focused HR framework for the U.S. Army. The strategy, with its focus upon people analytics and data infrastructure, organizational research, culture assessment and change, and regulated job-markets, synthesizes several of our expertise areas and research findings in a single document.

Army Talent Assessments and Career Counseling

We help identify and align talent – here’s how.

The Army is increasingly using strengths-focused assessments and guided discovery to help identify and unleash the talents of its people. This approach helps unlock the unique productive potential of every individual rather than treating them as interchangeable parts.

Talent-based Branching

We help new officers to start strong by allowing them to discover where they truly belong.

By gathering detailed information on the unique talents possessed by each newly commissioned Army officer, as well as on the unique talent demands of each Army basic branch, the Army has created a regulated job-market that identifies and liberates the strengths of every officer, aligning each with the career field where they are most likely to be engaged, productive, and satisfied leaders. Evidence from years of OEMA research and piloting demonstrated that this approach better aligns officer talent with occupational requirements while simultaneously increasing individual branch satisfaction.