From the Personnel Department
By Greg Trask, DC-Pd

The Department of Personnel is all about helping. Our missions involve assisting the Districts, Divisions and Flotillas grow by helping them recruit new members; assisting the Academy by finding qualified and interested young people; and maintaining programs that assist the members with proudly serving in the United States Coast Guard Auxiliary. As such, our N-Train program will highlight some of the many programs that work behind the scenes as our organizational demands change and grow.

Recruitment

A large part of our program is devoted to recruitment. As the organization gains new missions and responsibilities, there is more need for qualified people to participate. These new people are gained from a number of sources and from a wide variety of venues. The P Department will present some ideas that will help Districts, Divisions and Flotillas to think of the recruitment process with a new outlook. The tools that are currently being used will be analyzed and evaluated for effectiveness. Past recruiting efforts will be discussed with an eye toward determining the pros and cons of their continued use.

New possibilities and venues are the watchwords as we move into the new realities that are our missions. Diversity of recruitment is absolutely essential and the ability to recruit on a targeted basis to fill needs that exist will become increasingly common. As such, part of our presentation time will be spent looking at the world in a new way so that we can meet this need.

Retention

Recruiting a new member is only half the job. Once we have a person in the organization, we must remember that we have to KEEP them in the organization. PS officers need to be part of this process. We will discuss some ideas for helping a member stay interested and for recognizing the signs of someone that isn’t, as well as what can be done about both. The PS officer as a morale officer is not so far from the truth.

Uniforms

There is much abuzz in the Uniform division and it will affect us all. New uniforms such as the Operational Dress Uniform (ODU) are being rolled out and members are asking about them. Questions will be answered and examples will be viewed about this uniform and others that are about to be announced.

Participation

Without question, the PS officers are the heartbeat of the Auxiliary and the National Staff is interested in hearing from them. While there will be much talking to the DSO-PS participants, there will be just as much listening. The presenters are excitedly waiting to see what the issues are in the Districts, Divisions and Flotillas. This mission of the Auxiliary is all about people and some of the experiences related at this N-Train will cross-pollinate across the nation. That networking is one of the grand goals of this gathering.

See you in St. Louis!!