Photo By Sgt. Thomas Lamb | Master Sgt. Mark Roark, the Maryland Army National Guard’s State Retention...... read more read more
The Maryland Army National Guard is one of the states leading the nation in retaining their Soldiers. Their retention numbers are up 173% since 2019 and one non-commissioned officer in charge of the program has been leading the change in an unconventional way: customer service.
Master Sgt. Mark Roark, the MDARNG’s State Retention NCOIC, recently received an award for leading the retention team in improving extension and reenlistment efforts for the MDARNG from 2019 to 2021. His leadership helped sustain the state amidst the Covid-19 pandemic and also strengthened the force for the future.
“MSG Roark took the idea of the Retention Team and ran with it,” said Command Sgt. Maj. James Nugent, command sergeant major of the MDARNG. “He works with his team every day, and the NCOs that make up that team are some of the hardest working Soldiers I know. They never stop working, never stop engaging with Soldiers and leaders, therefore they never stop achieving success.”
Retention is one of five major priorities for U.S. Army Maj. Gen. Timothy E. Gowen, Maryland's 30th adjutant general, and it’s also of great importance to U.S. Army Brig. Gen. Janeen Birckhead, the MDARNG commander.
“The goal is to extend Soldiers for as long as we can,” said Roark. “In 2019, we only had four Soldiers working with the retention team. By January 2021, we went up to a total of 16 retention NCOs. This could not have been accomplished if we didn’t have full support from Brig. Gen. Birckhead.”
According to Roark, the retention team focused on providing excellent customer service in order to keep Soldiers in the MDARNG. One of their approaches in improving retention was to hear Soldiers' concerns and address the issues as necessary.
“Every day we have someone talking to a Soldier,” said Roark. “Whereas before we could only talk to Soldiers on drill weekends.”
Roark wanted the retention team to increase face-to-face time with soldiers who had an expiration term of service of less than a year. With the help of Birckhead, Roark and the retention team were provided with all the resources needed to meet soldiers anywhere in the state, making extending a contract or re-enlisting as painless as possible.
The next big obstacle to tackle was bonuses. In the past, receiving awarded bonuses were challenging due to a variety of issues. In order to meet certain deadlines and provide optimal opportunities for the soldiers, the retention team merged with personnel in the incentives office to process bonuses, student loan repayments, and any additional incentives the guard offers.
“We worked hard for the soldiers and we worked fast,” said Roark. “We completed more than 90 extensions with incentives in one month because we knew the bonuses were going away soon. We made sure eligible soldiers had an opportunity to extend with a bonus before the deadline.”
The MDARNG started processing bonuses as lump sum payments instead of yearly disbursements, allowing soldiers to receive their money faster and reducing the workload on staff.
The outcome of Roark and the team’s hard work over the last three years became apparent when the numbers showed they exceeded the National Guard Bureau’s goal for reenlistments and extensions.
“It’s not just one person, it’s a team effort,” said Roark. “And it was Brigadier General Birckhead’s vision from the start. She gave us the trust and confidence and we put the team together.”
Roark, along with the retention team will strive to continue improving the manpower numbers and morale for the MDARNG.
| Date Taken: | 03.03.2022 |
| Date Posted: | 03.04.2022 11:13 |
| Story ID: | 415724 |
| Location: | MD, US |
| Web Views: | 147 |
| Downloads: | 0 |
This work, State Retention NCO Keeps Soldiers in the MDARNG with Top Tier Customer Service, by SGT Thomas Lamb, identified by DVIDS, must comply with the restrictions shown on https://www.dvidshub.net/about/copyright.
No keywords found.
LEAVE A COMMENT