Counseling is one of the most important tools given to Non Commissioned Officers in today’s Army. It allows us to provide valuable feedback to our subordinates, and allows us to map out development plans that will ultimately shape the Army of tomorrow. So why is it so rarely utilized in the National Guard and Reserves?
Ask any junior soldier in a National Guard or Reserve unit when their last counseling was, and the odds are extremely high that they will answer “When I got my initial counseling”or if they’ve recently failed an APFT, or similar negative event. If their NCO told them to come see him for a counseling session, odds are they would spend all the time leading up to it wondering what they had done wrong and how much trouble they are in. It appears the only time Soldiers in the reserve components ever see a counseling is when getting new leadership, or they are being chewed out. Active Duty soldiers know they are supposed to get a monthly counseling, but in the Guard, regular counseling sessions to provide feedback to soldiers is nigh unheard of, in my experience.
When you are only in uniform 2-5 days a month, a full monthly counseling may be a bit much. It’s time consuming on an already crunched schedule, and the level of useful feedback that can be provided is probably negligible. But there is no reason that quarterly counselings can’t be done, or that counseling can’t become incredibly positive for the counseled Soldier if done in the right way.
The Why
So why should we counsel? Simple: done correctly, counseling allows us to elevate a Soldier’s performance before it becomes sub par, as well as identify why their behavior may be slipping. It gives us the opportunity to celebrate with our soldiers when they have successes in their civilian lives, and show them we are interested in their overall well-being. It gives us a chance to reflect on what we, or they, are doing well and figuring out how to extend that success to others. It lets us plan for the future together, creating a stronger sense of team. All of these are the reasons we should be regularly counseling our people. So how should we counsel effectively?
Too often when we counsel people, we just grab a DA 4856, write down a few bullets, sit the soldier down, outline the bullets, have them sign the document, and go on our merry way. This format is not helpful for regular counseling, however. It stifles the two-way conversation that is so crucial to the mentorship process and for gaining a greater understanding of our soldier’s lives, challenges, and goals. ATP 6-22.1 outlines procedures for counseling, and every leader should read it. But how do you do a separate counseling for each of your soldiers in the precious little time you have in a drill packed full of training?
The How
First, your soldiers should know you have counseling sessions planned for them for drill weekend. They should know to come ready to talk about their civilian life and military performance, and about their goals in the coming months. When I have done this with my own soldiers, I texted them a week prior to drill. I laid out the outline of the discussion and which points I wanted to hit. Limited on time, I tried to choose meal times to conduct these discussions. I did not take a DA 4856 counseling form. In my opinion, having one present stifles the discussion in these Performance and Professional Development counseling sessions. Instead, I took a notebook, writing down important information (“PFC Jenkins wants to attend Air Assault”; “PV2 Michaels wants to start an apprenticeship program”) while I broke bread and provided thoughts and advice to my soldiers. I would digest all the information, write down any questions we still had, and gathered all the information on requirements for their goals and any way I could support the soldier, and went home at the end of drill. Only then would I break out a 4856. I used the fillable form of the PDF available from the Army Publishing Directorate, typed up my notes from our counseling session to summarize it and write a plan of action, and emailed it to my soldier for their review. When they had a chance, they reviewed it, suggesting any changes or mentioning anything I had forgotten, signed it digitally, and sent it back to me. I then signed it digitally, saved the final copy, and sent it to them as well.
This whole process would take about an hour of my time total, but only in snippets that didn’t feel like they were really coming out. The only hard chunks of time were around 30 minutes or so while eating a meal, and the 20 minutes or so to type up the counseling. If more Guard and Reserve leaders can commit to doing these types of counseling with their teams, how much better will performance be? How much higher will morale be when the Soldiers feel they have a say in their careers and that their leadership cares about them? I’m willing to bet a lot.
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