Integrity is a fundamental assessment that employers make and seek in the employees they hire. It’s no surprise the same contextual assessment applies to the Army’s Transition Assistance Program (TAP). The Transition Services Support Team (TSST) and Connect Services Support Team (CSST) service as a conduit from the field to Leadership. These established groups at HQ Installation Management Command (IMCOM) assists to give the Transition Service Managers (TSM) and Transition Services Specialists (TSS), who oversee daily operations at Transition Centers, a voice at IMCOM.
Through established channels, TSM’s and TSS’s look for that same integrity when connecting Soldiers to employment opportunities. An established continuity plan provided by IMCOM has led to enterprise-level opportunities for Soldiers and their Family Members. In determining employment capacity, the TSST and CSST promote directives to the field to consider the background of the company and its history. Upon doing so, these leaders ensure a solid connection, creating an ongoing dialogue with employers, and present viable candidates to support the connection.
The success behind TAP stems from leveraging platforms and staying engaged. This allows employers to identify themselves by what they do and the services they provide along with the actions the employer(s) are taking that impact Soldiers and their Family Members. Ensuring connections with the intent to employ, TSM’s and TSS’s focus on employment solutions that enable Soldiers to stay engaged to emerging markets. This gives transitioning Soldiers a competitive advantage globally in the employment arena.
The TSM’s and TSS’s remain strong in building rapport with employers and serve an unwritten role as ambassadors of the program. The support of Leadership for core recruiting or permanent employment connections is paramount. Soldiers are known to be the central and foundational group that provide skills essential to the survival and growth of an organization. Connections that matter are employers with a defined brand, and mutual outlook on employment expectations for Soldiers and their Family Members.
TAP identifies shared goals and values to sanction the capacity to employ Soldiers and their Family Members. Connections that matter include pooling resources and combining abilities to promote employee retention and placement for transitioning Soldiers. Setting goals with employers upon connecting supports program efforts, and continues to give insight for relevant allocations, and ultimately impacts program improvement.
The greatest compliment in business is a referral. As the transitioning “life event” happens Army’s TAP is making connections that matter ensuring the right motives and that TAP is connecting people for the right reasons.
