Improving Accountability for Effective Command Climate: A Strategic Imperative

Abstract

Abstract : Beyond new organizations and technologies, the Army Transformation process and endstate will entail a new cultural mindset. More than ever before, organizational (command) climate will become an increasingly significant prerequisite for unit effectiveness and combat readiness. Today's organizational- and individual-level systems, however, are insufficient to ensure positive command climate is universally-established and sustained across the U.S. Army. While many Army units enjoy positive command climate, too many do not. Several adverse trends in command climate have persisted in the Army for nearly thirty years, perhaps because, in practice, the officer culture emphasizes short-term mission accomplishment more than long- term organizational growth, or because Army systems reinforce individual performance rather than organizational effectiveness. Either emphasis, if true, detracts from combat readiness. Compounding the problem, Army leaders are not sufficiently taught how to assess or improve command climate nor rewarded when they do so. Army organizations, its officers, and its soldiers deserve better. Cultural norms and counter-productive evaluation, leader development, and accountability systems are at the root of the U.S. Army's problems regarding organizational (command) climate. Absent a shift in cultural emphasis and adjustment of systems to reinforce the change, command climate will continue to suffer and unit effectiveness, morale and trust, retention and commitment will continue to be significantly degraded. This research paper explores the nature of command climate in the U.S. Army, its antecedents and its consequences. Strategic remedies relating to unit climate assessment, leader development, performance appraisal, and accountability systems are proposed.