An analysis of the effectiveness of the U.S. Army Recruiter incentive program to motivate recruiters : a survey of Enlisted Recruiters

Abstract

This thesis examines the United States Army Recruiting Command incentive system used to motivate recruiters to meet and/or exceed mission box. In 1998, for the first time in decades, the Army missed its annual recruiting mission. The Army expects to miss it again in 1999. A sample of 2,000 on- production recruiters were randomly chosen to receive a survey regarding which incentives motivate recruiters to meet and/or exceed mission box. Findings indicate that the current incentives do not motivate recruiters to meet or exceed goal. What does seem to motivate recruiters are intrinsic factors such as time-off and meritorious promotion and other incentives like choice of follow-on assignment and family support. Recommendations to improve the incentive system include implementation of more intrinsically motivating incentives.