Evaluating the Navy's enlisted accessions testing program based on future talent needs

Abstract

In recent years, non-defense related industries and high-reliability organizations alike have emphasized positive teamwork traits as a part of their criteria for hiring high-quality applicants to maximize workplace efficiency. As a result of targeting these high-quality applicants and creating more efficient leadership training programs, these organizations have surpassed their competitors in their respective industries. Although the U.S. Navy is already considered to be a high-reliability organization, which is known for exceptionally high safety standards and performance, small inefficiencies in the areas of teamwork and leadership exist in the workplace. This thesis conducts a gap analysis to gauge the applicability of the Navy's current accessions testing measures to its future recruiting needs. We found that the Navy is inadequately assessing applicant skills and attributes through its primary use of cognitive testing. Personality traits or non-cognitive traits testing may be used to help the Navy identify the appropriate recruits to compose high-performance teams, particularly in the enlisted ranks. Additionally, personality traits testing may be used for Navy officer accessions to help improve the quality of leaders.