Human capital management of Air Force SOF: leadership identification, selection and cultivation

Abstract

Human capital management and leadership selection pose significant challenges in numerous industries and organizations, including the U.S. military. This thesis examines literature and best practices in business management, and provides an in-depth investigation of General Electric and the U.S. Army's Special Operations Aviation Regiment, to identify best practices in leadership cultivation, appraisal processes, and human capital software programs for the U.S. Air Force Special Operations Command (AFSOC). This investigation yields the following recommendations: AFSOC should incorporate a 360-degree feedback process to capture a top-to-bottom and peer-to-peer assessment of an officer's ability to lead; it should select high-potential officers to attend in-residence development education based on a continuous performance assessment; it should improve the means by which officers receive performance reviews and overall feedback; and it should improve its own human capital technology.