Navy SEAL Officer Assessment and Selection (SOAS)

Navy SEAL Officer Assessment and Selection (SOAS)Navy SEAL Officer Assessment and Selection (SOAS)Navy SEAL recruiting for officers has been streamlined to a two-phase screening and selection system with candidates from all the officer sources seeking to become a Naval SEAL Officer (USNA, ROTC, OCS) undergoing the same selection process. Now all three Naval Officer programs US Naval Academy, Reserve Officer Training Corps, and Officer Candidate School require the applicants to attend SEAL Officer Assessment and Selection (SOAS) at the Navy Special Warfare Center in Coronado, California. Phase 1 requires that all candidates submit their SOAS application package to the Officer Community Manager by January/February of each year. The Naval Academy typically has well over 100-150 candidates per class, so they conduct a BUD/S Screening the junior year of all Midshipmen interested in attending SOAS and BUD/S after graduation to help reduce that number further. All officer candidates will soon find out if they qualify for the second phase of the process, which is attending the three-week SOAS Course at the Navy SEAL Basic Underwater Demolition/SEAL (BUD/S)Training. Phase 2 is SOASSEAL Officer Assessment and Selection Training. This new process is different from previous years methods of officer selection for Naval Special Warfare. From Mini-BUD/S to SOAS For decades the Naval Special Warfare community (also known as SEALs) have pre-trained officer candidates from various Service Academies and Navy ROTC through a program called Mini-BUD/S. Mini-BUD/S was more like a summer camp for Midshipmen compared to todays assessment and selection program. Similar to Mini-BUD/S, SOAS is for officer candidates who are contemplating the opportunity to attend SEAL training after their graduation or OCS training. The training is held at the Basic Underwater Demolition/SEAL Training Center (BUD/S) in Coronado, California. Today, Mini-BUD/S has evolved from a summer training cours e for Midshipmen into a complete three-week screening program for all officer applicants. The new program, SOAS, is open to Service Academy and Navy ROTC Midshipmen/Cadets during the Summer before their senior year. It is also open to highly qualified Officer Candidates School (OCS) applicants before they attend OCS. Selection for SOAS Candidates have to be invited to SOAS by filling out the application found at the SEAL Community Managers webpage. Typically, the SEAL Officer selection hauptplatine accepts Service Academy, NROTC, and OCS packages during the months of January/February and the candidate will get word typically by March/April to report to SOAS in the next few summer months. During the application phase, the board will decide if a candidate is worth seeing more of by attending SOAS. Consider this a ticket to the dance to prove your mettle. Structure of SOAS Here is what a Navy SEAL Officer candidate must endure during SOAS to become selected Week One at SOAS Fam iliarization Week - The first week is more educational than physical for the candidates. The students will attend lectures and tour Navy SEAL Teams and meet members of the Navy SEAL Officer Community. Theywill attend briefings from SEAL Officers and Enlisted as well as do some basic physical training similar what the actual BUD/S students will receive. Week Two at SOASThe days are long, and students will constantly be assessed through more intense physical training. They will be tasked with several fitness tests to include the Navy BUD/S PST 500-yard swim, pushups, situps, pull-ups, and 1.5-mile run, as well as other physical tests. Many of the tests include running and rucking on the beach, ocean swims with fins, obstacle courses, log PT, as well as various swimming skills in the pool and ocean. The students will also be engaged in writing assignments and are subject to instructor and peer evaluations. You will be evaluated on your ability to be a gruppe player, a leader, and phys ically tough. Week Three at SOASThe SEAL candidate will also be subject to psychological evaluations this week, but they are constantly being observed in this capacity throughout the previous weeks as well. The candidates will be asked several questions about themselves and their knowledge of current events and Naval Special Warfare by theSEAL Board Interview. The board consists of active duty Navy SEAL officers and senior enlisted as well as members of the Naval Special Warfare Center and the Officer Community Manager. Since 2014, all officer candidates are screened through SOAS during the summer before their senior years (Service Academy/ROTC). The OCS candidates invited to attend SOAS are college graduates and have to be within the age limit of attending BUD/S (27 years old). This new selection program is similar to other Special Operations Command (SOCOM) selection and assessment programs administratively, but the training is pure Naval Special Warfare at its finest. Many of the candidates do not get selected. Some will quit and lose the opportunity to attend SEAL training as a service selection option, but they are still able to become officers in other communities in the military.

Learn to Cut Costs Without Compromising Employee Relations

Learn to Cut Costs Without Compromising Employee RelationsLearn to Cut Costs Without Compromising Employee RelationsLearn to Cut Costs Without Compromising Employee Relations Rossheim, Senior Contributing WriterFor business owners, especially those who know the names of many of their workers, theres a town meeting agenda thats alfruchtwein as repugnant as a layoff announcement Why it has become necessary to reduce costs by trimming employee benefits.Indeed, like cutting off someones livelihood, reducing or eliminating healthcare coverage, retirement contributions or other vital benefits threatens the business-critical relationship between a small- to midsized employer and its employees.If you start taking away core benefits that the best employees expect, then youre putting the whole business in jeopardy, says Vince Ashton, CEO of HealthPass, a New York nonprofit agency that gives small businesses access to an array of health plans.So whats the best approach if you are forced by fina ncial circumstances to reduce benefits outlays? Youll be wise to take the same approach you may have asked of your employees in these hard times To undertake an unsparing reexamination of your benefits program and squeeze mora value out of each dollar spent.Healthcare Benefits Reconsider CarriersEspecially at small and midsized companies, healthcare benefits have been under pressure for years, costing employers ever more while simultaneously placing a greater burden on employees.But many smaller employers are approaching a crossroads.More companies are having trouble paying their premiums, but most are maintaining health coverage, says Ashton. Health insurance is seen as a part of compensation its a difficult thing for employers to take away.Dropping financial support for health coverage can cost your business in at least two ways lost employee loyalty and declining employee health, which can lead to lower productivity and higher absenteeism.If your workers are like many others at A merican businesses, they might rather forgo some pay than venture into the chaotic marketplace for individual health coverage, which can run into five figures for a family policy. Some businesses are reducing employee hours but maintaining health coverage as the anchor benefit, says Jim Walsh, publisher of Silver Lake Books.Suppose youve decided to maintain a health insurance benefit. Is there anything you can do to control costs other than jacking up your workers copays and premium contributions? If youre like most small-business executives, you dont know all the answers.Business owners often feel theres not a lot they can do about out-of-control healthcare costs, says Earnest Youngblood, CEO of NavigatorMD, which makes health-plan design software. But a broker-consultant can go to the market to try to find carriers that can save you money.A health insurance broker can put your companys coverage out to bid, revealing opportunities for savings for you and your workers. This stuff is hard for an HR person to handle adequately, says Ashton. Im a big broker advocate, but you need somebody whos knowledgeable and well-trained.Ashton recommends getting a referral from a local business owner whose business is similar in size to your own and find out how they regard their broker. Absent that, says Ashton, the trade association that brokers, benefits professionals, and agents join is the National Association of Health Underwriters.But finding a fiscally sustainable health plan is about more than just seeing which carrier comes in with the low bid. You have to look at plan design, says Youngblood. You have to motivate people to be more responsible for their health. Maybe higher copays and deductibles have been keeping people from getting treatment for chronic disease, or from seeking preventative care. A good broker-consultant or independent consultant work hard to find the best option for your workforce.Many insurers have resources dedicated to helping members live hea lthier lifestyles, including value-added programs (discounts for weight loss centers, for example), smoking cessation programs, while others may have specific financial incentives (reimbursement toward gym memberships.) Many will have materials to use, says Ashton. Often there is no associated fee. Employers should contact their insurer to find out what is available.If you are successful in reducing costs while maintaining crucial health benefits, be sure to clearly communicate this management victory to your employees.Retirement Benefits Are Lower Fees Available?Retirement benefits, though many employees consider them a more distant concern than healthcare, have also been at the forefront of cost-cutting measures in the depths of this recession.Some observers believe that in times of crisis, employees will forgive you for trimming benefits in order to remain solvent. People arent leaving jobs now because the benefits over there are better, says Christine Soscia, vice president and plan consultant at InVest, which advises businesses on financial products. But the best of your employees will continue to expect that youll do your best for them.Is there any way to maintain your 401(k) contributions, or at least minimize any reduction in them? Take a look at your 401(k) plan fees, says Soscia Weve gone to plan providers and asked them, What can you do here? Sometimes theyll make adjustments and sometimes they cant because theyd be losing money. One rule of thumb from Soscia Plans that are five years old or older tend to be high.If you find a way to reduce 401(k) fees, reap your loyalty dividend by telling your employees about it.Voluntary Benefits Eliminate Little-Used PerksVoluntary benefits those paid for by employees have also been on the table as employers sought out savings.Some employers are shifting employee benefits from employer-paid to voluntary, to shift the cost of premiums. Others are eliminating little-used voluntary benefits such as legal advice pr ograms or long-term care insurance to cut administrative costs and the drain on HR management resources.How can you know which benefits are most important to your employees? Ask them. Develop and field a simple survey to determine which benefits are most important to your workers. Then incorporate the survey results into your cost-control program, communicating to your employees how their preferences made a difference.

Survey 88% of American workers are happy in their jobs

Survey 88% of American workers are happy in their jobsSurvey 88% of American workers are happy in their jobsWhat really makes employees happy and how can you tell if they are?Wrike, the collaborative work management platform, released the first findings from the companys inaugural Happiness Index, carried out by Atomik Research. The survey asked what made workers happy in the U.S., Germany, France, and the United Kingdom, with at least 1,000 respondents in each country.While Americans were found to be generally happy in their jobs a full 88% Millennials were the least happy group, with 17% responding to be mostly unhappy or miserable.Positive relationships with managers are critical to happiness. Employees with negative relationships with their managers were more likely to report unhappiness.Having a connection to their companys mission is also a key to happiness 70% of happy workers feel a strong connection, while 32% of less happy workers dont know what their companys mission i s, or feel any connection to it.Happiness can influence perception. Cheerful employees are 55% more likely to say their workplace is above average in diversity, but 440% of unhappy workers are more likely to say that their jobs are below average in diversity.You can spot the happy vs. the disconnected workers by observing office social gatherings Happier employees are 70% more likely to take at least a half-hour lunch break or eat lunch with friends, while less happy workers are 57% more likely to spend their lunch breaks on social media. Unhappy workers are less likely to take part in organized gatherings outside work (15%, compared to over 40% for happier workers).Fostering workplace happiness and understanding what really drives employee engagement is evolving its not just about paying the highest salary and providing lunch, says Wrike Vice President of People Operations Megan Barbier in a release. In todays competitive talent market, it is important that companies consider emer ging factors, like diversity and technology, that are playing an increasingly important role in employee happiness.Relatedly, Harvard Business School recently published a story that perks (flexible time, anything contributing to work-life balance) and recognition (like peer-to-peer recognition programs) can be more meaningful long-term than financial rewards.