FORT KNOX, Ky. – The Reserve Personnel Management Directorate, or RPMD, here at the U.S. Army Human Resources Command recently completed its first successful IPPS-A Marketplace that brought Reserve Soldiers and units together in a collaborative effort to increase transparency and efficiency when it comes to future assignments.
The two-way Marketplace allows Soldiers to view all available positions while units can see eligible applicants and their knowledge, skills and abilities, which enables both to make informed decisions.
The Marketplace is a significant improvement over the traditional assignment process that relied heavily on manual spreadsheets and limited communication between Soldiers and units, said Lt. Col. Karey J. Speten, RPMD operations research systems analyst.
“It’s a huge benefit for Soldiers and the units,” Speten said. “They can now interact with each other, and the units can select the Soldiers they want to fill their positions.”
The Marketplace was successfully tested with the Army Reserve's Active Guard Reserve, or AGR, population, and Soldiers and units provided positive feedback on the process.
"The feedback has been great," said Capt. Corie L. Scarpella, RPMD IPPS-A integration officer. "Soldiers like the transparency and the ability to see all the positions available to them. Units like the ability to preference the Soldiers they want to fill their positions."
The Marketplace is not just a tool for assigning Soldiers to positions; it's also a platform for communication and collaboration between Soldiers and units, she said.
“It’s a two-way street,” Scarpella said. “Soldiers can express their preferences, and units can provide information about the positions they have available. It’s a much more interactive process than what we had before.”
Providing Soldiers with more information about available positions and better control over their careers has improved their satisfaction with the reassignment process, which supports overall retention, Speten said. Soldiers can now see nine months in advance that they are changing stations and where they will be assigned, which gives them time to prepare and react.
The Marketplace is also expected to improve readiness by allowing units to preference the Soldiers with the right talents that they need to fill critical positions.
“It’s a readiness benefit," he said. “Units can now preference the Soldiers they need to fill their positions, which will help them to be more effective and efficient.”
Although the implementation of a new way to do assignments did not come without its challenges, the RPMD Marketplace team, in collaboration with the IPPS-A program leads, has worked hard to ensure the system is user-friendly. The team encourages continued feedback from system users.
"We've had to do a lot of work to make sure that the system is easy to use, and that Soldiers and units understand how it works," Scarpella said.
Overall, the Marketplace is a positive step forward for the Army Reserve that is already seeing the benefits with best practices also being applied to the Regular Army side of the IPPS-A Marketplace.
“It’s a game-changer,” Speten said. “It’s going to make a big difference in the way we do business, and it’s going to improve the experience for Soldiers and units.”
The IPPS-A Marketplace is open to all ranks of Active Guard Reserve personnel, including enlisted, officers, and warrants. With lessons learned from previous cycles, the biggest takeaways is the importance of engagement and early action. Soldiers and units are encouraged to be proactive and make changes early in the process, rather than waiting until the last minute.
As HRC continues to modernize its human resources practices, the IPPS-A Marketplace is likely to play an increasingly important role.
“We’re just getting started,” Scarpella said. “We’re going to continue to refine the system and make it even better. It’s an exciting time for the Army Reserve, and we’re looking forward to seeing the impact that the Marketplace will have.”
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