Temporary nature of the detail lead to issues related

temporary nature of the detail lead to issues related to continuity and low confidence by the
detachments in the ability of RSOs to provide appropriate operational guidance and feedback.
2) Task overload. The RSOs have numerous duty expectations related to
operational oversight and guidance to collectors. They are more often than not overwhelmed
with administrative minutiae that preclude them from maintaining a proper operational focus.
Many of these administrative and operational tasks put the RSO in the position of a middle-man,
with no actual authority on the related issue. Even for experienced personnel the task of
managing – either directly or as an intermediary – all of the oversight and administrative
requirements for a detachment of 12-15 personnel can be daunting. For the less experienced the
task is utterly overwhelming. For those that occupy the RSO billet due to an actual or perceived
notion that they were assigned punitively there is very low motivation to put forth more than the
bare minimum of effort. The tendency is for RSOs to become reactive, waiting for input from
detachment leadership before engaging in any specific action. Once this trend begins it becomes
nearly impossible for the RSO to get ahead of the cycle and become proactive, leaving
detachments to focus on many of the operational tasks with which they should expect staff
support. Combined with the issues of rapid turnover and insufficient training and experience the
effect is an RSO that does little more than staff paperwork.
These underlying problems clearly needed to be addressed; however, these issues are not
in any way related to the personnel organization. These particular problems needed to be solved
through training and, as suggested by Kotter in Leading Change , through proper alignment of
Human Resources functions with the billets – i.e.: creating incentives for superior performers to
want to occupy the RSO position as a method of career development rather than using
assignment as a way for management to express displeasure with performance. (Kotter, 2012)

Final Paper: MGMT603
What Kotter describes as “establishing a sense of urgency,” Julie Newman refers to as an
“awakening,” where “an institution evokes the need to acknowledge… the change that is needed
to set and achieve certain goals.” (Kotter; Newman, 2007) Unfortunately, in this instance the
commander did not correctly assess the underlying cause of what he perceived as a critical
shortfall. This, in turn, caused problems in creating urgency for change and in putting together
the necessary “guiding coalition” for the proposed changes. (Kotter)
b. Clear Articulation of Expectations. A separate topic, but closely related to problem
identification, is leadership’s ability to provide a clear vision for the organization. In his article
on managing change, Robert Hurley refers to the necessity of a, “well-conceived vision of the
organization,” in order to ensure success of the change endeavor. (Hurley, 1998) While he was