0702-AAHR Supporting Statement Pt A_20171016

SUPPORTING STATEMENT – PART A

DA Civilian Employment and Marketing Feedback – OMB Control Number 0702-XXXX

A.  JUSTIFICATION

1.  Need for the Information Collection

The goal of the study is to inform how the Army can more effectively market to support the recruiting of Department of the Army (DA) civilian critical occupations. This study is important to the Army because attracting a high-quality talent pool in mission-critical occupations such as Engineering, Information Technology and Cyber Security is vital to the Army’s ability to prevail in complex environments and remain adaptable in a difficult recruiting environment. Though this study focuses on high profile, difficult to fill DA civilian fields, where appropriate, the results will be used in marketing for all DA civilian occupations.

DA civilian senior personnel officials have identified-entry level and mid-level career positions that are critical to the Army’s mission and also difficult-to-fill. Marketing and advertising can help set favorable market conditions to significantly impact the recruiting force’s ability to fill these critical positions. The information collection requirement is necessary to understand these experts’ awareness of and willingness to consider an Army civilian career. The information will inform a civilian marketing campaign for the FY 2019 Annual Marketing Plan (AMP) and lead us to the best strategies to build awareness, disrupt misperceptions and spark interest in Army civilian opportunities and recruit top-tiered talent to fill critical occupations.

Army Regulation 601-208, dated 16 July 2013, gives the Army Marketing and Research Group (AMRG) the responsibility for marketing support for Department of the Army civilian recruiting. Because there is no existing research on the DA civilian recruiting market, the Army requires research in order to provide marketing support to DA civilian recruiting.

Previously, the Army has conducted extensive research for military recruiting. While military recruiting focuses on a very different portion of the population, we can glean some very basic insights. Results from military recruiting research indicates that most Americans do not understand their military, nor their Army in particular. The DoD Advertising Tracking Study indicates that half of Americans ages 17-35 say they have little or no knowledge about Active Duty military service and only 12% say they are highly knowledgeable. This lack of understanding of the Army as an institution, and its corresponding mission, leads to disinterest in serving on both the uniformed and the civilian sides. Understanding how to best bridge the gap between misperception and reality within the talent pools and career fields we seek is essential. We need to understand this to create effective marketing, and thereby positively affect recruiting the quality civilian force the Army needs to succeed at its mission of protecting and preserving our nation.

The information collection consists of focus groups to gather insights on the awareness among non-federal employees of DA civilian career opportunities and attitudes toward these opportunities. The information gathered in these focus groups will be used to develop marketing messaging and strategies to support DA civilian recruiting. This study will also allow the Army to set specific marketing objectives, strategies and tactics to recruit DA civilians. Finally, results from the focus groups will also be used to clarify questions to be asked in a follow-up survey (which will be submitted to OMB for review in a separate package).

The collection of this information is required in response to the following regulations to support the tracking and accountability of personnel: Army Regulation 601-208, dated 16 July 2013, which gives the Army Marketing and Research Group (AMRG) the responsibility for marketing support for Department of the Army civilian recruiting. This regulation grants authority to AMRG for marketing in support of Army uniformed and civilian recruiting efforts and therefore to conduct research to that end. Department of the Army General Order 2017-05 dated 6 January 2017 affirms the consolidation of marketing in support of Army uniformed and civilian recruiting under the AMRG. Department of the Army General Order 2012-01, dated 11 June 2012, Assignment of Functions and Responsibilities within Headquarters, Department of the Army, assigns marketing functions and responsibilities in support of total Army recruiting to AMRG. In order to assume these functions and responsibilities, research must be conducted to inform all efforts. 10 United States Code, Section 2358, Research and Development Projects, allows for DoD research projects that are of potential interest.

2.  Use of the Information

Information collection for this study will be completed in two phases. Phase I will be focus groups. Phase II will be a survey which will be submitted for approval after the Phase I focus groups submission is reviewed by OMB. Information from the focus groups will inform the content of the Phase II survey. The entire study (both phases) will inform how the Army can more effectively market to support the recruiting of Department of the Army (DA) civilian critical occupations. The results will be used in marketing for all DA civilian occupations.

This application pertains to the Phase I focus groups. Prior to this submission, a workshop was conducted with Army civilian personnel subject matter experts to understand their needs and establish goals for the focus groups. Results from the Phase I focus groups will be discussed in another subject matter expert workshop and used to develop the quantitative survey to be used in Phase II. A third workshop will review the recommendations based on the Phase II survey outcomes and discuss marketing strategy.

A 60-day Federal Register Notice request will soon be submitted for Phase II quantitative (survey) and a subsequent application will be submitted for the Phase II quantitative study (once the Phase I focus groups are reviewed and approved by OMB). The information collected from both of these activities will be supplemented with insights from existing Army branding and marketing practices as well as recent and projected hiring needs of DA civilians.

The focus group participants will be college students through mid-career professionals external to DA civilian service. Focus group participants will be prospective candidates for DA civilian employment who are either college juniors, college seniors or graduate students currently pursuing a major that aligns with one of the following careers or professionals currently employed at different career stages (junior and mid-level) in one of the following mission-critical careers: Civil Engineering, Electronics Engineering, Contracting, or Information Technology Management.

Focus groups with college students and professionals will be conducted in focus group facilities rather than at a college or company site for several reasons. First, using a company conference room would likely prove difficult because the focus group discussions will be about awareness of and attitudes toward another potential employer. Discussing employment with another (competing) employer is awkward for the participants. It will also be difficult at best to convince the current employer to allow use of a conference room or to provide a list of employees for this purpose. To avoid any potential (real or perceived) conflict, we will use a local focus group facility. Second, in addition, use of a focus group facility will allow for a more diverse set of participants and not limit participants to being from a single company or college (which may have a distinct culture that is not representative of other companies/colleges). Focus groups for college students will also be at a local focus group facility to allow students from more than one local college/university to participate in a focus group. A third reason to use a focus group facility is that the facility has lists of potential participants and trained recruiters. The Army does not have a list of potential participants, the companies where they work or student lists at any local colleges and universities and therefore would be at a distinct disadvantage for recruiting participants. Finally, an additional benefit of using a focus group facility to recruit instead of company or college lists is that the focus group facility allows for anonymity of the participants and confidentiality of their responses. This is further outlined in the paragraphs below as well as in section 10.

Potential participants will be recruited by local focus group facilities, using several sources, such as the facilities’ own lists of people who have agreed to participate in focus groups (each facility develops its own database of potential participants through multiple sources, such as client lists from prior projects, advertisements and notifications in websites and local publications and flyers at target locations (e.g., colleges, shopping areas, office complexes)). Focus group facilities may also have access to databases from other focus group facilities with which they have a reciprocal relationship.

The role of the focus group facility is to recruit participants and provide a site in which to conduct focus groups. Focus group facilities do not participate in the actual research. Personal contact information used by the focus group facility will not be given to the researchers. No personally identifiable information (PII) will be given to, collected or retained by those involved in the research (the Army, its contractor Rand, or subcontractor Echo Cove Research). In other words, those who have access to personal information (the focus group facility) are not involved in the research, and those involved in the research do not have access to PII.

Potential respondents will first be contacted via telephone. During a short interview they will be asked a set of questions to determine if they qualify for the study. A screener document is included in the submission package. Those participants who qualify will be offered a time for a focus group. They will receive one call to remind them about the group. Once the participant arrives at the focus group facility, the focus group moderator will read an informed consent document to them, they will be presented with the PRA Agency Disclosure Notice (ADN) and they will be verbally invited to participate in the focus group. The informed consent, PRA ADN and verbal invitation script documents are included in submission package. The focus groups will be conducted by an Army contractor (RAND, and their subcontractor, Echo Cove Research).

Participants’ PII will be protected by the recruitment and participation process, as follows: Recruiters working for the focus group facility (not Army, RAND, Prizma or Echo Cove), will telephone potential participants from lists that include only name, phone number, and relevant demographic categories (e.g., age, gender, occupation, years in occupation). Race and Ethnicity will be asked in accordance with OMB standards on federal data on race and ethnicity, and information collected will not be reported by race and/or ethnicity. Participants will be checked into the focus group facility by facility staff (who have no relationship with RAND, Prizma or Echo Cove). The focus group staff will record the participant’s first name (not their last name) and basic demographic information useful to the moderator (e.g., year of college, occupation, years in occupation). The moderator will receive only this information for each respondent. In the focus group documentation, when it is necessary to qualify the nature of a comment, it will done only using the key demographic criteria (for example, “… one respondent, who was employed as a civil engineer, reported that …”). None of the information gathered and used by the researchers will be able to be combined to identify an individual.

Participants will be responding to the information collection verbally through focus group discussion exercises. The collection will take place in-person with a moderator. The only physical information that may be collected will be blank sheets of paper on which respondents will write responses to questions before discussion so that the discussion will not bias their perspective) We have included a placeholder for the OMB control number and expiration date on all instruments. The OMB control number and expiration date will be added to these instruments once the study is approved.

Results from the focus groups will be documented in a Report of Findings. The report will consist of the following sections: Background (project objective, research objective); Research Methodology; Executive Summary (conclusions and key insights, recommendations); Detailed Findings (employment goals and expectations; desired tangible and intangible benefits; awareness and perceptions of different employer types: private company, government agency, own business; Perceptions of the U.S. Army as American institution; Awareness and knowledge of civilian employment in the U.S. Military/Army, Reactions to Army civilian employment positioning concepts and messages).

The results from Phase I and Phase II will be used to develop a marketing campaign to support civilian recruiting in FY2019. In order for this to occur, Phase I needs to begin in August 2017. Upon completion of the focus groups, Phase II needs to begin in January 2018 in order for results from both phases to be used to develop a marketing campaign for the FY2019 AMP. In order to do this, results are needed by the end of June 2018 to allow for messaging and strategy to be created and ultimately implemented as a marketing campaign in FY2019. Delays in collecting information from both phases will prevent the Army from conducting a civilian brand campaign in FY2019 and exacerbate recruiting difficulties for hard-to-fill DA civilian positions.

The qualitative information (there will be no data elements) collected will be used by the Department of the Army (specifically the AMRG) to understand the awareness of critical skills of career opportunities within the Army and attitudes toward such employment. The AMRG and ultimately the DA own the collection of the information. RAND/Prizma as contractors on this project will execute the collection of information, but not own the information once the contract is complete. This information will be used to assess DA civilian employment marketing campaigns (recruiting for government service (GS) positions) which are intended to inform a subsequent survey (Phase II), to address current and projected shortfalls in DA civilian critical occupations and to set specific marketing objectives, strategies and tactics to recruit.

3.  Use of Information Technology

Dissemination of information about the study will be provided electronically. The focus groups will be conducted in-person and notes may be taken electronically. The public (focus group participants) will be provided informed consent on paper. We estimate that 90% of the information collected will be electronically captured by researchers who record the focus groups and their insights. The final Report on Findings will be provided to the Army electronically. We have planned the study this way to increase the use of information technology.

4.  Non-duplication

There is no known duplication of this effort for the DA Civilian Employment and Marketing Feedback; the AMRG has conducted background research and determined that there is no other similar research or information currently available that can be used to inform how the Army can more effectively market to assist in recruiting and filling DA civilian critical occupations. DA civilian personnel senior officials have identified shortfalls of entry-level and mid-level career technical experts in mission-critical DA civilian occupations, but there is no information on the best ways to find and reach these technical experts or how best to provide awareness of DA civilian opportunities (marketing and messaging).

5.  Burden on Small Business

This information collection does not impose a significant economic impact on a substantial number of small businesses or entities.

6.  Less Frequent Collection

This is a one-time information collection, so if it were conducted less frequently there would be no information collection.

If the information is not collected, the AMRG DA civilian Brand mission will not be able to design marketing and advertising efforts dedicated to recruiting mission-critical DA civilians. There is a lack of entry-level and mid-career civilian technical experts in mission critical occupations in the Army. Lack of appropriate marketing and advertising mechanisms will significantly delay the potential fill of these critical positions. The information collection requirement is necessary to provide the insights needed to understand the best strategies and implementation tactics to build awareness and spark interest in Army civilian opportunities and fill critical occupations. As this is a one-time collection, it could not be conducted less frequently.

7.  Paperwork Reduction Act Guidelines

There are no such special requirements as delineated in 5 CFR 1320.5(d)(2). Collection will be conducted in a manner consistent with these guidelines.

8.  Consultation and Public Comments

Part A: PUBLIC NOTICE

The date of the collection’s 60-day Federal Register Notice, 81 FRN 8944, is 23 February 2016. No comments were received.

The 30-day Federal Register Notice was published on 22 May 2017.

Part B: CONSULTATION

The sponsoring agency consulted with Army Civilian Human Resources Agency, Army G1 Civilian Personnel, and Deputy Assistant Secretary of the Army for Civilian Personnel offices along with subject matter experts in mission critical occupation hiring. The information is not available elsewhere. A workshop including Army civilian subject matter experts was conducted to inform development of the focus groups. A second workshop will be conducted following the Phase I focus groups to inform the viability of survey instrument. A third workshop will review the recommendations based on the Phase I focus groups and Phase II survey outcomes and develop a plan for marketing to DA civilians.

9.  Gifts or Payment

An incentive will be provided to the respondent to defray costs of coming to the facility, child care costs, and/or other expenses. We will offer an incentive of $75 to college student participants. For entry‐level professionals, we will offer an incentive of $100. For mid‐level professionals who are more difficult to find, we will offer an incentive of $150.

The authority to provide monetary incentives payments for general research participation is permitted per DoD Instruction 3216.02.

10.  Confidentiality

The role of the focus group facility is to recruit participants and provide a site in which to conduct focus groups, they do not participate in the actual research information collection. Any personal contact information and information collected in the screener is used by the focus group facility in order to recruit participants and not given to the researchers. No PII will be given to, collected or retained by those involved in the research (the Army, its contractor Rand, or subcontractors Prizma and Echo Cove Research). None of the information used by the researchers will be able to be combined to identify an individual. In other words, those who have access to personal information (focus group facility) will not be involved in the research, and those involved in the research will not have access to PII. For the reasons described above, PIA is not required.

The Privacy Act Statement is not required because there are no data elements being stored as a system of records. Information collected from respondents will be primarily attitudinal. Respondents will be asked what is important to people in their careers and their attitudes towards different types of employers. Respondents will not be asked to submit proprietary information, trade secrets or confidential information. Respondents will be assured that their comments will be used for research purposes only and that any quotations or other information included in the final report will be identified only by generic, non-personally-identifiable descriptors.

Respondents for the focus groups will be assured that their answers will be confidential. Focus group participants will be recorded anonymously. Any personally identifying information collected in order to recruit participants for the study will be disposed of by the conclusion of the study. No personally identifying information will be stored or included in the report that summarizes the focus group discussions. A System of Records Notice (SORN) is not required because records are not being stored and therefore are not retrievable by PII. No Records Retention and Disposition Schedule is required since individual information is not being collected. Records will be kept by the facility that recruits participants in a current file until no longer needed to conduct business and will be destroyed following the focus groups.

11.  Sensitive Questions

Respondents will be asked what is important to people in their careers and their attitudes towards different types of employers. They will be asked questions regarding their gender, race, and ethnicity (race and ethnicity will be asked in accordance with OMB standards) during the recruitment process to ensure we receive views from a variety of people this information will be used for recruiting purposes by the focus group facility and will not be given to, collected or retained by those involved in the research. This information will not be included at an individual level in any reports. None of the information used by the researchers will be able to be combined to identify an individual. No other PII will be requested and SSN will not be asked.

12.  Respondent Burden, and its Labor Costs

a. Estimation of Respondent Burden

Estimation of Respondent Burden Hours
	Number of Respondents	Number of Responses per Respondent	Number of Total Annual Responses	Response Time (Amount of time needed to complete the collection instrument)	Respondent Burden Hours (Total Annual Responses multiplied by Response Time) Please compute these into hours)
Marketing DA Civilian Focus Groups	128	1	128	1.5 hours	192 hours
Total	128	1	128	1.5 hours	192 hours

b. Labor Cost of Respondent Burden

Labor Cost of Respondent Burden
	Number of Responses	Response Time per Response	Respondent Hourly Wage	Labor Burden per Response (Response Time multiplied by Respondent Hourly Wage)	Total Labor Burden (Number of Respondents multiplied by Response Time multiplied by Respondent Hourly Wage)
Marketing DA Civilian Focus Groups	128	1.5 hours	$30	$45	$5,760
Total	128	1.5 hours	$30	$45	$5,760

Hourly wages from Dept. of Labor (http://www.careeronestop.org/toolkit/wages/find-salary) as of June 2016 for the careers field perspectives we are looking for with regard to this study are as follows: College student with a part-time job (likely above the federal minimum wage of $7.25); Civil Engineer (beginning/low $25.27, mid-level/median $39.45); Electronics Engineer (beginning/low $29.70, mid-level/median $46.05); Contracting (Managers, beginning/low $25.96, mid-level/median $50.51); Information Technology Management (Computer and Info Systems Managers, beginning/low $37.73, mid-level/median $61.37); Average of these (Minimum wage: $7.25, Beginning/low: $29.67, Mid-level/median: $49.35) is approximately $30 per hour.

13.  Respondent Costs Other Than Burden Hour Costs

There are no capital or start-up costs to respondents. There are no O&M costs to respondents.

14.  Cost to the Federal Government

The DA Civilian Marketing study uses Rand, a Federally Funded Research and Development Center (FFRDC) for studies and analysis to execute and administer the project (https://dap.dau.mil/acquipedia/Pages/ArticleDetails.aspx?aid=5e3079b8-44f2-43df-a0e7-9f379e8c48ed). The (FFRDC) was contracted to develop the research plan, execute the work, and to manage and integrate the results from the study’s components.

The information collection cost for Phase I (focus groups) is $79,520.

	Marketing DA Civilian Focus Groups
Number of Responses	128
Processing Time Per Response (in hours)	.5
Hourly Wage of Worker(s) Processing Responses	$130
Cost to Process Each Response (Processing Time Per Response multiplied by Hourly Wage of Worker(s) Processing Responses)	$65
Total Cost to Process Responses (Cost to Process Each Response multiplied by Number of Responses	$8,320

O&M costs include a fixed set-up cost of $18,000 plus focus group facility rental & recruiting costs of $37,200 plus a total incentive cost of up to $16,000. The incentive costs were calculate assuming that 10 people per group will need to be recruited in order to seat 8 participants. As described in Supporting Statement Part B, the recruiting of extra participants is necessary because it is typical for one or two focus group recruits to not show up for a focus group. If all 10 potential participants show up for a session, the extras will be randomly selected, thanked, compensated, and excused.

The total for O&M costs would be $ 71,200.

We estimate that set-up costs will be $18,000, recruiting costs will be $30,000 for each location and focus group facility cost will be $7,200.

Operational and Maintenance Costs
Equipment	Printing	Postage	Software Purchases	Licensing Costs	Other – Focus Group Facility Rental, recruiting costs and incentives	Total
					$71,200	$71,200

Total Cost to the Federal Government
Operational and Maintenance Costs	Labor Cost to the Federal Government	Total Cost (O&M Costs + Labor Cost)
$71,200	$8,320	$79,520

15.  Reasons for Change in Burden

This is a new information collection with a new associated burden.

16.  Publication of Results

The results of the collection of this information will be published in the form of a report of focus group discussions that will be kept internal to the Army. This will not be published externally.

17.  Non-Display of OMB Expiration Date

The Army is not seeking exemption from display of the OMB expiration date.

18.  Exceptions to "Certification for Paperwork Reduction Submissions"

The Army is not asking for exceptions to the Paperwork Reduction Act Submission.

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