Recruitment Email

Enclosure C1: Recruitment Email Script

Leader recruitment example:

[Salutation]

I am a Research Psychologist with The U.S. Army Research Institute for Social and Behavioral Sciences (ARI). Recently, ARI and the University of Southern California (USC) have been working on research aimed at investigating diversity and the effect of inclusion policies and practices on unit outcomes. We are emailing you to seek support in helping us with the next phase of this research, which will entail validating a recently developed measure assessing Diversity and Inclusion.

The U.S. Army People Strategy has influenced increased efforts to recruit and employ a diverse workforce comprised of individuals with differences including demographic (e.g., race and ethnicity), experiential, and abilities. Research suggests considerable performance benefits to having such a diverse force, including improved problem solving and adaptability; however, leveraging diversity is more difficult than simply adopting policies. Organizations must have policies to effectively leverage diverse talent (i.e., policies for inclusion) and leaders must practice inclusion by recognizing differences in subordinates and encouraging engagement in organizational processes and decision making. When leaders do not engage in inclusion practices, a decoupling between what is said (policy) and what leaders do (practice) occurs, making it more difficult to capitalize on the strengths of a diverse talent pool. Thus, the main goal of this project is to promote a deeper scientific and practical understanding of the relationship between diversity and performance by focusing on inclusion policy-practice decoupling. Collectively the knowledge gained from this research will be used to help leaders align inclusion policies and practices to fully leverage diversity to support a resilient, agile, and adaptive workforce. Additionally, the results of this research will contribute to the broader scientific community’s understanding of the relationships between diversity and inclusion.

After extensive focus group and interview sessions with Soldiers and Leaders, we have developed and refined a measure of Inclusion Policy-Practice Decoupling. We are seeking support from a variety of organizations to allow us to survey their Platoons. Our goal is to survey participants who are representative of the diversity in the U.S. Army (e.g., gender, race, MOS, education). We anticipate support from you would entail:

1. Your endorsement of this research and approval for your Soldiers to participate in this research.

2. A point of contact to assist with coordination of participants, data collection dates, and meeting space (if needed).

We expect survey completion will take approximately 45 minutes. If you have any questions or would like to discuss this further, please contact me via email or by phone listed below. If you would like to support this research, please email me back with POC information. Thank you for your time and consideration!

[Signed]

Soldier recruitment example:

Good morning/afternoon!

A research team from the U.S. Army Research Institute for the Behavioral and Social Sciences (ARI) and the University of Southern California (USC) is investigating Army diversity and inclusion policies and practices and how those policies and practices either align with, or deviate from, Soldier experiences, as well as how that alignment is related to unit outcomes.

As part of an ongoing research effort, ARI and USC spoke with many Soldiers and Leaders across the Army and developed a new measure looking at diversity, inclusion, and leadership. The next step is to give this assessment to intact Platoons—this is where your assistance is needed. Your Battalion/Company is supporting this research and your Platoon has been nominated to assist with the refinement of this measure by taking this survey.

Please click on the link at the bottom of this email to read the project summary, which includes more information about the study and your rights as a participant. You will have the option to opt in or out of the study. Should you decide to opt in, you will be automatically directed to the survey. This survey will only be active for two weeks after you receive this email.

Your participation is voluntary and your responses will be confidential - your unit leadership or other Soldiers will not see your individual responses. Ultimately, your input will help the U.S. Army through the advancement of knowledge on the relationships between diversity, inclusion, and unit outcomes. The Army will also benefit from enhanced knowledge of diversity and inclusion and how they are linked to things such as work attitudes and the success of the Army.

If you have any questions before, during, or after the survey, please contact me: Dr. Michele A. Calton at [email protected] or 913-702-4959. Thank you for your time!

[SIGNATURE]

**When you are ready to take the survey, please copy and paste this link to your browser** LINK GOES HERE