Command Sergeant Major / Sergeant Major,
We are fast approaching the one-year anniversary of Go-Live. As we continue to make progress, I want to thank you for encouraging your Soldiers to learn the system and provide us with their feedback throughout the past year. Your teams have worked hard to make IPPS-A a success, and your guidance has been monumental to this effort.
The following Service Members in particular deserve kudos for their hard work and dedication, as they have closed/resolved the most Customer Relationship Management (CRM) cases per COMPO since Go-Live:
- Active – SPC Alberto Colon-Cabrera, 176th Financial Management Support Unit, Camp Humphreys, South Korea.
- ARNG – SSG Bethzaida Gonzalez-Lanham, 729th Quartermaster Company, Sykesville, Maryland.
- USAR – SFC Michael Sneed, Reserve Personnel Management Directorate, Human Resources Command (HRC) Ft. Knox, Kentucky.
These individuals are providing outstanding service to their fellow Soldiers. Great work!
I want to provide you with some updates, guidance, and resources to share with your units as they continue to navigate IPPS-A:
Holiday Absence Block
We have reached that time of year when Soldiers take absences. Please ensure your teams are aware of the
IPPS-A Self-service User Guide on S1Net, which provides helpful information on performing absence requests. You may also refer to the
Guides, Job Aids, and Solutions section for information on handling various absence scenarios. In accordance with the
SECARMY memo, IPPS-A is the Army’s system of record for HR actions, and it is designed to eliminate the need for using DA31s.
Please remind your units that IPPS-A’s Absence Analytics reporting can show the number of absences by type for your organization and other Business Intelligence (BI) reports. By accessing the Absence Analytics tile in IPPS-A, HR Pros can drill down by Unit Identification Code (UIC) or Distribution Management Level/Sub-Level (DML/DMSL). Clicking on the number will produce the list of Soldiers.
IPPS-A can help you gain insights about your organization and Soldiers from data analytics. I encourage you to continue to take advantage of the great tools IPPS-A has to offer.
Personnel Asset Inventories
Please ensure your organizations are prepared for the upcoming Personnel Asset Inventories (PAIs) and have planned accordingly.
To improve the accuracy of accountability and slotting data in IPPS-A,
all COMPOs must conduct PAIs. This will enhance projected strength reporting within IPPS-A and the Defense Readiness Reporting System – Army (DRRS-A).
Active Component Commanders will conduct PAIs between
1 February 2024 and 15 March 2024.
No later than
29 December 2023, all Commanders of Army Commands (ACOMs), Army Service Component Commands (ASCCs), Direct Reporting Units (DRUs), ARNG, and USARC must submit a reporting scheme for subordinate commands in support of Human Resources Command (HRC)/Headquarters, Department of the Army (HQDA) Defense Collaboration Services (DCS), G-1 tracking; these schemes should identify organizations that must conduct PAIs early due to mission requirements. These should be submitted via email to:
usarmy.knox.hrc.mbx.isb-ipps-a-functional-team@army.mil.
NOTE: In conjunction with the PAI, ACOMs, ASCCs, DRUs, ARNG, and USARC will publish guidance to their subordinate elements to validate and correct assignment end dates.
For more information, please refer to the HQDA EXORD 024-24 Army-Wide Personnel Asset Inventory (PAI) (Final) on
S1Net.
CRM Case Closures
CRM cases that have been stagnant within the same Provider Group for over 180 days will be closed. This enhancement will clean up approximately 25% (~10,000) of aged cases within the system and will provide us a true picture of trends and issues across all components.
Moving forward, the system will automatically close cases which exceed the 180-day standard. After closure, members will have 30 days to reopen any cases that still pertain to ongoing issues.
We understand that Army National Guard (ARNG) members may require more time to work on these cases. Therefore, ARNG members can note their status as an ARNG user in a CRM case; this will trigger an extension in the system to give them more time to complete the case.
Required Infrastructure Updates
Please make sure your teams are aware that we are performing necessary updates to the system’s infrastructure. These essential upgrades began 2 November 2023 and are expected to continue through 11 January 2024.
Updates like this are a regular part of the software development process and will occasionally occur as we continue to improve the system (think of your iPhone’s iOS, for example). Once these updates have been completed, we will resume our normal battle rhythm of enhancements and break-fixes.
Please thank your units for their patience and understanding as we continue to improve IPPS-A.
Resources
Despite being one year into Go-Live, we’ve received feedback that some HR Pros still do not know how to perform certain functions in the system. I assure you this is not from a lack of training opportunities or resources. You are
strongly encouraged to incorporate IPPS-A learning into your Sergeant’s Time (or any time you set aside for NCOs) to help get your HR Pros up to speed. You may refer to the resources we have as a starting point.
Ensure your NCOs have the information and materials they need to succeed and support their Soldiers. User guides, manuals, and job aids are available to assist
all users, and can be found here:
https://ipps-a.army.mil/Training/Training-Aids/.
Encourage them to use IPPS-A Replays, our video demo series. Each episode is a short overview on how to perform specific functions within IPPS-A. Also, our IPPS-A Coffee Tawk series is where IPPS-A subject matter experts respond to commonly asked questions and comments from the field. The IPPS-A Podcast also gives updates on what’s going on with the program. These are posted to our
website,
YouTube, and social media pages.
I ask that when someone on our team here at FMD is asked to assist with training, we see maximum attendance at these events. Please remember, when they are training your Soldiers and Civilians, they are not putting packages, aides, and anything else together for the rest of the Army.
IPPS-A is helping our Soldiers meet the mission requirements of today and of the future. Thank you for supporting your units throughout this process. Your leadership is truly making a difference.
I wish you and your Soldiers a happy and safe holiday season. If you have any questions or comments, please reach out to me anytime. I am here to help!
V/r,
SGM Paul J. Smith
Senior Enlisted Advisor
DCS - G1, IPPS-A FMD