U.S. Navy Now Stands Toe To Toe With AT&T, Google, HP, And Intel

By Jeff Marchesseault

GUAM - If you're going into partnership on a big new enterprise, mutual trust and accountability are high on the list of desirable traits helping to ensure longterm success.

As local residents review and respond to the Draft Environmental Impact Statement for a landscape-changing $15 billion military buildup that will largely be overseen by the U.S. Navy on Guam over the next five years, it's nice to know that the branch of military service in charge of the project has proven every bit as upstanding as the nation's most employee-friendly Fortune 500 companies.

Naval Personnel Public Affairs reports that the Navy is the first in the Department of Defense and the second government agency in 19 years to earn recognition as Workforce Management Magazine's Optimas Award winner in "General Excellence."

The prestigious recognition by the personnel industry journal was announced on the same day the U.S. Air Force announced other profile-raising news for the U.S. Armed Forces. On November 23, the Air Force News Service reported that the Department of Defense and the Air Force had scored outstanding marks of approval from a sample of 40,000 Americans surveyed by The Gallup Organization.

The Air Force and Navy have maintained a heavy presence on Guam since the close of World War II. The two branches of service will increase activity exponentially as the U.S. Territory prepares to host thousands of Marines and their dependents, hundreds of new Army personnel and their dependents, plus other service, civilian and labor personnel that will swell the island's population to well over a quarter of a million over the next several years.

Read the Guam News Factor story, "Guam's Pro-Buildup Majority Reflects National Sentiment", November 24, 2009.

Here is a news release announcing the Navy's recent recognition for providing outstanding opportunities for its servicemembers:

An Employer Of Choice, Navy Stands Alongside Google, AT&T

From Chief of Naval Personnel Public Affairs

WASHINGTON (NNS) -- 11/23/2009 11:19:00 PM-- Navy is the first in the Department of Defense and the second government agency in 19 years to earn recognition as Workforce Management Magazine's Optimas Award winner in "General Excellence."

The award recognizes achievement in at least six of nine areas including competitive advantage, financial impact, global outlook, innovation, managing change, partnership, ethical practice, service and vision. Navy joins past winners such as Google, Intel, Hewlett Packard and AT&T as employers who are leaders in developing management initiatives that directly affect business results.

"Earning the award is truly a tremendous achievement," said Vice Adm. Mark Ferguson, the chief of naval personnel. "However, it isn't the recognition that is most important –it is the opportunities and benefits these programs offer our Sailors in areas that are important to their personal and professional success."

In announcing the 2009 Optimas Awards, the editors of Workforce Management Magazine highlighted Navy's Assignment Incentive Pay Program (AIP), an online assignment process through which Sailors are encouraged to volunteer for hard-to-fill assignments by leveraging a more direct role in their career path management through an incentive pay bidding system.

Editors also praised Navy's efforts to recruit and develop a skilled and diverse workforce noting "[Navy's] portfolio of workforce initiatives showed the range of its efforts to attract, train and retain a skilled, diverse workforce of 300,000 that increasingly encompasses women and minorities."

To be considered for the award, Navy submitted descriptions of AIP and seven other programs:

- Crisis Action Organization (CAO) informs personnel readiness by assisting commands in effectively accounting for Navy personnel and their families following catastrophic events such as severe hurricanes, tornadoes or wildfires using a Web-based system, Navy Family Accountability and Assessment System. CAO also provides a venue to address post-incident needs to assist families during their period of re-stabilization.

- Global War on Terror Support Assignment Process Initiative allows Sailors to plan and volunteer for combat-zone assignments, improving morale and assignment predictability;

- Center for Language, Regional Expertise and Culture Program prepares Sailors for mission success overseas by strengthening communication and cultural awareness;

- Credentialing Opportunities Online, (COOL) allows Sailors in each of Navy's 64 enlisted career fields to receive independent occupational certification for skills learned in the military;

- Advancement Exam Development Conference Initiative enables subject-matter experts from the fleet to convene and author annual advancement examinations, allowing 85 of 100 full-time exam writers to be released for high-priority assignments and saving $7 million per year;

- Navy College Program Distance Learning Partnership partners with 32 institutions, offering 240 online degree programs to Sailors, with no out-of-pocket expense;

- Task Force Life Work aims to improve life work integration across Navy's Total Force through innovative life work programs and policies.

In evaluating candidates for the Optimas Awards, Workforce Magazine editors considered information from published reports, conferences, interviews with leadership and program managers and demonstrated performance.

"For nearly two decades, Workforce Management has been honoring organizations with exceptional workforce initiatives that clearly show a measurable, bottom-line success in response to the organization's business needs, issues or challenges," said John Hollon, a Workforce Management Magazine editor. "The 2009 winners uphold this standard yet again."

For more news from the Chief of Naval Personnel, visit www.navy.mil/local/cnp.

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