HUNTSVILLE, Ala. - U.S. Army Corps of Engineer’s Huntsville Center commander, Col. John Hurley, continues to provide a forum for communication for the Center’s employees to interact directly with their leadership over a morning cup o’ joe, March 7, 2019.
As the event host, the Resource Management office provided morning refreshments and lots of interaction and lively conversation.
Questions and conversations revolved around the Center’s recent relocation, what the commander feels he has accomplished during his tenure and where he sees Huntsville Center in the next five years.
Hurley will not only be departing Huntsville Center in April, he will also be retiring from the Army after nearly 30 years of service.
Stephanie Tucker, a management analyst, asked, “On your way out the door, have you fulfilled your bucket list?”
“I didn’t have a bucket list, per say, with a couple of exceptions,” Hurley responded. “For many circumstances, you come on board, things are already happening and you need to continue the progress forward. And then you have evolving things that happen that you need to respond to. But here were three specific goals I wanted to accomplish.”
“The first was to establish a more collaborative and transparent relationship with the Corps’ districts,” Hurley said. “It’s not us versus them. It’s much more of a collaboration. The second was ensuring great people were hired as people in leadership departed. I think we have done that exceptionally well. We have a great team.”
“And finally,” Hurley said, “I needed to get the Center’s employees moved into a new building that was better suited to meet our current needs. And here we are. With the relocation completed we can now focus on ways to make this open professional workspace really work for our specific needs. Phase two is bringing even more enhancements."
Most of the Huntsville Center staff relocated to Quality Circle, in Research Park, in February with a few offices still located in suites near University Square.
Hurley asked how the new building was working so far for those in attendance. Connor Owens, finance and accounting division chief, said he felt the new building’s open space would help build a closer working community.
“I’ve had better interactions with co-workers and leadership,” Owens said. “There seem to be better collaboration opportunities due to the openness, of not only the building, but the workspaces as well.”
Ramona Chestang, resource management administrator, said she was hesitate about the upcoming change. Fortunately, she had a friend who previously worked in this building.
“I was familiar with the layout so that really helped,” Chestang said. “I am enjoying the openness of the layout and I want to commend everyone on the design team on the move. It was a huge undertaking and watching it in action was impressive. The organization, the preparations that took place, the labeling systems and the move schedules were all impressive. The design team and the leadership worked extremely hard!”
Carrie Gilmore, a financial management analyst for the programs division, asked, “What is the biggest difference between Huntsville Center and the Districts?"
“If you’re in a district,” Hurley answered, “you have a leadership team you can go to, that has most likely encountered similar challenges and that can impart wisdom to help solve problems.
“In a center like Huntsville, you are on your own a lot of the time,” Hurley explained. “The challenges we encounter have most likely never been encountered. We have to discover a solution. We have to create a solution from scratch.”
Hurley was also asked where he sees opportunity for the Center’s growth in the next five years.
“Medical line of effect has a lot of opportunity for growth, and Huntsville Center has the potential to become an elite provider,” Hurley stated. “I can foresee support to Veterans Affairs and other government agencies in helping to revolutionize facilities.
“There are also huge opportunities in systems communications for these facilities, including electronic wayfinding systems, wireless internal communications systems, paging systems, call systems, server rooms and data centers, and voice over internet protocol telephone systems,” Hurley said. “And Huntsville Center is on the forefront of this technology application.”
Hurley wrapped up the morning discussion by extending his gratitude to and acknowledging that leadership often does not do this as often as they should.
“Thank you for what you do!” Hurley commended. “We, as leadership, don’t say thank you enough. It is vital to recognize your contributions and we want to ensure we do this more often! Keep up the good work!”
| Date Taken: |
03.07.2019 |
| Date Posted: |
03.12.2019 10:00 |
| Story ID: |
313915 |
| Location: |
HUNTSVILLE, ALABAMA, US |
| Web Views: |
68 |
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0 |
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