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The person in line to become the Department of Defense's next chief management officer met with DFAS leaders Aug. 9 in the Maj. Gen. Emmett J. Bean Federal Center, where the DFAS story unfolded through briefings on the agency's missions and operations.
"I could feel the passion for what you do from the moment I walked into the building," said Lisa J. Hershman, who is the DoD's deputy chief management officer currently performing the duties of the third-highest official in the Defense Department.
Ms. Hershman was nominated in July by President Donald Trump to become DoD's next CMO. The Senate will vote on her nomination when it reconvenes after the August recess, and if confirmed she would replace Jay Gibson, who left the position in December 2018.
She is currently visiting various DoD sites, including those agencies and field activities that support the DoD. The CMO is responsible for finding efficiencies in the Department.
DFAS Director Teresa McKay provided an overview of DFAS history and operations in the director's conference room. The briefing demonstrated how the agency has evolved through continuous reform while consolidating and becoming more efficient along the way.
"You'll see today we offer a wide variety of services to the Department in many areas to support the mission for a relatively low cost, a small percentage of the Department's budget," said Mrs. McKay, adding that the operating budget of DFAS is 0.2 percent of the total DoD budget.
Mrs. McKay talked about the agency's priorities and some of the success stories in reducing financial management systems, consolidating operations, and finding efficiencies in processes.
Other agency leaders provided briefings on finance and accounting operations, information & technology, and human resources.
Directors from other sites were present via video-teleconference to tell the story of the unique features and functions of their locations. Leaders in Cleveland, Columbus, Rome, Texarkana, Limestone and Europe introduced themselves and provided summaries of their areas.
"I am so impressed by all of the data here, and I also appreciate your focus on process and outcomes," Ms. Hershman said. "A lot of organizations focus on output. You fully embrace industry standards and benchmarking."
Employees tell the story
A tour of DFAS Headquarters included stops to help bring the DFAS story to life.
Briefers at the first stop told the DoD official how DFAS pays service members and civilians and operates its customer care centers.
"I felt Ms. Hershman was authentically a 'people' person," said Andrea Pressley, Finance Mission Area customer operations director. "She was inquisitive and seemed to truly care about what we do."
While touring the care center, Ms. Hershman viewed a real-time tracking board, noting it wasn't just about the number of calls received but also the quality of the help they were getting.
Dexter Blackmon, Indianapolis Customer Operations director, said that DFAS did "an excellent job" putting together their briefings and he enjoyed talking with the interim CMO. "The information shared was well received, and I truly enjoyed hearing her insights, especially regarding not sacrificing one priority for another."
Ms. Hershman also sat in on a call from a customer with customer service representative Amber Gardner, which is known as "Y-cording."
"I like when we 'Y-cord' and show others in the organization what we do here, because it shows the importance of our service," Ms. Gardner said.
The call was about a garnishment of a service member's unpaid taxes, so Gardner listened to the concern, and then she connected the caller to the garnishment team. Ms. Hershman noted how calm Gardner was during the call, which Gardner ascribed to her previous experience as a 9-1-1 dispatcher.
"The biggest thing I do when I take calls is to stay calm, because they aren't upset at me, they're upset at the situation, and they need to get their problem solved," Ms. Gardner said.
Briefers at the second stop talked about accounting services, information & technology reform, and cybersecurity.
Ms. Hershman said that she was happy with the information and briefings, and she would be able to advocate on behalf of DFAS. She said that the people of DFAS seemed to be engaged and to really care about the mission.
She noted that it takes "strength and courage" to look at yourself critically and say "this is where we are, and this is where we need to go." Ms. Hershman encouraged those she spoke with to continue to serve their customers, because it's the customers who will relay how successful an organization is in overcoming their challenges.
"I have heard nothing but great things about your organization," Ms. Hershman said. She said her fact-finding tour would help her "demystify" the agencies of the Fourth Estate to policy makers. "I want to be part of telling your story."
| Date Taken: | 08.15.2019 |
| Date Posted: | 12.31.2019 12:39 |
| Story ID: | 357851 |
| Location: | INDIANAPOLIS, INDIANA, US |
| Web Views: | 80 |
| Downloads: | 0 |
This work, Senior DoD official visits DFAS, by Christopher Allbright, identified by DVIDS, must comply with the restrictions shown on https://www.dvidshub.net/about/copyright.
