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Between social distancing, virtual recruiting and home schooling, in order to prevent the spread of COVID-19, nothing about the past few months has been normal. So Senior Chief Petty Officer Tori Novo, from Navy Recruiting District (NRD) Miami, has had to redefine the term.
Novo is NRD Miami’s command trainer, responsible for the training program, personnel qualification standards (PQS) program and maintaining an inspection ready command. She is also a wife and a mother of 3 sons ranging from toddler to elementary age.
“It’s all about scheduling and creating a routine,” said Novo. “With so many things going on in one household, it’s easy to lose track of what needs done, who needs to do it and what’s coming next.”
NRD Miami transitioned to virtual prospecting in Mid-March to aid in social distancing. Many businesses along with schools and daycare have also had to shut down due to the pandemic.
“My husband and I are both working from home,” said Novo. “He is a manager and, like me, is on a lot of conference calls throughout the day. It’s tough when we have calls at the same time, and there is no one to watch our little one.”
To create a sense of normalcy for her youngest, Novo purchased some of his favorite daycare toys to help create a more normal play day for him.
“The hardest part of all of this is keeping the toddler entertained,” said Novo. “When he starts to lose interest in his toys, he starts wandering the house. We have a pool in the back so keeping track of him feels like a full-time job.”
Novo’s two oldest have really pitched in to help the family. They are taking turns entertaining their youngest brother when their parents are working.
“We have been making this work as we go,” said Novo. “The first week of school was rough because we didn’t have written schedules. But we were able to learn from that week and now I make up schedules for everyone. This keeps us on task and on target.”
Even with the family’s full schedules, Novo created time around work and school for her and her children.
“The mornings are my time with the kids,” said Novo. “We have a routine from 8-10 a.m. where I get them ready for school, cook them breakfast and I’m there for them if they need me. It’s really nice not having to drive anywhere, it gives me more time with them”
Novo’s work schedule has her at the computer from as early as 9 a.m. to as late as 6 p.m. She has been able to transition most aspects of her job to the virtual world.
“I’m still holding PQS boards and command wide trainings via Zoom,” said Novo. “We have been able to keep everything on schedule excluding division in the spotlight (DITS) inspections. I’m finding my biggest challenge are maintaining connectivity to the (VPN) and training 200+ recruiters to our new system.”
Learning, growing and adapting have been Novo’s mantra since her transition from the office to working from home.
“I have done a lot of adjusting lately,” said Novo. “Without my assistant Petty Officer 1st class Allen, this job would be 10 times harder. I am so thankful to have her to lean on.”
Despite all of the challenges social distancing can bring, Novo is confident in her command and their resilience.
“NRD Miami Sailors are committed to our mission of bringing the best and brightest into the Navy,” said Novo. “I’m confident that each and every one of us is doing our part to make the most the current situation.”
The territory assigned to NRD Miami includes South and Central Florida, from Brooksville (50 miles north of Tampa), east to Vero Beach, drawing a line under Orlando, and then southward to Puerto Rico (PR) and the U.S. Virgin Islands (USVI).
Navy Recruiting Command consists of a command headquarters, two Navy Recruiting Regions, 15 Navy Recruiting Districts and 11 Navy Talent Acquisition Groups that serve more than 815 recruiting stations across the world. Their combined goal is to attract the highest quality candidates to assure the ongoing success of America’s Navy.
For more news from Commander, Navy Recruiting Command, go to http://www.cnrc.navy.mil. Follow Navy Recruiting on Facebook (www.facebook.com/NavyRecruiting), Twitter (@USNRecruiter) and Instagram (@USNRecruiter).
| Date Taken: | 04.22.2020 |
| Date Posted: | 04.22.2020 11:58 |
| Story ID: | 368111 |
| Location: | MARGATE, FLORIDA, US |
| Web Views: | 35 |
| Downloads: | 0 |
This work, Creating a New Normal, by CPO Kathleen Gorby, identified by DVIDS, must comply with the restrictions shown on https://www.dvidshub.net/about/copyright.
