Photo By Avery Schneider | A collage of photos of people receiving the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, Buffalo...... read more read more
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A sticker may not seem like the most significant thing to give somebody, but at the Buffalo District of the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers it’s a sign of major impact.
The end of March marked six-months of the district’s Clear Communicator Badge initiative, recognizing great people helping tell the USACE story with a simple, yet coveted sticker.
The badge started off as the brainchild of District Public Affairs Chief and veteran Andy Kornacki.
“Badges in the military demonstrate a soldier has gained proficiency in a specialized area. They wear it with pride, and it gives others something to aspire to. Same idea for the Clear Communicator Badge,” Kornacki explained. “This initiative is building a culture where employees feel empowered to talk about what they are doing and consider communication tactics beyond traditional methods.”
Since the beginning of the initiative, employees at all levels of the district have been encouraged to nominate anyone demonstrating communication skills with a positive impact on the district’s mission to delivers world class engineering solutions to the Great Lakes Region, the Army and the Nation.
The first nominations were made by Kornacki’s public affairs team, but more quickly came from its command team, branch chiefs, and supervisors. Eventually, employees with only a few years or a few months with USACE started nominating, too.
The Clear Communicator Badge sticker incorporates the Corps Castle – the U.S. Army Engineer branch’s historic insignia and centerpiece of USACE’s logo – and the vertical broadsword, quill, and lightning bolt insignia of Army Public Affairs.
Awardees received their badges in informal presentations – finding them in their workspace or presenting the sticker on-the-spot wherever great communication took place. They are encouraged to display it proudly on their USACE hardhats, notebooks, or anywhere else they chose.
The badge has been given for one-on-one conversations, group conferences, public meetings, and training events. It’s also been used to recognize great presentations, graphic design, and a new website.
One of the district’s health physicists was recognized for giving live, virtual tours inside a site where radioactive materials are being remediated and most teammates and stakeholders can’t go. His communication – using just a cell phone and a virtual meeting platform – bridged a communication gap made necessary by safety restrictions.
“As a technical agency, making complex information digestible for the public, the people we work with, and even our own employees is critical,” explained Dave Romano, Buffalo’s deputy district engineer. “Recognizing the value of our team and the impact their communication skills have on our mission and the communities we serve is equally critical. I love to see them recognized this way.”
The first recipients of the badge were a biologist, project manager, and civil engineer. But the group quickly broadened to include people and teams from diverse professional backgrounds – a budget analyst, a planner, park rangers, and more.
People outside of USACE have also been recognized.
Linguists from the U.S. Department of State received the badge for translating between water managers from Turkmenistan and Buffalo District team members during a site tour and knowledge exchange. An outside expert in data optimization and business intelligence received the badge for offering insight during the development the district’s new website.
In just six months, 24 nominations have been made, recognizing how 65 people supporting communities across the Great Lakes region and the nation.
“One of the most important parts of the initiative is that it reinforces the fact that everyone has a story to tell and the work they do has an impact,” said Kornacki. “Anyone can make a difference through clear communication.”
The Buffalo District delivers world class engineering solutions to the Great Lakes Region, the Army and the Nation in order to ensure national security, environmental sustainability, water resource management, and emergency assistance during peace and war.
| Date Taken: | 03.29.2024 |
| Date Posted: | 03.29.2024 15:48 |
| Story ID: | 467405 |
| Location: | BUFFALO, NY, US |
| Hometown: | TONAWANDA, NY, US |
| Web Views: | 40 |
| Downloads: | 0 |
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