Mrs Regina Miners .
Well , I have to confess you all , I'm
feeling completely discombobulated
today . So , you know , it's family ,
you can tell your family how you're
feeling . So get ready for
discombobulation . But yikes .
So anyways , so it looks like there's
some people still coming in . That's
good . Wow , this is good , love it .
There are seats down here . It's just
like class , come on down front
for seats , you're
not hiding back there . Come on .
Yeah , great .
Thank you . Thanks all for coming . I
know it's an effort to come . Um but
it's always good to come and be
together . Um whether you're here or
whether you're joining virtually ,
these are really , really important
times for our organization to come
together and kind of baseline everyone
and kind of things that are going on
and things that I'm thinking here bring
to you some really important
informational topics and then of course ,
um as we always do to uh recognize your
teammates for a significant
achievements um and or length of
service which in and of itself is an
achievement . So thanks everyone for
being here today as we're all probably
feeling 2024 is already setting up to
be very busy , very demanding on our
enterprise . And of course time is
flying . It seems like we were just
celebrating the holidays , but we've
seen the holidays come and go . The new
year has come and go gone .
We have a Super Bowl champion .
Sounds like we've got some Chiefs fans
in here . Um I was just saying to Mike
Sebastian that he's in red and gold and
I said , are you a Chiefs
fan ? He says , ma'am , it's Marine
Corps . I said , well , I know that he
says , well , it's two champions
Marines and Chiefs .
But anyways , we do have a Super Bowl
champion Valentine's day is 24 hours in
the rear view and spring is trying to
emerge . I know Pakatan did not see his
shadow . So that means we're supposed
to have spring . But if you're looking ,
listening to the weather reports that's
going to have to be put on hold because
I think they're calling for snow on
Friday night . So Fs D don't put the
shovels away and the ice melt away
because we might need it . So it's just
incredible that we are already here at
mid February on the business side . We
have completed quarter one of the
fiscal year and are already halfway
through quarter two . We have a fy nd
that for 24 that was passed , that had
significant impact for our enterprise
as there were a number of structural
mandates in that , which of course , WS
falls in and supports across the
spectrum of services . And of course ,
we are in a cr status with
continuing uncertainty and I'm
going to continue to rely heavily on J
Lee to help us
understand what we're hearing because
depending on what channel and what day
you're listening to , you hear
different things . So , but we're
keeping very , very close tabs on the
activities on the hill with regard to a
defense appropriation . But when you
think of this , if these kinds of
events and , and environmental
influencers , if you will , aren't a
prescription for stress , then I'm not
sure I know what is then stress and I
know each one of you in your own ways
are feeling it . So we need to be very
mindful of , of our stress and how we
manage it . And so today in our
agenda , I wanted to make sure that we
are deliberate in how we are taking
care of ourselves . And we'll have a
short discussion . I've asked our
Pentagon Health Clinic docs to come
down and provide a short update on
heart health because it matters because
if we're not feeling good , we're good
to know one . So that will be a very
important discussion short
but important . We will also get some
key updates from the CFC program .
We'll have some discussion on
performance because we've got some
deadlines coming up at the end of March
for GS 15 and below , we'll have a
short introduction from our CX team on
kind of the training modules that are
being structured . And then we'll have
a spotlight discussion from Pam
Sullivan on the op program that
from there will progress with our
normal and really important
recognitions of achievements in our
workforce . And then I will close just
with a short discussion on some of our
goals and kind of how our trajectory is
set already for fy 24 .
And you know where our , how we're
framing our focus areas vis a vis the
highest levels of priorities set by the
secretary and the deputy . So we have a
full agenda . This is good . So I want
to just get right into our program .
And I'm really , really pleased that Dr
Williams is here from the Pentagon
Health Clinic . And again ,
February is Heart health month . We
focus on hearts in February . I know
probably people had some nice
celebrations yesterday . That's the
emotional side of the month of
celebration . But certainly on the , on
the physical side , on a more sobering
side is , is in fact this notion of our
physical well being and how well we are
maintaining our healthy heart . So with
that , I'm just going to turn it right
over and invite Dr Williams to come up
for some short remarks .
All right . Ok . It sounds like this is
on . Hello everyone . I'm uh John
Williams , one of the doctors in the uh
de Lorenzo Clinic . Um just to here to
give a little talk about , you know ,
stress and wellness . I've , as she
already mentioned , um there is a term
that we sort of jokingly throw around
in the clinic called Pentagon Syndrome .
Uh I mean , I don't know what anyone
else thinks of it is , but we kind of
throw it out as sort of like a
combination of just stress and lack of
sunlight . Um because they are , you
know , they both are definite definite
issues uh working at the Pentagon . So
stress is , it's , it's difficult to
quantify . There's no , there's no
objective measure like a blood test
that says you have this much stress ,
it's different for everyone , but it is
still very real . There , there have
been studies that have tried to , you
know , quantify it and study it in
various ways and there is definitely a
signal there that increased stress
increases your risk of heart disease ,
cardiovascular mortality .
So ways that wouldn't go . Oh , it's
right there . Ok . Sorry . Ways that uh
stress can increase your risk for heart
disease . There's , there's a lot of
different mechanisms and just , just a
few are listed there . Um It can
increase your blood pressure . Um vis a
vis your sy sympathetic response ,
which is pretty high right now in me .
Um uh so it can increase your blood
pressure , your heart rate , uh which
is good in certain situations . Um But
we , our bodies kind of evolved to do
that in short bursts and not day in and
day out , um , increased release of
stress hormones , uh which again , over
a long period of time are harmful to
the body . Um , an increase uh in
unhealthy behaviors . Um sort of things
you do to manage stress like , you know ,
I stress eat or I smoke or I Vape or ,
you know , we all have our vices . Um
and then uh uh just a generalized
increase in body inflammation , um that
can , and that , that inflammation also
has an effect on , you know , our
arteries , um which go through our
hearts . So , uh things like that , um
I just want to touch on something real
quick . So there is sort of a , I know
that , that there is sort of a general
conception that , you know , if you're
not stressed in your job , somehow
you're lazy , if you're not , if you're
not , you know , burning the midnight
oil if you're not sleep deprived , I
mean , some , some of us wear it as a
badge of honor . Um But you have to
take into account that it also has a
real effect on your health and you may
not feel it now , but it might be in
years later . Um So
just a few things about stress that ,
uh you know , I'm sure everyone's
probably heard this , you know , get
enough sleep exercise have downtime for
yourself . Um And I second , I second
all of those , um I would , I usually
tell my patients to treat it as almost
like a prescription rather than a
luxury . Like , oh , you know , I'll ,
I'll get to sleep when I do this or .
Oh , yeah , I get to , you know , I'll
go exercise because I have time . Treat
it like a nonnegotiable thing . Um ,
that you work into your schedule and
other things work around it . I don't
know . That's just my approach because
otherwise a lot of stuff wouldn't get
done for me . Um , so anyways , uh , I
guess we can go to the , yeah , go to
the next slide . Um , so some things
that you can do , uh , on your own , um ,
is just to know thyself . Um , so
know , know what your blood pressure
usually runs , um , know your
cholesterol , um , actually switch .
Um , so know your cholesterol . If
you're over the age of 40 I'd probably
recommend seeing a doctor at least once
a year . Um , know your family history
that has a big impact on your own risk
of things happening in the future with
your health . So that can , it can be
very enlightening actually . Um , and
unless you ask your , you know ,
parents and things like that , you'll
never know . Um , and then the last
thing was , uh , there is , there are
ways to sort of calculate your
cardiovascular risk or risk of having a
heart attack in the next 10 years . 30
years . Um , there are calculators
online . Um , some common ones that we
use in the clinic are the 2013 American
College of cardiology or American Heart
Association calculators . Um , the mesa
risk calculator . So they exist and ,
um , they , they can be helpful because
you can , you can see how different
factors play in , um , your age , your
race , your , um , things like that .
Um , and then see your doctor regularly
even if you're not sick , um , because
they can help reinforce healthy
behaviors and they can , a lot of times
they can help find blind spots in your
own self care , um , that you don't
even recognize . So , with that in mind ,
uh , next slide , uh , we are having a
talk on February 26th
down in the De Lorenzo Clinic . Uh ,
one of the , uh , one of our
cardiologists doc Doctor Aer Franzo ,
uh , will be talking about how to avoid
seeing him . Um , so , yeah , he ,
he's , yeah , he's tired of working and
he just wants to tell people to just
stop coming to him . So he's gonna give
you some advice on how to avoid having
to see him . Um , I think it'll be an
interesting talk . Uh , it's gonna be
in the Upton conference room in the Di
Lorenzo Clinic in Corridor eight . Just
really , you just show up to the clinic
and tell them you're here for the talk
and they'll point you in the right
direction . It's kind of hard to tell
you how to get to the Upton conference .
But , um , we've got pretty much
cover it for now . Um , any burning
questions .
Ok . Uh Doctor Sito is gonna take it
from here . Thank you , Doctor Williams .
I'm uh Doctor Jeffy Sito , the chief
medical officer at uh de Lorenzo . I
would love to be able to blow the lid
off that . Um Doctor Francios is a
Pentagon alumni . He actually held the
position that I'm in two ago . So after
he retired from the Navy , he's
actually up at you and is coming back
down as a guest lecturer . So the Upton
sits about 20 to 30 people . That's why
it's limited , but I'd love to blow the
roof off of that and be of service to
WHS So one please register uh to follow
up question from , I think the last
town hall since I don't think we have
went for another quarter . Somebody
asked about obgyn Services . Um I've
taken that lead for Colonel lament .
We're looking at bringing potentially
somebody one day a week uh for uh
obviously Tricare beneficiaries . So
thank you for bringing that question up .
Um Please let us know what else we can
do to help you . Um Don't have any
updates from the CDC yet for COVID .
I've also been advising on um COVID
policies . We're currently still
recommending five days if you're
positive . But if you've seen the news ,
something might be coming in April .
It's for public discussion , my
prediction , my prediction , it'll be
like the flu . If you're sick , you
have a fever , stay home . But right
now we're still following uh CDC . Uh
And it'll be five days um recommended
isolation . OK . OK . Any ,
any final questions , comments for the
docs or ? Oh , there's one , there's a
question ,
right ? So um that is a question .
We've um are struggling with our own it ,
challenges with that . I would like to
do that . So if currently it's not um
on teams , I'm pushing my staff and
myself to try to create that on teams .
Um Right now , we don't have a camera
and a microphone , but uh um that's
something I'm looking at . So I would
probably first say register . Uh and
then tell my team that you want to have
a virtual option . And then when I get
a collective , I'm like , hey , I told
you that people want it virtually . Um
And we definitely can try to make that
happen . I need to create a team's
invite and then people that are , I
know some people are so virtual . I see
patients in acute care , some people
are here and then at home . So
definitely understanding that , yeah ,
Doctor Wayne , I also forgot to give a
plug . We have a program in our clinic
called Fit to Win . Um That has some
really great people working , working
there . Um You can come see them on a
space available basis because it's
mostly for service members , but just
letting you know it exists . Um We have
nurse Karen and she can uh nurse Karen
is a nurse and she can help a lot with
the lifestyle and blood pressure and
things like that . And then we also
have , uh , Dave , um , who can help
with sort of the exercise , physical
activity , part of that . So it's ,
it's , they're really great people and ,
um , if you're interested , just come
down , check it out . Ok .
Thank you so much for coming today . Um ,
it , we need to take control of our own
well being . Um , that's a big
responsibility that we all have to
ourselves and it's a gift we should
give ourselves is , you know , good
health and , but there's a lot of
influencers around here . I do think
this Pentagon syndrome is real . I
would probably add a couple additional
things to that , you know , two
criteria , but I think we all feel it
just by the nature of what WS does for
this reservation . So thank you for
coming . Thank you for the follow up
from the prior question . I appreciate
that as well . So everybody goes to
impede your doctor and go see your doc .
So our next segment is going to be an
update on F or not fy calendar year
2023 combined federal campaign ,
how we did with our targets and our
goals . And I'm going to have La Fonda
Laan come up and , and give us an
update . A very positive update , right ?
Lavon . Good morning .
I'm LaVonda Laane from special program
coordinator for CFC . Um You probably
have talked to M Cox before . So I'm
stepping in for her today . Um We just
want to go over all the positive things
that happened in this last um six
months of CFC . If you can see on the
slide , we have exceeded our goal . Our
goal was 100 and 25 K and we have
exceeded um by 100 and 4% . So give
yourself a hand of applause for that .
Congratulations .
So this year , we had a lot of help
with our co our key workers and our
coordinators and our loan executives .
So between events and coming around and
just letting you know about CFC having
the charities come out , we were able
to attain this goal . So ,
congratulations . Uh next slide . Um So
I wanna give a special thanks to our ,
the teams that basically got us to
exceed the goal is our loan executive ,
Colonel Lopes . Um Our campaign manager ,
Min Cox and the director of CFC
coordinators , Zanette Tina
Sergeant Mathis Joshua Mary ,
Doctor Prophet and Stephanie Rodman .
Um and all of the key workers , it
takes a lot of people to attain this
type of goal . So um we would like for
you can go to the next slide . So we
are inviting you out for a ceremony to
to complete our close out . So our
ceremony will be on March 7th at 10 P .
I'm sorry , not 10 p.m. My bad 10 a.m.
No overtime over here . Sorry . No , no ,
no . Um in the apex A pe nine and 10 .
So we look forward to um celebrating
with you on AAA higher level . Um But
we just want to give you an update of
where we were for this year and we look
forward to working with you all next
year and maybe the goal will be a
little bit higher . So ,
congratulations . And thank you
WS has once again demonstrated its
generosity , whether it's our time ,
our talents or our financial donations ,
we never fail in remembering those that
have less . So thank you always for
your generosity . So our next segment
is going to be on performance . Sarah
Barnes is here to provide us an update .
We've got some looming deadlines in the
cycle of performance . So we wanted to
make sure that we kind of did a little
highlight and provide insights on kind
of what we should be doing where we
should be at and what resources are
available . So Sarah over to you .
Thank you so much , Miss Miners . Uh
Yes , I am Sarah Barnes and I'm here
from the Human Resources Directorate to
talk to you about the best time of year .
I'm so excited to be in front of all of
you again . Um And I am actually really
excited that it is the day after
Valentine's because uh it is a great
example of how you can have success
through communication . I'm sure all of
you have had holidays at one point or
another . Where you were a little bit
disappointed , maybe things didn't turn
out the way you wanted them to . Um But
if you have a healthy relationship ,
you can come together , talk about that ,
disappointment , talk through the
problem and figure out how to do it
better . Next time . Alternatively ,
you might have had a great holiday ,
best holiday ever . And now you've got
kind of a , a marker of where to go
from here and it's a , a lasting memory .
So , in the same way in our personal
life , we can look back at
disappointments or great successes and
think about how we can do it again in
the future . This is what performance
management is supposed to do for you in
your job . Uh And as Miss Miners
mentioned , we do have some deadlines
coming up . Um March 31st is the end of
the performance cycle . So to be ready
to get those appraisals completed , we
need to make sure all of our DP map
employees are on approved performance
plans and have a documented progress
review by March 31st . So there's still
around six weeks to get that progress
review taken care of . Many of you have
probably already had that discussion
with your rating official . It just
didn't get into the my performance tool .
So if you've been talking about
performance , let's just get that date
in the tool . So it's documented and
you're ready to go for the appraisal uh
for anyone who started in 2024 . So
January 1st up to now , you would not
receive a performance appraisal for the
2324 cycle . But you should be getting
on a performance plan for the 2425
cycle . We will just be a little bit
longer for you than everyone else who's
starting on April 1st and then for
anyone who is leaving as long as you
are on a plan for at least 90 calendar
days , you should be receiving an early
annual appraisal . So that should be
approved and acknowledged before you
leave . Uh to make sure that it is
recorded in the system . All right ,
let's go ahead and move to the next
line here . You can see a timeline and
it shows the steps that need to be
completed in order for that appraisal
to be done by May 31st and it needs to
be acknowledged by you by May 31st
because it is effective on June 1st .
Uh These steps are just a , a general
framework so you don't have to follow
these steps exactly . Um However , if
your component has deadlines , you're
supposed to be completing , make sure
you're aware of your component specific
um dates . I'll go to the next line .
This was a , a big timeline . So I
wanted to break it down into two slides .
Uh You need to acknowledge the
appraisal by May the th May 31st . Uh
If you choose not to acknowledge your
appraisal and acknowledgement just
means that you saw it . You talked
about it with your rating official ,
not that you agree with everything
that's in it . So you need to
acknowledge it by May 31st . If you
don't , that's ok . But the rating
official will pull it back and they
will acknowledge on your behalf . And
this is really important because on
June 1st , next slide , we want
everyone to get their awards and in red
at the top here , you can see that in
order for you to get your award , your
appraisals need to be in that completed
status . So that's why it's really
important . We get these appraisals
acknowledged either by you or by your
rating official . Uh Now the slide goes
into a little bit more detail about the
awards , the performance based awards
you can receive uh following your
appraisal . If you receive a level
three fully successful rating , then
you can receive a time off award , a
cash award or some combination of both .
If you receive a level five outstanding
rating , you could get a time off award .
You could get a cash award , a
combination of both or you are also
eligible to receive a Q SI A Q si A
quality step increase cannot be
combined with a time off award or a
cash award . So it would stand by
itself . Uh You can only receive it if
you've received a level five rating .
If you were in your position for at
least nine months and you cannot have
received a FA Q SI within the last 52
weeks . So there are a little bit more
eligibility requirements for that Q SI .
Uh , but as long as you've received a
level five rating been in the position
for nine months , haven't had it in the
last 52 weeks . You could receive a Q
SI uh , at your management's discretion .
This is not an automatic thing . So
awards are not effective until June 1st
because they're based on the rating
that becomes effective on June 1st . Uh
for Q SI S , they have to be effective
at the beginning of a pay period . So
they would be effective on the first
day of the first pay period after we've
received the uh approval from um from
your director that all of the awards
are approved and ready to be processed
next line . So here these are just
reminders of all of the different
services and resources that we can
provide to you . Um We offer training
throughout the cycle . So there's DP
map overviews for employees . There are
sessions for our rating officials about
starting the cycle getting to the
middle of the cycle when you want to
get those progress , reviews taken care
of . And then of course at the end of
the cycle , uh I have two pictures of
flyers on here . One is for the self
assessment call in series that I
actually have running right now , I am
overwhelmed by the success of um the
registrations for this uh this training .
So I am working on um getting something
together for anyone who wanted to
attend the training but was not able to
um I have waitlists of over 30 people .
So unfortunately , I'm not able to
reach all of them . Um But as soon as I
have more information about getting
this information to you , I will let
you all know . Uh and I want to thank
all of senior leadership for your
support in helping us get to um that
level of participation . Thank you very
much . Uh In March , we will have a
call and series for the rating
officials that I mentioned before .
That is for the end of the cycle kind
of that just in time training to make
sure you have the information , you
need to finish up the appraisals . And
then of course , throughout the year ,
I am happy to review your performance
plans . I'm happy to talk to you about
special workshops uh within teams . If
there's something you want to talk
about regarding performance management ,
I am happy to uh to provide that indi
individualized training . All right , I
have some email addresses at the bottom
of the slide . Uh You can see to reach
me , you would contact the performance
management inbox and then if any of you
are getting into the my performance
tool , something is not working
correctly , doesn't look right . Uh I
don't have the full vis visibility in
system that the my biz team does . So ,
uh that's why I've included their email
address on the bottom . Uh They are
fantastic . They will get on teams with
you . They'll look at your uh screen
and help you get where you need to go .
So I just want to give them a little
plug . They are happy to help . All
right . Any questions , any questions
for Sarah , Sarah , thanks for coming .
Um As she mentioned , we have about six
weeks to go . Um So you know
where you are in the cycle of , of
deadlines . So just be attentive to
those and , and get done . What needs
to be done , the resources are there .
I will tell you you better get in line
because as Sarah said , we had the call
and series for three days . That was
completely overwhelmed . Now we're
having to think of adding other
sessions and then of course , she's in
very high demand . So you better get to
the front of the line if you want to
indulge in her advice because she's
she's in high demand . So thanks Sarah
for , for coming today . Ok .
The next thing we wanted to do , I
wanted to invite up to Shawna Beal .
She's going to talk a little bit about
our customer experience management plan
and kind of lay that framework out and
then kind of preview what is coming in
terms of next steps in our training
series . To Shana . Thank you , Missus .
My good morning , everyone . It's nice
to see everyone's faces and familiar
faces today . I'm going to quickly go
over , are coming soon and then we're
gonna give you some information on
what's out now . So coming soon , um
recently , uh I should say fairly
recently , uh and ongoing , the federal
government um is really moving forward
with customer experience and employee
experience as priorities across the
federal government . Uh drawing upon
the federal uh policies as well as dod
specific policies . WHS is also setting
its goals , one of which is strengthen
the focus of customer experience uh
to realize these goals . Uh We're
developing the coming soon . Uh In fy
24 the CX management plan and this
is enterprise wide , this is a WHS
customer experience management plan and
what it is is a holistic plan uh with
the purpose of establishing very clear
ways forward how we as an organization
and individuals are going to be
approaching customer experience .
Thank you . Although in construction ,
uh like I said , it's coming soon this
year , we're looking at these five
priorities uh for WHS to make concrete
strides to get us . Um moving in a
mature way of doing business under
CX the first standards and policies .
Uh this area will create standards and
establish guidance to ensure continued
long term enterprise , wide success in
CX the second education and training .
Uh in this area , we strengthen and
empower you our workforce uh with
knowledge that actually allows WHS to
move forward successfully in CX
measurement and accountability . Uh
This is where we actually start to use
data um to improve our service delivery
and make decisions . The fourth area
um employee recognition and feedback
kind of going back to what uh Sarah was
talking about . Um We're establishing
awards specific for you to get
acknowledged by doing the great work
that you do in customer service in
service of customer experience . And
last is the customer enhanced
technology solutions in this area .
Basically , we're going to be improving
technology to make it easier for you
all to do your jobs as well as our
customers to receive the services . Um
Two of the objectives , as you see here ,
we have objectives under our priority
areas , two objectives that we decided
to push out first um was the CX CS
S which is the card , the customer
service standards . I think that
everyone has . And if you don't , we
have some here today . Um And that's
really focusing on our customers . The
second , which is a great focus is to
you our employees and that's the
training . Um So with that being said ,
I'm gonna turn it over to my colleague ,
Danielle Carpenter who you all know uh
to talk about the strides and moves we
made in training and education .
Danielle , thank you to Shona . Uh As
you mentioned , my name is Danielle
Carpenter here with of course , the
customer experience office and leaning
into priority number two , training ,
education . Um we've been developing
over the last uh year and a half or so .
Uh training that you can take online ,
um that will be available of course to
the whole workforce . Um especially of
course the employees , uh the goal of
the trainees and there are four of them .
Um , training one is , of course , WHS
101 which is giving you the basics of
our organization a lot of times and
across the organization , um people in
one directorate might not really
understand what's happening or how or
what services are offered by another
directorate or office . And so we
wanted to give a baseline um or
foundational um um information . We
want to give foundational information
and education around what our
organization does and how we serve as
dod and um the benefits and the things
that you all do on a day to day basis .
Um So we highlight , we're highlighting
that and then um WHS which is the
customer service standards in action ,
which of course is the same card but is
this , of course , is just the card ?
And so we wanted to reinforce what
these standards are , what they mean .
We're giving you um examples and
scenarios that you can relate to so
that you can better understand and
leverage what the standards are and how
you can apply them in your day to day
work . Um Another , the training three
and four which are customer experience
for supervisors and managers . And of
course , customer experience for
employees that's going over for um ,
supervisors and managers is equipping
you with the tools that you need so
that you can um apply the principles of
customer experience , how you can make
it a better environment for your
employees . Um how you can um make it a
better , encourage your employees to
better service the customers and then
for employees , we're uh tackling
customer experience at that level as
far as what you can do to improve the
customer's experience . Um A big part
of customer experience is employee
experience . And so that's covered in
the CX for managers and supervisors ,
but how you can um as a leader , as a
manager , better influence and guide
your um employees um and personnel to
better service . WHS um One other thing
um that's important to know is that all
of these trainings are coming out by
the end of this calendar year . WHS 101 .
You'll be required to complete that one
by uh the end of this calendar year .
But of course , the good news is it
won't be on the same track as all of
our other mandatory trainings which are
due , I think by October 1 or by the
end of September . So the good news is
you'll have a few extra months to
complete . WHS 101 . And that's of
course , encouraging all of us or
giving us all the foundational
knowledge just about our organization .
Um , I think that was the bulk of it
and of course , the other item to point
out is WHS 101 is available right now
in I Compass . Um , and we had some
overachievers so far , we already have
100 and 50 WHS employees who've already
taken the training . Um , two things I
want to point out there is a survey
that you can fill out , let us know how
the training was . If you found
anything that we need to improve or
change , we're definitely looking
forward to that . Uh We also conducted
uh focus groups . We've conducted
pilots of the trainings . If you're
interested in being a part of any of
that , we definitely wanna welcome you
so that we can take your input and
continue to improve the trainings . Um
and that sort of thing . So all of
these trainings are rolling out this
year . One is already out , the other
three , we're still conducting pilots
and focus groups on and finalizing that
content to get them out to you before
the end of this calendar year with that .
Thank you . OK . Any ,
any comments for Danielle or Tashana ?
This is really a a furthering of our ,
of our customer experience framework
as was just described , you know ,
we've kind of bedded ourselves down in
our foundational standards and now
we're we're activating kind of our ,
our framework of standards and
expectations with our training series
I'm really glad to hear that we already
have a lot of people immersing in the
WS 101 because the way customer
experience manifests itself is not only
within the confines of your own
workspace , but often by virtue
of WS being the big gorilla on the
reservation , people may ask you ,
where can I go get something ? It may
not be in your organization . But the
more informed we are about the entirety
and the full continuum of the services
that WHS provides , then the better we
can be with our instruction and our
advisories to the customer that uh may
have a question that resides outside of
our own organization . So , uh the
training is online um and we'll be
bringing forward the , the , the last
three modules um in the months ahead .
Um But , you know , everybody knows ,
everybody knows how important it is to
ensure that our customers feel like
they're being served in a timely
respectful , fulsome way . Um
So I would say follow your instincts as
well , you know , this training
undergirds and underscores some of the
important um kind of intellectual
parameters of customer experience , but
follow your instincts because you're
really good at it . You guys have been
doing this a long time . Um And if
someone compliments you on something ,
reflect on that and , and see what they
thought was positive about what you did .
Um And then kind of continue to
instantiate that in how you practice
and execute your duties every day . If
you get feedback , that's less than
positive . That's ok too . I've set up ,
I stood up here before we're not
running away from feedback . That may
be less than positive . We just got to
use it to make ourselves better . So ,
similarly , if we get some comments
that , you know , that didn't hit the
mark or , you know , I thought I was
gonna get XY and Z and I only got X
then think about that , let that wash
over you and , and of course , correct
um in your daily duties . So , um I'm
really , really pleased that this
framework is starting to uh fill out
and um let's see if we have more
overachievers and run to the WHS 101
training modules . So , anyway , so
thanks , thanks ladies . OK . Um As we
have been doing um in the interest of
kind of bringing our enterprise closer
together and giving insights to other
organizations and what they do . Uh We
are continuing with our spotlights
today . I've asked Pam Sullivan to come
up . Um As everyone knows , Pam
Sullivan is the head of the uh EEO
program office um in WHS she's got a
very , very big job . Um And I
wanted her to come as we have asked
others to come and let you know
what her team does , who her team is ,
what they do and um some of
the emerging emphasis areas um
in her domain of activity So pam if you
wanna come up um and provide a quick
spotlight ,
good morning everyone uh to start .
It's good to know that two different
branches we have , there's different
services and there's a lot of services
we actually provide . So I want to
highlight not only amazing team but
first , Mr James Parker , who is the
chief for affirmative employment and
alternative dispute resolution . His
team has a lot of proactive services
for both employees and for leadership .
And Mr Patrick Anderson is our chief
for complaints and adjudication . So
that handles our uh what we call the
reactive side . This is more about the
complaints . This is also training
there as well . Next slide , please .
So one , this is our service population
which gets a little large . It's so
just like many of you , we service a
very large number of agencies and not
just WHS next slide .
So what is our number one mission ?
What is the most important thing for us
to do our job ? It is to
it's our neutrality . Our job is not to
advocate for employees , it's not to
advocate for management . Our job is to
advocate for the process and overall .
So we provide answers to employees . We
also answer questions for management .
We provide services , some of them are
different for both management and
employees . So knowing those services
and those different avenues for
employees , um there are a lot of
avenues to address concerns you have .
We're just one of them . Um ,
throughout our agency , we have these
flyers that we all hand out . Uh , Mary
Wiley from um , the Ombuds lm , er , uh ,
reasonable accommodation . We all hand
out these flyers that tell you all the
different avenues you have where you
can address certain concerns with our
office . It's going to be with regard
to usually discrimination or
for workplace mediation . That's what
Mr Parker's team doesn't have to be
based on a discriminatory factor . Is
there a conflict in your office that
needs resolution that a third party
neutral could help you with ? So if we
could go to the next slide , these are
the services we provide throughout our
service population . On the complaints
and education we talk about , of course ,
we do a lot of reporting but what are
our services to you ? Uh The complaint
process answering questions , people
call us with questions doesn't mean
you're filing a complaint . It's
usually just looking for some
information that you don't know and
we're happy to answer the questions
that we know the right answers to or
pointing you to the right subject
matter expert because it's not always
us , we will point you to hr all the
time or directly to ig if the questions
belong in those expertise , but we know
where to send you . And then on the
other side , those proactive measures ,
we have a lot of tools for management
with regard to checking out what's
going on in your work . Environment
you've all been doing or you all had
the opportunity to do our do surveys .
We're doing those results . Now , we
also have uh working on poll surveys
with different organizations . But we ,
your leaders look at results and they
look at their work environment and they
think , I think something's going on .
Let's call Mr Parker and his team ,
let's do sensing sessions , let's do a
focus group because a lot of time the
leader doesn't really know what this
underlying concern is . So we can with
Mr Parker and his team get it directly
from the employees . It's anonymous .
No names are ever used . And that way
this is a tool not just for the
employees because it's overall health
of the organization , but for
management to know what's going on and
how to make improvements . So
one with the EO this is our main number ,
but every single one of us including me ,
our direct numbers are in the gal . So
you can call us management , calls for
advisory services to meet all the time
as well as Mr Parker and Mr Anderson .
Does anybody have questions on either
the EEO process or some of those
proactive services ?
No . Ok . Well , I'm sure you'll call
me with the questions instead of
putting it in the group and that's fine
too . Me or anyone on the team . So ,
yeah , Pam , thanks . Absolutely .
Absolutely .
As you saw , Pam's office is uh spread
very , very thin across a very very
robust uh customer community . So ,
um again , if you're looking for any
form of assistance , call , get in line ,
um she did mention that the doc um
results are out . I have asked all the
directors to reflect on your results .
Um and then have discussions with your
senior leader teams and your
organizations . Um sometimes those
results , as Pam said , give us some
insights on areas . Well , they give us
insights on a lot of areas , some
things that seem to be very going well
and some things where you could use
some assistance of some form of a
resource , whatever is of the choosing .
Um I encourage all of you to
immerse yourself in the services . Pam
and her team are really good at what
they do really good . That's why her
customer base is expanding , by the way ,
because people keep coming and saying ,
can I get service by you ? Um which is
always a good sign um uh in terms of
the standard of her program . So thank
you , Pam for that . Um But II I
would encourage everyone to familiarize
yourself , place a call , see what's
there , managers , you have a lot of
resources available as well . Um And oh ,
by the way , I don't think again , as
Pam said , you have to wait for
something to go wrong . There is always
goodness in keeping an ear to the
ground of the workforce and what's
going well , so you can continue to
replicate that or apply it somewhere
else because uh a lot of these
enterprises are very , very large . So
you may have kind of smaller uh exper
experiential um uh results
in a , in a smaller organizational area
and maybe those could be parlayed
somewhere else . Um And in , and the
inverse of that is if there are some
organizational elements that are having
less than positive outcomes in
certain areas , depending on what
you're measuring in the survey . Uh You
can look across and see maybe how other
organizations are doing it . So ,
surveys again , I always encourage
everyone to participate in a survey . I
thank you all for participating in the
do . Um It's a , it's , as you all
know , anonymity is , is key and your
input is important , we can't fix what
we don't know . So please participate
as the surveys and survey cycles are
quite robust these days , Pam . Um And
I know survey fatigue is real . Um But
try to modulate your , your time so you
can be a full participant in those in
those survey instruments . So thank you ,
Pam for that . OK . We're gonna now
shift to what I always love . Um And
that is looking to our left and right
at some of our um very accomplished
teammates in some of our achievements
and of course , uh later with directors
awards and , and our uh length of
service awards . Today , we're gonna um
do two recognitions um of two
teams that have gotten
distinctive recognition from
outside of the department , which is
pretty cool . It just reinforces what I
always say , the reach of W S's mission
and its standard for execution reaches
way beyond this building and is often
seen by the outside community as a
standard and as a Trailblazer in
certain areas . So we'll talk about two
of those today . Briefly . The first
one that I want to talk about is um
recognition that um the
FFSC team got . Um and um
this was actually uh recognized with
the participation of the Secretary of
Energy a couple of weeks ago where she
came and conjoined her um efforts
and her , congratulations with the
Deputy Secretary of Defense to
recognize FSD um with what they call
the Effect award A FFECT and that
stands for assisting federal facilities
with energy conservation um
technologies . And FSD was
provided a very large grant to
expand um on its energy and
resiliency initiatives that are
underway um have been envisioned um
for a long time . And of course , as we
all know , sometimes the reality is to
breathe life into vision , you need
money . Um And so , um the person
who was at the pointy end of that spear
was Hassam Kassab . Um Please stand ,
Hassam . And he , uh first of all , I
don't know if anybody is familiar with
how hard grant writing is . Grant
writing is its own little niche . It's
a very nichey area . People spend their
whole careers developing um
competencies and writing grants . And
um Hassam is from our engineering and
construction division and he took the
lead in penning
the justification to be a competitor
for the Affect Award . And , and
he was at the , at the center of a
successful outcome of the grant process .
And Stephen , I don't know whether you
want to stand and give a few insights
on a couple of the programs that you're
going to focus on with the grant .
Please come to the center . Hassam .
Come on , come on . I know I'm not the
Secretary of Energy , so I know this is
boring , but I wanted to make sure that
your family um took
opportunity to congratulate you as well .
Um Your big , your big monumental
recognition came from the Secretary of
Energy and Deputy Secretary of Defense .
So I won't even try to compete with
that . But your teammates need to see
and hear about this . So , Steve , why
don't you go ahead ? First of all , we
have a uh we have an engineering uh
division and Dave Westbrook who's out
here with team runs that they do most
of the large engineering design and
construction projects . A portfolio
within that of course , is our energy
portfolio . And uh with the energy at
first kind of starts with the reduction
of energy use when we can . This is a
very large and a very old building .
This building is 80 years old . I
walked through the tunnels yesterday
with another one of our divisions that
actually operates it . And it's amazing ,
you can walk back in time from the
eighties to the seventies . And then
you're in a section of piping and
thermal heat exchange flow a bunch of
pipes underground . They go back to the
19 fifties and then you kind of emerge
back out to the uh the present day . So
there's the uh efficient or the
reduction of use energy . There's the
efficiency in the way we use energy .
Uh And then there's the resiliency
because we can't afford not to be able
to operate . And so there's a lot of
initiatives in that area . Uh Sam has
brought a great bit of vision to bring
together for our team , a lot of
efforts that are ongoing , but to
package those in a way that they are
coherent and a coherent view to go to
the future . Uh And I could not be more
proud of uh both Sam with his energy .
And uh I think reenergizing a program
that has been here a long time , but uh
has breathed life into that if you will
and now that life that has breathed
into it has breathed money into it ,
which you've been able to go out and
secure and very important to it all .
Uh because we all have a uh we all have
a limited budget and a lot of these to
get to the future with energy reduction
and efficiency . Some of it is
replacement of very large industrial
size heaters and equipment we have here
and whether they are generators or
boilers or uh air conditioning units on
the roof or not really under the roof
but underground here . Uh as we
modernize those , they become more
efficient . And so I want to thank the
team , I really appreciate everyone's
uh contribution to this . It does take
a village with each one of these . So
though the engineering section designs
them , thinks of them gets the money
and we've got a lot of folks here that
are wearing a couple of them wearing
ball caps in the audience . They , they
probably work with FSD and they
actually are the hands on to operate
this equipment uh in often cases to
help install it to , to make sure after
it is installed , it's uh it's used
properly and we can uh we can benefit
from it . So my thanks to a full team
and it does take a village , not just
the construction , but Sam has been
certainly at the uh at the tip of the
spear on this one . And uh my thanks
and admiration for that . Thank you .
Thank you . Thank you .
There is advantages to having an old
historic building as you always have
material to , you know , modernize
renovate or um replace . So
guys , you've got , you know , you've ,
your employment is solid , you know ,
because you always have projects I want
to make a comment . This is the second
element in the WS family that has
been the beneficiary of a grant you
heard last or maybe you didn't hear a
frh has just recently secured a big
grant for their electronic health
record um modernization . And
like Sam here , Travis Smith over
there took the initiative to kind of
see , look at the landscape and see
what federal monies were available in
some cases . Private , both of these
are federal programs , grants ,
but there is a lot of private money as
well . That's being availed for use by
the federal works space to modernize
um or make more efficient operations
depending on what it is . So , uh I
would keep your ears and eyes open . I
know you guys read a lot . Um but um do
keep your eyes open when you're hearing
about um federal funds being made
available uh for modernization and
efficiency initiatives because maybe we
can bring another one home , but this
is the second one . So Sam , thanks a
lot . It's a big deal . It's a big deal .
Um So Darren , hello .
So , um you know , you're gonna step up
and um I think where's Regina Grant ?
Ok . Oh , that's right . Her mom is
ailing but others of the team are here .
So , um this is the second
award that is I wanted to bring to
everyone's attention . It's coming from
the outside . It's the Arlington
Transportation Partners Award . Uh Here
we go again . I think this is what ,
five years in a row . Darren . Wow . Um
Where WHS is a plat platinum level
champion um for um
bringing transportation initiatives uh
to the workplace . So , Darren , do you
want to step up and um say a few words
and
get your mic on ,
there's your card . It's on the floor .
Oh no , there it is .
Where's parents solving any help ?
So this is actually tools . Um I've
got with me up here , Hugh mclain and
Annette Lamb . These are two members of
the uh well , Hugh leads it but the
Transportation Management Office under
uh Regina Grant's Operation , Regina
Grant's away taking care of some family
matters um or she would be up here as
well . Um Two awards . This first one
is the uh you got a picture of this
thing , can we not anyway ? It's really
cool . Oh , it's coming out
here if you like ? Yeah . Yeah . Yeah .
Is it ? Well , let me give it to you .
So this is pretty cool award . This is
uh the Arlington Transportation
Partners , employer Platinum Award . So
what this is is a group in Arlington
that gives out awards uh annually um
recognizing businesses and communities
for their commitment to transportation .
Fifth year in a row , we've received
this . Uh and it's because the plan
that these guys put together these guys
are kind of unsung heroes . Um Not the
Transportation management plan working
closely with FSD , but also uh mass
transit benefits . How many of you use
mass transit benefits ? That program
works pretty good for you , doesn't it ?
I mean , and they , and they , they've
really improved . It COVID helped us a
lot because we learned how to turn them
around in a day or if we had to . But
we , we typically get them on very ,
very quickly . Uh , it used to be a
little while , kind of a pain , but now
electronically . So I think we've done
a good , a good job with that . And
that's all based on these two here ,
Annette Lamb was hired , excuse me ,
she was a contractor with WHS for years .
Um And Regina Grant had the good wisdom
to hire her and uh she had one thing
that was uh part of her hiring and that
was bring recognition to WHS and she's
done that . This is the fifth year in a
row . We've gotten this award and the
next of them , one that we're gonna
talk about as well . Uh Unfortunately ,
it doesn't come with money . So maybe
we're not doing a great job . Not all
things are monetary Darren , they can
be intrinsic benefits . I mean , look
at this , look at all the people that
are here to applaud this . It's all
good . Uh The next one I don't , do we
have a picture of that ? Yeah . Look at
that uh certificate for uh one of the
best workplaces in the nation . Uh And
uh this is our fifth year uh for , in ,
in terms of commuting . OK . I can tell
you the other things , but in terms of ,
in terms of commuting , uh this is
considered one of the best uh spaces in
the United States , one of over 600 .
Yeah , let me have that . Thank you .
Yeah , that's a nice plaque . Good job
by you . Good job by you anyway . Um
And it's all because of these guys hard
work and it is we do a great job with
the comm community . It's one of the
biggest hubs on the uh metro line uh
between Park and Metro and uh and uh
everything else that these guys do for
you . I I'm really glad and proud that
we've received this recognition guys .
Thank you . Thank you very much .
We always talk about the reservation
being like a small city . Um And uh
what they do when it comes to the
transportation , um integration and
modulation of all the things that are
going on , all the different
trafficking um modes of travel , you
know , Dave your construction is going
on all the time , you know , i it's
just an amazing , it's an amazing feat .
Um And to not only get one recognition
but to be continually recognized
means that they take what they do very
seriously and they're always looking
for ways to make it better . So um very ,
very well , well deserved . So , thank
you for bringing recognition to the
organization . Um It's always very
special when those from the outside
looking in , say , I like what I see
over there . So thank you , you guys
are going to have to clear a wall out
with all these multiyear awards ,
Mister Irvine . You need the money . Oh ,
ok . Got it .
Oh dear . And
so um we're gonna shift now to
um one of the things that all this
makes me happy all the time but um I
love the director's award um uh portion
of the segment as well um because it
is um competitive , it's uh
nominated from the directors who are
seeing really good stuff going on um in
all the organizations . And um the
result is us being able to
recognize and congratulate um some top
performers um with some significant
accomplishments . So this year we're
gonna recognize or this period , we're
gonna recognize six , I believe we have
six this round . Um And so ,
Tom , wherever you are , the following
individuals are recipients of the third
quarter , 2023 directors award from
facility services directorate , Mr
Dewey , a Nguyen for his exemplary
performance as electronics , industrial
controls , mechanic , facilities ,
operations and services division
from acquisition directorate Mr
Sebastian R Anderson for his exemplary
performance as contract specialist ,
rapid prototyping acquisitions branch
are , well , my dad , it'll break your
tongue .
Oh , plus the , I think that's
glaring on my goggles
from executive services directorate ,
Mr Charles C . Marie for his exemplary
performance as government information
specialist , freedom of information
division ,
the T section .
Thank you
from facility services director Mr
James W King for his exemplary
performance as supervisory facilities ,
operations , specialist facilities ,
operations , and services division .
Ok . So Tom , thanks for that . You
always have that big voice that makes
it sound so official . Tom . I love it .
I love it . So we're going to turn to
um , our length of service and , uh ,
we're gonna have , um , 53
names
read in a minute . You're right . I
told you guys at the beginning I was
discombobulated and this is the first
sign of discombobulation . Um I forgot
that we wanted to , we've had , we're
having a transition of our awards
committee and I wanted to make sure
that we took the opportunity to pull
together those who have served . And um
and actually in serving on the
committee , they serve you , they serve
this organization , they put time in um
to review awards uh and justifications
and to be very discerning on , on how
awards are applied and , and how they
are earned and a standard for earning
awards . So is Frosty here , Pam ? I
know you're here and Roslyn Walston
here . Um
Are you standing
Tom ? Yes , ma'am . Uh Yes .
Shall we bring them up , Mr George
Frosty R . Sturgis Junior ESD , MS
Pamela R . Sullivan Eeop
please .
Pam . Where's Rob ?
Is Roslyn ? Not here ? Oh ,
ok . Well , she's pretend here .
Go ahead Tom . The citation reads . I'm
pleased to formally express my
gratitude for your service on the
Washington Headquarters Services Awards
Recognition Committee by recognizing
you with the office of the Secretary of
Defense Certificate of Appreciation .
Your participation on the committee is
but one example of service that
employees within the Washington
headquarters services can provide to
our great organization . It is a means
by which we have an opportunity to give
back and actively ensure that deserving
employees are recognized for their
contributions . However , just like
community service in our schools and in
our neighborhoods , participation on
the committee comes with extending
ourselves beyond our everyday work
commitments . Your involvement comes
with an acceptance of additional work
rooted in the belief that support to a
greater cause and the betterment of
others matters . Thank you again for
your dedicated efforts and team spirit
signed Regina F Miner's director .
Are we good ?
That's another duty as a sign , but
it's a big duty because again , it
services all of you and it certainly
helps me and the senior leaders . So
thank you . Thank you for what you've
done . I know it , it , it has come at ,
you know , an investment of time . So
thank you . OK , Tom . Now ,
now I'm ready for length of service . I
know we're gonna uh recognize 53 people
today names will be read
940 years of total service .
Wow , that's a big number . That's a
really , really , really big number .
Um But again , you know , when you
think of that number and you think what
that represents not only in its
totality , which is public service ,
but then the subset of that , which is
service to dod through WHS It's pretty ,
pretty special and not only that , but
we're building what I , you've heard me
refer to before defense in depth with
longevity and that's very , very
important . It's very important for
sustaining our institutions and
ensuring continuity and work . So ,
with that , Tom , you , we'd like to
ask the audience to please hold their
applause until all the names have been
read and please have the uh recipients ,
please stand until all the names have
been read and then the audience can
applaud Mr Robert L Anderson . The
third five years , Fsd
Mr Ryan W Appell , five years ,
FSD Mr Gregory M Berry .
Five years , RR Mc Mr Zachary
D Barry , five years , RR Mc MS
Victoria L Breman , five years ad
Mr Ronald P . Clap Sidle , five
years , RR Mc Mr John A
Davidson . Five years , RR Mc
MS Amanda K Dupont . Five years ,
80 Mr Matthew LX line
five years , RR Mc Mr Richard
L Hamrick , five years , FSD
Mr Ronald A Noakes junior , five years
FSD Mr Michael L
Proctor , five years , FSD
Mr Terry , L Rim bold , five years ,
RR Mc Mr Russell B
Sanders . Five years , RR Mc
Mr Seth W Schmidt , five years ,
FSD Mr Carl E Wilkerson
junior , five years , ESD
MS Marie D Camacho Lopez . 10
years F MD Mr Pierre
A A die 10 years , FSD ,
Miss Jamie S Graham . 10 years ,
Hr D Mr Lucius E
Kirkland . 10 years Fsd
Mr Juan Anthony priest . 10 years
a Miss Jennifer L Walsh . 10
years , 80 MS Stormy L
Anthony . 15 years , Ad
Mr Brian Coleman . 15 years . Hr
D Mr Brian E Henry .
15 years , FSD MS
Janelle Joseph . 15 years , Ad
Mr Clarence Kenny senior 15 years
ESD MS Andrea D Lynn .
15 years , FSD MS
Elizabeth Beth Scott . 15 years ,
Hr D Mr Brandis R Smith .
15 years , Ad
MS Stephanie W Charlotte . 20 years ,
Ad Mr William E Joe
20 years F MD Mr
Ronald R mcculley junior , 20 years
ESD Mr Lionel Vega
Rivera . 15 years , RR MC
Mr Sri Sridhar Susarla , 20
years FSD Mr John
Richard A Taylor . 20 years
ESD Miss Sonia M Watson .
20 years . Hr D Miss
Jennifer L Zavala . 20 years .
Hr D MS Shannon Giles ,
25 years . ESD Mr
Sean P Lacy . 25 years , FSD
Mr Fred Pitts the 3rd 25 years ,
FSD Mr Antonio F
Freeman . 30 years F MD
Mr Richard , O gutter . 30 years ,
Ad MS Angela Sti
30 years , 80
Mr Raymond W Sullivan , 30 years FSD
MS Veronica D Atkinson . 35
years , ESD Mr
Ortiz L Johnson . 35 years F
MD Mr Michael P Berry .
40 years , ESD MS
Stephanie Lynn Carr , 40 years ESD
MS Paulette M Crichton . 40 years
A Mr Christopher M for
40 years , I owe Mr Bernard
Cruz , 50 years , FSD ,
Miss Jacqueline E Seger . 50 years
FSD .
Well , for everybody who is in the five
year category , you see what you have
to look forward to . Um , I would say
to the directors , I hope you're paying
attention to who's here and who's
gonna only be here a short time and
you're doing your talent searches . Um ,
but wow , what a , what a range , what
a range , every , every occupational
areas represented here . Um , and ,
uh , it just is just the , the
embodiment of , of just commitment to
public service . So it's , it's , it's
pretty cool . So , thank you all .
Thank you all . Um So , uh that
ends kind of our recognition portion .
I just want to close with a couple of
uh final remarks , um just on kind of
where we're going as an enterprise . Um
As I started , you know , we're already
a quarter and a half into the fiscal
year and uh 424 and we're
already two months um almost uh
into the calendar year . So a lot of
our work is already underway , but I
just wanted to just level set everyone
in um kind of the frame out of some of
our bigger um focus areas . Um
That what I call here is the top 10 ,
but , you know , we have top 10 , we
have um you know , the dozen , we have
the Fabulous 50 we have the 100 you
know , marathon , um goals and
objectives because every if you're not
here , there are layers and layers of
goals and objectives and priorities
that your directors are also leading ,
um , together with you . Um But these
goals that are up here are the ones
that are um identified and
formalized as supporting , um , the
Deputy Secretary's goals of , of taking
care of our people and succeeding
through teamwork . Um , when we talk
about taking care of people , um , we
talk about making , for instance , dod ,
um , a preferred employer . Um , and as
we look up here and we look at our
civilian time to hire and uh all the
work that is going into that in terms
of reshaping our process , deeping our ,
our , our own bench and modernizing our
capabilities that is in of itself um A
initiative which is directly supporting
that together with the talent
management emphasis as well . Um We're
taking care of people in our
installations . That's a people first
approach , which is a part of the
framework for taking care of people as
you all know , and many of you in FS D
and are working what I call the three
track um space modernization , which is
the Pentagon reset for post two , the
Mark Center optimization . And then our
continuing uh continuing focus on how
we're using lease space with the goal
of trying to get out of it because it's
pretty expensive and making sure that
we're maximizing use of our government
facilities . Um And then the third part
of that , which is a little bit one off ,
but it's , it's a part of the deputy's
desire to create visibility on how we
are progressing and the instantiation
of a dashboard , which we are led ,
being led by Alexis and Glenn
Buckner who are helping work across the
OS D staff . In this case to , to
architect a very robust dashboard
with metrics that are tracking with a
number of the priorities that are
emblematic of what we're describing as
organizational or business health . Um
So those are a couple of them , as we
all know , 2024 is a presidential
election year . So we're going to be
ramping up and
revitalizing ,
reactivating . I guess I should say our
apparatus that normally gets activated
during the presidential election year
and it will crank all the way through
the presidential election and into the
ensuing year after inauguration . And
as we see incoming leaders and
of the team regardless of the election
outcome . So that will be a big focus .
That is an enterprise wide focus .
So many of the directorates will be
involved in that work .
As you all know , you've seen memos
from the Deputy Secretary , there are
other Os D business process
improvements um that she is looking to
uh read life into some . Um We will
be part of some of those . Cam's
modernization is an example of one of
those . Um And um and
there is a desire to create more
visibility for um the OS D customer
with uh visibility on services and
support . Um I am happy to report that ,
that portal immediately goes to
WHS So that kind of is emblematic of
what we do in terms of service . Um You
know , we're the go to organization for
much of what the customer is looking
for as they , as they take their status
as an employed individual in the office
of the Secretary of Defense and the
other service organizations . Um
Everyone knows about the Secretary of
Defense's 45 day security review um
that uh he directed last year , uh Dan
Purtle and his team have been leading
that in coordinations with uh Danielle
Metz um in the organization and D A and
M , the information management and
technology area . Um And with the uh
security um office focal points
to look at a lot of
internal security practices , handling
of information and
any , any remediation or , or
safeguard that we put in our workspaces
for that purpose . Um And Dan and his
team is not only working inside of WHS ,
but they're assisting D A and M and
they're assisting the overall OS D
enterprise . Um Dave Saunders and his
team . You heard , you've heard the uh
reference to Amy that is Dave's
acquisition modernization initiative .
And it's essentially um in putting in
place a platform that will allow all
parties who are a part of the
acquisition process to collaborate ,
share information . It will increase
our accountability uh through our
deepened documentary records and it
will strengthen our compliance . So ,
um that is a , a very , very important
modernization initiative . We've just
heard from our CX team that there is a
number of , of things that we're
putting in place with our uh formal
framework and training is on the way .
For sure . Uh Darren's team across
almost every one of his programmatic
areas is undertaking business process
reviews of all the undergirding uh
processes for Foia decla security
review and the dod issuance process
in the case of the dod issuances , um
The Deputy Secretary has separate ,
separately directed the P SAS
to examine all of their key
instruments that um are binding on
their uh different organizations , look
at them um and get them updated . Um
This is a very , very important
transition related activity to make
sure that the documentary record and
the policy framework of the department
is updated . So uh Darren's team is
pretty busy down there um in Chris
Choate's area . Um As we know , we see
it every day . Um Dave uh West and his
team are busy , busy , always moving
cones , redirecting roads , digging
dirt , removing dirt , moving in a
backhoe , whatever it is . Um because
there is always major construction on
this reservation . And um and as we
continue to modernize our reservation
in our facilities , uh construction is
always a constant , like I said earlier ,
when you have an old historic building ,
you're never sure of project . So , um
so Dave and his team are very , very
busy there . Um Jay uh Lee and his
team are , as I said , at the outset
are monitoring very , very closely kind
of the um the
congressional activity and its impact
on our appropriation status . Um
And um of course , he does that for
WHS um But he is also kind of as
Jay always refers to himself , the
banker for OS D only Jay would refer to
himself like that . But the
reason that I wanted to make sure that
you saw the OSD baseline ,
that's a monstrosity increase from 6
billion to 13 billion . But what that
means with every increase in a dollar
that happens with our OSD customers ,
the pace , the demands , the
requirements are exponentially
increased on us as the service provider .
So I think it's always helpful
as you guys are laboring through every
day of requirements that , that you see
what that number is and that's just for
OSD . Um And as we know , we support a
lot of other customers , but that's the
OS D resource base line . And we're
keeping a close eye on that for the
deputy secretary as the component head
of OS D . Um And lastly , um in the
interest of better communication ,
better transparency , better
involvement of the customer base . Um
We are modernizing our governance
support . Um Many of you are
participating in that um um whether it
be a senior administrative officers
forum or an Os D management forum or
in the case of the Pentagon reservation
and the tenant community um the
Pentagon Governance Council , we are
trying to make better the
agendas for those that are reflective
of kind of the current demands that are
before us making sure the customer
community is well informed um of
change or dynamics on the horizon and
have appropriate discussion um on that .
Um So it is they , those are very ,
very important forums for , for
customer involvement and um for those
of you who are frequent flyers as
briefers or presenters , I appreciate
that . Um It's good experience . Um And
I really appreciate , as do I know uh
does Miss Walsh um as the new D A and M
appreciate the level of effort that
goes into your briefings um because it
really does help um promote customer
involvement . Um And we never want our
customers to say jeez , we never heard
that was coming . Um So um whether it
be around the reservation that John Van
Hues does or whatever , um We are
trying to bring information right up
close and personal to the customers ,
so they're remaining well informed . So ,
again , these are kind of what I call
the top 10 that are kind of nested
under the deputy and the secretary's
bigger um um priorities . But I
know under each one of these and others ,
there are layers and layers of
initiatives that you all are personally
working and moving along . So to that
end , I I thank you , but I wanted all
of us to be baselined and kind of um
what our trajectory is looking like .
Uh I would say uh come , may 1
um that's when kind of the official
first communication for presidential
transition emerges and that will be in
the form of a memo from the Secretary
of Defense . So um I , I bring that
date up because , you know , when that
happens , it seems like the tempo kind
of shifts . I won't say how it just
shifts and it gets real dynamic . So
put your seatbelts on and get ready .
And a lot of you who've been here
forever , this isn't going to be your
first rodeo , but for those who , this
is your first rodeo watch
and listen to those that are involved
in this around you because it's a
unique experience to be supporting um
the headquarters during the
presidential election cycle . So it'll
be a good learning experience and trust
me , I learned something . I've been
here almost 45 years . So I've seen
them all and uh to be honest , every
one of them is a little bit different .
So there's always learning for all of
us . Um So I wanna just close um on a
more no pun intended heartfelt note .
Um But um and kind of bring full circle
where we started . Um ,
heart health is really , really ,
really important . Um And you know ,
because if we're not feeling good , we
can't do anything for anybody else . Um
But uh when it comes to the heart
timing that electric rhythming
is critical . Um , without a strong
heartbeat , you know , blood doesn't
circulate in our bodies and it doesn't
get to where it needs to go and , and
it needs to be steady and strong . So
we , so the body is steady and strong .
Um The same thing as goes for here on
the reservation without WHS this
reservation doesn't go . I love our
partners in PFP A , they're our
partners . But WHS is a
very , very heavy water carrier and
what I call the larger part of the
electrical circuitry system of the
heart , which is the Dod headquarters .
Um So like a good heart . Um We
all have to be in sync , all of our
parts of our organization have to be
functioning very , very well if we are
to expect to have positive outcomes .
Um So for both the human heart and WHS
uh rhythm is important for sure . Um
We know that rhythm sometimes gets
interrupted , things are come our way
that we didn't expect . Um And that's
kind of those jolts that , you know ,
the docs talk about , you know , with
um cardiovascular events . Well , we
have our own events um and um they are
real because they are disruptive . Um
But our job is to find our steady state
again , um and make sure that we rhythm
ourselves um back to what I call a
normal state , but sometimes actually
jolts are good because they kind of
help redefine your new normal . Um ,
and we have to do that , um , in the
medical field , they call that the
compensatory pause where the heart
takes a jolt and it doesn't stop , but
it kind of has to recover . Um , I
would say as WHS we're always
recovering because we're always getting
jolts . Um , and , um , it's real ,
it's , it , it actually is very , very
real . Um , so , you know , well , when
the heart skips a beat , um , you know ,
it does what it has to do to , to again ,
get back into its normal moment of
normalcy , our requirements every day ,
whether it's a request from a senior
leader , whether it's an externally
imposed event , whether it's a resource
shortfall , whatever it is , there are
events that are thrown at us every day
that have ripple effects on what we do
and how we do it in our organizations .
Um And we should expect those , that's
the first thing we should just expect
them . Um And those of you who have
been here a long time have seen that um
you take the shot but you've got to get
on your feet again . Um So we need to
train ourselves , prepare ourselves
both mentally and physically for uh for
those jolts that always occur and be
prepared to get back in rhythm . WHS is
really , really good at it , by the way ,
we really rhythm well , because I hear
it every day . Did you hear what
happened there ? Did you , did you you
have to take this call because
something else is happening there . Um
WHS is really , really good at
rhythming itself and that's a , that's
a really um important gift . A lot of
organizations and we talked about it at
the last all hands , uh resilient
organizations know how to rhythm . Um
And so I'm proud to say that we know
how to do that . Um But we can always
be better . Um some stuff we see coming
some stuff we don't , but we just have
to get ready uh one way or the other
and lock arms with our teammates and
our leaders and do what we need to do .
Um And it's a constant process as the
docs say heart health is a constant
process . It's not a one and done . OK ?
I ate my good meal today . I ate my
power food . It took my walk . I'm good
to go . Heart health is , is a constant
state of , of achievement and
betterment . So we need to take
care of our selves , starts with
herself and then look at our habits ,
look at our environment , manage our
stressors because I truly , truly
believe and I know you guys think I'm
really , really corny . Um But
WHS is the heartbeat of the
reservation . I really believe that
I've been here for 45 years . I have
watched WHS over time , this
reservation , this headquarters doesn't
execute what it has to do without WHS
So you're the heartbeat . Take care of
yourselves . And , um , you know , just
focus on , on , on , on yourself when
you need to , you have to make an
appointment with sometimes like the doc
said to take care of yourself . Um ,
put time on the calendar to do that .
Um , because if you take care of
yourself , then we'll be able to take
care of this place . But thank you for
all you do . And um , I look forward to
seeing you in another quarter from now .
So thanks a lot .