Photo By Jeffrey Landis | PHILADELPHIA (Sep. 27, 2018) – Newer employees of NAVSUP Weapon Systems Support...... read more read more
“People are our priority,” is not just a phrase for NAVSUP Weapon Systems Support. NAVSUP WSS has embraced its strategic priority to maximize the potential of its people and equip a diverse workforce with the knowledge and tools required to perform at full capacity.
NAVSUP WSS is a complex organization as the Navy’s only Program Support Inventory Control Point (PSICP), and many of its supply and program support functions are difficult to explain to anyone outside the organization, let alone the newer generation of its workforce. To assist in providing its workforce with the knowledge and training it needs to succeed, NAVSUP WSS recently held a week-long NAVSUP WSS Academy in late September to provide employees a better appreciation and understanding of the organization and its role as the Navy’s PSICP.
Nearly 50 NAVSUP WSS employees gathered for the 48th NAVSUP WSS Academy, held in Philadelphia. Rear Admiral Duke Heinz, commander of NAVSUP WSS, remembers sitting in the academy many years ago as a lieutenant commander.
“I remember attending the NAVSUP WSS Academy 15 years ago and sitting in these same chairs,” said Heinz, adding a little bit of history. “We’ve come a long way here in 75 years inside these buildings, and have made several unique transitions along the way. This is the forum where you get a chance to learn about these transitions and improvements over the years as well as meet people within this command and get a better appreciation for what we do. But what is also very important to me is getting your feedback to keep this a worthy investment.”
The week-long academy, typically designed for newer employees, is yet another way that NAVSUP WSS assists its employees to understand the organization and its various roles that enable NAVSUP WSS to perform at a high level ensuring naval and warfighter readiness.
After opening remarks and a command overview brief, follow-on briefs for the rest of the week focused on the command’s operational functions. These briefs included topics like Acquisition Lifecycle Support, Interim Supply Support, Provisioning, Configuration Management, Transportation and Distribution, Commercial Asset Visibility and Inventory Accuracy to discussions on spares, repairables, Performance Based Logistics, fleet outfitting, allowancing and contracting and even personnel related topics like resource management and workforce planning.
According to the academy organizer, Ellie Dabney, NAVSUP WSS Workforce Planning analyst, the academy has undergone some transition over the past 24 years of its existence.
“I’m a people person, so I knew we needed a more people-oriented aspect of this academy incorporated into the program,” said Dabney, who explained that the academy has been downsized and has changed substantially over time. “Some of the feedback was that it was too long, and that we needed to design it as an overview rather than getting into the weeds. So, along with technological advances, we created more of an overview type of setting, tailored the briefs to highlight the more salient points, incorporated a tour of the aircraft in front of Building 1 and left room for questions and answers at the end of each brief.”
For Tom Sayen, Interim Supply Support coordinator, getting to know the NAVSUP WSS organization and where you fit into it has a greater importance than most people realize.
“The reason I come to work every day is to support the Navy’s mission of preserving peace,” said Tom Sayen, who has served 45 years with NAVSUP WSS. “And to preserve the peace, you need planes, ships, parts, infrastructure, etc., to always be ready to answer the call. I have a thirst for knowledge, and I think it’s important for our people to have that thirst as well – to learn about the whole organization, ask a lot of questions and understand why things are the way they are and how we can always strive to make things better.”
“It’s one thing to ask a question, but asking the right question is something I got out of this training,” said Giovanni Morales, logistics management specialist with the Engines Integrated Weapon System Team. “It was helpful to learn a little more about what happens in all NAVSUP WSS locations as well as things like learning how a part or component is handled from cradle to grave.”
In addition to NAVSUP WSS Academy provided at both the Mechanicsburg and Philadelphia locations, Workforce Planning has made great strides in offering training and developmental opportunities, advanced management and supply chain management courses, as well as managing a mentor program, 3 Steps 4 Success program and career resource centers at each NAVSUP WSS location.
The command, as a result of NAVSUP WSS’s Blueprint for Supply Chain Excellence – the command’s five-year strategic plan – has also created a strategic initiative group focused on its people. The focus group has created two strategic priorities: a command-wide workforce investment strategy (focused on recruitment, retention, succession planning, rotational programs and individual development plans) and a standardized training approach (with increased training opportunities, employee surveys and increased mentorship participation).
Dabney hopes to have an even greater impact on the tremendous things to come for NAVSUP WSS in developing its most valuable asset – its people.
“I’ve been through a lot of leadership training during my time in the Army, and I love to be able to incorporate some of the soft-skills and people-based training here at NAVSUP WSS,” said Dabney. “I know I’ve done my job and the long hours of preparation have paid off when I see a student light up and show their understanding and appreciation of the material being taught.
“This organization does take care of its workforce, and we want our people to be smarter about our own workforce,” she added. “We want employees to know we’re here for them and here for their education. The smarter you are about your own organization the more ownership you take of it, and the more ownership you take the better worker you are.”
A field activity of the Naval Supply Systems Command, NAVSUP WSS is the U.S. Navy’s Program Support Inventory Control Point providing worldwide support to the aviation, surface ship, and submarine communities; providing Navy, Marine Corps, joint and allied forces with products and services that deliver combat capability through logistics. There are more than 2,000 civilian and military personnel employed at its two Pennsylvania sites (Mechanicsburg and Philadelphia), and one site in Norfolk, Va.
For more news and information from NAVSUP WSS, visit our Facebook page at www.facebook.com/navsupwss
| Date Taken: | 10.25.2018 |
| Date Posted: | 10.25.2018 16:40 |
| Story ID: | 297757 |
| Location: | PHILADELPHIA, PENNSYLVANIA, US |
| Web Views: | 205 |
| Downloads: | 0 |
This work, NAVSUP WSS invests in its employees, provides week-long academy, other opportunities, by Jeffrey Landis, identified by DVIDS, must comply with the restrictions shown on https://www.dvidshub.net/about/copyright.
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