A REPORT FOR NOAA EMPLOYEES
NOAA DIVERSITY COMMITTEE
DECEMBER 2004

Executive Summary

NOAA's core values include "people, integrity, excellence, teamwork, and ingenuity ¹." Our employees are critical to the delivery of our mission. It is important to solicit employee feedback concerning the work environment at NOAA and paramount to act on issues and concerns that surface in the feedback. Providing this accountability demonstrates leadership through responsiveness. Through NOAA's Diversity Committee², a Survey, Feedback, Action (SFA)³ process was implemented as one method to engage employees on NOAA's strengths and challenges. An initial NOAA-wide SFA was conducted in 1998; a follow up SFA was conducted in 2002.

This report presents NOAA employees' responses to the 2002 SFA. (Specific sections are attached to this executive summary and highlighted below in capital letters. Twenty-one appendices are also attached which contain benefits of the SFA as well as elevated issues from organizations within NOAA, http://www.rdc.noaa.gov/~Diversity/sfareport9104.html. Over three quarters of our employees participated in the 2002 SFA. Our employees identified successes throughout NOAA as well as within line and staff offices. Foremost, NOAA employees identified a strong understanding of, pride in, and commitment to our work (KEY STRENGTHS). Successes identified by line and staff office employees reporting are also included (SFA SUCCESSES).

NOAA does, however, still face challenges in maintaining our goal as an employer of choice (KEY OPPORTUNITIES). Approximately one in six employees expressed an unfavorable overall opinion of the agency. This was consistent by office, occupation, gender, and ethnicity (SATISFACTION DATA).

The SFA common themes identified by NOAA employees as their greatest concerns were leadership, performance management, and communication (COMMON CONCERNS). To address NOAA-wide key opportunities, the NOAA Diversity Committee focused on the NOAA-wide top 10 challenges (see below). An executive member of the Committee volunteered to address each one of the themes.

1. New Priorities for the 21st Century, NOAA's Strategic Plan, p.1 - http://www.ppi.noaa.gov/pdfs/NOAAStrategicHIRES.pdf
2. Prior to August 2004, the Committee was known as the NOAA Diversity Council
3. Information on SFA, including details on the SFA process and how SFA supports NOAA's managing diversity strategy, can be found at http://www.rdc.noaa.gov/~Diversity/officediv.html

As part of this process, the NOAA top 10 challenges were condensed into five focus group categories:

• use of 1998 and 2002 SFA results;
• NOAA line/staff office culture, politics, and communication;
• diverse groups and performance measures;
• performance systems and opportunities for advancement; and,
• outdated practices

A committee was organized for each category and employees had an opportunity to provide input online. The findings from these committees focused on the same three common areas, leadership, performance management and communication. (FOCUS GROUP RECOMMENDATIONS).

Finally, you are encouraged to look deeper into the SFA through the specific sections provided within this report. Research responses by line office (MAJOR THEMES BY LINE OFFICE/STAFF OFFICE), review participants' words (SFA BENEFITS), and delve into the statistics (SURVEY DIMENSION DATA, SFA PARTICIPATION, COMPARISON OF TOP 10 CHALLENGES, 1998 & 2002).

NOAA employees and the NOAA Diversity Committee continue to address the issues raised in this report at an agency-wide and local level. To get involved or ask questions, contact john.jones@noaa.gov, NOAA Diversity Committee Chairman or barbara.marshall-bailey@noaa.gov, Director, NOAA Office of Diversity.

KEY STRENGTHS

• Pride in NOAA and confidence in NOAA's future (understanding NOAA Line/Staff Office mission, vision, and values)
• NOAA Line/Staff Office ratings (professional, competent, and ethical work force; understanding of performance expectations, adequate computer systems)
• Immediate supervisor (Overall job done by, technically competent, performance appraisal on schedule, supports employees' family/personal life, treats me fairly)
• Customer focus (Understands who external customers are and their expectations; uses suggestions from them to improve, designs work processes to meet customer expectations; and, internally encourages employees to provide high-quality service to other employees, receive good service from others)
• EEO (accommodations for disabled, differences understood/accepted, protection against harassment/discrimination and low incidence of experiencing discrimination on the job, NOAA Line/Staff Office works well with people of different backgrounds)
• Job satisfaction/skill utilization/personal autonomy
• Teamwork (at group level)
• Work environment (safety/security, emergency evacuation procedures)
• Job security

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SFA SUCCESSES – LINE/STAFF OFFICES

UNDER SECRETARY'S OFFICE (UNSEC) – General Counsel for Fisheries (GCF)

• GCF meets with clients to solve problems
• GCF orientation and training for new staff, reinstitute regular staff meetings, improve career development opportunities, maintain twice-yearly awards cycle, and increase social functions
• GCF roles clarified through brown bag lunches
• Identification of a single GCF attorney or regional attorney in each project, court case, to which everyone will direct inquiries to ensure consistent advice
• Regional counsels developing guidance through the National Marine Fisheries Service Regional Streamlining Project

NOAA MARINE AND AVIATION OPERATIONS (NMAO)

• Better definition of medical clearance policies and implemented a wellness program for maritime employees
• Encouraged use of Departmental awards, NMAO Employee of the Year Award, and the James Martin Diversity Award
• Established the Director's weekly newsletter, annual report to employees outlining key issues, including organizational success stories
• Extended internal Temporary Assignment Program to Wage Marines, and these employees are eligible for training opportunities outside their current areas
• Transmitted text for all web sites via link in electronic mail messages are transcribed in word format for improved accessibility of employees at sea

NATIONAL OCEAN SERVICE (NOS)

• Better clarification of administrative procedures
• Better communication strategies, including weekly update emails, newsletter, shared schedule for AA, informal gatherings
• Better identification of job aspects to be improved
• NOS's Coastal Services Center (CSC) orientation, outreach process improved
• CSC support of community projects
• CSC providing more support for contract employees
• Employee recognition has increased
• Employees now viewed as the valuable resources they are
• Employees personally contribute to improving working environment
• Employees identify elements about their jobs to be improved
• Greater appreciation for employee differences in learning approaches
• Help Desk customer service has improved
• Management action on internal recommendations regarding a marine information database designed to support NOS's Office of Coast Survey navigational products
• Monthly staff meetings, and out of office luncheons, bridge the divide between government and contract employees
• More acceptance of alternative communication styles
• More team-oriented workplace
• Newsletter established to enhance communication
• Performance management, conflict resolution training offered
• Projects are more team-focused
• Regular analysis of environment is now required periodically, not just when mandated by SFA
• Rotational opportunities advertised and posted to ensure equity in opportunities and promotions
• Training board established to determine talents of employees

OFFICE OF ATMOSPHERIC RESEARCH (OAR)

• Annual meeting to conduct a review of program roles and responsibilities with employees. This has resulted in increase awareness of roles and responsibilities resulting in improved employee morale
• Appointed a quality of work life committee to learn what issues employees had and how to resolve those issues
• Developed more efficient ways to address work life issues within the workgroup.
• Employees brought together to discuss issues not discussed in workgroups and would not ordinarily be addressed
• OAR's Great Lakes Environmental Research Laboratory work environment greatly improved – now more detail about management decisions, promotion potential/process, and quicker turnaround of employee requests and paperwork
• Improved communication between program office and scientists
• Improved project management within IT – better documentation and tracing of IT projects
• Information briefings and conference calls gave staff greater understanding of the NOAA administrative structure. Success with a path to operations was possible, in part, through good understanding of their relationship with other parts of NOAA and the need to operationalize results. This understanding should help in the Planning, Programming, Budgeting, and Execution System (PPBES) process
• Management will define career paths for all positions
• Mentoring program for scientists
• More team cohesiveness
• New open door policy
• Now holding weekly staff meetings
• Recommended upward mobility program
• Set up OAR team, including staff from Divisions, to address concerns about the PPBES system
• Special recognition for sea duty

NATIONAL ENVIRONMENTAL SATELLITE DATA AND INFORMATION SERVICE

• Administrative staff implemented an electronic process for tracking contact information for support personnel, with a goal to improve emergency response time for spacecraft and facility-related emergencies
• Communication, training, and employee recognition improved
• Communication strategies expanded to include cross-branch meetings, one-on-ones with Deputy Director, lunches, and open houses, and more frequency of meetings
• Cross-functional team established to develop new process for tracking action items
• Employee input in weekly reports now shared with the Assistant Administrator (AA)
• Enhanced employee orientation to introduce new employees to employees from other branches
• Evaluating suggestion to form a cooperative institute for scientists
• Implementation team created to clarify roles in project areas
• New managers' web-based action tracker advertised to employees
• New quarterly Town Hall meetings held to review program issues, discuss new building and facility issues, and to recognize employees
• To increase operational crew interactions and familiarity with backup control centers one office started series of planned deployments to backup sites

NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE

• Communication training underway encouraging personal contact and minimizing electronic mail
• Conflict resolution training offered to employees
• Employee suggestion boxes installed, as well as a process for evaluation and feedback
• Enhanced community outreach and presentations
• Forecast office employees visiting neighboring offices to learn and share best workplace practices
• Leadership training instituted for all employees, especially those with shift duties
• Management more diligent in seeing that all employees share the work effort
• Monthly pizza lunch Friday instituted to enhance staff morale
• More emphasis given to working in team environment
• Outstanding performers are recognized quarterly by staff vote
• Plan for a cross-functional health and safety team is underway
• Regional Director emphasizing to subordinate managers that supervisors are expected to provide feedback and recognition to employees on their performance real-time
• Regional Director assuring every employee has an individual development plan to use as a tool during performance appraisals
• Regional forecast offices have begun inviting National Headquarters executives for site visits
• "Shadowing the Office Manager" implemented to heighten awareness issues facing office managers
• Staff meetings being held more frequently
• Study of ergonomic factors was conducted. Plans developed for reworking office cubicles for comfort, safety, efficiency, and cost
• Training days established in the work schedule for designated training, etiquette, protocol
• Team recognition being presented by the MIC for outstanding group effort

NATIONAL MARINE FISHERIES SERVICE

• AA began weekly e-mails in an effort to keep all employees informed of NOAA-wide issues
• AA initiated an on-line "Annual State of Fisheries Address" to share yearly accomplishments with all employees.
• DAA brown-bag lunches with Office Directors initiated to improve overall communications
• Brown-bag diversity workshops initiated in some facilities to address employee and work life issues
• Central reference point created and identified for all official documents
• Continued improvement of recognition/rewards program for employees (i.e., creation of the Employee of the Year Award)
• Data confidentiality issues regarding Freedom of Information Act requesting information prior to publication elevated
• Fishery management plans more complete, improving regulatory, reviewing, processing, and implementing
• Improved communication and trust within the organization
• Improved customer service as a result of new telephone system
• Initiated discussions of web-based emergency notification system which would alert all NOAA installations about defective equipment, or when it was determined operating instructions for equipment were in error, can cause a hazardous event, or negatively effect analytical results/facility operations
• Leadership Council re-engineered to better address employee issues and concerns Fisheries-wide.
• Legal counsel interests/alignment with objectives elevated
• Informal mentoring established for new hires
• More cohesive Southeast Fisheries Science Center unit to foster employee inclusion
• Management credibility increased by acting on issues
• One-stop shop intranet site for employee access to awards and training programs
• Training Work Group established to address training issues
• Conflict management training offered nation-wide
• Sign language training
• Supervisors' Orientation Guide
• Quicker release of allocations within Fisheries
• Standardized process for maintaining monthly reports

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KEY OPPORTUNITIES

• Leadership, especially at Line/Staff Office level, but also NOAA overall (Line/Staff Office and NOAA overall having effective leadership, effectively managed/well-run; Line/Staff Office minimum of "corporate politics," making me feel part of NOAA; retaining the best employees; clear corporate culture; sense of direction/effective planning; relationship between NOAA overall and Line/Staff Offices/cooperation between Line/Staff Offices)
• Communication (Downward: about changes, management keeps employees informed, between NOAA HQ and workgroup, between Line/Staff Office HQ and workgroup; Lateral: Management promotes effective communication among workgroups; Upward Communication/Follow through; effort to obtain, and taking action on, employee ideas/opinions)
• Training/Development (Orientation, encouraged to seek mentoring, immediate supervisor serves as coach/counselor; training for new technologies/tools)
• Organizational Measures (NOAA competitive promotion process, performance rating process, diverse groups participate in performance measure development)
• Workload (Management), unnecessary work practices/procedures eliminated
• Fairness and treatment of others (favoritism, trust between management and union; fair training career development opportunities, technical; while only small number say they experience discrimination, many of those who did were not comfortable seeking counseling nor filing a formal complaint)
• Openness to confronting problems, receptivity to change
• Survey Utilization (negative regarding how 1998 SFA survey was used, skeptical regarding whether this survey will be used, whether management will support SFA feedback/action)

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2002 SFA SATISFACTION DATA

BY OFFICE

BY OCCUPATION

BY GENDER  

BY ETHNICITY

BY GENDER AND ETHNICITY

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COMMON CONCERNS IN ELEVATED ISSUES

The SFA common themes identified by NOAA employees as their greatest concerns were leadership, performance management, and communication. These categories were further analyzed to determine the subcomponents comprising each theme which represents employees' feedback about why this survey dimension ranked low. This analysis also covered areas with consistently low favorability scores, write-in comments, analyzed plans in action tracker, focus group feedback, and the top 10 challenges. The Committee focus for addressing NOAA-wide key opportunities was to focus on the NOAA-wide top 10 challenges, and each line/staff office was tasked to develop strategies for addressing their key opportunities. An executive volunteered to take each one of the themes and will work with a committee to develop recommendations for improvement.

(A) LEADERSHIP:

NOAA:

• Having effective leadership
• Well-defined corporate culture, effectively managed
• Effective organization structure

LINE/STAFF OFFICES:

• Having effective leadership
• Clear corporate culture, effectively managed
• Effective organization structure
• Sense of direction, effective planning
• Minimum of corporate politics
• Retaining best employees
• Understanding relationships between LO/SO
• Cooperation among LO/SO
• NOAA upper management helps LO be productive

(B) PERFORMANCE MANAGEMENT SYSTEM

• Performance rating process concerns
• NOAA competitive promotion process
• Diverse groups participate in performance measure development

(C) COMMUNICATION

• Between NOAA/workgroup, and between Line/Staff Office and workgroup
• About changes
• Management keeps employees informed
• Management promotes effective communication
• Effort to obtain employee ideas
• Taking action on employee ideas and opinions

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FOCUS GROUP RECOMMENDATIONS

(A) NOAA LEADERSHIP RECOMMENDATIONS

• Integrate NOAA's diversity strategy/education into all management and leadership courses in conjunction with NOAA Diversity Committee
• Reinstitute 360-degree feedback

(B) PERFORMANCE MANAGEMENT RECOMMENDATIONS

• Develop corporate mandatory training for managers and supervisors to be completed within 6 months of appointment
• Ensure compliance with 1.5 percent personnel and compensation set aside so all employees are afforded equitable training and opportunities for advancement
• Explore systemic barriers to success and to fully preparing employees for advancement
• Improve the recruitment system
• Require mandatory NOAA-wide diversity training offered corporately by the NOAA Diversity Committee, with a focus on behavior, inclusion, inequitable treatment
• Review all performance systems, (including the objectivity of grading criteria and awards) and explore systemic barriers to success and to fully preparing employees for advancement

(C) COMMUNICATION

• Assess, and deliver corporately, first and mid-level management training; consult with Diversity Committee to integrate diversity into courses
• Require a mandatory Diversity Facilitation Skills course for all employees sponsored and delivered corporately by the NOAA Diversity Committee
• Develop manager and leadership communication vehicles such as monthly leadership magazine to managers, manager toolkits, and communication skills education courses in varying formats

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MAJOR THEMES BY LINE OFFICE/STAFF OFFICE

NOS

• Communication - Improve, not just increase communication, improve downward communication. Disseminate information in a more timely, effective, and thorough manner not just to leadership, but to all staff in all grade levels.
• Customer focus - Reduce bureaucracy, increase productivity, and make the customer needs more important. Stay true to the mission and improve image to the public we serve
• EEO - More minorities and women in management positions and positions in the GS-13 and above. Create more opportunities for promotion and training for employees with disabilities.
• Fairness and Treatment - Eliminate favoritism in promotions, awards, and advancement opportunities. Cultivate a leadership environment with technical and professional ability along with personable and compassionate tendencies towards staff members
• Leadership - Encourage leaders to strive for accountability and excellence. Enhance management's reporting and self-review system

OAR

• All aspects of communication have improved
• Improving quality of worklife issues
• Employees do not feel a part of NOAA
• Lack of understanding in the relationships between NOAA Line and Staff Offices

NMFS

• Improved communication
• A more fair and equitable awards process
• More training and career developmental opportunities

UNSEC

• Fairness should be the standard for competitive promotions
• Our major themes from the SFA 2002 are communication and teamwork

NMAO

• Major themes are communication, and worklife issues.
• The majority of our staff felt the SFA process was effective, and it can be seen in the number of action items we were able to close. For NMAO, the SFA process was difficult due to lack of Internet access for our staff at sea. If we do this again, we'd like to establish a smoother, efficient process for our NOAA ships.

NWS

• Improve communication between upper management and field employees, too much top down
• Improve the morale of the employees
• Increase management/leadership training for supervisors
• Improve workplace environment, especially regarding issues of race, gender and disability
• More work is needed to eliminate outdated and wasteful practices

NESDIS

• Communication
• Facility safety
• Demo project
• Pay
• Leadership
• Additional resources
• Leadership-lack of empowerment from senior management

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SFA BENEFITS

The comments below are a sampling of the many comments we received from people about the benefits of SFA:

"The SFA was the key factor in the office's development of a provisional plan to improve communications among/between its workers at all levels, especially from the top down; this plan will be replaced by an approved, official communications plan. The SFA served to remind both CIO managers and all employees of the need to expand training and development as a means to improve productivity and establish good morale, and to endorse, at the highest level, the importance of supporting diversity goals /the agency's EEO/AC activities."

"SFA process brought to light several important issues within the office, but the one that stands out as the most commonly raised is the importance of constant, high-quality communication. Benefits of improved communication were identified in all levels of the organization, ranging from among individual teams within a division to NOAA-wide."

"As an office, the SFA process served to validate and formalize what we already knew...employees know what ingredients make up a productive workplace. However, this process gave us the opportunity to identify and implement changes to foster a better environment. Over the last 2 years, our office has developed into a highly productive and interactive professional community. The SFA process differed from previous efforts because it kept supervisors accountable for implementing action items and keeping track of their implementation schedule."

"Employees seized the occasion to define problem areas, discuss the problems in the facilitated and non-threatening environment of the SFA meetings, and craft pragmatic and achievable solutions to the agreed upon problems. All employees, regardless of grade level or position classification, contributed to problem definitions and solutions. The end results were not only better public service but also increased employee morale."

"The SFA process brought employees together into workgroups to discuss not only the results of the individual workgroups, but other issues that did not come up in the workgroups. This gave employees a chance to bring up issues and discuss them that wouldn't ordinarily get addressed."

"I believe that our success with a path to operations was possible, in part, through good understanding of our relationship with other parts of NOAA and the need to not just study but to operationalize results..."

"Holding SFA workgroup sessions have contributed to the development of a more efficient way to address work life issues within the workgroup, and we are working on ways to enhance a team approach within the office."

"It has increased awareness of roles and responsibilities that have resulted in improved employee morale."

"...improved communication between program offices and scientists." "The SFA process is a useful tool to get people to express their concerns or problems in a way that gives them the freedom to be frank."

"The work environment has greatly improved with the steps taken over the last year, including more detail about management decisions, promotion potential process, and quicker turnaround of employee requests."

"The primary benefit is that the SFA process provides each individual employee the opportunity to express his or her opinion on matters and issues in the workplace. He/she can directly and personally contribute to making changes to improve the work environment, thus improving their quality of life at work. There were some immediate benefits during the discussion at our SFA meetings when people shared their thoughts and opinions...these meetings provided the setting and opportunity for this exchange to happen.

"The SFA allowed a forum for employees to identify elements about their jobs and workplace that they feel could be improved. It also gave them an avenue for solving those problems. It gave me a chance, as a supervisor, to gauge the mood and the morale of my employees. While the process identified a number of areas of concern, I also learned much from what wasn't said."

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2002 SFA SURVEY DIMENSION DATA

The 130 questions on the SFA survey were grouped into dimensions (or themes). The Workgroup Reports show the data for the individual questions in each dimension.

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SFA PARTICIPATION DATA

BY OFFICE

BY AGE

BY PAY CATEGORY/GRADE

BY LENGTH OF SERVICE

BY ETHNICITY

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COMPARISON OF TOP 10 CONCERNS, 1998 & 2002 DATA

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