Posted:
09/04/2017
Dear all,
Below you will find the recommendations coming out of our last large staff survey in 2014. Perhaps those ideas could be a start to improve things.
This list of staff ideas is provided as a resource for leaders to use as a spring board for discussion and help identify potentially new ideas as provided by staff who responded to the survey.
My Leadership (factor 1)
Leadership use the management database more
Improve disconnect between senior leadership's vision and priorities to the Branch Heads
Formalise and enforce follow up on orders directly from Chief of Staff and Flag and General Officers
Improve decision making and guidance, that is transparent, from leaders
Improve feedback mechanisms
More participation by senior leaders in off sites/brainstorming with staff
Enhance training of staff in how to effectively manage and utilise civilian staff
Flag and General Officers off-sites should focus on leadership and improving efficiency & effectiveness of staff work
Improve and develop trust between leadership and staff
Increase opportunities to collect staff ideas for improvement to senior leaders (survey is a good example of one way)
Increase levels of accountability to Branch Heads
Continue to delegate authority and responsibilities to staff officers where required
Increase of greater involvement by senior leaders in quality assurance of HQ ACT products where necessary
Increase senior leader social interactions with staff on a regular basis
Enhance leader's ability and foresight to make transformational changes within ACT, particularly with regard to resourcing the headquarters with appropriate skillset
Re-balance workloads across staff
ACT"s information systems and work environment (factor 3)
Improve video-teleconferencing capabilities
Solve problems of lack of video-teleconferencing/transatlantic meeting room capability and desk video-tele conferencing
Improve information technology support
Improve software & systems to enhance collaboration
Improved software to support analysis tasks
Improve linkages between databases to increase staff efficiency and enhance quality
Up-to-date hardware (including network) required
Improved printing capabilities
Identify requirement for 'quiet' rooms to get work done when needed to
Improve unclassified collaboration tools with non-NATO organizations
Engage with staff to determine requirements for physical layout improvements to encourage collaboration and working environment
Increase the number of small meeting rooms for team discussions
Improve staff mess food options and eating area
Improve and enforce file sharing policies on SharePoint
Improve and redesign the NATO Secret search engine to be effective in searching for documents
Develop a way to find an Subject Matter Experts within HQ ACT quickly, including a way to physically locate the person (desk-plan)
Improve sharing of information across the Branches
Increase communications about new building project
Appoint one senior officer person responsible for improving information management across HQ ACT
Improve information Standard Operating Procedures to ensure that the right level of information is received (i.e. not swamped)
Connect multiple databases within the headquarters to ensure information only has to be input once.
Create a headquarters-wide single calendar of conferences, working groups, visits etc. that is easily accessible
Increase awareness of technology solutions for when travelling to improve collaboration across time zones
Improve collaboration tools and technologies (e.g. e-polling equipment and online video-teleconferencing software)
Improve process for identifying software requirements and installation process for all branches when required
My Learning and Development (factor 4)
Improve professional development opportunities
Improve opportunities for NATO International Civilian career development
Improve training in information sharing and maintaining corporate knowledge to ensure a standard level of skills across staff
Ensure staff are trained on Sharepoint
Educate more staff on Tasker Tracker process and encourage proper use
My freedom and ability contribute (factor 5)
Staff should be encouraged to take risks to get the job done
Encourage out of the box thinking and overcome mentality of 'the way it has always been done'
Engender culture of 'OK to fail' in order to push transformational boundaries and mind-sets
Encourage an environment where bold ideas are allowed to be made
Encourage creative thinking and encourage new ways of doing business
Provide staff with the capability to provide feedback without reprisal
Working with other people outside my branch (factor 6)
Improve coordination and identify overlaps of engagement activities with NATO HQ
Improve co-ordination amongst branches within divisions
Encourage more outreach to other organizations
Increase understanding and openness of staff support functions to maximise their support
Increase staff awareness of the roles and responsibilities of the Commander"s Action Group and their ways of working
The mix of ranks and grades in ACT (factor 7)
Avoid 'over ranking' positions and review job descriptions to match rank
Create a civilian post equivalent of DSACT who is an expert in transformation and change management
Avoid 'over ranking' positions and review job descriptions to match rank
When Peacetime Establishment review is being undertaken start with question 'what are the requirements?' to determine post numbers, not 'how many posts do we have to cut and where?'
Position more OR6 and OR7 Subject Matter Experts into SEE to enhance value.
Other Ideas My Work Interest
Opportunities to travel is a motivator
Keep the work interesting
Transformational issues are interesting and support staff motivation
Improve how staff may be able to identify how their current work creates positive impact on NATO's mission
Other Ideas Our Purpose
Improve communication of SACT and DSACT's vision for transformation to all levels of staff
Improve communication of SACT's plan for how ACT will drive transformation in NATO
Develop a vision that is futurist in transformation (what's the next big idea?)
Improve ACT's reputation with customers by Marketing and selling more of ACT's success stories
SACT's vision should guide development of S.M.A.R.T. objectives with programmes clearly related to each objective
Improve quality of work by focusing only on key issues i.e. not everything
Identify ways to improve the focus to the far future (i.e. out to 10 years) requirements rather than allowing a focus on next year funding cycles with Agencies and our customers
Assess cost-benefit of work ACT does and promote examples of success in order to demonstrate value to nations
A clearer description and definition of transformation is required to assist in describing our purpose
Other Ideas ACT"s processes and procedures
Simplify management processes
Modify management processes to better encompass Command Group Requirements
Increase flexibility in management processes
Improve escalation process for when problems are discovered in the staff
Improve contract management process by developing a system of a cultural diversity check prior to awarding contracts that is representative of NATO
Reduce amount of time spent preparing products for Flag and General Officers
Improve the implementation process with Allied Command Operations
Ensure that Experimentation process is designed to be flexible to deliver impact to customers
Develop robust and mature Measures of Effectiveness to assess objectively our successes and failures.
Improve Tasker Tracker time to review and sign a document where emerging time requirements require urgent approval (currently 3 weeks from product completion to signed)
Other Ideas ACT"s culture
Embrace and make more use of our multinational cultural organization
Introduce a dress code for female staff
Develop and implement an ACT code of Conduct
Embrace and make more use of our multinational cultural organization
Improve understanding of cultural diversity within ACT
Develop a greater culture of mutual understanding
Other Ideas Our Customers
Improve ways of working with International Staff / International Military Staff to ensure impact of ACT products is realised
Increase awareness of ACT business in Allied Command Operations and how to work with ACT
Increase opportunities to effectively use Staff Element Europe in the implementation process
Undertake a stock take of ACT products and impact to demonstrate ACT value to customers
Improve ways of working with Allied Command Operations to ensure impact of ACT products is realised
Other Ideas Hand Over / Take Over
Improve Hand Over / Take Overs to maintain continuity in decision-making processes
Increase time for Hand Over / Take Overs
Introduce a standard Hand Over / Take Over process
Other Ideas Innovation
Encourage more time to think about problems
Seek out more opportunities to harness the innovative spirit within ACT
Encourage more time to work on identifying options and problem solving (i.e. more analysis less process focus)
Enhance effectiveness of meetings and working groups in ACT
Require that senior defence planners (OF5/6 level) have previous tours of duty in (NATO) defence planning
Other Ideas Our Organisation
Simplify support function rules
Improved organizational structure & processes to enable agility in response to changing customer requirements
Re-Design a headquarters that is non-traditional in organization to deal with big transformational issues
Analyse and prevent internal parallel ACT organizational structures from being established
Improve the hierarchical nature of ACT in order to avoid stove-piping and improve communication
Increase number of transformation and change management specialists within the headquarters (whether it be civilian or military)
DPPS should be forward based with SEE to overcome confusion between the two organisations and overcome time zone problems.
Introduce an SEE LO embedded into the IS and IMS to enhance clarity in our work.
Other Ideas Programme & Project Management
Improve Project Management process to reflect projects managed across the Alliance rather in-house ACT
Improve Programme and Management Boards
Improve cross checking between programmes and projects
Improve project initiation Process
Improve project monitoring process
Enhance project management process to facilitate shutdown/move/redesign programs
Improve process for prioritising across deliverables and management of delivering tasks in agreed timelines
Develop a flexible programme management process that allows ACT to address emerging security challenges and ensure ACT does not become a 'slave' to the programme
Improve lessons learned within ACT to ensure we do not make the same mistakes in the future
Increase transparency in project and programme reporting
Improve quality not quantity of projects and programmes
Increase use of management database to reduce number of briefings
Other Ideas Miscellaneous
Re-define role of Commander"s Action Group
Improve the management of the impact of the NATO Defence Manpower Audit Authority contractor reduction study
Increase utilisation of enlisted staff's knowledge and skills
Increase confidence in ACT staff to deliver through avoiding to rely on agency staff to do the work instead
Increase awareness of ACT business in Nations and the impact ACT delivers
Continue to expand the use of the ACT blog and encourage readership
Improve communication within ACT staff of program and project successes
Improve communications with SEE on rest of HQ activities