Ten Navy Commands Recognized for Workplace Flexibility

From Chief of Naval Personnel Public Affairs

WASHINGTON (NNS) -- Ten Navy commands were recognized in an announcement Jan. 21, as being some of the nation's best employers for workplace flexibility.

The 2010 Alfred P. Sloan Award for Excellence in Workplace Flexibility promotes the use of flexibility as a strategy to achieve business goals and benefit employees by helping them meet their responsibilities on and off the job.

Navy winners include both sea and shore organizations. Among them were a command with more than 1,200 employees and a detachment with a staff of 31 people.

"This proves that people don't have to work on large headquarters staffs to enjoy flexible schedules or pursue educational goals," said Vice Adm. Mark Ferguson, chief of naval personnel. "We appreciate that people are more productive when they are able to meet the challenges of both life and work."

The Navy's winning organizations include:

- Center for Seabees and Facilities Engineering, Port Hueneme, Calif.

- Executive Transport Detachment Sigonella, Italy.

- Explosive Ordnance Disposal Training and Evaluation Unit Two, Norfolk, Va.

- Naval Aviation Forecast Detachment, Sembach, Germany.

- Naval Education and Training Command, Pensacola, Fla.

- Naval Submarine Support Command, Pearl Harbor, Hi.

- Navy Support Unit, Marine Corps Recruit Depot San Diego, Calif.

In addition, Navy organizations earning honorable mentions are:

- Fleet Air Reconnaissance Squadron Two, Whidbey Island, Wash.

- Patrol Squadron Five, Whidbey Island, Wash.

- Recruit Training Command, Great Lakes, Ill.

To be considered for a Sloan Award, an organization completes a detailed survey on its workplace flexibility practices. If it is judged to exceed national benchmarks, then its employees are invited to complete follow-up surveys – with a required response rate of at least 40 percent for further consideration.

Winners are judged to be among the top 20 percent of employers nationwide in workplace flexibility programs, policies and cultures.

Navy organizations that won awards this year took innovative steps on behalf of their staff members.

At Fort Story, for instance, leaders of EOD Training and Evaluation Unit Two, established an associate's degree program that allows personnel to take college classes two nights per week where they work, thus avoiding the traffic congestion they would encounter en route to university campuses or larger bases where such courses were already offered.

At Marine Corps Depot San Diego, leaders of the naval support unit ensure that as many employees as possible are cross-trained so that staff members can attend seminars and schools, or take days off in compensation for long hours worked on other days, without reducing efficiency. Leaders also let employees alternate their work locations occasionally to reduce commute times.

At Great Lakes, recruit division commanders work 15-hour days, seven days a week for the first 10 months of their assignments. They then take "working sabbaticals" in less-demanding jobs for another year and finally return to RDC positions for the third and final year of their tours.

At NETC headquarters, 25 percent of employees became teleworkers after a three-month pilot resulted in a permanent program.

The Sloan Awards are sponsored by When Work Works, a consortium that includes the Families and Work Institute, the U.S. Chamber of Commerce's Institute for a Competitive Workforce and the Twiga Foundation.

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