Workforce Engagement
Friday, November 19, 2010

Dear Brothers and Sisters,


One of NATCA’s top priorities has been to expand our members’ voice in the workplace and be heard. Communication and collaboration are the keys to improving our workplaces and being a part of changing the culture of the FAA to one that is more just and also more engaged, inclusive and responsive.

Through the Air Traffic Organization’s Workforce Engagement initiative – nicknamed the WE program – we now have a great opportunity to be part of the change that we want to see make its way down from the highest levels of the agency to the local level. NATCA fully and enthusiastically supports WE because it is the best path forward to improving our members’ workplaces. While change takes time, the process to get there is starting quickly and you have the chance to be involved very soon.

On Monday, Nov. 22, those of you who receive e-mail from the National Office will be receiving an e-mail from Gallup Corp., explaining details of the short survey it will be conducting from Dec. 1-21 that will establish a baseline assessment report for each workgroup in a facility. If you don't receive the e-mail, you'll still receive an invitation to participate at your facility, via a flyer that will be made available to you. High participation in the Gallup survey will make sure each group starts with its own meaningful data. WE does not end with the survey. Workforce Engagement is the collaborative effort built upon after the results come out.

The survey is only 15 questions and takes about eight minutes. It can be done either online or by phone. Managers have been directed to provide you the opportunity to take the survey on duty time. However, operational demands and a lack of available computers may make that challenging. You can certainly complete the survey on your own time and computer if you wish. However you choose to do it and when, we strongly urge your participation.

There are several important ways that WE is very different from other programs that have tried to make the FAA a better place to work. The theory, data, science, and track record on employee engagement are proven by Gallup Corp. over decades. Both in private corporations and in public organizations, Gallup has improved the work lives of hundreds of thousands of employees. Hiring real experts in their field and not rigging their methods to try and fit FAA hunches of what works is a big difference. ?

The survey reaches out to ALL ATO employees; it’s not a small, random slice that can be easily dismissed as “just a grumpy minority.” Confronting what their employees really think will be good for the FAA, but a big difference from what we’ve tried before with feedback. There will be local training on the Gallup approach during February and March, and you will already be working with the results of your own team's survey by the end of April.

We often talk about modernizing the equipment and procedures we use. But WE is an effort to modernize the “people side” of the FAA. Sitting on the sidelines is not an option.  We have said we wanted to be included. Now we have that chance and we are expected to help. Our contract means we are involved. We are engaged.

If you would like to learn more about Gallup’s employee engagement programs, please click here.

Finally, ATO Chief Operating Officer Hank Krakowski sent a message this week to all ATO employees about WE and the survey. You can read it at the following link: http://www.natcamembership.org/we/ato-message.aspx.



In solidarity,


Paul Rinaldi
President


Trish Gilbert
Executive Vice President