Workforce Engagement Update
Thursday, January 27, 2011

By Russ Miller (ZFW)
NATCA Workforce Engagement Team

The ATO-wide Workforce Engagement survey closed on Dec. 31 with a very strong response rate of 60 percent. Over 21,000 employees signed onto the Gallup Web site and took a few minutes to answer the 15 questions. Gallup is compiling and processing the responses while the ATO makes sure the “workforce mapping” is as up to date as we can get it. This will help the effective distribution of the survey reports.

Gallup will deliver ATO-wide results in March to the executive level. Workgroup-level results will be released in the weeks thereafter, following a very large Engagement training effort nationwide. The results will be used by every level, every team, to start discussions about their levels of engagement. These discussions will help develop team-level plans to reinforce existing strengths, and to improve areas that could use strengthening.

Since some subjects being discussed could easily involve management rights and union rights, NATCA is working closely with the Organizational Effectiveness office to help prepare supervisors and representatives for Engagement.

The goal of Workforce Engagement is to create a more modern workplace by encouraging employees at every level to actively participate in shaping the future of the ATO, and to be empowered to work on the local issues in front of them. The leadership effort and commitment is national, but the energy and innovation will be from the worker level up.

WE is strongly supported by management and employee unions, and NATCA always supports programs that value the contributions and ideas of our aviation safety professionals.

Starting in April, managers and labor counterparts will be trained on how to interpret their Gallup survey results. During the training, managers will also learn how to lead their workgroups in creating impact plans of action for the year.

Managers and labor reps must complete training before they receive their workgroup-level results. Employees will receive their workgroup-level results through their manager and facility representative. Since every level of the ATO is involved, many levels of management will also be meeting to examine their own results and make plans to improve how their teams work together.

Individual survey responses will remain confidential throughout the process. The FAA will never have access to any individual response or information. Gallup owns all the survey data and will deliver survey results to the ATO.

A workgroup must have at least four respondents in order to receive results. If a workgroup does not have at least four respondents, the group’s data will be rolled up into the next level report.

Together, managers and employees will discuss their survey results and create an impact plan. For many teams, including teams of managers, just having an open conversation about their workplace will be a big first step.

Management and labor will address ATO-wide issues at the organizational level.


For more information on the WE initiative, click here.