Avia Blog

While other industry sectors are announcing massive layoffs (GM for instance), aerospace and defense is buzzing along at its usual cycle. Yes, as programs move from design and development into production there is a shift in what is required and it definitely is affecting A&D workers.

It makes it even more important for A&D sector leaders to transfer skills and move people in a manner that recognizes this cycle — without uprooting workers and families. The housing slump is no joke, particularly when you’re trying to find a new job. The notion that it will now take 15 months to sell your home rather than six is frightening enough when you think you’ll have to move from Fort Worth to St. Louis. Add to this a loss of about 15% in value and it could be devastating.

As long as I’ve worked in A&D I’ve heard that we need to somehow find a way to flow people from program to program as opportunity arises — without loss of retirement vesting or pensions (where those still exist). New technologies enabling virtual teams should make this a reality — but when will we be able to make it so?

Just about a month ago, this blog mentioned that company “character” is growing in importance as opposed to corporate “values.” That notion seems to be reinforced by a recent Towers Perrin workforce study.

The study says it is the company – its reputation and credibility of its senior leaders – that most influences an employees’ level of engagement, even more than a solid relationship with the employee’s immediate supervisor.

The study canvassed 90,000 workers in 18 countries. And like the AVIATION WEEK survey of readers and online users last year, it found that people are much more optimistic about work than commonly believed. A full 68% of the respondents feel neutral to “energized” by on-the-job stress.

They don’t view the addition of cell phones, laptops and other mobile technologies as a “24/7 virtual prison” to work. Instead, the technologies are viewed as enabling better balance between work and personal life. I clearly don’t fall into this group – the cell phone is a tether. It doesn’t’ allow me to sit on the beach and do meetings. It just means I’m on call! Which means I’m out of step with 86% of those responding to the survey.

The survey found that on average people are putting in 45 hours per week; nearly a fifth of the respondents are working more than 50 hours a week on a routine basis. There aren’t many confessed workaholics – 18% say work is the most important aspect of their lives. Just shy of 60% say work supports their lives and the needs of their families/dependents.

One segment of the study was interesting as it reflected findings similar to the AVIATION WEEK survey a year ago. In general, workers believe they are the select people who will succeed. Among U.S. respondents, fully 75% of the respondents believe they will be successful. So much for the bell curves we use to gauge organizational performance. Just as optimistic – 86% of employees worldwide “like” or “love” their job.

Okay, I love my job. But not at the 86% level – closer to 60%. The other 40% of me includes those days when I can’t get people on the phone whom I need to talk to, miscommunication has resulted in rework of some type, or I’m overwhelmed by a combination of tedium and complexity. I want to know who these 86% are and what differentiates 86% from 100%?

 Federal officials say the acquisition workforce has been shrinking for years, but the issue is now a focal point of reports coming out of Washington concerning not just the Defense Dept. but all federal acquisition agencies.

The General Accountability Office says the government bought $400 billion in goods and services in FY2006 with 20,000 contracting specialists. The result is that a single contracting specialist is responsible for, on average, $20 million in expenditures. Half of these specialists can retire between now and 2016.

Both Congress and the administration say corrective actions are in place.  A new certification program designed to standardize training and experience has been created for contracting officers, program managers and technical representatives. Internships also have been set in place.  The Office of Personnel Management is using an audit of contracting competency to develop tailored programs to respond to deficiencies.

Frank Anderson, president of Defense Acquisition University, says by partnering with the Federal Acquisition Institute DAU has been able to expand training resources. Since 2005, there’s been a 529% increase in DAU certification graduations. 

After 10 years in corporate communications, I thought no organization announcement could surprise me. There was one period, back in 1989, when my entire living room was papered with the vastness of organizational change at the defense electronics unit where I worked.

However, Boeing’s Feb. 1 leadership shuffle brought organization announcements into an entirely new universe.

First, the announcement concerns the shift of 14 – yes 14 – senior leadership positions. That’s not nothing in terms of moving people about and the number of employees affected as they adjust to new bosses.

Second, as a member of the female gender, I was pleased – though definitely not surprised – three of the 14 folks moving around were women. When I began writing for AVIATION WEEK in 1996, that’s about how many women – total – held senior executive positions within the top 20 aerospace and defense companies. In 1998 Boeing’s Norma Clayton, Raytheon’s Louise Francesconi and Honeywell’s Peg Billson (now chief operating officer at Eclipse Aviation) were the women interviewed for our special feature on Women in Aviation. So congratulations to Debra Rub-Zink, promoted to vice president of weapons programs from vice president-integrated missile defense; Nan Bouchard, vice president/general manager-C3 Networks from vice president-Boeing IDS Engineering; and Ginger Barnes, vice president/deputy program manager- Future Combat Systems and previously deputy program manager Weapons Programs.
 
The third thing that caught my eye in the announcement was the note that Howard Chambers has a new assignment. Howard, who formerly was C-17 program executive at Boeing, then Boeing IDS’s first program management/performance excellence vice president and most recently vp/gm-Space and Intelligence Systems, was one of the founding members of the AVIATION WEEK Program Excellence initiative. We give out a prize each year to the Program Excellence evaluator who is the toughest scorer of entries – the Howard Chambers Award. Howard’s new assignment takes him to the Boeing Commercial Airplanes 787 program.

So You’re INTJ – now what?

If you’ve ever completed a Myers-Briggs or other type of personality/work style assessment, the personality acronyms are the brunt of jokes, of stereotyping, but seldom for action. And for many in our industry, that INTJ label is a reality to be reckoned with – driven by accomplishment and data, difficult to change course. We know who we are.

The problem with these personality assessments is they tend to tell you how people react to different types of information and situations. They seldom tell you “how” to pull distinctly different folks together for a more productive environment.

This despite the fact that “teaming” is one of the most critical skills a project, program or business leader needs. We know that dysfunctional teams fail. We know that people leave their jobs, most often, due to conflicts.

That’s why a new human resources tool is interesting – it looks at compatibility in terms of improving productivity. The supervisor receives a list of recommendations on how best to engage the employee, based on personality characteristics, as well as details on “how” to put the prescription to work. 

It’s an interesting gambit, given that retention of key talent is critical in terms of an organization’s ability to create and produce. And it’s especially interesting given that today’s workforce wants to be managed as individuals versus as a group.