NASA ARC Memo: Message from the Center Director: Employee Viewpoint Survey
Subject: Message from the Center Director: Employee Viewpoint Survey.
From: Centerwide Announcement
Date: May 14, 2013
NASA ARC Video Centerwide Message
Message from the Center Director: Employee Viewpoint Survey.
Employee Viewoint Survey. May 14, 2013
You may also view the Director’s video message on:
http://centerwide.arc.nasa.gov/video/1
To Ames Employees:
Greetings – Pete Worden Here.
Today, I want to take this opportunity to encourage you to participate in 2013 Employee Viewpoint Survey, and share with you a few of the things I’m doing that are a direct result of your feedback from the previous survey.
First, I’m taking the lead on rebuilding trust and integrity with Ames senior leadership. The progress we made with supervisors in 2012 has inspired me to develop more consistency and work harder on fairness and transparency.
Also, Lew Braxton, Steve Zornetzer, and Deb Feng and I are currently working to better understand our different leadership styles and how to successfully use those differences to be more effective as your leadership team. This work is not easy, but the long term benefit–improved interaction with each other and Ames employees–is well worth the effort.
Secondly, the four of us are getting feedback from our peers and colleagues to help us understand where we are leading well and where we can do better. One area that I’m focusing on is improving my listening skills!
Thirdly, we are each participating in reverse mentoring where we are reaching out to some of you for additional insights and perspectives. I’ve spent time with Tony in Protective Services and Josh from the Engineering Systems Division learning about their work and receiving feedback on how I can do my job better. Those conversations were actually pretty enlightening, and I always enjoy an opportunity to escape from Building 200!
As many of you heard me say at the April 23 All-Hands, I agree completely with this administration’s focus on creating a healthy and vital environment for our employees. The Employee Viewpoint Survey, or EVS, is just one tool to help assess how we are doing in this area.
The 2012 EVS highlighted once again how committed you all are to the important work we do and a willingness to do what it takes to accomplish extraordinary results. You are an amazing group of professionals–I know I’ve told you this before, but it’s true — you are one of the best I have seen in my career.
From year to year the EVS reflects the following:
you love your work,
you think your work is important and,
you are willing to put in 150 percent to get the job done.
That’s far and away, the most powerful element at Ames and what makes us excel.
By the way, if you think your work or the team you’re involved with is really cool and helping contribute in ways others may not see, get some exposure. We’ll shoot a photograph of your team with this NASA Best Places to Work plaque and then get that photo on the NASA.gov website. Talk to or e-mail HR Director Janice Fried if you’re interested…it’s a great way to capture history being made!
In conclusion,
I know some of you may believe there are those in the agency who see Ames as the “outlier” of NASA’s 10 centers. However–with the newly announced asteroid mission, as well as all our very cool ongoing activities in aeronautics, science, human exploration and technology–the truth is Ames is core to what NASA’s all about.
The Employee Viewpoint Survey communicates really useful information to us. It’s important to complete the survey so we can keep using your feedback to make this Center and the Agency the best place to work. Given our current budget constraints, more than ever, we need to know what matters most to you–our Ames workforce.
So please do your part by filling out the survey, and I’ll do my part by using the information to make changes where I can. I’ll keep you posted as we continue to make improvements.
Thank you & Godspeed Ames!
Director S. Pete Worden
