NASA LaRC Internal Memo: CD COMM # 2005-7 Langley Status Update

From: “Roy D. Bridges, Jr.” center-director@larc.nasa.gov
Date: Fri, 17 Jun 2005 10:29:57 -0400
To: (All Employees at Langley Research Center)
Subject: CD COMM # 2005-7 Langley Status Update

CD COMM # 2005-7 Langley Status Update

June 17, 2005

To:  All Civil Service and Contractor Employees at Langley Research Center      

As you are aware, we are facing very dynamic times. As it becomes known, I have promised that we will provide information.  There are several upcoming meetings and activities that should help us clarify some areas.  While many things are yet to be decided, we are working closely with NASA Headquarters to reach clarity as soon as possible.

First, the Center Transition Project (CTP) has been working very hard to develop an integrated strategic picture for the Center.  The team has developed a first cut at a robust strategy that will serve us for many years to come and allow us to make significant contributions to exploration, science, and aeronautics.  Next week, on June 20-21, we will be having a retreat with our entire management team (OUMs, deputies, branch heads, project managers, office heads) to review the strategy and get their input to the plan.  Shortly after that retreat, on June 30, we will have a Town Meeting to describe the plan to all our employees.  The retreat will also discuss our operational model for the Center as well as how we can best size our workforce and gain institutional efficiencies necessary to meet projected budget profiles. While we have put forth considerable effort to ensure alignment with our strategic plan, the Vision for Space Exploration, and the President’s budget, there is still much that is yet to be decided.  We will need to be flexible and patient as we work with Headquarters to establish the best Agency plan for moving forward.

The Agency is considering options that you have read about – more in-house work, ensuring that center skills and expertise are not lost, that critical facilities remain operational, that the lab structure within NASA is not substantially altered, and that a national aeronautics policy be formulated with input from the Agency.

Over the next couple of months, we will be participating on a team chartered by the Headquarters Program Analysis and Evaluation Office.  The team will identify work the Agency needs done in the near future that contributes to the Agency’s mission and that could be directly assigned to NASA Centers in order to minimize or alleviate the workforce disruption (civil service and contractor) we are facing as a result of unbudgeted workforce capacity in FY06 and beyond.  The focus will be on FY07 and beyond, but will also consider work in FY06 that is related or preliminary to that identified above such that it also makes sense to direct to an appropriate Center. The turnaround is relatively short (i.e. mid-July completion), so that resulting decisions can be made in time to affect the FY07 budget submission later this summer.  Thus, while we may be looking at many workforce scenarios, a final plan will not be determined until this team has finished its work.

Although we are working very hard to identify relevant contributions that we can make to support the mission, we must also continue planning for downsizing as a worst-case scenario.  As you are aware, there are very long lead times in the event a reduction-in-force (RIF) is needed. For that reason, we have initiated a Center-wide organization, position and employee data review.   The purpose of that review is to ensure organizational information as well as specific information on every employee and their position of record is as accurate as possible.  This is a critical step in any restructuring effort to ensure any decisions are based on validated information and that mission critical competencies are maintained. The review was initiated on May 24, 2005, with the response deadline extended until Monday, July 11, 2005.  The Office of Human Capital Management (OHCM) will review and analyze changes with the goal of completing their assessment by August 31, 2005.  Once changes have been reviewed, OHCM will process position description and employee data updates for implementation in early FY06.  This short timeline is necessary to ensure the Center is ready to meet any budget or strategically driven workforce scenarios.  Thus, we continue to ask for your cooperation in responding to this task.

We hope that any reductions at Langley will be smaller than previously thought if any are necessary at all.  To be clear, the agency has NOT yet decided whether involuntary layoffs of NASA’s civil servant workforce (otherwise known as RIFs) will be needed in the future.  All options are on the table, but as a team, we are trying to be sensitive in balancing the needs of the Agency’s workforce with the missions the Agency is directed to conduct on behalf of the nation.  With so many potential changes, any information you have heard informally involving specific dates and numbers should be disregarded.  The environment is extremely dynamic and fluid.

I wish I could tell you – right now – exactly what will happen and when, but I cannot, because I simply do not yet know. Because the environment is still dynamic, we will continue to plan for a RIF so that we are prepared if one is required.  When I have more clarity, I will tell you.  The most important thing you can do right now is deliver on the products for which we are committed and stay focused on the mission.  While that is difficult, it is essential for our success as a Center and for overall NASA mission success.

I look forward to speaking with you at the Town Meeting on June 30.

Cordially,
Roy D. Bridges, Jr.