1. law, govt and politics
2. armed forces
3. veterans

Update Briefing to
the National
Partnership Council
April 22, 2015
1
Objectives
• Bring you up to date on the latest with
MyVA…and get your feedback!
• Discuss how we can work together to improve
the Veteran experience and the employee
experience (at the same time)
Our ultimate aspiration…
3
is about…
Putting the Veterans’ interest first.
Empowering employees and
helping them deliver excellent
customer service to improve the
Veteran experience.
Improving or eliminating processes
that impede good customer service.
Rethinking our internal structures
and processes to become more
Veteran-centric and productive.
4
MyVA Vision
1) Put the Veterans in control of how, when, and
where they wish to be served
2) Measure success by the ultimate outcome
for the Veterans
3) Integrate across programs and organizations
to optimize productivity and efficiency
5
MyVA Guiding Principles
– Consider change through the lens of the Veteran to enhance
effectiveness and efficiency from his or her perspective
– Optimize VA’s unique competencies in health care, benefits
delivery, and memorial affairs, while enhancing external
partnerships to support service delivery where VA is less well
postured to directly deliver service
– Integrate operations to improve service delivery and realize
efficiencies
– Recognize the central role of VA employees in identifying
challenges, crafting solutions, and ultimately delivering
world-class services to Veterans
– Focus on the future in terms of Veteran needs and demographics
“skate to where the puck is going to be”
6
MyVA concept was developed as a result of
listening to our employees, Veterans and shareholders
Listening to employees
• 100+ SecVA and DepSec visits to various facilities
• Over 20 site visits conducted with 2,000+ employees, across all levels and
grades
• 4,000+ ideas submitted to the Idea House by employees; 14,000 comments;
162,000+ votes on ideas; 50,000+ unique users accessed the system
Listening to Veterans
• Veteran interviews
• Town halls
Listening to our Shareholders
• VSOs
• Congress
• State directors of VA (NASDVA)
• Union leadership
7
We’ve heard that currently Veterans must integrate services on their own,
resulting in poor customer service and frustrated Veterans and beneficiaries…
I provided my
address to VA five
times, and my
prescription still went
to wrong place.
-- Veteran
I went to the VA Medical
Center for my appointment
and was told it was cancelled.
The VAMC said they tried to
call but could not reach me.
They were using my old cell
phone number from years ago.
-- Veteran
My daughter has received college
tuition assistance through VA, but
other parts of VA do not know she is
my dependent. According to VA’s
own on-line system, e-Benefits, it will
take 8 months to a year for VA to
verify her “dependency” status.
-- Veteran with eligible dependent
VA sent a letter to my
father, a Veteran, to
enroll in VA health care.
My father passed away
20 years ago and was
buried by VA.
-- Son of Veteran
I got a call from VA
to remind my
Veteran husband to
get his flu shot. My
husband passed
away months ago.
-- Widow of Veteran
8
…and we’ve heard similar themes from our employees
•
We have employees that care deeply about customer service, but they feel they
do not have the resources, particularly adequate knowledge of VA and proper
training, to deliver quality customer service
•
Inadequate staffing and poor recruitment, hiring, and retention practices
•
Inadequate support functions at the facility level, such as IT and contracting
•
Performance evaluation system does not incentivize customer service
•
There are pockets of excellence, but operations are not standardized, and we do
not share best practices
•
Integration and cooperation between business lines varies significantly
•
Structures and operations are too complex; decision making is too centralized
and takes too long
•
Employees see a need for additional investment in infrastructure, e.g. parking,
IT, space
•
There are opportunities to establish better local relationships with private sector,
local/state governments, VSOs, and other organizations
•
Communications needs to be simplified and consistent
9
We have also heard many inspiring stories…
“. . . Veterans are responsible for making the VA the best health care system in the
world. [VA physiologist and therapist] Andrew V. is an example of customer service
at its best, putting his heart and soul into serving our Nation’s Veterans. . . .”
Pulmonary Rehabilitation patient Kenneth T.
“. . . Organization and management is tight and
efficient. All staff are cordial and helpful. It is a friendly,
welcoming atmosphere. . . . study this Wylie Clinic as
an example of excellence.”
Clinic patient Charles A.
“. . . I do not believe that I could have received any better
care and attention if I was at any other health facility in the
United States. . . . felt I was their only patient . . . .”
Occupational Therapy patient Lawrence R. Jr.
“. . . In the 15 years that I’ve had access to VA care, I can honestly say that
even when I had the best health care in private industry, I have never received
the compassionate, concerned, and . . . loving care as I have with VA care.”
Bay Pines VAMC patient, Bartholomew C.
“They pursued my issues with a determination that ensured there would be no leaving the
facility without addressing my concerns . . . . They bring justifiable credit to the VA as
employees . . . . I am always treated like a General!”
VA Medical Center patient
10
10
To achieve the MyVA vision, we are focusing on five
primary areas
1.
Improving the Veterans experience by examining our Veteran-facing processes and organizations from
the Veteran’s perspective to enable every Veteran to have a seamless, integrated, and responsive VA customer service
experience every time.
2.
Achieving support services excellence by identifying common services that are performed in support
of VA mission components, and seeking to optimize these services to increase efficiency and eliminate duplication. These
services include: Human Resources, Legal Services, Information Technology, Acquisitions & Logistics, Real Property Facilities
Management, Public Affairs, Congressional Affairs, Budget & Finance, and Security & Preparedness.
3.
Establishing a culture of continuous performance improvement, so conditions are
set at the local level for issues to be raised, addressed, and solutions replicated across as many facilities as needed to achieve
enterprise level results.
4.
Enhancing strategic partnerships by making better “matches” and formal partnerships between
community, nonprofit, and other organizations and the work being done for Veterans at VA facilities across the country.
5.
Improving the employee experience by focusing on people and culture
so employees are empowered to better serve Veterans.
11
MyVA is about much more than these five themes. It’s a mindset
and a cultural shift that places the Veteran at the center
of everything we do
12
Improving the Veterans
Experience
Our Mission: Supporting VA’s delivery of excellent
care and benefit experiences that prioritize the
perspectives and needs of our customers: Veterans,
their families, supporters, and communities
13
Improving the Veterans Experience
Our approach:
• Understand our customers, their needs, and their expectations
• Understand existing efforts to meet customers’ needs and align
programs to achieve coherence and consistency
• Support VA to improve customer experiences by advising,
sponsoring, or owning initiatives as appropriate
• Foster solutions at the local level by training, supporting, and
empowering employees to contribute to excellent customer
experiences
• Foster productive collaboration at the community level among
the diverse range of local shareholders
14
Improving the Veterans Experience
Our customers want:
Experiences with meaning
•
A community of people that understand and address their unique
circumstances and experiences
•
A place to bond and support each other
Services that support and enable
•
Health care that focuses on Veterans unique needs
•
Education, training, and other support that helps their transition to the next
phase and throughout their lives
A VA they trust
•
Standards that are reasonable and understandable to them
•
A place where they feel emotionally and physically safe
•
Clear, reliable information and care in the context of trusted relationships
15
Improving the Veterans Experience
Veterans Experience: Current and Future State
Where We Are Now
Our Vision For The Future
3 Administrations, 7 Staff Offices, 12
Staff Organizations
Unified VA experience that enables
Veterans to intuitively navigate benefits and
services they earned
950+ 1-800 numbers
One 1-800 number where customers can
get all of their needs met
1000+ websites
Unified digital experience where customer
needs are met
Inconsistent training of front line
employees and their supervisors
Consistent, effective training for all front
line employees and their supervisors where
they feel empowered & prepared
Numerous and inconsistent customer
satisfaction measures
VA-wide customer satisfaction measure
16
Improving the Veterans Experience
Current “Top 10” Initiatives
Foundational Priorities
• Build the Veterans Experience team: establish in VACO and in the 5 districts
• Customer Data Integration: create a common view of our customers
• Menu of Services: describe the benefits/services VA currently offers
• Eligibility: determine the benefits/services each Veteran earned
Transformational Priorities
• Unified Digital Experience: address all digital needs from www.veterans.gov
• Single 1-800 Number: answer all inquiries in a single phone call
• One measurement for Veterans Experience: share experience across VA
• Front Line Employee Training: prepare/empower staff to honor Veterans
• Compensation & Pension Exam Process: improve from Veterans’ perspectives
• Community Veterans Engagement Board: provide local oversight on VA
17
Improving the Veterans Experience
Change is Hard…But Not Impossible
18
Improving the Veterans Experience
Unified Digital Experience
The Challenge: VA has more than 1,000 distinctly-managed websites that do not always present
the right information to our customers at the right time.
The Solution: Provide a unified Veterans experience by designing and building a new, simple and
modern website where Veterans get all their needs met.
The Approach: Understand what our customers need and focus on designing to meet those needs
UDE will be completed in phases
Alpha
Subsequent phases
• Content only – top 10 customer journeys
• Not intended as an immediate
replacement for 1000+ VA websites, for
some time there will be redundancies.
• Build a data-driven framework for iteration
and continual improvement
• Veterans.gov platform, code-named
The Harbor
• Provides central services including
additional customer journeys with
functionality, robust analytics, look/feel,
design patterns, training, and toolkits
• Within the Harbor, individual applications
(“boats”) may dock and connect with the
services they need
• Harbor is continually updated and refined
19
Improving the Veterans Experience
Compensation & Pension Exams
The Challenge: The current compensation exam process is a government-focused process, not a
Veterans-focused process
The Solution: create an understanding of the holistic set of issues regarding Veterans’ experiences
and expectations around the exam
The Approach: Lead a cross-functional group of people from across VA to conduct a compassionate
and thorough discovery and design project. We will refine the process through an understanding
of Veterans’ experiences and the drivers/causes of those experiences.
Discovery Phase
• Research the expectations and experiences
Veterans have before, during, and after the
compensation exam
• Document Veterans concerns
• Describe the complex/diverse VA people,
processes, and technologies around the
compensation exam that bring about both
Veterans’ experiences and frontline
employees’ experiences
Design Phase
• The results of the Discovery Phase will
inform the Design Phase
• Customer needs and system capabilities
are holistically considered so that
solutions are created based on research
20
Improving the Veterans Experience
Community Veterans Engagement Boards
Community Veterans Engagement Boards (CVEBs) are a network of local boards that the
Department of Veterans Affairs’ (VA) new Veterans Experience (VE) team will help stand up across the
country. CVEBs will provide a forum to proactively and directly address Veteran issues and improve
the Veteran experience at the local and national levels.
Key Functions
• Engage community resources
• Promote opportunities to benefit Veterans
and the community
• Establish regular meeting rhythm and host
both closed and open forums
• Foster community education on VA services
and benefits
• Enable direct feedback from community
leaders on Veterans issues during closed
forums, which community VA leaders can
then resolve
• Share efforts and outcomes with VA
• Enable direct feedback from Veterans and
the public through open forums
Intended Community Outcomes
• An integrated VA presence in the
community (VHA, VBA, NCA)
• Two-way communication between VA and
community shareholders
• VA leaders understand local Veteran issues
and can work in concert with other
shareholders, including VSOs, to
proactively address them
• Community Leaders are educated and
empowered to help Veterans leverage VA
services in the community
• Veterans and local community members
are informed of local VA strategies
• Opportunity for Veterans to provide direct
feedback on their experiences
21
Improving the Veterans Experience
The Local MyVA CVEB
• Membership
includes a wide
array of Veteran
stakeholders
North Atlantic
District VEO
Chair and Co-Chair
•
Veteran
Advocate
Organizations
Other local
Organizations
(health care,
social service,
etc.)
Veteran
Service
Organizations
(VSO)
Veterans
•
•
•
Participate in open
sessions
Voice and receive
feedback through local
leaders
Engage in community
improvement activities
State and
other Local
Government
Serve MyVA CVEB as
prominent members
of the local Veterans
community; not VA
officials
CVEB
Members
Veterans
Economic
Opportunity
Campaigns
Local VA
Officials
VA Officials
•
•
Present at all
meetings
Submit
standard
reports and
raise issues to
Regional VE
team
• Special focus community groups are represented as subgroups to the CVEB
22
Achieving Support Service
Excellence
Our Mission: Optimize the organization,
functions and activities of VA’s core support
functions that focus on delivery of world class
services to VA facilities and organizations that
directly serve Veterans.
23
Our work
From the perspective of the customer (VA’s facility directors and
internal organizations) and the client (Veterans being served at a
VA point-of-service), determine the “as-is”, and propose a “to be”
future state for support services in two waves. Then design,
build and test, implement and roll out, and optimize in the field in
2016.
• Lead service – Security and Preparedness
• Wave 1: Human Resources, Information Management /
Information Technology, Finance, Acquisition, Procurement,
and Logistics
• Wave 2: Real Property, Public Affairs, Legislative Affairs,
General Counsel
24
Finding the balance in Support Services
Achieving necessary balance means understanding where (and by whom) within
the organization different types of decisions should be made to optimize service
delivery that support Veteran outcomes.
Are organizations
empowered and staffed to
provide consistent, quality
support services?
Decisions by Support
Service Provider
Decisions at
Central Office
Are business lines providing
mission requirements or
dictating specific solutions?
Policy
Standards
Requirements
Decisions by
Administrations
Provisioning
Are capabilities sufficiently
standardized so that
efficiencies can be gained in
support of VA business
lines?
Does this optimize
services to Veterans?
Execution
Decisions
in Field
Are things that should be
simple field provisioning
issues over-encumbered by
Central Office control?
Does this make sense from a
Taxpayer perspective?
25
Support Services: Our Vision
Where we are today
Our vision of the future
Lack of clear requirements from
business lines or service level
agreements with service providers
•
•
Fragmented human relations
functions and centers with shadow
organizations
•
HR function aligned to support facility
directors with timely hiring, benefits,
and employee relations
•
Centralized Information Technology
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to is not
organizationClick
and
budget
that
U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs
aligned with focus on business lines
and qualityBy
customer service
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•
Fully integrated VA-wide information
capabilities, supported by IT
operational capabilities optimized to
meet expectations a point of service
•
Security and law enforcement
focused only at VA medical centers
•
Integrated security and law
enforcement supporting all VA
facilities
•
•
A collaborative process that produces
clear business requirements and
processes as well as accountable SLAs
for support services
Contract spend not directly aligned
• Integrated contracting and supply
with business requirements and
chain activities that directly support
Veteran outcomes
delivery of Veteran outcomes
Click to edit Master Intro Sub Title
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INTRO TITLE
U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs
26
Key issues / challenges
Key questions / issues we are working through
• Acquisition and contracting are broad,
overarching functions that must include
logistics and supply chain challenges
•
Where input would be helpful
• World class logistics and supply chain
operations that focus on timely
delivery to points of service
CLICK TO EDIT MASTER
Review of IT organizational structure which
• IT/IM structures and processes that
is unique in government
for centralization,
INTRO
TITLE focus on design/delivery of services
including budgetary authorities
to internal and external customers
Click to edit Master Intro Sub Title
• Lack of service level agreements between
business lines and support services
• Good, strong examples of service
level agreements that ensure
accountability
• Governance and organizational structures
Click to edit
Submitted to
for support/shared
services
• Good examples of private and public
sector support service organizational
structures
• Best practices in large scale change
management
U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs
By
• Cultural change
and employee buy-in
Click to edit Author
• Retention of strategic vision and momentum
post administration
U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs
• Legislative proposals that codify
transformational change
27
Establishing
Culture
Continuous
CLICK aTO
EDIT of
MASTER
INTRO TITLE
Performance
Improvement
Click to edit Master Intro Sub Title
Our Mission: Partner across VA to identify and
execute select process improvements, while
establishing
an enterprise-wide strategy and
Click to edit Submitted to
U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs
infrastructure
that supports a culture of continuous
By
performance
Click to edit Authorand outcome improvement
U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs
28
Performance Improvements: Our Vision
Where we are today
•
•
Lack a continuous performance and
outcome improvement culture within VA
Our vision of the future
•
Leverage a Lean Management approach
to enable a culture of continuous process
improvement
CLICK TO EDIT MASTER
• Employees will have the tools and
Employees lack tools and training they
TITLE training they need and are empowered
need to betterINTRO
do their jobs and help
Veterans
to do their work better
Click to edit Master Intro Sub Title
•
There have been a number of
improvement recommendations
throughout the years, but the solutions
have not been executed
•
edit Submitted
to of best
InconsistencyClick
andtolack
of sharing
U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs
practices and knowledge management
By
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U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs
•
•
Complete high level tactical
improvements to create a cadre of local
project management professionals and
deliver local results
Establish a set of common core Lean
competencies coupled with a robust
knowledge management system
29
Major initiatives ongoing
Veterans Crisis Line
Organization
Design/Capability
Development
•
Providing project management support to the Veterans Crisis Line’s
modernization plan
•
Standing up enterprise-wide strategy and infrastructure for VA to
enable a culture of continuous process improvements
Develop cascading Lean management structure from HQ to the field
CLICK TO EDIT MASTER
• Providing project management/Lean Six Sigma support to establish
Leadership VA
an overarching
LVA Action Learning framework to support
INTRO
TITLE
performance improvements
•
Click to edit Master Intro Sub Title
Pre-Need Burial
Eligibility
Nashville Discharge
Process
•
•
•
Policy change is complete to allow pre-need burial eligibility for
Veterans while they are still alive
Execution plan is being developed for roll-out
Improving hospital discharge processes, patient outcomes and
satisfaction
Click to edit Submitted to
U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs
•
VA 101
Developed new VA 101 training for employees to build their knowledge
critical VA and Veteran-specific topics
VA 101 training to begin at 60 field sites for more than 6,000 employees
By
Training
Click to edit Author of
•
Improved Wayfinding
in VHA Facilities
U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs
•
•
Standardizing way-finding materials so Veterans can navigate VHA
facilities
Collected local maps from VAMCs for standardization
30
Major ongoing initiatives
Ear and Eye Care Direct
Scheduling Pilot
•
Exploring a direct scheduling process for ear and eye care so Veterans
can schedule appointments with Audiology and Optometry
Completed 2 out of 3 Lean events at pilot sites for ear and eye care
•
•
Creating an Integrated Town Hall Guide Book for VA facilities to use
for outreach and to plan, execute integrated town halls with Veterans
CLICK TO EDIT MASTER
• Expanding Guest Wi-Fi in all VHA facilities and clinics so Veterans
INTRO
TITLE
and their families have Internet access
Guest Wi-Fi
Integrated Town Halls
Click to edit Master Intro Sub Title
Employee
Organizational
Phonebook
•
Developing an employee organizational phonebook with up-to-date
employee information databases to improve search capabilities so
employees can locate colleagues and answer Veterans’ questions
HR&A Elimination
of
• Reduce
cost by identifying electronic opportunities to share Human
Click to edit Submitted
to
Printing and Mailing
of
U.S. Department of Resource
Veterans Affairs
documents, rather than mailing them
Monthly Reports
By
Click to edit Author
VBA Call Center
Enhancements
U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs
•
•
Completed capabilities to provide enhanced service to Veterans over the
telephone and upload inputs into VBMS
Impacted over 18,894 Veterans since October 6, 2014
31
Overall MyVA Employee Engagement and Site Visits (FY15)
Proposed VA 101 Pilot Sites
VA 101 Solution Development and/or Feedback Sessions
Future Signage and Wayfinding Visits
Employee Engagement Site Visits
VERC Discharge Planning Process Session
Wi-Fi Telephone Interviews
Signage and Wayfinding Visits
Employee Focus Groups, VA 101 and Signage Deep Dives
and VA 101 Feedback Sessions
Integrated Town Hall Site Observations
Integrated Town Hall Phone Interviews
Integrated Town Hall Site Visits
Rice University Foundation
Ear and Eye Care
Veterans Crisis Line Visits
Future Ear and Eye Care Travel
32
As of April 8, 2015
Key issues / challenges
Key questions / issues we are working through
• How to create an integrated approach
using Lean Six Sigma fundamentals for
continuous improvement across VA?
•
Where input would be helpful
• Understand how you build and
sustain a culture of continuous
improvement
CLICK TO EDIT MASTER
How to best coordinate and collaborate
• Learning ways to leverage best
TITLE
to share and INTRO
adopt best practices
and
practices in a large organization
spur improvement?
Click to edit Master Intro Sub Title
• How to empower local leaders to make
appropriate decisions while balancing
the need to standardize the Veteran
experience?
• Look at ways you do this through
decision delegation and/or
performance accountability
focused on customer satisfaction
Click to edit Submitted to
U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs
“While I know not
all changes we suggested at our site, or others across the nation, can (or
By
should) be implemented,
I left (the VA 101 deep-dive) feeling optimistic that my thoughts and
Click to edit Author
suggestions were valued and heard. Not only that, I have faith that the feedback and ideas
gathered across the country will make it to senior leadership ears and influence change!”
–VA Employee
U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs
33
Enhancing
Strategic
CLICK
TO EDIT
MASTER
Partnerships
INTRO
TITLE
Click to edit Master Intro Sub Title
Our Mission: Leverage resources external to the
VA on an effective and consistent basis, at all
levels of the Department, to improve the Veteran
Click to edit Submitted
to enhancing productivity and
experience
while
U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs
efficiency.
By
Click to edit Author
34
U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs
Strategic Partnerships
Strategic Partnership
Agreement between VA and one or more
external stakeholders that allows for the
delivery of benefits, services, or support
that furthers VA’s capacity to serve
Veterans, families, caregivers, survivors,
and/or other beneficiaries on a
Click to
edit Master Intro Sub Title
significant or global
scale.
CLICK TO EDIT MASTER
INTRO TITLE
Tactical Partnership
Agreement between VA and one or more
external stakeholders
that allows for the
Click to edit Submitted to
U.S. Department
of Veterans
delivery of benefits,
services,
orAffairs
support
By
that furthers VA’s
capacity to serve
Click to edit Author
Veterans, families, caregivers, survivors,
and/or other beneficiaries on a local or
community scale.
U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs
35
Strategic Partnerships
Where we are today
• Increasing demand for services
• “Can’t do” culture
• Fragmented oversight, metrics,
and lack of performance
reporting
• Lack of VA tools across the
enterprise
• Inconsistent collaborative
efforts
• Pockets of VA excellence
• Huge opportunity exists for
transformation
• Exponentially increasing
demands require dramatic
changes
Our vision of the future
• Proactive, “Can-do” culture
• Vetted partners
• Meaningful & mutually
beneficial partnerships
• Guidance, support from
leadership in due diligence &
engagement
• Empower versus control
• Enabling infusion of
technology
• Metrics, reporting
• Intelligent infrastructure
improvements
36
Strategic Partnerships
Paths to Excellence
Maximizing
Opportunity
Opportunistically matching external offerings to help
with emerging and existing Veteran needs
Empowering
Employees
Empowering VA employees with tools and support
to engage in mutually beneficial partnerships at all
levels of VA
Proactive
Engagement
Foundation
Feasibility
Proactively soliciting and engaging in partnerships
Studying the feasibility of building a VA Foundation to
serve as a vehicle to engage in partnerships otherwise
not possible.
37
Strategic Partnerships
Recent Progress/Activities
• Dynamic Needs Assessment – Compiled existing needs assessments to
identify key gaps in services/benefits that VA cannot currently provide.
• Systematic Ongoing Triage of Potential Partnerships – Tracking daily
partnership requests; conducting due diligence to ensure high quality
collaborative outcomes.
• Standardization – Developing means to more effectively engage in and
to edit Master
IntroVA:
Sub
Title modules, templates,
manage Click
partnerships
throughout
training
general processes, legal guidance, MoAs/MoUs, etc…
• Internal Collaboration – VHA, VBA and NCA working together in team
vetting process.
• Innovation – Leveraging available technology tools as reporting
Click to edit Submitted to
mechanisms
for metrics
performance evaluation, and best
U.S. Department
of Veteranstracking,
Affairs
practicesBydissemination: relational database, VA intranet website as
Click to edit Author
single access
point; social media data options; and more.
• Numerous Partnership Initiatives – Actively evaluating, developing, and
priming dozens of new VA partnerships.
CLICK TO EDIT MASTER
INTRO TITLE
U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs
38
CLICK TO EDIT MASTER
Improving
the
Employee
INTRO TITLE
Experience
Click to edit Master Intro Sub Title
Our Mission: Build a collaborative, inclusive and
results-oriented culture that inspires trust in order
Click to edit Submitted
to
to improve
the Employee
Experience
U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs
By
Click to edit Author
U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs
39
Improving the employee experience by focusing on our
people and culture supports the MyVA Strategy
LEADERSHIP EXCELLENCE
A VA with world class management teams, starting at the SES level, where leaders at all levels consistently execute the MyVA
vision, the integration of MyVA culture principles, the I CARE values through their behaviors, and commit to hold themselves,
their employees and each other accountable for the accomplishment of:
Employees are Capable and
Engaged
Responsible, PerformanceOriented Culture
 Everyone is an owner of his/her job,
and is responsible for making sure
Veterans are served with distinction
 Performance measures support
customer satisfaction goals and
outcomes
 Being held accountable and
responsible is viewed as positive
Employees:
• Have the right skills and tools to
perform their jobs
Responsible
PerformanceOriented Culture
MyVA
Vision
High Performing Candidates
Attracted and Retained
 High performing candidates are
attracted and retained to meet
mission critical roles
Employees are
Capable and
Engaged
High Performing
Candidates
Attracted and
Retained
• Act in ways that exhibit their
commitment to serving Veterans and
shareholders
• Are engaged by their leadership to
generate and execute improvement
ideas
Planned Career Paths and
Development
Planned Career
Paths and
Development
 Develop career paths and associated
learning opportunities for employees
to meet their full potential
 Establish continuous learning
opportunities to address competency
gaps and develop an agile workforce
 Key leadership and other key unfilled
positions are prioritized
 Succession planning is implemented
for critical roles
ENABLERS
Data analytics to drive performance decisions
Leaders model and teach to reinforce change
Robust communication strategy and execution
40
Employee Engagement
President’s Management Agenda
The PMA and a recent joint Office of
Management and Budget/Office of Personnel
Management memo highlighted the importance
of Employee Engagement and set guidance for a
measure to be included in all SES performance
standards
Definition: The degree to which employees think, feel and act
in ways that demonstrate high levels of commitment to the
mission, goals and shareholders of their organization.
Connection to the Community
Initiatives to reach out to
employees:
• Idea House
• Mandatory Town Halls
• MyCareer@VA
• Recognition Campaigns
• Recruitment: Pathways
program
Engagement Snapshots
Employee and Customer
Service data presented with
organizational HR data
Employee
Engagement
I CARE Support
Provide training for
recommitment, pin distribution,
and identify I CARE good
news stories
Engagement Playbook
Secretary Awards/Recognition
Recognition of outstanding
contributions of major significance
to VA, including I CARE Honor
Award
Intended for VA leaders facility and regional directors to recommend practices and
behaviors that foster and
sustain an engaged work
environment
41
Leadership Excellence
Our goal is to recruit, develop, empower and retain a diverse workforce, and foster a culture that inspires
trust through collaboration, inclusion and a focus on results.
This requires a VA with world class management teams where leaders at all levels consistently execute
the MyVA vision, integrate MyVA culture principles and the I CARE values through their behaviors, and
commit to hold themselves, their employees and each other accountable.
Assess Leadership
•
Evaluate leadership
−
Acting vs.
Permanent
−
Operating
environment
−
•
Develop and Train
•
Align leadership
development
programs and ensure
gap closure
•
Evaluate flagship
programs including:
Leadership VA,
Senior Leadership
Course, Senior
Executive Service
Candidacy
Development
Program
Certifications
and/or
completion of
development
programs
Assess tenure at VA
and time as SES
•
Deploy consistent
residency training
programs
Engage Leaders
•
Include leaders in
building the
leadership brand and
teaching VA
leadership
•
Ensure leaders make
data-driven decisions
by equipping them
with organizational
specific data on
employee
engagement and
customer service
Hold Accountable
•
Create support
structure to meet and
exceed identified
requirements: SES
Performance
Element on
Engagement
•
Ensure consistent
execution of MyVA
and I CARE values,
characteristics, and
associated behaviors
•
Reinforce positive
performance by
recognizing leaders
and employees who
model these values
42
42
Key Human Capital Challenges
Challenges
Ongoing Initiatives
Leadership and Management Capability
•
•
•
Hiring/staffing; onboarding
Workforce planning; succession planning
Leadership Development Program alignment
Federal Environment
•
•
•
Strengthening union partnerships
Position classification/job description considerations
Budget constraints
•
•
•
Employee survey administration and action planning
Engaging and empowering employees in problem solving
and decision making
Ensuring flexible work arrangements benefit both
employee and Department
Attracting and retaining a diverse workforce
•
•
•
Integrating new technology
Transitioning away from legacy HR systems
Training staff to use new tools
Employee Engagement
Evolving Technology
•
43
Discussion questions
• How can we work together to achieve the
“Washington Post” vision?
• What is best way to get union participation on
the MyVA team?
• What should we be doing differently?