[The following article appears in the August 1994 edition of _Public_Sector_Quality_Report_, pages 2 and 3.] NAVY SITE WINS FLORIDA Q AWARD Defense organizations generally, and the Navy in particular, have dominated U.S. federal government quality awards in recent years. Now the Navy can add a state quality award to its arsenal of trophies. Earlier this year it was Naval Station Mayport among the winners of the 1994 Governor's Sterling Award for Quality, Florida's second annual statewide quality award competition. The Naval Station employs more than 1,300 military and civilian employees and boasts an annual operating budget of about $54 million. Its customers include 19 ships and crews, five helicopter squadrons, and 55 "tenant commands." More than 13,000 people in all work at the base, which occupies 3,400 acres on Florida's east coast, near Jacksonville. Services rendered by Naval Station employees range from aircraft maintenance and ship docking to police and fire protection and recreational activities. In a short 18 months since its formal quality effort was launched, with the formation of a Total Quality Leadership office and an Executive Steering Committee (ESC) comprising 14 department heads and the commanding officer, Naval Station Mayport has done quite a lot. A review of the station's successful Sterling Award application (virtually identical to the Malcolm Baldrige National Quality Award, with seven criteria-leadership, information/analysis, strategic quality planning, human resource excellence, management of process quality, quality and operational results, and customer focus/ satisfaction) reveals the following: -- An overall strategic plan identifying four major station goals: providing superior customer service, increasing efficiency, improving quality of life for all base occupants, and guarding the environment. With those goals set, each department has been charged with devising its own plan to support the broad base objectives. Incidentally, introductory TQL training (either a one- or three-day course) is provided to all employees. -- A two-tier quality structure which encourages both intra-department and cross-organization improvement. A quality management board charters process action teams to look at improving processes that cross department lines. Each department's quality improvement council charters quality improvement teams to improve processes within a department's sphere of influence. Over the entire quality operation sits the ESC. -- Considerable attention to the involvement, wellbeing, and satisfaction of employees. Not only does the station offer TQL training and several performance recognition awards, it also monitors those efforts to ensure they continue to work effectively. The effectiveness of training instructors and course content is tracked, for example, using surveys of class attendees. That feedback then is used to drive improvements in the TQL education process. Such factors as sexist and racist behavior are measured in an annual "command climate survey." Grievances, equal opportunity complaints, unfair labor practices charges, lost work days, absenteeism, and more, all are measured as indicators of employee satisfaction and involvement. -- Reliance on a small, but consistent and frequently used, set of three powerful improvement tools, including a "Process Management model" designed to get managers and employees to understand the customer's needs first, and then work step-by-step on how best to align the organization's resources and systems with the customer. When put into action, the model guides station employees and teams from step one-identify/quantify customer needs-on down to step eight-identify performance measures for an improved process. The station also relies heavily on the Navy's 12-step process improvement flow chart, and the ever-effective Plan-Do-Check-Act cycle. _________________________________________________________________ "To provide the best service in the Navy, supporting all aviation, afloat and shore-based forces, improving the quality of life for everyone through a total commitment to excellence." Mission Statement Naval Station Mayport, FL _________________________________________________________________ -- Surveys. Every major department has its own customer satisfaction survey, and many have more than one, in order to get detailed feedback from specific customer subgroups. In all, 25 customer survey and feedback mechanisms are in use at the station. -- Results. According to the application, customer-focused, team-driven improvement activity allowed the station to save more than $10 million and 1,400 "man days" of labor in 1983. A large share of those savings were accomplished in such areas as aviation maintenance, hazardous waste minimization, and harbor services. Meanwhile, the number of bureaucratic steps required for a military person to check in or out of the base upon being transferred was reduced from 24 to eight (from two weeks to less than eight hours), saving 900 man days annually. The travel request/approval process has been shortened by two days. A sports bar, which had been a money loser for the Navy while being operated by a private contractor, was taken over by the Morale, Welfare and Recreation department and turned into a profitable operation. Naval Station managers insist they were using the Sterling Award primarily as a self-assessment exercise. "Our real motive was to examine the key areas of our operations to ensure that customers' needs were identified and met," says Captain R. Timothy Ziemer, the station's senior executive. "After our initial assessment, we found several areas that needed our attention. We made some adjustments and then were fortunate enough to have the Sterling examiners come in to validate what we were doing." CONTACT: Lt. Cmdr. Jeanne McDonnell, TQL Coordinator, Naval Station Mayport, (904) 270-5671 or -5299. [For further information about PSQR or to subscribe, contact: Public Sector Quality Report 17733 Kingsway Path Lakeville, MN 55044-5209 Phone: (612) 898-5058 Fax: (612) 892-7710 e-mail: 74363.3644@compuserve.com]