LTG Patricia Horoho extends her thanks to all who participated in the 2012 MEDCOM Speaks! Employee Engagement Survey. A remarkable 35% of U.S. Army MEDCOM service members and civilian employees surveyed gave their feedback, providing valuable information on the state of MEDCOM and employee engagement. The data is currently being analyzed, and employees should expect to begin receiving communications about the survey results by the end of December.

"We are working very hard to make sure that the results are communicated to all service members and employees throughout the Command," said LTC Thomas Davenport,
Chief, Force Management Division, Human Resources Directorate.

"It is important that employees know their opinions have been heard -- both positive and negative, and that they are seeing actions being taken to address opportunities for improvement identified in the survey."

Davenport and his team are working with the Directorate of Communications to implement a communications plan to disseminate results broadly and successively across MEDCOM. Because the team recognizes the importance of regular employee comments, an anonymous feedback option for employees to provide ideas throughout the year is also being established.

MEDCOM Speaks!, which replaced the previous Command Climate survey, is conducted three times a year to collect and report on MEDCOM employees' attitudes and perceptions about the MEDCOM overall, their organization's Command, their immediate supervisor, and their job to identify root causes of dissatisfaction or disengagement, and to implement initiatives that will appeal to dissatisfied or disengaged employees. All service members and civilian employees (excluding contract personnel) are invited to complete the survey annually, and all responses are confidential. Survey results are presented to TSG and other senior leaders each quarter, and the survey results are being integrated into Balanced Scorecard initiatives to ensure planned improvements are tracked.

"TSG and our senior leaders are truly committed to increasing employee engagement. An engaged and proactive workforce is an absolute necessity as we prepare to meet the demands of a changing health care environment," Davenport said. "MEDCOM Speaks! has become more integrated into the Army Medicine culture since it was formally launched in 2011, and we want to make sure that all employees hear about the results, see improvements being made, and be able to provide feedback on a regular basis. Making sure that we have processes in place to dialogue with employees will continue to be a priority."