Army Contracting Command-Redstone employees have another way to share their ideas for improvements in the workplace thanks to an employee group that will help to strengthen communication between managers and employees.
The ACC-Redstone Employee Advisory Council was recently established to provide employees a forum for the discussion of ideas, concerns, initiatives and best practices. In late 2016, the Army Contracting Command mandated that each of its major subordinate commands and brigades along with its six contracting centers, including the center located at Redstone Arsenal, establish an Employee Advisory Council.
"From October to November 2016, we received a series of communications and taskers that laid out the framework for the establishment of Employee Advisory Councils across the enterprise," said Angela Williams, the lead workforce development specialist at ACC-Redstone who is the Human Resources Directorate liaison for the Employee Advisory Council.
"Each contracting center is responsible for putting together an Employee Advisory Council with members of the workforce."
ACC-Redstone's Employee Advisory Council was formed in July after its mission was reviewed and supported by the leaders of Local 1858, American Federation of Government Employees. It is led by EAC chairman Valerie Hanton, a contract specialist; and vice chairman Pamela Milton, a supervisory contract specialist. About a dozen employees currently make up the council.
"Any issues related to the workforce that are brought to the council will be discussed. The council will make recommendations to address the issue and then present those suggestions to ACC-Redstone's Human Capital Council," Hanton said, adding that the Human Capital Council is chaired by ACC-Redstone's deputy for G-1 (Human Resources) and is comprised of subordinate command and contracting centers' G-1s or equivalent.
"The council is a forum where issues are discussed and recommendations are made. But, implementation of those recommendations must go through the Human Capital Council and be coordinated by ACC-Redstone's Human Resources Directorate," Hanton said. "We will look at issues and policies that affect all employees, such as telecommuting."
Now that it's established, the Employee Advisory Council is focused on two things -- recruiting more members to grow the council to about 20 employees and encouraging employees to provide input to the council.
"We are recruiting more employees for the council so that we have wide representation of the employees who work for ACC-Redstone. This is something that all employees can get involved in and where everybody has an equal voice," Milton said.
"We are also recruiting issues, concerns and good news initiatives that we can review and discuss. We want to make recommendations that will lead to policy improvements that benefit all ACC-Redstone employees."
Members of the Employee Advisory Council come from all areas of ACC-Redstone, and include supervisors and employees, as well as union members. The council will include representatives from each ACC-Redstone directorate as well as Corpus Christi Army Depot, Texas; Letterkenny Army Depot, Pennsylvania; sites at Fort Eustis, Virginia, and Colorado Springs, Colorado; and remote sites that ACC-Redstone employees support.
"The purpose of the Employee Advisory Council is to have open, honest and productive communication between employees and management on matters of concern to all employees," Williams said.
"This is an opportunity to voice concerns and share best practices across the ACC-Redstone enterprise. We are focused on positive initiatives and efforts. We are looking more broadly across the workforce to share what is working best with all employees."
For workforce development specialist Jacqueline Jones, being a member of the Employee Advisory Council is an opportunity to have a positive influence on the workforce.
"Ideas that are valid and that address a possible improvement for employees are ideas that should be brought to the council," Jones said. "We are committed to building on what already makes ACC-Redstone a great organization. We want to be a change agent on behalf of ACC-Redstone employees."
The council members hope their efforts have a long-lasting impact on the working environment at ACC-Redstone.
"The goal is to boost morale of employees by providing them a voice and by creating open communication among employees on matters of concern," Milton said. "We are hoping the council's work will benefit all ACC-Redstone employees and make this an even better place to work."
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