FORT BUCHANAN, PR -- US Army Garrison Fort Buchanan became the first Installation Management Command (IMCOM) garrison to hold the Operation Excellence (OPEX) Training in Spanish April 15, 2021 at the Training Division facility on post. The training is part of the Plans, Analysis, and Integration Office (PAIO) initiatives. One its goals is to uphold and ensure the implementation of IMCOM’s Customer and Leadership Pledges.
Management and Program Analyst, Lesvia (Zory) Malpica assisted by PAIO Director, Raúl L. Rodríguez provided the course to garrison employees. “All of us have the privilege to serve Service Members, their families, Retirees and Army Civilians, this course strives to ensure we are all providing the best customer service to both our internal and external customers,” said Malpica.
“¡Buenos Dias!” said Fort Buchanan Deputy to the Garrison Commander, Derrick W. Hood as he welcomed all participants. He added, “It’s all about taking care of people. The Chief of Staff of the Army’s number one priority is taking care of people. …But how do we do that? We do that by treating everyone with dignity and respect."
"IMCOM believes that if we take care of our workforce, you will in turn take care of our customers. We get positive feedback, ‘Great customer service. Great work.’ but my concern is how are we doing with each other? How are we doing in teams? How are we working, not just with our own sections but also across directorates? How do we take care of, talk to and treat one other? This course not only ensures we are taking care of our customers but each other," said Hood. "We are a Team! So we have to treat each other with dignity and respect in our sections and across directorates. This course strives to improve that. This training has generated a lot of positive feedback, good interaction and sharing of information. I want you today to be involved, engaged and get something out of this,” Hood concluded.
“This training is very important, ‘Excelencia Operacional’ (Operation Excellence) is not new, treating customers and each other well, is not new. The good thing is we are learning additional skills to improve customer service. This is the first time this course will be administered in Spanish. It is the result of thinking outside of the box. I know that all of you speak English but I also know you feel more comfortable communicating in your own language, especially when it comes to important job related things. So as you go through this innovative and new approach to training, your feedback will be vital, especially moving forward to further improve the training in Spanish,” said Garrison Command Sgt. Maj. José A. Banks.
Juan Gómez, from the Directorate of Public Works (DPW) said that, “This is a tremendous initiative. We understand the course is important. I hope that more courses will be done in this manner. In my case as well as some of my co-workers, we understand better and benefit from it being done in Spanish. This allowed for more interaction and participation. This was a positive experience because it was done in Spanish.”
Other DPW employees described the training as “¡Tremendo!” (Awesome!) “I feel more comfortable due to the language, so I can express myself better,” said Joel De Jesús. “I really liked it better in Spanish. It is a big plus,” said César Quintero. “I would like to see videos in Spanish with more realistic situations,” said José Figueroa.
Manuela Barriera, from the Directorate of Resource Management, said that this is an “awesome initiative. It should be carried out at other installations. Other mandatory courses should also be done in Spanish. After all, we are in a bilingual society here in Puerto Rico. ‘Me encantó!’ (I really liked it!)”
PAIO Chief Rodriguez stated that, “Course participants were not fearful to respond in Spanish. They were visibly more comfortable.”
After assessing the outcomes of the first OPEX training conducted in Spanish, Malpica noted more attendance and interaction, “When expressing themselves in Spanish the information flows better, since it is their first language.” Malpica who also translated the materials into Spanish, reaffirmed that “Although the materials have been translated, IMCOM’s message remained intact, and they understood the message better,” she concluded.
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