JOINT BASE SAN ANTONIO-FORT SAM HOUSTON, Texas (July 13, 2023) – Soldiers and Army civilians of the 410th Contracting Support Brigade attended an executive education seminar led by the H-E-B School of Business and Administration at the University of the Incarnate Word June 28 in San Antonio.
With the intent to wholistically develop the leaders of tomorrow’s Army Contracting Command and federal government, 27 brigade participants engaged in didactic presentation, group discussion, and interactive learning modules. The modules focused on enhancing diversity, equity and inclusion; service quality; and effective leadership in high-change environments.
The benefits of this executive education seminar transcended pay scale, military rank, or job series. The seminar was designed to spark professional growth across the workforce.
“The 410th CSB is thrilled to partner with the University of Incarnate Word School of Business to continue to develop leaders who are socially and globally aware of the needs for tomorrow’s business, whether one sees the world through the lens of industry or preparing for the Army of 2040,” said Col. Daphne Austin, the 410th CSB commander.
Professors Dr. Teresa Harrison, Dr. Roberto Saldivar and Dr. Rafael Hoyle challenged the conventional thinking of the attendees and introduced new paradigms that may soon become the industry operational standard based on academic research and current trends.
Harrison began the education seminar with a DEI session that reaffirmed the benefits of a diverse workforce; the mixture of differences and similarities makes for a stronger organization. Conversely, homophily, the tendency to seek connections and form bonds with people who share one’s defining characteristics, can be a hindrance to personal, professional, and organizational advancement. Harrison also highlighted the difference between equality and equity and when each should be deployed in the workplace to stimulate growth.
The service quality workshop taught by Saldivar drew a direct correlation between employee satisfaction and customer satisfaction. Happy and satisfied employees tend to produce higher quality work that drives customer satisfaction. The best organizations are the ones that maintain open dialog with their customers, track relevant data to improve production quality, and know what tradeoffs to make to balance employee satisfaction and customer satisfaction. To maintain exceptional customer satisfaction, organizational leaders should also know how and when to deploy service recovery techniques. Not every interaction with customers will end with a positive experience free from frustration. Leaders must identify these frustrations, develop processes to resolve the issues, implement the techniques, and document the service recovery steps taken.
Hoyle shared his experiences of leading multi-national commercial organizations in a fast-paced, ever-changing, environment prior to entering academia. To lead in high-change environments, leaders need to encourage professional and productive debate from junior leaders. Gathering buy-in from stakeholders helps to generate a positive attitude surrounding the change. Organizational leaders should also identify and empower strong performers who embody the core principles of the organization. When necessary, leaders should not hesitate or delay a restructure or reorganization that align with the organization’s mission and values. Hoyle’s last key takeaway was the importance of self-care for leaders to avoid burnout. Burnout is prevalent in today’s workforce across industries. To be an effective and enduring leader, one must prioritize health, diet, exercise, self-care, and set work-life balances and boundaries.
“The H-E-B School of Business had the pleasure of hosting an executive education seminar for the 410th CSB,” Scott said. “We were able to have a very engaging dialogue about DEI efforts, service quality, and leadership in high-change environments. We hope to continue this relationship, not only offering more seminars to this dynamic group, but also providing our students an opportunity to hear from the 410th.”
The Soldiers and civilians of the 410th CSB plan and execute contingency contracting support for U.S. Army South in support of Army and joint operations throughout the U.S. Southern Command area of responsibility.
About Army Contracting Command
The Army Contracting Command’s headquarters is at Redstone Arsenal, Alabama. From food and clothing to bullets and bombs; from tanks and trucks to boats and aircraft; from Soldiers’ weapons to the installations where they work and live with their families, ACC ensures Soldiers have what they need to be successful from foxhole to factory. As the Army's principal buying agent, ACC supports Army readiness and modernization by using best practices and expert-level oversight to provide warfighters with premier contracting support. The command accomplishes its global operational missions with a professional workforce of Soldiers, Department of the Army civilians, foreign local nationals and contractors at more than 100 locations worldwide.
Social Sharing