PHILADELPHIA –
Onboarding entry-level personnel into their new roles within the Defense Logistics Agency Troop Support was not going as smoothly as one division chief knew it could.
Joanne Anello, Organizational Alignment Division Chief within the Command Support Office, was concerned employees transferring from the Pathways to Career Excellence program to positions within various supply chains was taking too long.
This led Anello to partner with the Continuous Process Improvement and PaCE teams to develop a charter and target reducing on-boarding time to 10 days after an employee’s respective entry on duty date and improve the overall on-boarding experience.
The process starts when DLA Human Resources sends an email to the PaCE office with the EOD date triggering the organization’s account management and provisioning system authorization process. It ends when the PaCE employee transferring within Troop Support is fully operational within AMPS and has access to systems required to execute their job functions.
“Our goal of 10 days was exceeded by four days, by accomplishing an average of six days to onboard transferring PaCErs during the March and September 2022 hiring cohorts,” Anello said. “The PaCE office and Training Academy teams were responsible for on-boarding and monitoring outcomes. The existing job aid was then updated to reflect process details and ensure sustainability.”
The six-day process was achieved by ensuring usage of the DLA ENGAGE employee checklist, a standard employee onboarding guide, to perform various administrative actions on behalf of the floor supervisor.
Onboarding is also done in batches to more effectively coordinate with the five levels of approving authorities for AMPS including the Training Academy supervisor, DLA Security, the DLA data owner, DLA Information Service and the AMPS Program Management Office.
This included expanding the existing job aid for AMPS/E-Procurement instructions, tracking DLA Service Portal requests to avoid delays, and hosting an orientation session to accommodate both new and transferring PaCErs.
“As a result of the initiative, concerns related to timeliness and the employee experience were effectively addressed,” said Lisa Solitro, management analyst and project sponsor. “The improved process is expected to eliminate transferring employee frustration and improve morale while achieving a 83 percent reduction in estimated cost offsets."
The first full implementation of the new process resulted in an estimated $148,401 in cost offsets from time savings, which creates capacity for CSO to complete other mission efforts, CPI Branch Chief John Herzer said. CPI estimates approximately $445,202 in cost savings over the next three years for PaCErs transferring within Troop Support.
Onboarding timeliness data will also be tracked and can be reported by the PaCE office and Training Academy during Performance Reviews to Command, Solitro said.
Employees interested in initiating an CPI project can visit the office’s resources site. (A DLA Common Access Card is required)
The CPI team combines three methodologies: Lean, Six Sigma, and Theory of Constraints. While Lean eliminates waste and improves speed, Six Sigma reduces variation in processes and Theory of Constraints removes bottlenecks, or obstacles that hinder processes from flowing smoothly, Herzer said.