Learning Interview

1. Learning Interview Shad G. Smith MSM 620 Assignment

6. Civilian Workforce Development Mission capability and skills formerly provided by the Services must be sustained by our civilian workforce Individual Development Plan Career Path & Experience JOY WORKFORCE Academic & Formal Training Employee Focused Development Functional Expertise Leadership Skills Supervisor Leadership Institute Individual Key to employee development Knows people and mission Inspires, guides and mentors employees Advocates for employee development Individual and organizational assessments Developmental toolkits for supervisors Understands importance of development Accepts need for self-improvement Responsible for self Supported by CD and CS

7. Mr. Ken HermansonDeputy Director, LogisticsUnited States Strategic Command • US Navy for thirty years as both an enlisted and as an Officer • Served in the nuclear submarine fleet in a variety of positions • A civilian at USSTRATCOM since 2005 • Charged with planning, coordinating, and executing logistics functions of supply, mobility, maintenance, engineering, and munitions management in support of command missions

8. CIVILIANS IN THE MILITARY • The role of the civilian in the military as changed • More than the 60% of the Stratcom workforce is civilian • Civilian population has grown significantly over the last 10 years • Traditionally, civilian focus is on staff support functions while military focuses on combat roles • Civilians provide continuity in the organization while military moves on to new assignments every 3-5 years

9. TRAINING VERSUS LEARNING • Training- Skill sets designed to accomplish a specific task • Military, at the operational level, tend to have a more narrow focus on specific missions • Officer education programs designed to move Officers through career gates in preparation for next assignment • Learning- More abstract ideas towards a valid conclusion • Larger focus on long term goals of the organization, especially at the strategic level

10. DECENTRALIZED DEVELOPMENT PLANS • Directors and Senior Managers manage their own employee development programs • Annual employee reviews focus not only on performance, but allows managers to assist employee in professional development planning • Creating a learning and development plan focusing not only on organizational learning requirements but personal learning goals as well • Educational goals could include advanced degrees, etc. • Senior civilian leaders take a more centralized educational program as these positions tend to require the same skill sets • Fellowships, Executive Business Training (Harvard Business Programs, etc.)

11. LEARNING CHALLENGES FOR THE FUTURE • Maintaining a quality learning program in a new era of budget reduction and government downsizing • Civil Service could be challenged to retain quality employees if professional learning opportunities are cut • As the economy improves, the government will have to compete with the private sector to recruit and retain quality people at all levels of the organization

12. SELF DEVELOPMENT • Professional and Personal Reading Initiative • At least Thirty minutes a day reading job/field specific articles to increase personal knowledge and expertise in your own field • Personal reading to expand and broaden your perspectives • Economics, History, Political, etc.

13. CONCLUSION