TSA Weekly, April 27 - May 1, 2009
In this Issue:
Supervisory TSO Shawnna Jones and TSO Rodney Williams, Baltimore-Washington International Thurgood Marshall Airport, attend Evolution’s one-year anniversary celebration at headquarters April 28. Those attending included senior leadership, members of the Evolution team and headquarters area employees. Photo by Karen Knapik
News
H1N1 Flu Outbreak Guidance
The simple act of washing your hands help protect you against the H1N1 Flu.
Stock photo image.
From a broadcast sent by Acting Administrator Gale Rossides to all TSA employees on April 28. The H1N1 flu situation is rapidly changing. For up-to-date health information go to the CDC.gov
At TSA, our number one priority is your safety and the safety of the traveling public. Beginning last weekend, we took the following actions:
- A Critical Incident Management Group, including representatives from the offices of Security Operations, Law Enforcement/FAMS, Acquisition, Human Capital and others, was formed to coordinate a single TSA response to events.
- We are deploying supplies of protective equipment to airports.
- We are developing administrative policies to cover leave, medical testing and pay issues for our employees should they become ill.
- We remain in close, regular contact with the CDC and DHS and will share updated information with you as soon as we receive it.
All TSA employees, especially those serving on the front lines in airports and on aircraft, should take extra measures for their own health and well-being. If you are suffering from flu-like symptoms, please stay at home, notify your supervisors, and seek immediate medical attention from your health care provider or a public health official. We are asking that you notify your supervisors so that we can provide support to you in the event you become ill with this flu.
During this critical time, I ask you to watch out for one another, take care of yourselves and your families, and be alert to the conditions at your checkpoint – both for those passengers who may be ill, and also for those who may seek to do us harm while we are focused on this health emergency. Stay alert, stay engaged – I promise that your health and well-being are at the forefront of our efforts.
Thank you all for your service to our country and your commitment to each other.
Editor’s Note: For additional information, please visit:
A Message from Gale
‘Sustaining the Evolution’
What a testament to the spirit and dedication of our workforce that we were able to reach 100 percent completion of ENGAGE! and COACH! training of nearly 55,000 TSA employees in less than a year – while also carrying out our security mission. This required team spirit, determination and the enthusiastic embrace of taking the evolution of security at TSA to the next level. On behalf of the Senior Leadership Team, congratulations to OSO HQ and field leadership, the Evolution team, the phenomenal facilitators, and our committed workforce for completing this phase of our cultural evolution with passion, enthusiasm and conviction. This accomplishment showcases TSA’s incredibly talented workforce, “can do” spirit and commitment to our mission.
So, we’ve completed the first step — we’ve made it past the first mile marker. Everyone on the front line is on the same page, switched on, engaging the network, using critical thinking, creating calm, demonstrating command presence, and supporting those behaviors. Now comes the hard part — we have to make sure we’re reinforcing what we’ve learned and sustaining forward progress by continuing to evolve. On iShare, view and enjoy the first segment of a “TSA Commercial” reminding you to Engage Your Network.
While the front line workforce was successfully completing training, the Evolution Team was very busy soliciting feedback through focus groups, pilot testing new tools for sustainment, communicating with Evolution network participants and making airport support visits, to be ready for this next step. And on their own, many local leaders began immediately developing sustainment teams, determining best practices and moving forward to design and implement Evolution sustainment tools.
As a result of all of this expertise and energy, on May 3 OSO will roll out the first agency-wide sustainment tool. “My Evolution Resolution” is a series of daily messages that will reinforce the engagement and empowerment principles learned in ENGAGE! and make them an integrated part of daily screening operations.
“My Evolution Resolution” will be delivered through the National Shift Brief, with an Evolution sustainment theme for the week. Then, each day there will be a phrase, question, challenge, or statement to keep you thinking about and practicing one specific ENGAGE! principle. We anticipate that these reminders will encourage dialogue, stimulate fresh ideas and encourage renewed focus – every day. You can be serious and have fun with ways to heighten awareness. Throughout the day, demonstrate the Evolution principle at every opportunity; assess the difference it makes for you, your team, and the passengers, and the impact it makes on your ability to provide more effective security.
“My Evolution Resolution” is one of many Evolution communication and sustainment tools that will be deployed in the coming months. As you well know, in our jobs there is no opportunity for rest. Culture change doesn’t happen with one training program – it takes continued focus and commitment from all of us. The entire Senior Leadership Team will continue to support our front line workforce – our most effective security asset – in the critical work you do.
So next week as you go about your security mission “ENGAGE! – connect with yourself, your team, and your environment in order to create greater security.”
Evolution: In the FSD's Own Words
At LaGuardia (Flushing, N.Y.) and the spoke airports, we have completed the delivery of Security Evolution’s two training components – ENGAGE! and COACH!. I found our training staff and the curriculum to be excellent, and know the lessons learned can be applied in both our jobs and outside activities. However, the real success in evolving security at our airports relies on us, working as a team and putting into practice the Checkpoint Calm, Critical Thinking and Command Presence. You and your colleagues are the key ingredients in protecting the security of all passengers traveling through our airports. It is imperative for us to maintain unpredictability. – FSD Michael A. Scott, LaGuardia Airport
Engage the Evolution team with your questions and suggestions at ENGAGEevolution@dhs.gov.
More News
Emphasis on Employees is Central to Security Ops Priorities
From the Office of Strategic Communications/Public Affairs
Senior leaders of Security Operations held two Town Hall events last week to unveil workforce priorities focusing on the OSO workforce and identifying initiatives to achieve those priorities in 2009. The first meeting was at Cincinnati/Northern Kentucky International Airport, followed by one at TSA headquarters.
Graphic by C. Steve Allen
The five priorities, based on lessons learned at airports across the country, are: Mitigate the Threat; People Matter!; Support the Field; Work as a Team; and Make TSA the Place to Work. With the bulk of the workforce in Security Operations, each priority is designed to empower individual employees in support of TSA’s mission to secure the nation’s transportation system.
In Cincinnati, Security Operations Assistant Administrator Lee Kair said, “It is my goal to build on those lessons learned in the airport environment and establish priorities that help us achieve more by working together and addressing your many challenges so that you can do what you do best, focus on securing transportation.”
Kair said goals to achieve by the end of the fiscal year – Sept. 30 – have been assigned to each priority. They include completing the hiring of additional behavior detection officers; reducing injury rates by 40 percent from 2008; improving communication between the field and headquarters; piloting cost saving ideas submitted through IdeaFactory; and ensuring effective measurement of training for program managers.
For example, the Mitigate the Threat priority focuses on giving employees tools to enhance critical thinking skills; improving technology; and tools to protect travelers and commerce – Visible Intermodal and Prevention Response, commonly known as VIPR, Aviation Screening Assessment Program, and mass transit, rail and surface assessments.
Regarding People Matter!, Kair cited career progression, Senior Leadership Development Program and peer review as ongoing initiatives available to the workforce.
Security Operations Assistant Administrator Lee Kair briefs employees at a Town Hall meeting in Cincinnati. Photo by Jon Allen
Support the Field, another priority, recognizes the workforce as the “driving force of TSA” and renews the commitment of both headquarters and local airport staff to collaborate and support one another. Working as a Team “accelerates the incorporation of team concepts into decision-making and program development” by integrating staff from across the nation’s 450 airports through programs like ENGAGE! and COACH!, Integrated Conflict Management System and Integrated Project Teams that involve significant security-related innovations.
Making TSA the Place to Work is based on achieving the first four, Kair said, and by continued implementation of Security Evolution, streamlining the hiring processes, and promotion opportunities.
At the headquarters event, Kair reinforced his message from earlier in the week. "[We must] think bigger than the need calls for.”
A Web cast with Kair talking about the five priorities is available on the OSO iShare page.
Workforce on the Web
Check out the new workforce stories from Pennsylvania and Florida:
- TSA Pittsburgh Officers Collaborate With Police
- Tampa BDO Team ‘SPOTs’ Man Alleged to Have Illegal Drugs
Graphic by Ann Oh
Your Weekly E-mail Tip
Forgot your password? Call the TSA Helpdesk Single Point of Contact (SPOC) at 1-800-253-8571 to reset your password.
This Week’s Featured Local Newsletter
The LIT Hub & Spoke News, published by TSA Arkansas employees, offers extensive coverage of local events as well as staff recognition. Examples of the employee-centric sections include an Admin Officer Corner, End of Year Awards, Attendance and Leave Guidance, Recent Passenger Compliments, and Things You Need to Know. Overall, the issue is well organized and thorough.
An archive of featured newsletters is available on iShare in the Communications Central section, which is linked from the home page. In the same section, the DHS branding guideline document is available in PDF for download.
E-mail your comments and suggestions.
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