Released by the Naval Air Warfare Center Weapons Division China Lake Public Affairs Office--
By Candace Majedi

Congratulations to Michael B. Myers, AIR-4.1.3 Division Head, for winning the Naval Air Systems Command T. Michael Fish Quality of Worklife Award on June 15 during the 2006 NAVAIR Commander's National Awards ceremony.

The purpose of the T. Michael Fish Quality of Worklife Award is to recognize excellence in a leader or leaders who make significant improvements to the quality of worklife for the Naval Air Systems Command (NAVAIR) workforce similar to what Fish accomplished during his tenure at NAVAIR. Throughout his 30 year career, Fish embraced the concept of improving the quality of worklife and made it a top priority in all leadership decisions.

Nominations for the T. Michael Fish Award address the following criteria: Nominee’s alignment with the Department of the Navy, Naval Aviation Enterprise and NAVAIR strategic direction; ability to overcome barriers while ensuring program success; focus on diligently reducing the cost of doing business; increased productivity; improvement in retention and moral; far reaching innovation leading to increased quality of worklife; applicable to multiple sites/business units and competencies.

According to Myers’ written nomination, Myers has more than met the requirements for this award. His nomination, which was enthusiastically endorsed by the branch heads and the entire team from the AIR-4.1.3 Air-Platform Development and Integration Laboratories and Tools Division, included many examples of quality of worklife initiatives performed by Myers.

For instance, Myers’ focus on process improvement made it possible to achieve efficiencies where none existed before. He was able to increase tasking while simultaneously experiencing a percent reduction in manpower. In doing so he engaged his team with the process improvement efforts and brought the team together by creating synergisms – efficiencies that increase customer value.

Myer’s also introduced common standards to set expectations and judge performance which enabled his workforce to exceed set goals and enhance the quality of life of his workforce. His nomination letter states, “We know what is expected of us and how we are judged. We know how to focus our efforts to meet the needs of the Fleet.”

Myer’s has also been engaged in the AirSPEED effort. He has sponsored projects, training and support within his division as well as NAVAIR as a whole. He initiated the effort to write a performance plan for his division’s Black Belts and correlates the increased efficiencies to future increased capabilities for the Warfighter. Moreover, Myer’s has been a progressive, inspirational leader bringing together the diverse AIR-4.1.3 branches that are located at three distinct sites; Patuxent River, Point Mugu, and China Lake.

The T. Michael Fish Award nominations are reviewed by a panel with National Level I/C-Code participation and recommendations are made to the Commander, Naval Air Systems Command, who then makes the final selection for this award. All civilian and military personnel within NAVAIR and the PEOs are eligible to be considered for this award.

Nominations are solicited by the Human Resources Department in the first quarter of each fiscal year. For more information, contact your competency's Human Resources POC.
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PHOTO CUTLINE: Pictured (L-R): Scott O’Neil, Executive Director Naval Air Warfare Center Weapons Division; Michael B. Myers, AIR-4.1.3 Division Head; Rear Admiral Mark Skinner, Commander, Naval Air Warfare Center Weapons Division.