For the second year in a row, Federal Aviation Administration employees helped the Mike Monroney Aeronautical Center (MMAC) achieve Top Workplace status in the state of Oklahoma! On December 9th, The Oklahoman hosted a celebration at the Criterion in Oklahoma City, to recognize state-wide business entities that qualified as Top Workplaces in Oklahoma for 2021. The MMAC ranked 15th in the state!
Before awards were announced, Energage Media Partnerships Director, Bob Helbig, advised companies who were in attendance to be very proud of achieving Top Workplace status. Helbig said, "Now you need to celebrate with your team, tell the world, and move forward with the feedback you’ve received!"
In September, Aeronautical Center employees had the opportunity to submit an anonymous survey to a third-party vendor, (Energage LLC) and provide honest feedback about their workplace. Energage LLC measures 15 different culture drivers, identified through over 15 years of research. This year, 38,154 employees across Oklahoma participated in the survey. The information gathered from the survey measured the level of employee engagement in the Center’s organizational culture.
In the survey, employees rated how appreciated they felt at the MMAC; whether the Center operates by strong values; if their manager respects individual differences; and if there is good inter-departmental cooperation to name a few. The survey results are an indicator of employees’ level of motivation, commitment to staying, and whether employees would recommend the MMAC workplace to others.
To ensure that we have the safest and most efficient National Airspace System in the world, the MMAC needs to attract and retain quality employees. Being recognized as a Top Workplace, the Center gains regional and national attention as a place where employees have high morale and high engagement. This also helps the Center attract and retain the right talent in our workforce.
Information from last year’s survey motivated Center Leadership to host virtual Center-wide Town Hall meetings and develop MMAC Tech Talks to engage employees and encourage innovation. The Leadership Team also focused on employee recognition, began a dialogue regarding Diversity, Equity and Inclusion, and increased communication through bi-weekly COVID update messages.
In order to ensure accurate results, employees submitting surveys were assured complete confidentiality. Invitations to the survey were sent to over 2,900 employees, making it more than just a mere sampling. MMAC Leadership appreciates the employees who work at the Center and are looking forward to celebrating our success and implementing changes suggested by the workforce. Michelle Coppedge, Director, and Kevin O’Connor, Deputy Director of the Mike Monroney Aeronautical Center want employees to know, "If you think your voice doesn’t matter, think again. The time you spent answering the survey questions will be worthwhile and will make a big difference!"
