Possessing a sense of urgency. Attaining first time quality workmanship. Ensuring safety for yourself and your fellow shipyarders. These were just a few of the resolutions Norfolk Naval Shipyard Commander Capt. Mark Bridenstine, wanted 1st and 2nd year apprentices to make dur-ing his waterfront engagement Jan. 10 in Building 163. Flanked by shipyard group superintendents from across the production shops, Bridenstine discussed the shipyard’s priorities of 2014 and the best ways to ac-complish them. “Every one of us has a part to play in the success of this shipyard,” Bridenstine said to apprentices. “This is your shipyard. What do you want your shipyard to look like a year from now, five years from now, 10 years from now? You have a voice; you need to use your voice.” As part of a Learning Organization’s culture of individual empowerment and mutual understanding, Bridenstine said there should be frequent dialogue between apprentices and their supervisors. He urged those in attendance to consider “the difference be-tween interactions and transactions. For me, a transac-tion is a step in getting the work done every day. In any given day, each of us probably performs hundreds, if not thousands, of transactions. The complement to that is interaction—the dialogue, the communication,

the engagement that we have with each other, day in and day out. Both are necessary parts of our business, especially for a Learning Organization.” He added, “As apprentices, I need you to be cautious about what you’re doing. If the guidance and direc-tion isn’t clear from either a verbal engagement or on a piece of paper in front of you, you need to ask for help.” While adhering to schedule is important on the ship-yard’s projects, the commander pointed out schedule should never come at quality’s expense. “A sense of urgency is not cutting corners to get the work done. It’s taking pride in ownership in what I’m doing today, doing it to the best of my abilities and training, and not resting until it’s done. I ask you to consider, what sense of urgency do you bring to the shipyard every day?” With more than 800 persons currently in the appren-tice program, and another 200 to be hired during 2014, the program continues to be a vital method to “revital-ize our workforce,” Bridenstine said. “Thank you for what you do for Norfolk Naval Ship-yard every day,” he told apprentices. “We can’t get our work done without you. Thank you for coming to work every day, for being prompt, for giving a full day’s work, for learning, and for sharing.”

By Michael Brayshaw, Code 1160 Public Affairs Specialist

TOOLS OFENGAGEMENT

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