Past Experience
Strategic Planning
Developed for the DHS, HQ, Personnel Security Division and the Transportation Security Administration a 2-year strategic plan that established goals and initiatives. The plan identified critical success factors which provided a mission and vision for moving forward.
Was a principal in the design and implementation of the 2-year plan that transitioned the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO) into a “customer friendly culture” by making use of customer focus sessions, customer surveys, and customer communication programs. Due largely to this plan the USPTO was recognized as one the top customer friendly agencies in government and was named as a High Performing Organization.
Authored a 3-year phased approach to move the Software Development Center-Washington, D.C., to Software Development Center-Fort Harrison, IN. The Plan involved over 2000 elements, was briefed to and approved by the Under Secretary for Finance and the U.S. Congress, and was fully implemented within timeframe. The result centralized all US Army financial systems into one enterprise platform that provided both funding and resource savings.
Designed and captured data on staffing and funding requirements for the Software Development Center-Washington, D.C. The data supported the need for an infusion of dollars and was briefed to the U.S. Congress. As a result, over $500K of funding was provided which allowed the Center to continue operation for another year.
Implemented a program to monitor and allocate space for the Defense Language Institute. The program captured data on classroom and instructor utilization around student attendance. This information was provided to the U.S. Congress and resulted in funding for new buildings for classroom allocation.
Benchmarking and Business Process Reengineering
njSolutions received Vice President Gore’s “Hammer Award” for introducing the benchmarking methodology across the Federal Government and creating a benchmarking organization. We trained more than 4,500 federal, and state personnel, spoke at many conferences, and sponsored/participated in studies.
Reengineered the Office of Human Capital process at the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office; using the benchmarking methodology as the data collecting mechanism. The study results were recognized by the Reinventing Government Office as one of the best ever written.
Reviewed the U.S. Patent and Trademark Quality Review process and streamlined it by using automation, process reconfiguration, and installment of strict timeframes. These changes decreased their process time from 60 days to 23 days, including the appeals process.
Reengineered the travel submission process; impact changed the process time from 4 weeks to 5 days.
Reengineered the File Management Unit. Implemented a new filing system and an automated reporting system. Removed flaws in their automated system that reduced down time to zero. The improved unit was able to reduce case fulfillment from 3 days to 2 hours.
Technology Innovation
njSolutions created a design for a full end-to-end paperless security solution for the Transportation Security Administration (TSA). The design was in alignment with e-Government and the White House Clearance Reformation Team.
Set the “bar” of reaching the Office of Personnel Management e-QIP goal of 100% electronic filing within a 2-year timeframe. Establishment of the Electronic Filing Unit enabled the TSA to meet its goal of processing over 20,000 non-screener and contractor applicants a year.
Transitioned 200,000 hard-copy personnel security cases to digital medium which allowed TSA the ability to decrease response time for requests from 3 weeks to 20 minutes. This improvement alleviated the need to order cases from the archive facility and decreased costs of approximately $20K a year.
Redesigned the process of updating record layouts in Internal Revenue Service (IRS) Electronic Filing Systems (COBOL Mainframe system) by automating the change process from “stubby pencil” to electronic uploads. This improvement changed a 3 to 4 day process to 20 minutes and the error rate to zero. The IRS was able to provide a CD to customers so that they didn’t have to redesign/rewrite their systems.
Training
njSolutions worked with course designers in creating an interactive training course that had seven different modules.
Authored a benchmarking workbook and created a benchmarking training course/workshop.
Assisted in the design of the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office, Quality Management and Training Unit training sessions. Training was designed to ensure that all examiners used the same guidelines, procedures, methodologies. Common threads were developed and discussed.
Provided training to Internal Revenue Service customers on changes impacting the forms for the upcoming filing year. Training was provided in manuals and on a yearly basis during “IRS Road Show” presentations.
Created a new training manual and program for the Personnel Security Research Center, Automated Continuous Evaluation System (ACES).
Prepared and provided training manuals, procedural guidelines, process workbooks and other types of training tools for users throughout the course of the past 34 years.
Strategic Partnerships
njSolutions established the first Federal Quality Consortium Group that met quarterly to share information, lessons learned and project/program plans. They assisted in gathering data and provided insight to issues and problems that were being experienced. The sharing of information helped establish standards across Federal lines and stopped others from reinventing the wheel or experiencing the same problems.
A principal in establishment of the Inter-Agency Benchmarking and Best Practices Council that provided assistance across government. The council had over 500 active members who shared information on programs and projects. They sponsored three conferences that featured speakers across government and private industry, shared information on benchmarking, reengineering, performance metrics, customer service, strategic planning, and issues of the day. The council was featured in articles in the U.S., Canada, and the UK.
Established a partnership with the Europe and Korean Patent and Trademark Offices and hosted visits. The information shared during these sessions was used in comparative analysis and this exchange of information assisted with very important decisions. The U.S. Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO) benefited from the exchange by making improvements to their processes and quality program.
Partnered with the Internal Revenue Service (IRS) Quality Review Team that tested the IRS Electronic Filing Systems. This partnership involved providing system documentation and working together in order to field a quality program within a specific timeframe. The partnership allowed the Electric Filing System to meet their release date for the first time since the systems' implementation. The partnership provided a learning experience for both offices. Their culture/knowledge exchange was enhanced, and roles and responsibilities were better understood.
Communications:
njSolutions wrote a communication plan for the Federal Trade Commission, Chief Security Office. They also wrote one for the DHS, HQ, Personnel Security Division and established a new Home Page full of relative information.
Created an employee satisfaction survey of DHS, HQ, Personnel Security Division. Developed a customer satisfaction survey.
Established the Personnel Security Division (PerSec) Customer Service Unit at a time when it had the distinction of being one of the worst units within TSA. This unit changed the face of PerSec by creating a central point for customers to receive information in a timely manner. The unit was benchmarked by the U.S. Postal Office, ICE, DOD, DHS, and IRS.
Designed and published a brochure and home page for the TSA Personnel Security Division featuring information on products and services. The information educated customers by explaining the personnel security process. Provided PerSec briefings to customers and business partners upon request.
Developed and implemented unique communication plans for the seven different Art Units within the Patent Corp in the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO). The communication plans provided internal and external strategies that ensured communication of information and changes up and down the organizational chain. The communications plans were shared with other federal agencies.
Developed and implemented the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO) Employee Communication Mailbox that provided a vehicle for employees to ask questions about organizational plans, policies and procedures. Answers were sent to the requester and also posted to the USPTO Quality Home Page.
Established the first U.S. Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO) Quality Home Page. The page was accessed by internal and external customers, other U.S. quality programs, as well as, those in Europe, Canada, and Korea.
Introduced and established the first internal conference that shared information with employees in a conference setting. The concept was so well received it became an annual program. This conference provided briefings on programs within the organization and gave the executive managers a platform to share information on future ideas and plans.
Organizational Performance
njSolutions designed and implemented the Performance Balanced Scorecard for the TSA Personnel Security Division (PerSec). This new approach provided monthly performance metrics and workload information to PerSec supervisors and the TSA leadership.
A principal in the design and implementation of a performance metric system using the Balanced Scorecard concept in the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO). This two-tiered approach was used by the administrator to manage every division.
Participated in the Government Performance Results Act (GPRA) and implemented programs to track the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO) performance. Participated in introducing the Malcolm Baldridge into USPTO where organizational performance was measured. Implemented customer surveys to see if the USPTO was meeting the “customer's” expectations.