TRAINING ACQUISITION WORKFORCE
Educating the "acquisition community," including
the program managers, program staff, customers, and others whose participation
is vital to a successful acquisition of complex weapon systems.
Only education can teach the acquisition personnel hot to
create, apply and manage technology. Educating Personnel will ease integration
problems. The scope of education and training program should include the
following:
. Ongoing
education of acquisition personnel with particular emphasis on educating newly
assigned personnel.
. Ongoing
education of contractors to promote understanding of the program spirit and
intention. Particular emphasis should be given to educating contractors on the
requirements for responsibility and responsiveness and on contract provisions
and bidding procedures. Numerous approaches can be used to accomplish education
goals and involvement, such as the use of training films, videotapes,
pamphlets, emphasis letters, courses, briefings, etc. Education can occur
within the organization via meetings, briefings, team discussion, etc. However
DoD and acquisition managers can also utilize other sources such as
universities, research institutes etc.
Educating the acquisition work force will create a
world-class learning organization. Last two decades dramatic changes occurred
in how we buy goods and services with the internet and technology becoming a
significant part of our lives. Many of these changes are based on best
commercial practices, new complex technological systems. These are often very
different from the way industry performed jobs in the past. Therefore,
companies need to offer quality education and training to help all acquisition
work-force adjust to this new environment. This education and training should
include a description of the new practices and an understanding of why these
changes were made. They must continue training throughout careers to ensure
that the work force stays current with best commercial and also governmental
practices and latest IT. Only by continuing education can companies avoid
creating a new system as rigid as the old. Continuous education provides the
means to keep people current professionally, as well as to shape the skill mix
of a company's acquisition work force for this millennium.
An education and training plan is very helpful. In this
plan, long term and short term education schedules will be planned for every
personnel. Establishing a minimum education and training time limit for every
year for acquisition work force is a necessary goal. Most of this training can
take place in traditional classrooms. We shall expand use of computing and
telecommunications technology to provide more cost-effective and timely
training via satellite and the Internet.
Today large scale acquisition companies need managers to
manage suppliers, rather than supplies, and engineers to design systems, rather
than components. A smaller, differently skilled work force will have to be well
educated, fully trained, and continuously learning. Middle or large size
companies can also make agreements with civilian universities for personnel
education programs.
In an era of diminishing resources, we can no longer
afford to continue training employees in traditional methods. Because of the
need to get timely information to the acquisition work force, other training
methods and approaches must be utilized. Through the use of satellite training
broadcasts, web-based training, and other distance learning methodologies, we
will be able to deliver critical acquisition information to the acquisition
work force in a timely manner and at reasonable costs.
Acquisition managers should give incentives to their
personnel to improve skills with more education and training. Offering better
careers is one tool to achieve this. Managers can also utilize the award
strategy for innovative ideas, applications among the personnel. Some of the
education programs might be mandatory or requirement for some personnel and
some positions. However, volunteer based courses should also be offered. Some
of the hot topics for education programs are: Earned value management,
organizational culture and change management, risk management, cost-benefit
analysis, systems engineering and logistics engineering.
Personnel should be assigned to relevant jobs after they
completed a certain education program. This will increase their productivity
and motivation. Acquisition managers must be willing to learn and develop
themselves and then they should help and encourage their personnel to join
education programs.
Ugur Erdemir
Logistics and Acquisition Professional, Industrial Engineer
See also:
7 Natural Human Behaivour
Buzan Study Method
Systems Engineering and Systems Engineer
Excess Inventory and Disposal
