UNCLASSIFIED ROUTINE R 162058Z APR 18 FM CNO WASHINGTON DC TO NAVADMIN INFO CNO WASHINGTON DC BT UNCLAS NAVADMIN 095/18 PASS TO OFFICE CODES: FM CNO WASHINGTON DC//N1// INFO CNO WASHINGTON DC//N1// MSGID/NAVADMIN/CNO WASHINGTON DC/N1/APR// SUBJ/BRILLIANT ON THE BASICS II PART A REVISITING THE BASICS (CORRECTED COPY)// REF/A/MSG/CNO WASHINGTON DC/140017Z FEB 08// REF/B/PUB/BUPERS/17JAN17//COMMAND CAREER COUNSELOR HANDBOOK// NARR/REF A IS NAVADMIN 043/08, BRILLIANT ON THE BASICS TAKING CARE OF SAILORS. REF B IS BUREAU OF NAVAL PERSONNEL CAREER COUNSELOR HANDBOOK.// RMKS/1. Our Navy is growing for the first time in nearly a generation. As we build the Navy our Nation Needs, we need Sailors who are personally engaged in the success of our Navy as well as their own personal success. Similarly, we need leaders who encourage and enable this. Brilliant on the Basics II is a charge to reinvigorate our efforts to foster an environment where Sailors and their families want to stay Navy. 2. Let me set the stage, our Fleet is slightly undermanned and is recovering from years of downsizing in a fiscally challenged environment. Our personnel policies for the past 15 years were concentrated on downsizing. But our Navy is now transitioning to a growing force. As a starting point, we expect to experience sustained growth over the next five years to an enlisted end- strength of 344,800 [an increase of about 21,000 personnel from FY17 to FY23]. Our accession mission has increased 14% this year [from about 35k a year to 40k a year]. That growth rate will continue as we prepare to man the 355 ship Navy. We have adapted personnel policies to support this growth, and Sailors can expect improved retention incentives, advancement, and leadership opportunity. The career choices, flexibility and transparency offered by Sailor 2025 programs, as well as the Defense Officer Personnel Management Act changes we are working for our officers, will be critical elements in our toolbox to help influence the stay Navy decision. Finally, our continuing Manpower, Personnel, Training, and Education (MPT&E) system transformation is designed to enable Sailor 2025 initiatives, move our systems into the 21st century, and vastly improve customer service to our Sailors and their families. These programs are just beginning to deliver and will reach their full potential in about 18-24 months. However, all economic indicators show that the labor market is already tight and getting tighter. It is harder to attract and retain personnel who would be drawn to another workforce. This will significantly challenge our ability to grow the force. 3. We do not have the capacity to grow the Navy by simply bringing more Sailors in the front door. We must also retain more of our trained and experienced personnel to meet our manning requirements. We have to start that effort today. This competition for talent will be won by retaining the right Sailors with the right skill sets who consider Navy their employer of choice. This retention effort is not just for our command teams. This is an all-hands effort. We must all be Brilliant on the Basics of retention. 4. In 2008, then-CNP VADM Harvey promulgated our first Brilliant on the Basics, reference (a). His message was clear and is applicable today. The retention battle is fought one Sailor at a time on every one of our ships, squadrons, submarines and stations. The mastery of the basics of retention of each command will be crucial to fighting and winning this battle. Today, just as in 2008, the basics of retention include six key programs: command sponsorship, command indoctrination, career development boards (CDB), mentorship, ombudsman programs, and recognition programs. These six basics form the enduring foundation upon which every successful career is launched. In many cases, these efforts represent our first opportunities to prove we are truly concerned with the well-being, professional success, and family support of our Sailors. These actions set the tone by which shipmates and families ultimately choose to stay Navy. Ensuring these basic retention programs are properly implemented in your command is an investment in the future of our Navy. 5. Today, those six basics are hidden in chapter 4 of reference (b), the BUPERS Career Counselor Handbook. Although completely re- issued just over one year ago, reference (b) is already in need of an update, due to the pace of change of our personnel systems as Sailor 2025 programs and the MPT&E transformation improve the way we do business. Many of the program elements outlined in chapter 4 of reference (b) are cumbersome and administrative in nature, and will be simplified. Commands should instead focus on the intent and substance of the programs. Some key elements of successful programs: a. Command Sponsorship. This program is owned by the command master chief or chief of the boat. However, it must be operationalized and executed by our deckplate leaders to be successful. Sponsors need to be senior and mature enough to know the command, local resources, and how to get Sailors and families what they need to get settled. Sponsors should meet Sailors at arrival. How new crew members and their families are first greeted matters. Make it a big deal, make it clear they are now part of your team, get them a command ball cap and their name tag on day one, and make sure their family feels welcome and is well taken care of. If you have ever seen the old Navy training film, *the first 72 hours*, that is real. The wrong initial start can have an enormously negative impact on a new Sailor. So make it right every time. b. Command Indoctrination. Thought should be put into your command indoctrination program. Too many commands treat this as a ticket punch and allow a great opportunity to pass. Instead, command leadership should be involved. This is an opportunity to reinforce our Navy core values and Navy ethos, and to instill your command philosophy and expectations, among other things. c. CDBs. Respect and loyalty is a two-way street. The simplest and most direct way leaders can help their Sailors is to give them honest, timely and meaningful professional feedback and career advice. CDBs, if done right, can be part of that. Rather than tie CDBs to calendar periodicity, tie them to decision points in the career of each Sailor e.g., checking aboard, 2-3 months prior to any decision window such as orders, selective reenlistment bonus extension or reenlistment, etc. Make CDBs an opportunity to engage your Sailors, find out what it will take for them to stay Navy, be their advocate and then help them succeed in achieving their goals. d. Command Mentors. We all need and should have mentors who we rely on and who rely on us to foster and develop necessary leadership skills. The following excerpt is taken from the leader development framework: *Teachers focus on transferring knowledge from themselves to students. Coaches develop operational skills through sets and reps, drills and routines that perfect an operational skill. Mentors do all of the above, and more, in a way that is more personal, involved, and longer term. Mentors probe deeply into their proteges strengths and weaknesses, challenging them to be a more complete whole person. ...development comes from the clear sense of mutual commitment from mentor to proteges and proteges to mentor.* Every command should have a mentoring program and mentoring should be required for all. However, the personal connection required cannot be ordered, assigned, or prescribed, so programs have to be flexible enough to allow exploration. Sailors must be free to seek opportunities to be a mentor and to find a mentor. You can and should develop an environment in your unit conducive to mentoring. Lead by example by seeking a mentor for yourself and offering to mentor others. Set up opportunities for yourself and your team to network and establish these types of connections and recommend mentors to proteges and vice versa. e. Ombudsman Programs. The recently released Navy family framework recognizes the dependence of the Navy on the strength of our Navy families. It sets goals aimed at improving Navy family support programs, better connecting and informing our Navy families, increasing meaningful command leader engagement with Navy spouses and families, among others. No one is more critical to this effort than the command ombudsman, whose primary focus is command communications, information and referral, in addition to providing an avenue for hearing about the welfare of command families. Choosing a top-notch command ombudsman and including them in the communication strategy of your command as a part of your command team is vital to your success. f. Recognition Programs. Recognition should not be limited to formal awards and awards should not necessarily be limited to the end of tour. Proactive commands successfully employ many other creative mechanisms to recognize the accomplishments their Sailors through nominations to special programs, selection to special opportunities, or things as simple as a great parking spot. Whatever you can put in place, do it to make sure your Sailors are appreciated and valued. 6. Part B of this message, to be released in the coming weeks, will focus on the concept of engagement. By being Brilliant on the Basics and incorporating all of the elements of engagement, we will create an environment for our Sailors to feel truly vested in their Navy. The competition for their talent is urgent, and we need to act now. 7. Released by Vice Admiral R. P. Burke, N1.// BT #0001 NNNN UNCLASSIFIED//