Sandia launches refreshed website
Sandia’s external web refresh launched in the first quarter of FY20, the first major design update in more than seven years. The design was driven by cross-departmental usability evaluations, analysis of the prior site’s metrics, studies of target audiences and feedback solicited from stakeholders. The resulting refresh was benchmarked against web presences of other national labs, industry leaders in aerospace and defense and sites recognized for best practices with similar target audiences. The updated design supports improved accessibility compliance, which had evolved since the relaunch of the Sandia.gov website in 2012. (3000, 9000)
Diversity and Inclusion leadership
Sandia hosted the 5th Annual National Laboratory Directors Council Diversity Forum at the Albuquerque site. The NLDC encompasses 17 national laboratories committed to advancing diversity and inclusion. Sandia received two prestigious diversity awards, the “Organization of the Year” award from the Society of Asian Scientists and Engineers and the “Inclusive Leadership and Transformative Change” award from Profiles in Diversity Journal as one of 14 leading companies whose programs and initiatives take diversity and inclusion to a new level. (3000)
Building Sandia’s talent pipeline
Innovative university collaborations and Labswide efforts have enhanced access to top talent despite highly competitive recruiting environments. The average number of technical student interns doubled from 44 to 88 per year from FY13-FY15 to FY18-FY20 at out-of-state Sandia Academic Alliance universities. Of significance was a 200% increase in new year-round representation over the past five years, peaking at 91 in FY20. This is leading to a steady increase of student conversions to regular hires, from 33% in FY13 to 47% in FY20. (1000, 2000, 3000, 5000, 6000, 8000)
Modernized Human Resources service delivery
Sandia launched a new shared service delivery model, HR Solutions, that aligns with the best HR operations across the globe to provide exceptional customer service. The new model modernized more than 133 processes and procedures and leveraged a new technology platform to decrease processing time and improve transparency. Sandia stood up part of the HR Solutions operations early to help support employee questions and needs during the onset of COVID-19. (3000)
Labswide telecommuting study completed
A Labswide team formed to learn from Sandia’s telecommuting experiences during the pandemic and made recommendations to inform leaders and future policy changes. Representatives from every division worked on various aspects of the initiative such as an initial survey, focus groups, benchmarking and discussions with key stakeholders. The findings and recommendations were presented to the Senior Leadership Team and, as a result, the Labs’ telecommuting policy is being updated and a new execution team will implement the recommendations. (8000)
Thunderbird Kudos
Sandia launched a Labswide employee recognition program, “Thunderbird Kudos,” which encourages employees to show their appreciation for the efforts of their co-workers and teams. Sandia employees showed their gratitude in the more than 3,150 Kudos handed out since the program’s January launch. (3000)
Support for employees during COVID-19 impacts
In response to COVID-19, Sandia rapidly deployed numerous measures to support employees. Teams that included the California site, Information Technology and Medical reprioritized work and implemented testing facilities for employees and dependents, pretravel consultations, contact tracing and positive case response. They also made benefit changes to support medical and childcare needs, and created a dedicated website and regular communications to keep employees informed, along with a mobile app to monitor symptoms and site access. They made changes to programs such as internships, training, onboarding and interviewing to keep employees safe. (3000, 8000, 9000, 4000)