How the state of employee morale at both LLNL and LANL?
it'd be nice if the topic could be discussed realistically and rationally.
it'd be nice if the topic could be discussed realistically and rationally.
Tri-Valley Cares needs to be on this if they aren't already. We need to make sure that NNSA and LLNL does not make good on promises to pursue such stupid ideas as doing Plutonium experiments on NIF. The stupidity arises from the fact that a huge population is placed at risk in the short and long term. Why do this kind of experiment in a heavily populated area? Only a moron would push that kind of imbecile area. Do it somewhere else in the god forsaken hills of Los Alamos. Why should the communities in the Bay Area be subjected to such increased risk just because the lab's NIF has failed twice and is trying the Hail Mary pass of doing an SNM experiment just to justify their existence? Those Laser EoS techniques and the people analyzing the raw data are all just BAD anyways. You know what comes next after they do the experiment. They'll figure out that they need larger samples. More risk for the local population. Stop this imbecilic pursuit. They wan...
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As strange as it sounds the moral has actually improved in LANL due to the recent hit that LANs has taken. I am not kidding about this and would love to see what others have to say on this point. It is true that the managers are not happy but the sense among everyone else is that there is hope that LANs will be forced out and things can only get better. What a crazy system where the workforce hopes and prays for the demise of the company.
Morale has never been better at LANL and most employees want LANS to stay as the operator of LANL. While the road has been rocky over the last few years, the incredible "can do" attitude of the LANS executive team is invigorating to behold. Everyone at LANL is prepped and ready to give a full 110% effort during this next year. Go LANS!
Perhaps crazier to believe LANS will be replaced with an improved LLC by Devine intervention. You can wait for the polished HR Power Point presentation introducing the next for profit LLC to the worker bees at LANL, or systematically capture the strengths and weaknesses of LANS and make constructive suggestions and reasonable expectations to DOE and NNSA before hand. Way way way before hand.
Will DOE and NNSA listen? Maybe not to the extent lab employees would like, but it will be too late to hope for a course correction when the next LLC asteroid enters the atmosphere. Make your suggestions known early.
Same goes for LLNS down the road. Otherwise both labs will give birth to LANSLLNS 2.0 and employees will play the low morale record again in a few years time.
It is too bad lab employees have a validated fear that prevents them from making those suggestions now,
and probably that fear will remain going forward. This is not a criticism.
Amen
Relative to what it was twenty five years ago, morale today is in the bottom of the trench. It was pure bliss back then, with no worries at all. Sadly, it was not recognized as such at the time, but in hindsight those really were good times.
OK no argument here, but what then is the path forward with new for profit LLCs on the horizon for LANL and LLNL? Kiss those "good times" goodbye, or be proactive with the bid qualification requirements for interested LLCs?
This really says all you need to know about how people feel about LANS. The salvation of LANL and perhaps the nation lies in the demise of LANS.
February 21, 2015 at 10:24 AM
Actually, it's Colorado dope - legally purchased only 200 miles away.
1. Dumb.
2. Stupid.
3. A LANS Manager.
4. Kidding?
Or any combination of 1., 2., and 3.
February 19, 2015 at 10:06 PM
You say "rocky"? That's an understatement!
Anything that hurts Bechtel improves the moral at LANL and may well benefit the United States.
February 22, 2015 at 7:55 AM
And their selection for the LANS/LLNS Deputy Lab Directors, which have been real "gems", since day-one of the contract. From taking home classified to taking an all expense paid by the taxpayers to see Madam Buttery at the SF Opera.
Other than being caught by the IG, what was the direct punishment to LANS senior management employees for harboring the Beth Sellers "conflict of interest" secret for a year or so?
February 23, 2015 at 7:48 AM
Just wait. The next step in the process after the issuance of a report by the IG finding wrongdoing, is the involvement of the IG's Office of Enforcement. The IG is not toothless by any means.
February 25, 2015 at 5:58 AM
What is hard to understand is how LANS and LLNS expect to make money with a demoralized workforce. They aren't selling widgets, you know. The only way they "make money" is by relying on a workforce that can achieve PBI requirements so the company can earn award fee. There is no other source of "money" for LANS/LLNS. LANS in particular has recently learned this lesson the hard way by losing 90% of the possible fee.
Perhaps it is you that will decide to leave LANSLLNS
From another Blog Topic:
"...DOE and NNSA now believe BOTH weapons labs need a new contractor
DOE and NNSA now believe BOTH weapons labs need a new contractor operational model that moves away from a management profit funding focus, to a research and development funding focus.
The party is over for the bloated layers of LANSLLNS management and their self-compensation feeding frenzy..."
http://www.nti.org/gsn/article/nuclear-weapons-complex-reform-could-mean-pay-cut-contractors/
February 24, 2015 at 8:09 PM
Anybody selling tickets for this show?
February 25, 2015 at 8:48 PM
That is also what happened to LANs ex-deputy director. She has a real nice job at Bechtel now.
February 25, 2015 at 5:42 PM
It has been amusing to see that Charlie and his family continued to live in Livermore even though he bought a house in Los Alamos after he became director. Considering that it was the most expensive house sold in the county, someone's likely to lose a wad of cash when he exits. Remember, just "follow the money."
Give Charlie a break.