Staff Engagement in MML

Presentation to VCAT

February 3, 2016

Laurie E. Locascio, MML Director
National reference laboratory for measurements in the 

chemical, biological, and material sciences 

• measurement science research, measurement services, and 

measurement quality assurance tools

• delegated responsibility for managing and coordinating the NIST-wide 

Standard Reference Materials and Standard Reference Data programs

• forensics and homeland security

• health care

• manufacturing (from advanced

materials to biologic drugs)

Material Measurement Laboratory 

(MML)

• climate change assessment

• renewable energy

• the nation’s aging infrastructure

• environmental quality

• food safety and nutrition
MML ORGANIZATION

Office of Data 

& Informatics

Office of 

Reference 

Materials

Executive 

Officer,

N. Alderoty

C. 

Gonzalez

J. Small M. Tarlov

Director,

L. 

Locascio

Deputy 

Director, 

M. Fasolka

S. Choquette, J. Fekete

(Acting )

E. Lin

Chief of Staff, 

M. Satterfield

Biosystems & 

Biomaterials 

Science 

Division

Materials 

Science & 

Engineering

Division

Applied 

Chemicals & 

Materials 

Division

Biomolecular

Measurement 

Division

Chemical 

Sciences 

Division

Materials 

Measurement 

Science 

Diviison

R. Hanisch A. Plant
MML AT A GLANCE

Staff:

• 612 Federal employees

• 300-400 Associates 

NIST

Gaithersburg, MD

IBBR

Univ. of Maryland

NIST Pacific Islands Program 

Specimen Bank

Hawaii

NIST

Boulder, 

CO

HML

Charleston, SC

JIMB

Stanford Univ., CA

CHiMaD

Northwestern University, IL

BNL

Upton, NY
MML Survey Results

Who 889 employees and associates invited to respond

515 responded (58% response rate)

What 88-item questionnaire 

One open-ended question

When

Survey: July 10th – 31st 2013

Results: Spring 2014

Implementation plan completed: Fall 2014

Implementation: FY15, FY16

How

Online survey

Professional Analysis and Reporting (HayGroup)

Benchmarks to High Performing Organizations

Employee Effectiveness Framework
Employee Effectiveness Framework

Hay Group

Drivers
Engagement and enablement 

are critical determinants of 

performance
Employee Effectiveness Framework: MML Results

Engagement

Enablement
Employee effectiveness: Tenure

49%

55%

53%

58%

40%

47%

14%

9%

12%

12%

16%

16%

14%

25%

14%

16%

8%

13%

23%

11%

21%

14%

35%

24%

Total NIST

Less than 1 year

1 year to less than 2 years

2 years to less than 5 years

5 years to less than 10 years

10 years or more

Effective Frustrated Detached Ineffective Valid N

503

53

43

77

85

237

MML

High Performing Company Norm 54% 14% 10% 23%

Frustrated=low engagement (leadership, recognition, respect, direction) 

Detached=low enablement (resources to do job)
Where did we fall down in engagement and what 

was the recommended improvement?

• Respect and recognition

• Confidence in leadership

• Quality and customer focus

• Developmental opportunities

• Clear, promising direction

• Communicate

• Collaborate

• Make people feel valued and respected

• Recognize and reward fairly

• Provide clear, promising direction

• Coach, mentor, develop

Areas for improvement

Recommendations
MML Action Plan: communication and transparency

Develop a multi-pronged strategy for 

internal and external communications 

• Hire Director of Communications, and 

Director of Engagement

• Lunch & Learn sessions – performance 

review, strategic planning, MML processes, 

developmental details, travel policies

• More transparent promotion processes

• Increased management face time at other 

MML sites

• Coffees with me and my staff 

• MML Science Advisor from Boulder, HML 

in Charleston

• Internal MML Newsletter, MML magazine 

for stakeholders, strategy website
MML Action Plan: clear and promising direction

Year-long effort to develop MML 5-

Year Strategy

• input from >300 MML staff members 

as well as external stakeholders

https://mmlstrategy.nist.gov
MML Action Plan: professional development and 

training opportunities

Primary Focus on Early to MidCareer Permanent Employees

• MML Career Development Committee 

• NIST leadership training programs

• MML sabbaticals and details

• MML Group Leader support and 

development (FY16 Q1)

• “Demystifying NIST” lunch series

• Metrology training seminar series with 

active learning component (FY16 Q3)

• “Budget talks” with Neil

A sustained and 

purposeful career 

development program 

to enrich careers, 

provide new 

opportunities, 

increase staff 

engagement, and 

deepen our pool of 

leaders
MML Action Plan: provide avenues for collaboration

• Program Directors: single point of 

contact across Laboratory for important 

program areas, inward and outward 

focus

• Focus Groups: grass roots committees 

to discuss specific scientific areas of 

interest such as precision medicine and 

microscopy

• MML Strategy Committees: formed 

around strategic plan with volunteers

‘The Focus Groups brought 

together many colleagues 

across MML for a common 

scientific interest and 

allowed for an extended 

sense of comradery.’- MML 

research bioscientist

Manufacturing

Rick Ricker

Materials Genome 

Jim Warren

Biomedical and 

Health

Kelley Rogers
MML Action Plan: Respect and Recognition

Show our staff that we value them 

and increase sense of community

MML Accolades

It was so wonderfully accepted. Many 

people attended and it was such an 

important day! Thank you ... for your 

incredible insights ..toward inreased 

well being of our employees which leads 

to so many good things including great 

productivity from our great 

workforce!—MML research materials 

scientist
Engaging female engineers: Projects for societal good

How to Attract Female Engineers

Lina Nilsson, New York Times, April 27, 2015

14% of workforce

”women seem 

to be drawn to 

engineering 

projects that 

attempt to 

achieve societal 

good.’

“D-Lab at MIT...

focuses on developing 

technologies that 

improve the lives of 

people living in 

poverty”, 74% female 

enrollment
Goal: Enhance 

innovation and catalyze 

breakthroughs in science 

and technology 

capabilities through 

inclusive teams and 

workspaces 

Inclusive Innovation Initiative
How do we know we did the right things?

Recruited staff to help shape the response

Numbers of volunteers for strategic plan 

implementation is over 100

Repeat survey in summer of 2016

Employee Effectiveness Framework

Four employee Effectiveness Clusters based on 

engagement v. enablement

“Detached”

I am enabled to be 

productive

but not particularly engaged

“Effective”

I am not only enabled to be 

productive but highly 

engaged as well

“Ineffective” 

I am not enabled to be 

productive

and not particularly engaged

“Frustrated”

I am not enabled to be 

productive even though I 

am highly engaged

Below-average Engagement Above-average Engagement

Below-average 

employee 

enablement

Above-average 

employee 

enablement

Enablement

High Performing 

Companies Norm 

based on data 

from ~40 

companies that are 

financial 

performance 

leaders.