The Department of the Navy (DON) released its new civilian human capital strategy, Jan. 09, charting the course for the development of its civilian workforce through the next decade and beyond as the Department positions itself to compete with other world-class organizations in the “war for talent.”

“We are implementing a new human capital strategy to better access and curate best in class talent,” said Acting Secretary of the Navy Thomas B. Modly. “This strategy was developed leveraging leading private sector business practices designed for the new economy. Initial pilot programs in support of this strategy will begin this year.”

The DON’s civilian workforce – more than 220,000 strong – plays an integral role in supporting the Navy’s Sailors and Marines, building, manning, and maintaining its ships and submarines, and ultimately supporting the strength of the Naval operation and the defense of our nation. The Department is committed to keeping its workforce experience, work processes, systems and tools competitive with those of leading private sector organizations. The DON recognizes that shifting global geopolitical and technological forces require a dynamic strategy designed to address challenges impacting work today while preparing the organization to be more agile and capable in response to shifts in the future.

“The Department of the Navy’s civilian workforce is a critical part of the Navy and Marine Corps team,” said Assistant Secretary of the Navy for Manpower and Reserve Affairs Greg Slavonic. “No mission could be accomplished without them. That is why we must have a far-reaching strategy that meets the demands of the future.”

To address unprecedented changes to the work and the workforce—including disruptions like the use of artificial intelligence, robotics, and cognitive computing to augment human capabilities, shifts in the nature and duration of careers, and the rise of the contingent workforce—this strategy will help the Department access, curate, and engage top talent:

Access: Tap into people, capabilities, and skills necessary to accomplish the DON’s objectives

Curate: Create and deliver consumer grade experiences and on-demand learning and development

Engage: Empower employees to chart their own careers through clear and consistent processes and opportunities

To position the DON for success, the strategy is built around five key workforce and leadership strategic anchors. With phased implementation between now and 2030, these strategic anchors represent a transformational shift in toward workforce innovation.

Anchor 1: Access and Curate Best in Class Talent - Leverage the unique opportunities, mission, and work of the DON to create a globally recognized and unparalleled experience for world-class talent

Anchor 2: Develop Skills for the Future - Identify, assess, and acquire the skills that the DON needs to be best equipped to do the work of the future

Anchor 3: Harness the Power of Data - Accelerate to a holistic, dynamic model for workforce planning and talent analytics to enable smarter, more informed, real-time decision-making

Anchor 4: Strengthen the Bench of Future Talent - Embed talent development, such as next-gen learning and leadership programs, to enable a succession planning process and build a robust pipeline of the best future leaders

Anchor 5: Enable a Tech Augmented Workforce - Leverage smart technologies to enhance the human experience for the DON's workforce, unleash capacity to focus on higher-value work and optimize business processes

Leveraging leading practices from across industries, this strategy and its series of coordinated enterprise-wide initiatives should enable the Department of the Navy to build a world-class workforce experience that is motivated by the mission and supported by “always on” opportunities for continuous learning and career mobility to drive organizational and individual performance.

The strategy is available at: https://www.secnav.navy.mil/donhr/Documents/DON%20Civilian%20Human%20Capital%20Strategy.pdf