Publication:Navy Engineering Bulletin March 2006/DNOP News
BY LCDR DANNY DURWARD
Contents |
PERSONNEL CHANGES IN DNOP
LCDR Danny Durward joined DNOP in late December and assumed duties as Staff Officer Engineering 1 (SOE1) in late January. Danny came to DNOP after a year at the Australian Command and Staff College (ACSC) at Weston Creek, Canberra, and highly recommends the experience. Danny brings some 26 years in the RAN to the job and has served as DWEEO ANZAC & WEEO ARUNTA, as well as his previous incarnation as a CPOET. He has his feet well and truly under the desk already, and is sitting waiting at the end of the phone, ready to make your posting dreams come true!
DNOP farewelled LCDR Steve Spooner after 31 years of distinguished service in the RAN, or as he prefers to refer to it, undetected crime! Steve is going to play house dad for a while, and has advised us that he has packaged his navy uniform up in a box marked "To be opened in case of emergency", so who knows when we may see Steve back around the traps! At the time of this article going to press the uniform may well be 'dusted off' and we may see Steve around Russell Offices in the very near future.
LCDR Carleen Jones is due to leave DNOP around June this year. Her replacement is being organised as this goes to press!
WHAT IT'S ALL ABOUT
We thought we'd theme this edition's article "Career Management 101", and particularly target it at junior engineers, based on the recurring queries we tend to get here at DNOP.
WHAT WE DO/CAN HELP WITH
Firstly, an overview of the various jobs that the junior engineers desk officers at DNOP provide assistance with will put things in context. We manage some 385 engineer officers between the two of us and provide the following services:
- Postings and posting planning (both to individuals and organisations),
- Career management advice,
- Staff aspects of automatic promotion and selective promotion processing, and chase individuals who haven't competed their promotion requirements (more on that later),
- Compile promotion board data and provide support services to promotion boards
- Compile Engineering Charge Selection Board data,
- Advertise and panel attractive postings, including overseas & other merit based selection postings (more on that later),
- Staff aspects of PQ transfers & lateral transfers from other services and overseas,
- Staff commencement of Engineer's Retention Allowance (ERA) on award of CC,
- Staff LSL, LWOP, Maternity leave applications,
- Provide assistance with training failure management,
- Staff aspects of resignations, & associated pre and post separation employment submissions,
- Last but not least is that we get out and about on the DNOP Roadshow. DNOP Signal WEF/WER 272232Z FEB 06 details this year's programme. If you are in Canberra, give us a call and arrange to drop in for a chat.
WHAT YOUR DESK OFFICER DOESN'T DO
- Select people for promotions! (It's up to the promotion boards not us!)
- Process promotions (make them appear in the back of the LOP)
- Process Pay or salary (the only money aspect we touch on is ERA)
- Decide on or administer Seniority
- Approve resignations
Having said that, we're always happy to provide points of contact or do some liaison as the middle man if we believe we can help to get you a better result or a result more quickly.
DNOP WEBSITE
The DNOP website is a brilliant new & improved resource on the DEFWEB! For any basic career management question, we'd suggest you start here. If you don't have connectivity, email us the question & we'll send you the relevant page/info. Link is http://defweb.cbr.defence.gov. au/dpednop/default.asp
Some particularly useful resources include:
- Job search engine. You can search for jobs by location, PQ, rank etc - the possibilities are endless. This great resource allows you to plan what job you want next & then get on the phone/email and tell us. As it's updated from PMKEYS every week, the data is reliable. Our only caution is that some of the rotation dates out may change with people's circumstances, so be sure to ask us before you decide that timing's not on your side if there's something you're interested in. Found at http://defweb.cbr.defence.gov.au/dpednop/Billet%20List/billets.htm
- ABR6289 was until recently languishing and badly out of date. It's now been fully updated & is a great source of info. It's updated in real time, by signal amendment, as such, it is a living document. For that reason, we suggest using caution when referring to any uncontrolled paper based copies you have hold. In particular, everyone should make themselves familiar with the career models (Chapter 8), & promotion information (Chapter 13). http://defweb.cbr.defence.gov.au/dpednop/policy/policyabr.htm
- Relevant DI(G)s that you may need to be aware of includes ROSO, off-duty & post-separation employment, LSL, LWOP, temporary rank, special needs families etc. http://defweb.cbr.defence.gov.au/dpednop/policy/policydigs.htm
- Signals & relevant proformas are also on the site. Usually charge board & promotion stuff, but may include other info. http://defweb.cbr.defence.gov.au/dpednop/signals/signals.htm
- Contacts - all the names, numbers & emails you need within DNOP for promotions, separation, PQ transfers etc, as well as your friendly desk officer! http://defweb.cbr.defence.gov.au/dpednop/Contact%20Details/dnop_contacts.htm
- PACMAN contains everything you need on pay, conditions, removals, housing etc. An excellent resource about what you are and are not entitled to. http://intranet.defence.gov.au/pac/
LONG SERVICE LEAVE (LSL)
WHAT
Taking LSL is not like taking recreational leave, so plan it well in advance!
WHEN
If you want to take LSL part way through a posting, 99 times out of a 100 there will not be a replacement for you while you're away. Therefore if your organisation can't survive for the leave period with your position vacant, they will probably not put a supporting recommendation in with the request. If unsupported by your unit, it's difficult for DNOP to approve! Therefore we suggest LSL is best taken in between postings, so we can post in a replacement to provide normal coverage of the position. A LSL application (and there are many we receive) with a week or two's notice will be unlikely to get through in time & will only cause you stress!
HOW
Your application minute, with any appropriate justification as to the timing and purpose of the leave, should be addressed to Directorate of Entitlements (DE), with DNOP as an info addressee. DE confirms that you are eligible for the LSL requested & then send authorisation to us to proceed. We staff your application, from a personnel management perspective, looking at whether you can be spared & any potential impacts on your career & make a recommendation. DNOP (the Captain, not the organisation) is the approving authority. Therefore the message is, plan early - ideally several months before. Short notice applications for LSL will barely make it to us in time, never mind be approved! Having said that, we will drop everything to walk through legitimate emergency situations as they arise. If you fall into that category, a phone call heads-up would be a good idea!
LWOP
Ideally LSL is best taken between postings and with maximum notice to cause minimum impact to the organisation & increase your chances of getting it approved. LWOP applications should have good justification & are unlikely to be approved for "a whim". Factors such as workforce strength & ability to do without you are considered in staffing LWOP applications, as is your career progression eg. LWOP immediately following attainment of CC would not be a good plan at a time when you need consolidation of your skills and knowledge, and would not be favourably looked upon.
PROMOTION BOARD SUBMISSIONS
WHEN
Signalled in May each year and is due into DNOP by July each year. The key here is that this occurs roughly the same time each year. The most common excuse for not putting in a submission is that "I didn't see the signal'. The point we are making here is that this is an annual event with timings almost exactly the same each year.
WHO
Those in zone will be:
- To CMDR - seniority prior or equal to 01 Jan 04 (for officers whose seniority as a LEUT was on or after 31DEC85) or 01JAN05 (for officers whose seniority as a LEUT was earlier than 31DEC85).
- To LCDR - seniority prior or equal to 01JUL02.
WHAT
To do the right thing by yourself, you NEED to:
- Put in a member statement - DNOP signal around May each year to call for submissions. Last minute submissions cause unnecessary congestion to the process.
- If you meet the requirements to be presented to the promotion board, make sure you receive a NOPAR mid year to reflect your current performance. The DNOP signal in May each year refers,
- Have your qualifications (or qualification plan) under control & ensure the board is aware of this.
WHY
- The specific selection criterion for promotion is detailed in ABR 6289 Chapter 13 Annex E.
- The Promotion board (QBB and CAB) gets your Blue Jacket (ie all your NOPARs / PR5s) & your member's statement to review, that is all.
- The member statement is your opportunity to highlight (sell yourself) in ONE concise page everything the board needs to be aware of, which may not be otherwise available to the board or may be "buried" somewhere in your reports.
- NOPARs - If you have an insufficient or out of date reporting history, the board has little to go on. If you look at the selection criterion, recent performance carries a weighting of 25%, this is a significant. A lack of reporting history may well affect your promotion prospects and/or banding. If you are having trouble getting a timely report or a report at all out of your boss, flag it to DNOP for action, sooner rather than later.
- Articulate your pending qualification plans (including any proposed CQ board date later in the year) in your member statement. If you obtain your CQ after submissions close but before the CAB sits, send us an update to let us know the qualification has been obtained and the CAB can be advised.
PROMOTION & IR
Promotions are approved by a legal Instrument signed by the authorised delegate. The delegate for all promotions up to the rank of LCDR is DNOP, CAPT Jones. Once approved promotions can then be entered into PMKEYS & promulgated on LOP.
For promotions to be authorised, you must have completed all promotion pre-requisites detailed in ABR 6289 Chapter 13 paragraph 13.3. This policy is rigidly adhered to. Whilst requirements vary by rank & PQ, Individual Readiness (IR) requirements apply across the board. You MUST meet the IR requirements laid down in DI(G) Pers 36-2 which has been expanded on the old requirement of only needing to be medically, dentally & physically current to be promoted. If you are in date but not compliant (eg have had a checkup on time but were found to be medically unfit) you may be able to be provisionally promoted for a specified period of time in order to resolve the issue. Explore any potential anomalies you have with your desk officer early to ensure they can be resolved in good time for your provisional promotion to occur.
With block leave periods pending & a rush on medical & dental services & PT tests towards the end of the year, you could be thrill seeking to leave sorting out readiness to the last minute. The information will need to be entered into PMKEYS by the responsible area, advice be provided to DNOP Promotions cell that this has occurred so they can prepare the Instrument for signature by the delegate, and promulgate before the block leave period commences for a 01 January promotion to take effect. Given that the annual promotion list for the following year is also being formulated at this time, it is a good idea to ensure that your individual readiness is sorted out early!
Another significant delaying factor for promotion is the completion of the LMPD continuum. ABR 6289 Chapter 5 article 5.20 and 5.21 detail the specific requirements.
One of the more obvious side effects of delayed promotion due to member failure to ensure IR currency is loss of pay!
RESIGNATION
Resignation/separation requires three months notice (effective service). One of the purposes of this is to give Navy adequate time to find a replacement for you. If your organisation approves leave for you prior separating, that's a matter between you and your supervisor and your organisation acknowledging they can do without someone in the position whilst you're on leave. DNOP will be looking for a replacement for you from your separation date.
If you are planning to start new employment, either after separation or prior to separation whilst on leave, you need to gain approval before commencing work. If there is a potential conflict of interest between your new employer and you naval employment, DCN is the approving authority for post separation employment & conflict of interest between Navy & subsequent employment is the primary concern. DNOP is asked to research and provide advice to DCN on whether the new position poses any conflict of interest issues. Plans such as giving notice to Navy to resign, taking extended leave with the three month period of effective service & commencing a new job whilst still in the Navy on leave is a high risk activity which is not recommended! You may not receive an employment approval from DCN before you wish to commence work, which can pose issues. (DI(G) PERS 254 refers.)
That's about enough from us for this edition. Hopefully this article sheds some light on the mysterious ways in which we work!
A final point on making contact with your Desk Officers; you don't have to wait for us to come and visit you. If you are in Canberra for any reason and wish to drop in and have a chat, give us a call and if we are available, we will be more than happy to have a chat over a coffee. A visit to us may be able to alleviate any of the issues that have been discussed in this article.
Look forward to meeting as many of you as we possibly can.
Cheers Danny & Carleen
Contact Details
Staff Officer Engineering 1 (LCDR Engineers and LEUT Engineers with CQ): LCDR Danny Durward on (02) 6265 1007 or danny.durward@defence.gov.au
Staff Officer Engineering 2 (LEUT/SBLT Engineers without CQ): LCDR Carleen Jones on (02) 6265 3276 or carleen.jones@defence.gov.au
