Over the past decade, "follow your passion" has become a ubiquitous phrase that for many, induces nausea. With the rise of social media and Facebook, anyone and everyone is constantly bombarded with others’ so called "passions" through excessive and egregious photo sharing. So let’s assume you are not a traveling blogger on assignment in Machu Picchu assessing the best sherpa service - Does that mean your job lacks purpose? Not at all. On the contrary, following opportunities and developing skills can lead to passion for just about anything.
More than ever people are craving contribution, and by implying that to be happy and successful a passion must be followed, that information is as useful as the original food pyramid or suggesting a lobotomy. It’s just nonsense. So how does one go about being happy and finding real value with their on the job contributions? It starts with businesses truly defining their purpose - What is your reason for existing? Why is your software unique? What value are you providing your customers? A powerful purpose statement gives workers the chance to embrace the big picture vision, induces inspiration, and motivates them to go above and beyond what is required of their job duties.
So what happens when companies do not invest in the resources necessary to successfully execute their purpose? Economists refer to this disproportioning of funds required to achieve said purpose as "cheap talk". When companies fail to budget for the advancement of their "why", nothing is more demotivating for its employees. It’s like offering up a treat to your dog after they do a trick, and then not delivering. It’s not what they signed up for. The ones who suffer the most are those who were sold the dream - the employees.
Happiness not only matters, but it generates revenue. Sure, half day Fridays make people happy, but improving the way you work ultimately gives employees what they want - more flexibility to focus on their job. Inefficiencies cost organizations upwards of 30 percent of their revenue every year. McLean & Company’s research shows that disengaged employees cost companies on average $3,400 per year per $10,000 in salary. Big picture - in 2013 Forbes indicated that the disengaged workforce costs the US economy $370 billion.
Assuming you’ve amassed a dense workforce, and your employees have learned the skills necessary to approach their job with passion, purpose, and personal contributions only to be stifled by problems unrelated to executing their core job duties, what do you do then?
In 2018, the US Air Force found themselves asking the same question. The USAF teamed up with Monkton to create the Battle Record Information Core Environment (BRICE) app. Providing passion and purpose was not the USAF’s problem, rather increasing their end strength to some 8,000 personnel and improving their "Time on Task" was.
"Maintainers didn’t have a convenient way to input their maintenance actions into the system of record." Maj. Johnathan Jordan, Headquarters Air Force Reserve A6 logistics IT policy and strategy branch chief, said in a statement. "They have to travel to a desktop computer, go through the sign-in procedure for both the computer and the maintenance data system, then they can enter the data for the maintenance performed on the flight line."
BRICE was developed as a user focused solution–meaning that end users were the app designers. With the end user always being in mind, Monkton’s COO and cofounder Chris Gorman shared, "What they see is this brand-new iOS interface in a way that a 19-year-old maintainer would expect to use Uber Eats or anything else. Now they’re performing their mission work in the same manner and interacting with the data there on the flight line, rather than having to make multiple walks back to the toolshed to the networked PC."
Using Monkton’s Rebar product, which has built-in compliance with the National Information Assurance Partnership (NIAP), BRICE meets Defense Department security and authentication requirements allowing maintainers to input, store and send data in real time to the maintenance database.
The result? Maintainers are saving over an hour of time per shift, and the USAF reports $8500/per maintainer in annual savings. BRICE has given Monkton a unique perspective on mobility, from how to successfully architect mobile solutions, rapidly deploy them, and maintain them with the unique constraints the federal government has in protecting its most sensitive data.
The military is understanding that with over 70% of enlisted members being digital natives under the age of 30, the way you work supersedes everything. Not being able to execute basic job functions due to unrelated tasks causes inefficiencies - and inefficiency is the nail in the coffin to productivity. BRICE represents a symbiotic relationship between empowering and motivating the world’s best Air Force to move from a ‘no because’, to a ‘yes if’ environment where the focus can remain on making the art of impossible happen.