ML20287A537

Oedo Response to OIG Audit OIG-20-A-16 Summary of Covid Lessons Learned as of 09/30/2020 (OEDO-20-00378)

ML20287A537
Person / Time
Issue date:	10/14/2020
From:	John Biddison NRC/NSIR/DPR/CB
To:
Biddison J
Shared Package
ML20267A348	List: ML20281A561 ML20287A537
References
OEDO-20-00378, OIG-20-A-16
Download: ML20287A537 (5)

Text

Summary of COVID-19 Lessons Learned (as of 9/30/2020)

Summary of Themes for Survey Question 2: Please use this space to elaborate on any items from #1 if you wish.

1) In the early stages of the response to the COVID-19 public health emergency (PHE),

agency communications lacked clarity, specificity, and timeliness, and there was little communication from the Commission to staff. As the event progressed, respondents praised the NRC's agency level communication with staff, and the plans, strategy and guidance. (130)

2) Several respondents indicated that various questions in the survey were not applicable to them since they were either on telework or located in a regional office and some of the services listed in the survey (e.g., Health Center, Fitness Center, cafeteria) were only available to Headquarters staff. (54)

3) In the early stages of mandatory telework, network and bandwidth issues prevented staff from successfully logging in and hindered their ability to complete work assignments. In addition, staff needed more and better-quality information technology (IT) equipment to adapt to their new telework environment. As the event progressed, comments indicated praise for NRCs IT support as the agency adapted to the telework environment. (40)

a. Other IT issues noted included:

i. Employees were not able to print documents while teleworking which several respondents felt hindered their ability to work. (27) ii. Some collaboration and software issues arose, which made it difficult to effectively complete group tasks or assignments that needed to be shared with team members. (7)

4) Some respondents indicated a desire for the agency to increase more permanent telework options in the future beyond the COVID-19 PHE. (29)

5) The agency should have provided clearer direction on Weather and Safety Leave, Excused Absence, and Telework policies and applied more consistency with how it was granted to staff. Several respondents noted that direction from individual managers was sometimes out of sync with agency-level communications (e.g., from the EDO). These policies were especially important since childcare was not an option for many during COVID-19, and respondents had to balance dependent care (e.g., home-schooling children) with work, and did not get proper rest. (12)

6) Although a majority of staff did not need to regularly access the buildings while on telework, several respondents indicated early trouble with accessing NRC buildings and related guidance. (11)

7) Respondents indicated that there was confusion and frustration with the lack of guidance and clarity as to what the expectation for resident inspectors, which made it very chaotic as they were trying to transition into teleworking. (8)

Summary of Themes for Survey Question 3: What did the NRC do well?

1) Agency communications was excellent during COVID-19 PHE and respondents noted that the agency was transparent and communicated frequently. Respondents felt that agency leaders at various levels did an excellent job of keeping them informed. Some initiatives such as the Staying Connected at a Distance, EDO and other podcasts, and agency webcasts were noted as being successful. (404)

2) After early challenges, OCIOs efforts to sustain the IT infrastructure and IT support to employees were outstanding, and instrumental to the agencys success during the PHE.

(127)

a. The decision to transition to laptops last year was noted as prescient, and facilitated a rapid and successful transition to full time telework. (82)

b. Agency IT collaboration tools also served an important role in re-establishing a successful telework environment. (8)

3) The agency adapted well to the COVID-19 full-time telework environment (126).

4) Respondents noted that managers were supportive of employees needs for flexible work schedules which was essential to their ability to adapt to the COVID-19 environment. (56)

5) The agencys response to the COVID-19 was exemplary and employees were kept safe.

Several respondents noted the COVID team (i.e., Task Force and Working Group) in particular, who were praised for the transparent communication about key COVID-19 issues (e.g., NRC COVID-19 cases, agency COVID decisions), and soliciting feedback from the staff. (29)

Summary of Themes for Survey Question 4: What could the NRC do better?

1) In the early stages of mandatory telework, the agency experienced various information technology (IT) issues. These issues included:

a. The NRC virtual private network (VPN) and Citrix connectivity was not reliable. After bandwidth increased, some respondents continued to have connectivity and reliability issues relating to video calls and remote connections. (49)

b. During the early stages of mandatory telework, distribution of IT equipment for telework was inconsistent and not well communicated. Some respondents noted that they did not have sufficient computer equipment (monitors, keyboards, mice, training, etc.) to allow people to work more efficiently at home, while others noted there continues to be no standardized plan to drop off/pick up equipment. (37)

c. The agency should provide a solution to enable employees to print documents while on telework (e.g., at home); some respondents believed this would help reduce eye strain and promote increased productivity especially on licensing reviews. (33)

d. In the initial stages of mandatory telework, the OCIO CSC help desk was not available for any support; with some respondents reporting multiple days of inability to contact them. (21)

e. Some respondents questioned the shift in using different IT collaboration tools (e.g.,

using Microsoft Teams rather than Skype) in the middle of the COVID-19 PHE, while others noted that using Teams earlier in the response would have assisted a more rapid transition to full time telework environment. (5)

2) The NRC needs to work on consistency of messaging and application of support, flexibility, and understanding for caregivers/parents to include Weather and Safety Leave and Excused Absence. Some respondents expressed concern about employee burnout, while others believed that senior management lacked understanding of the strain placed on parents which lead to inconsistent application. (32)

3) Beyond the COVID-19 PHE, staff requested 3+ day telework become a standardized work schedule and readily available to telework-eligible employees, including work schedule flexibilities. The agency should create a telework culture that is consistent and standardized across the agency. Expectation may be that management should have to prove why staff cannot telework not the other way around given the multiple months of proving it is possible. (30)

a. Respondents requested the agency leave in place the increased amount of IT collaboration and other tools, support, and bandwidth to support full time telework beyond the COVID-19 PHE. (20)

4) Prioritization of work continues to be a challenge at the agency level (e.g., futures initiatives like transformation and office moves) as well as regular employee level work (e.g., licensing work, inspections). Some respondents noted being overwhelmed with work, not having enough work, meetings being scheduled outside of normal working hours or over lunch breaks, and strict adherence to completion dates for many assignments despite competing priorities, including for some who were responding to the PHE. (23)

5) The NRC needs to ensure general consistency of messaging and communications at the agency level including between HQ and the regions. Consistency of guidance also needs to be improved between major program offices such as NRR and NMSS (e.g., inspections).

(17)

6) In the early stages of the COVID-19 response, the facility access process was confusing.

As the instructions matured, staff requested an easier process to access the facility (14)

7) Respondents noted the EDO is doing a great job communicating but feel communications from the Commissioners and the Chairman have been lacking. (10)

8) (NOTE: Lot of N/A responses)

Summary of Themes for Survey Question 5: Any other thoughts or comments?

1) Now that NRC has demonstrated most of its functions can be conducted remotely, respondents would like to see that full-time telework or 3+ days a week telework continue beyond the COVID-19 PHE. Several respondents noted this will continue to protect employees who may be at risk to COVID-19. (55)

2) The agency response to COVID-19 PHE was generally praised, with an excellent focus on the health and safety of the NRC workforce, and that agency communications. Several respondents noted the hard work of the COVID-19 team (i.e., Task Force and Working Group). Some respondents noted excellent EDO communications, while others noted several individual offices (e.g., NSIR, NRR, RES, regions) as having excellent communication. (41)

a. NOTE: 34 respondents provided positive responses of Great job but did not add specifics.

3) OCIO was praised for their excellent response during COVID-19 pandemic. Several respondents praised OCIO for being prepared for a COVID-19 environment by already working towards adopting technology that has greatly supported the response such as issuance of laptops to all employees and shifting to Office 365 (17).

a. Respondents requested the ability to print documents while on telework (i.e., from home) (3); while others requested more office and IT supplies for use while working at home (2).

4) The NRC should continue to provide flexibility for employees who need to provide dependent care (e.g., working parents with kids at home/virtual school). Some respondents noted that consistency and more communication was needed for the application of Weather and Safety Leave and Excused Absence. (14)

a. Managers should be encouraged to take employees needs into account and be flexible with work schedules, to build in breaks, take into account many challenges employees are facing (e.g., child care), and to respect lunch hours. (8)

5) Several respondents expressed concerns about being forced to come back into the office, either for work or conducting office space during COVID-19. (3)

Summary of Themes for Survey Question 6: Please feel free to share any words of encouragement for your fellow employees

1) Employees and the agency as a whole have adapted well to the new telework environment, and the new flexible work schedules. (42)

2) The NRCs response to COVID-19 was excellent and maintained proper focus on health and safety priorities. (Note: this included several Great job responses) (46)

3) The agency was able to continue its mission, and employees had enough portable work and resources to continue working throughout the COVID-19 event. (30)

4) Agency communications was excellent throughout COVID-19, and the COVID-19 Task Force and leadership did a great job keeping the workforce informed. Individual offices, including OPA (e.g., Staying Connected effort) were noted as doing a great job of helping

employees feel connected to work, and providing relevant information and keep informed during COVID-19. (26)

5) Overall, OCIO and regional IT teams did an outstanding job of maintaining and supporting agency IT needs during COVID-19. (22)

6) Respondents encouraged their coworkers to remain positive. (46)

7) Respondents felt full time telework should become a permanent option after the COVID-19 PHE. (6)

8) Employees recognized the challenges of dependent and child care during the COVID-19 environment and its impact on the agency workforce. (5)

9) The NRC needs to develop a longer-term plan for COVID-19. (2)