By Jill Wojciechowski

A leap of faith — Margie McCladdie was the third employee to join Rockwell Collins Simulation & Training Solutions in Huntsville. Today, 40 employees work in this location and more will be hired in the coming months.
Photo by Mark Davis, Decatur, Ala.

Margie McCladdie admits she took a leap of faith four years ago when she joined Rockwell Collins Simulation & Training Solutions (STS) in Huntsville, Ala.

Prior to her arrival in January 2004, the small Rockwell Collins facility in this northern Alabama community housed just two employees. Those individuals spent their days working on the flight simulators for which their previous company – NLX – had become known.

But the December 2003 acquisition of NLX by Rockwell Collins prompted a new beginning. And if things continue as planned, our company's presence in the heart of the Tennessee Valley will soon be a force to be reckoned with.

"I can't believe how much our facility – and our company – have grown in such a short time," said McCladdie, a senior logistics support coordinator. "I was the third employee in this location. It was so quiet when I started working here."

Today, our Huntsville facility houses about 40 employees. This coming summer, those individuals – and the additional employees we plan to hire in the coming months to meet program needs – will move into a new 30,000-square-foot facility in the nearby Cummings Research Park.

Developed by the city of Huntsville to attract aerospace and defense contractors to the area, this particular piece of land – by the nature of where it is located – should help increase our presence in the community and also within today's competitive marketplace.

"This new building is really going to help put us on the map in Huntsville," said Todd Stanley, an engineering manager in Huntsville who also serves as the point of contact for the new building construction. "We'll be situated in an area near companies like Raytheon and Lockheed Martin, and we'll also be located along a major highway. It will be hard not to notice Rockwell Collins."

Enhancing community presence

Establishing and maintaining a presence within the communities in which our employees live and work is one way the Rockwell Collins senior leadership team believes our company will continue the solid growth it has experienced in recent years.

Since the mid-1990s, the number of people we employ around the world has doubled to 20,000. In fiscal year 2007 alone, our employee population grew by more than 4,300, and plans announced in 2004 to expand our total workforce by 7,000 by 2010 still remain.

In addition, the financial performance at Rockwell Collins in FY'07 marked the fourth consecutive year of double-digit revenue and earnings per share growth, as well as higher year-over-year levels of operating cash flow.

According to Kent Statler, executive vice president of Rockwell Collins Services, robust market conditions and strategies implemented to strengthen our positions in faster growing market areas were the principal drivers for strong Services, Government and Commercial Systems revenue growth in 2007.

Excitement abounds — Dave Lawter, a senior contract manager at Rockwell Collins Simulation & Training Solutions in Huntsville, believes the new building will help increase employee morale and enhance our company's visibility in the community.
Photo by Mark Davis, Decatur, Ala.

But efficiently meeting our customer commitments and continuing our success in a world heavily affected by constant technological change also require an investment in our people and the communities in which they reside.

"Our success as a global company involves developing good strategies and creating value for our customers that's better than our competitors," said Statler. "But truly being an integral part of our communities also plays an important role in our success.

"We might be headquartered in Cedar Rapids, Iowa, but we have facilities around the world," he continued. "We need to play a visible and active role in each of those communities, because that is where our employees live and work."

Attracting and retaining talent

With competition for talent steadily increasing as the crunch for engineers becomes more critical, leaders at Rockwell Collins are finding themselves working harder than ever before to attract candidates to our company.

However, incorporating some of our major initiatives – Flexible Benefit Choices, Leadership Development, Talent Management and Diversity – into recruiting campaigns has enabled our company to begin connecting with potential employees.

Employee involvement — Employees at Rockwell Collins Simulation & Training Solutions in Huntsville, have been an integral part of the decision-making process for our new building. Pictured are: (from left) Todd Stanley, Margie McCladdie and Bob Burns.
Photo by Mark Davis, Decatur, Ala.

In fact, our Diversity journey has enabled us to create a welcoming and inclusive workplace – one that brings different experiences, beliefs, backgrounds and skills of people together – and has been a major step in the right direction.

"Talented and motivated employees who are part of a diverse team create more value for a company and its customers," said Ron Kirchenbauer, senior vice president of Human Resources. "We launched our Diversity journey about three years ago in an attempt to attract the people needed to help grow our business, and we have made significant strides."

According to Mike Neleman, director of Facilities Services, the construction of new facilities similar to the one being built in Huntsville, and major renovations to existing buildings across our enterprise, also have generated excitement.

"Our goal is to plan for and create office and lab upgrades of more than 100,000 square feet per year until all of our facilities are modernized to an acceptable level," he said. "We have to meet the needs and expectations of our employees, if we hope to attract and retain the type of talent we need to take us into the future."

In addition to Huntsville, a new facility is currently under construction in Cedar Rapids – the second new building there in two years – and plans are under way for construction of a 125,000-square-foot facility in Portland, Ore., that we plan to lease.

Our company also has leased additional space in Melbourne, Fla., Richardson, Texas, and Cedar Rapids to accommodate a growing workforce.

"We want our employees to have comfortable work environments in which they can more effectively work together," said Neleman. "We also want them to be proud of their company and proud of their specific facility."

Creating a sense of pride

In a recent survey conducted by Human Resources consulting firm Development Dimensions International and recruitment firm Monster, nearly three-quarters of job seekers believed it was important to work for an organization of which they could be proud.

Rockwell Collins leaders agreed. And about three years ago, our company began conducting a variety of community assessments with hopes of raising employee morale, increasing employee and leadership involvement within communities, and enhancing our company's visibility.

"It is our desire at Rockwell Collins to be a good corporate citizen by bringing good jobs into communities around the world," said Cindy Dietz, manager of Community Relations. "We want employees at all levels to be involved in and supportive of community activities.

"We're giving our employees opportunities to be connected in their communities, so they feel like they're more than just a Rockwell Collins employee," continued Dietz. "We want them to feel like they're a citizen of whatever community they have decided to live in."

That's one of several reasons Rockwell Collins Services recently launched a project focused on creating greater community awareness in four of our key Services locations — Binghamton, N.Y., Sterling, Va., Salt Lake City, Utah, and Wichita, Kan.

"People want to work for a company that is an active community partner, and that requires visibility and commitment," said Statler. "That commitment begins with our site leaders and then extends to each employee."

While McCladdie admits our company's presence in the Huntsville community is currently limited, she acknowledges its importance and believes the construction of our new facility is the first step in the right direction.

"The idea of working for Rockwell Collins in and of itself is exciting, and now we're seeing tremendous growth here in Huntsville," said McCladdie. "Our employees are really looking forward to working in a brand new building, and to helping our company continue its growth."

The fact that those employees also have been an integral part of the decision-making process regarding ergonomics and sound reduction technologies within the new building only adds to their sense of pride and ownership.

"This new building represents a commitment Rockwell Collins is making to our employees, our community and our customers," said Bob Burns, a senior software engineer in Huntsville. "Knowing our company has faith in us and is willing to invest in the Huntsville area means a great deal to our employees."

— Freelance Writer Sue Nading contributed to this article.