Helping the Best Become Even Better

While LMI strives to help each customer go further, pushing boundaries is literally the mission of one longtime customer, NASA. For nearly 20 years, LMI has supported NASA’s human capital (HC) function, delivering program management, change management, and ad hoc services to meet its needs. Although this support has evolved, LMI remains focused on building trusted relationships with NASA leadership and employees while delivering exceptional service. When budget constraints and an increased emphasis on mission required NASA’s HC mission support function to become more efficient and effective, LMI was the contractor chosen to help. 

“As NASA’s trusted contractor on this project, we’re honored to help set the standard in strategic communication and organizational transformation.”

- Milasy Mugnolo

In 2017, NASA’s executive council directed the HC program to become more centrally managed, essentially transforming 10 distinct human resources organizations into a unified enterprise function. This shift required a significant functional transformation as well as a cultural one. LMI worked with NASA’s Office of the Chief Human Capital Officer (OCHCO) to lead an organized, efficient transformation and simultaneously deliver excellent HC services to NASA executives, managers, and employees—all while building and sustaining an engaged, innovative NASA workforce.

“Our team supports the stand-up of each OCHCO line of business—business operations, HR services, talent strategy and engagement, and executive services,” said Mugnolo, who has supported NASA for nearly five years. “Our partnership with NASA enables us to provide comprehensive and integrated solutions to afford our client a seamless transition through its HC transformation.”

LMI’s cross-disciplinary team facilitated NASA’s transformation via program and project management, design of a new organizational structure, development of a concept of operations, stand-up of a change network, and strategic communications and branding. Team member Andrew Miller designed a new OCHCO logo, enabling employees to give input on the new graphic and vote on their favorite. The logo was revealed as part of the phased transformation process.

“Transitioning the way an organization delivers its human capital services to operate like a business is a significant and complex change," Mugnolo said. "Successfully implementing such a change requires a strategic, formalized method. It’s not about fixing a process but reaching the end-to-end transformation. Change like this affects people, the processes they use, and the technology that enables it all.”

NASA has been ranked as a best place to work in the federal government for the last seven years, an honor associated with an organization’s people and HR practices. Since LMI was first tasked to support the multifaceted HC transformation, the project has consistently received rankings of “5,” the highest on LMI’s Customer Satisfaction Survey. Every team member has contributed to the success of the newly organized OCHCO organization and evolved its mission and vision.

Aligning NASA’s HC function will enable our customer to better invest in the development of its workforce, find the next generation of talent, and optimize the delivery of HC services. Some of its customers are already experiencing greater collaboration and more agile HC communities of practice.

“This has been an amazing opportunity for us,” Mugnolo said, “and we look forward to supporting NASA throughout the next phases of this process.”