STAVANGER, Norway – NATO Joint Warfare Centre (JWC) will conclude the first iteration of its 2022 Newcomers Training Programme on August 20, welcoming 50 new staff members and their families to the organization. The programme provides all incoming staff members with a wide range of training on the JWC’s mission, unique capabilities, and organizational culture.
Addressing the newcomers on August 16, Major General Piotr Malinowski, Commander JWC, said: “You should all know already the JWC slogan, which is: ‘We are here to make NATO better!’ The JWC must be always on the cutting edge of NATO training and warfare development – by this I mean that the exercises we deliver must be very well prepared with great attention to detail, and you will be a part of this process. It will be your job to pick up the pieces and make it work in the most effective way.”
The Commander added: “And always remember – we are here to make NATO better”.
Major General Piotr Malinowski, Commander JWC, welcomes the newcomers. Each year the JWC holds a series of informative briefings, popularly referred to as the “newcomers training”, which aims to provide an understanding of the JWC’s mission and heritage, while introducing the newcomers to the JWC community.
The first iteration of the newcomers training included basic introductory information about the JWC and its Continuous Improvement vision programme focusing on the Centre’s four project lines (collective training and exercises, warfare development, organization, and professional development), upcoming JWC-directed exercises, and emerging NATO concepts.
It also included a “culture map” presentation highlighting NATO diversity and inclusion themes, a presentation by the Community Services Section on relocation orientation, as well as extracurricular activities such as the JWC Sports Day on August 18, and to cap it off, the Welcome BBQ, on August 20.
Lieutenant Commander Guy Graham, the new head of Individual Training Branch at the JWC, said: “Our goal is to preserve mission effectiveness by facilitating a smooth transition for our new employees. We offer them an overview of each directorate and branch at the JWC, while providing a standard of understanding on our role and mission, subordinate to Headquarters Supreme Allied Commander Transformation.”
The JWC must be always on the cutting edge of NATO training and warfare development - the exercises we deliver must be very well prepared with great attention to detail, and you will be a part of this process.
Major General Piotr Malinowski, Commander JWC
The training began on August 15 with welcome remarks from Colonel Bente Sleppen, the JWC’s Acting Chief of Staff and Director of Management (DOM). She underlined that the JWC’s working environment was both “challenging and rewarding”.
“With this training programme, we welcome you to the JWC’s One Team,” Colonel Sleppen said, adding: “We are very happy to have you join our team where each one of you will play an important role in achieving our mission and will be able to make a difference. I like working with the diversity of people, and I like to be part of people’s development and the JWC’s organizational improvement. As Director of Management, I have the privilege to work with many very talented and experienced colleagues here at the JWC.”
Colonel Bente Sleppen, JWC Acting Chief of Staff and Director of Management
According to Paul Sewell, the JWC lead for organizational development, the purpose of the JWC’s One Team ethos is to “improve the quality of our interactions together”, at all levels.
“The content of the newcomers programme is paramount. However, another powerful benefit of the week is the connections the newcomers are making with each other,” Sewell said, adding: “They will be working together for the next years in cross-functional teams which is why we also focus so much on building opportunities for them to get to know each other.”
Sewell noted that one example was the presentation on culture. “National culture is a tangible filter of experience in NATO that we find it useful to give them this brief. Our sports day and welcome BBQ are also other great opportunities for them to get to know each other beyond their titles and ranks,” he said.
Next month the JWC will continue the newcomers training with its long-standing One Team programme as well as the new Insights programme to help the incoming staff gain more insight about themselves and each other.
For those interested, the JWC’s command magazine, The Three Swords, has published in 2015 and exclusive article about the culture map, which can be found here.
Paul Sewell, JWC lead for organizational development. The culture map presentation stressed the importance of having a high-performance organizational culture in a workplace.
May Linn Bie, JWC Head Community Services Section
The JWC Sports Day 2022
Background
The Joint Warfare Centre is comprised of 261 military and civilian personnel from 17 NATO Member Nations, including Canada, Czech Republic, Denmark, France, Germany, Greece, Hungary, Italy, Netherlands, Norway, Poland, Portugal, Spain, Romania, Türkiye, the United Kingdom and the United States.
The Centre provides NATO's training focal point for full spectrum joint operational- and strategic-level warfare. As one of NATO’s key warfare development centres, the JWC is the hub between NATO’s two Strategic Commands, focusing on what the Alliance needs as a fighting force while simultaneously developing new concepts, supporting doctrine development, and collecting and implementing lessons learned.