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‘A Sense of Trust’Maintaining communications andcredibility is a key driver of NRC’ssuccess, Borchardt says. “Wehave always strived to be openwith all stakeholders—with thepublic, with our employees, withthe industry we regulate,” hesays.Congress is a key stakeholder.When the NRC soughtto expand from 3,000 to 4,000people to keep up with demandfor regulatory services beginningin 2005, it needed a biggerbudget. Even though thenuclear industry covers about90 percent of the NRC’s operatingexpenses through licensingfees, Congress must approvespending plans.Lawmakers “authorized anappropriate increase in ourbudget,” says Borchardt, whoattributes the approval, in part,to “a sense of trust. We didn’tgo crazy with the request. Weonly asked for what we reallyneeded to do the job, and theygave us what we asked for.”Similarly, the agency hasworked to increase trust throughmodified public hearings, reviewsand license-applicationprocesses that encourage publicinvolvement. Licensing used to too late in the license-applicationbe a two-part process: The NRC review, Borchardt says.would grant a license to build a “Now, public participation isfacility and then, years later, a licenseto operate it. The process ferent points in the process,” Bor-more appropriately spaced at dif-incorporated most public input at chardt says.the end of the process, at times Equally important are productiveleading to unfortunate consequences.For example, the Shore-power industry, he says. “It’sworking relations with the nucleartheham Nuclear Power Plant, built onLong Island, N.Y., at a cost in today’sdollars of $6 billion between1973 and 1984, never producedcommercial electricity. Legitimateemergency preparedness concernsweren’t considered until farindustry and the regulators workingtogether to create a safe industry.They realize that the absoluteworst thing they could do is cut acorner and cause a serious accident.They would devastate theirown company as well as the wholeindustry.”Indeed, the nuclear energyindustry “has spoken relativelyfavorably about the workwe’re doing on the new reactordesign reviews,” says Borchardt,even though they cantake several years to complete.Regulated companies aren’tdissatisfied with the pace because“it’s more important thatit be done correctly and bedone thoroughly than be donefast,” he says.Borchardt is emphasizingcultivation of a moreinterdependent mindset,one in which “you trust yourcolleagues to do their job...”Flipping the PyramidBorchardt has broad oversightof agency employees, includingpeople in the headquartersorganization, four regional offices,resident inspectors whowork at every operating nuclearfacility, and a training centerin Chattanooga, Tenn. “I viewmy job as one of enabling thesuccess of individuals withinthe agency to accomplish theagency’s mission,” he says.To illustrate, he refers to the standardmodel of hierarchical organization,the pyramid. Then he flipsit. “I think of myself as being at thebottom, supporting the success ofthe inspectors in the field. It’s myjob to make sure that they have thetools, the skills, the training andthe information they need to be32 Leadership | CGI INITIATIVE FOR COLLABORATIVE GOVERNMENT | S P R I N G 2 0 11
PHOTO BY BRENDAN HOFFMAN/GETTY IMAGESWilliam Borchardt, Executive Director for Operations at the Nuclear RegulatoryCommission (L), and Dr. Gregory B. Jaczko, Chairman of the Nuclear RegulatoryCommission, testify about the nuclear situation in Japan on Capitol Hill on March16, 2011.successful. I see my job as beinga clay layer to keep all the politicalnoise from getting to them.”Borchardt says he relies on “ahandful of core values” to empowerNRC’s workforce. Those valuesinclude trusting his people, operatingas much as possible like aflat organization, eliminating intraagencystovepipes and promotinga culture of trust.“My premise is that every oneof the 4,000 people who come towork here want to work hard. Theywant to accomplish somethingand they want to go home at theend of the day feeling good abouthaving done something,” Borchardtsays. “My job is to clearlydefine what it is we’re trying to doand to help them succeed throughwhatever mechanism I can utilize.I’ve yet to be disappointed usingthat logic.”Those mechanisms take manyforms. The NRC is an aggressiveuser of flexible schedule programs,Borchardt says. More than49 percent of its workers telework,according to a recent Office ofPersonnel Management report. 1The use of those tools has earnedthe agency a reputation as one ofthe best places to work in the federalgovernment. 2“We’re not a perfectly flat organization,but we try to operatewith a flat mentality, with a lot ofinformation sharing and no bureaucraticbarriers. Anybody cancome in here and talk to me, inthe hallway or downstairs whenI’m eating lunch. There’s very littlebureaucracy.”His big focus last year was promotinga more collaborative workenvironment. Currently, Borchardtis emphasizing cultivation of amore interdependent mindset, onein which “you trust your colleaguesto do their job [in order] to help yoube successful, so your success orfailure isn’t perfectly under yourcontrol.”He promotes open, collaborativework environments and interdependenceduring all-hands meetings,through videos disseminatedthroughout the agency, and byway of his leadership team.“It takes a lot of faith in your coworkersand the organization forthat to happen, but that is wherewe’re going,” says Borchardt.JOHN PULLEY is a veteran journalistin the Washington, D.C., areaand founder of The Pulley Group,an editorial services agency.1 “Status of Telework in the Federal Government,” February 2011 http://www.telework.gov/Reports_and_Studies/Annual_Reports/2010teleworkreport.pdf2 “Best Places to Work in the Federal Government 2010,” Partnership for Public Service, http://ourpublicservice.org/OPS/publications/viewcontentdetails.php?id=149S P R I N G 2 0 11 | COLL ABOR ATIVEGOV.ORG/LE AD | Leadership 33
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