Council Meeting
Held
Host: Ms. Bonita V. White
Introduction
Ms. Delia L. Johnson, Co-Chair of the Council and Director, Office of Civil Rights for International Broadcasting Bureau, opened the meeting with a few remarks and then asked the attendees to give their names, agencies, and positions. She thanked Bonita White, Director, EEO Programs, DHHS, for sponsoring this meeting.
Jorge Ponce, Co-Chair, announced the Council’s Holiday Luncheon that
will be held on
OPM’s Shared
Register of Applicants with Disabilities -- John Benison, Senior Advisor to the
Deputy Director, Office of Personnel Management
John Benison discussed
the
Mr. Benison explained
that E.O. 13548 adopts the goal set forth in Executive Order 13163 of
hiring 100,000 people with disabilities into the Federal Government over 5
years, including individuals with targeted disabilities. He indicated how
each agency is required to designate a senior-level agency official to be
accountable for enhancing employment opportunities for individuals with
disabilities and individuals with targeted disabilities. This official, among
other things, is accountable for developing and implementing the agency's plan,
creating recruitment and training programs for employment of individuals with
disabilities and targeted disabilities, and coordinating employment counseling
to help match the career aspirations of individuals with disabilities to the
needs of the agency.
Mr. Benison pointed
that that agencies are directed to increase the use of the Federal
Government's Schedule A excepted service hiring authority for persons with
disabilities and increase participation of individuals with disabilities in
internships, fellowships, and training and mentoring programs. OPM has developed
an online training on "Using Schedule A to Hire People with
Disabilities," which is available at http://golearn.gov/HiringReform/index.htm.
To ensure compliance
with the new E.O., Mr. Benison explained that the OPM Director, in consultation
with the OMB Director, will implement a system for reporting regularly to the
President, the heads of agencies, and the public on agencies' progress in
implementing their plans and meeting the objectives of the Executive Order.
OPM, to the extent permitted by law, will compile and post on its website
government-wide statistics on the hiring of individuals with disabilities.
Moreover, the OPM Director, in consultation with the Secretary of Labor and Chair
of the EEOC, will identify and assist agencies in implementing strategies for
retaining Federal workers with disabilities in Federal employment including,
but not limited to, training, the use of centralized accommodation funds to
provide reasonable accommodations, increasing access to appropriate accessible
technologies, and ensuring the accessibility of physical and virtual
workspaces.
Mr. Benison indicated
that agency heads are tasked with encouraging all agency managers, via letter,
email, or other effective means of communication, to recruit, hire, and retain
people with disabilities, including the agency's performance goals, describing
the agency's obligation to do so under the Executive Order.
Mr. Benison announced
that OPM has updated Standard Form 256, which is used voluntarily by employees
with disabilities after they have been hired. Data captured from the SF-526 is
used to compile the disability demographics of Federal agencies. He indicated
that Federal agencies should start using this form immediately. Data collected
on this form is crucial for agencies to determine how well or poorly they are
achieving their disability hiring goals. To view the updated SF-256, click on http://www.opm.gov/forms/pdf_fill/sf256.pdf.
Mr. Benison also
discussed that OPM and Bender Consulting Services have established a register
of applicants with disabilities – including veterans with disabilities --
for use by federal agencies. Bender Consulting thoroughly vets these
applicants’ qualifications to ensure that Federal agencies get the best
applicants for entry-level position. The National Security Agency uses
Bender Consulting extensively to recruit applicants with disabilities. As
of
The OPM/Bender Consulting
Initiative is a 1-year pilot that OPM has sponsored and paid for, and it is
free to Federal agencies. Mr.
Benison indicated that if you know of persons with disabilities who want to be
included in this register, just send Sherry Homme an e-mail. However, he indicated that Bender will review the
qualifications of the applications received before including them in the
register.
Applicants who are veterans are
identified as such on the OPM/Bender register. A Council member from the
Treasury Department asked whether agencies have to abide by the veterans’
preference when selecting applicants from this register. Mr. Benison
responded that this system is different from the previous shared registers that
were implemented by OPM. This is simply a list of candidates who are
Schedule A eligible. If you are looking at candidates from the register
and some are veterans, you should apply the veteran’s preference
rules. This is the same approach you would take whenever any Schedule A
candidate is a veteran, regardless of the source of the candidates.
To view the
DIVERSITY
Dr. John Fountaine,
President and Executive Director of Fountaine & Fountaine, gave a
presentation on the differences between affirmative action and diversity.
Dr. Fountaine explained
that affirmative action is federally mandated by statutes and executive orders,
whereas diversity concentrates on taking advantage of the positive experiences
of diverse backgrounds to unleash the creativity of the workforce and increase
productivity with methods that overcome cultural barriers that hamper
communication.
Dr. Fountaine pointed
out how the diversity cycle takes one from avoidance/repulsion to
acceptance/appreciation, as well as moving from a posture of not tolerating
others to wanting to be around people.
He stressed how diversity is not a mandate, but an individual
responsibility to feel liked and accepted by others. To accomplish this milestone, he
indicated the importance of learning how to like yourself first, before
expecting others to like and accept you.
In other words, before you can become a change agent, you have to change
yourself to thrive in the work environment. That’s to say that you cannot
expect others to accept you the way that you behave at home; you have to make
some behavioral adjustments to succeed in the work environment.
Dr. Fountaine indicated
how some promotions are based on your individual style and who you know, rather
than on merit. He advised that when you can’t convince your supervisor to
get promoted, you should find a way to convince your agency that you are
invaluable.
A Council member from
the National Science Foundation expressed the difficulty of being one of three
minority executives among a group of 100. Dr. Fountaine explained how you have
to be patient to convince the other 97 executives of your worth and take
advantage of all the windows of opportunities that you’ll encounter. A national officer from Blacks In
Government (BIG) stated that there are some executives in the group of 97 who
do think that the minority executives can make valuable contributions to the
agency, and your mission is to get them to move away from the group-think
mentality. While a difficult task,
it has worked for him.
For additional
information about the services and training that Dr. Fountaine has to offers,
you can call him at 202 277-5908, 202 449-9490, or via e-mail at fontaine1805@verizon.net. You can
also go to his webpage at http://fountainecorpandbiz.com.