Council Meeting

Held Tuesday, March 30, 2010

Host: Co-Chair Delia Johnson

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.

LRP PUBLICATIONS

Carmen Malatino and Debbie McAlanis gave a presentation on multiple products that LRP Publications offers. The company was founded in 1977 with a focus on matters related to the federal civil service.

LRP offers case reporters, cyberfeds (an online database), newsletters, books and manuals, training conferences, audio conferences, e-learning, and web accessible publications – including a very popular publication called Smart Answers for Federal Managers – quick start guides to EEO topics, with information extrapolated from Hadley’s A Guide to Federal Sector EEO Law and Practice.

Among the training courses offered are: complying with the MD-715; the Federal EEO Process; disabilities and reasonable accommodations; disabilities in hiring and promotions; and, disparate treatment and harassment. These courses are available 24-7, are interactive, and the content is based on laws and regulations. Moreover, these courses count towards the certification requirements for EEO counselors and investigators.

Milton Belardo, former Chair of the National Council of Hispanic Employment Program Managers, suggested the addition of what a good MD-715 report should look like, and Debbie forwarded his suggestion immediately to the LRP team. The immediate response was that it was doable.

Jorge Ponce, Co-Chair, asked whether the training courses had vignettes with real actors, as it was difficult to capture employees’ attention to courses that relied too much on written material and PowerPoint slides. Carmen explained that technology continues to advance rapidly, and that a number of vendors can provide “sizzle” including video vignettes at a relatively inexpensive cost.  He explained that LRP courses are highly interactive with built in self-assessments, challenging games and final assessments.  He cautioned that careful consideration should be given to any online training to ensure the “steak” is not all “sizzle”.  Debbie also demonstrated an example of how LRP delivers content via interactive video

For additional information about LRP products, click on http://www.lrp.com/

IVY PLANNING GROUP

Gary Smith gave a presentation on the Ivy Planning Group, one of the premier diversity consulting firms in the nation. The firm has a client based consisting of 70% private sector and 30% public sector.

Gary’s purpose for addressing the Council was to notify that he’ll be calling on some members shortly to help him with a study that he’s conducting on diversity in the federal sector. He indicated that recently there is heightened pressure and interest in EEO, diversity, how to deal with them and stay competitive. The global economy and the times may require a new approach to EEO and diversity. Although we have a President who gets “diversity,” there is a backlash in the country because of an unrealistic expectation that with his election to the White House and Sonia Sotomayor selection to the U.S. Supreme Court, there no longer is a need for EEO and diversity. In other words, there is a presumption that the country has reached a level-playing field. In addition, as today’s majorities are becoming tomorrow’s minorities, there is a siege mentality that finds refuge in moving “the arc of the moral universe” backwards.

Gary explained the legal foundation for EEO, affirmative action, and civil rights, while pointing out that there was no legal grounding for diversity. The challenge for EEO professionals was how to mesh these concepts together and make them work.

Gary discussed his work on a study of African American employee ratings at the Government Accountability Office (GAO) in 2008. The GAO requested the study after monitoring analysts’ performance ratings for several years and determining that the data showed differences between the average ratings for African American analysts and Caucasian analysts. After conducting multiple regression analyses on the variables that could influence these performance ratings, Gary’s staff concluded that the only significant factor was race.

Jorge Ponce asked whether the report’s conclusion had anything to do with former Comptroller General Walker’s abrupt departure. Gary responded that Walker had left GAO, while Acting Comptroller Comptroller General Gene Dodaro had committed GAO to implementing the more than 25 recommendations in the report that would lead toward the creation of a level playing field for every GAO employee.

Gary stated that he had heard from some clients that they have to do a better job in selling the EEO and diversity programs to their executives. He encouraged EEO Directors to model their behaviors to gain or retain power on those that CIO’s used – who are typically assertive when asking for needed resources unapologetically and indicating what the consequences would be if they did not get them. On the other hand, EEO Directors are usually guarded and apologetic when asking for additional resources, which explains why they don’t get what they need or want most of the times. Gary has heard also some agency heads complain that EEO Directors do not use the right language to justify their programs. He stated that agency heads want EEO Directors to make their arguments from the perspective of “what’s in it for me.” In other words, why should they have EEO programs, and what would happen if they didn’t. Their arguments have to be clear, precise, and relevant.

Gary suggested the creation of a Chief Diversity Officer to handle issues related to the correlation of diversity in the workplace and the market place, and, in addition, have a direct reporting authority to the agency head. On the other hand, he had EEO and HR directors reporting to a layer right below the agency head. This paradigm generated a strong reaction from various Council members who pointed out that one of the unreachable EEO goals so far was complying with the regulation that called for EEO Directors to have a direct reporting authority to agency heads. Gary responded that this is why he came to the Council, to get feedback from EEO professionals.

To find additional information about the Ivy Planning Group, click on http://www.ivygroupllc.com/