Host: Ms. Era Marshall

Smithsonian Institution

Office of Equal Employment and Minority Affairs

600 Maryland Avenue, SW

Washington, DC 20560

Introduction

Ms. Delia L. Johnson, Co-Chair and Director, Office of Civil Rights for International Broadcasting Bureau, opened the meeting with a few remarks on the MD-715 reporting, and asked attendees to provide the status of their MD-715 reports. Many indicated that they had not submitted their reports yet and cited various reasons, like delays associated with the manipulation of their statistical data. Ms Johnson indicated that her Co-Chair, Jorge Ponce, was unable to attend this meeting due his being on vacation in Miami. She then invited the attendees to introduce themselves and the agencies they represented. Ms. Johnson thanked Ms. Era Marshall, Director, Office of Equal Employment and Minority Affairs, for sponsoring this meeting. There were three presenters at this March meeting.

Presenter 1: Mike Dole, Director, Workforce Analysis and Evaluation, Office of Diversity Management and EEO, U.S. Department of Veteran Affairs (VA)

Underrepresentation of Hispanics

Mr. Dole gave a presentation on how VA had conducted its workforce analyses by looking at the recruitment patterns and by comparing the data to the Relevant Civilian Labor Force (RCLF).  Through

PowerPoint slides and handouts, Mr. Dole discussed the underrepresentation of White females and Hispanic females at VA.  He also indicated that Black males outnumbered Hispanic males hired.  He

emphasized that the differences in numbers were due to deficient applicant pools and recruitment methods, rather than to lack of U.S. citizenship.  In conclusion, Mr. Dole recounted the steps that VA had

taken to improve the recruitment and retention efforts.  Mr. Dole said that VA had started a new program to assist with its Hispanic recruitment called the Community Prosperity Partnership.

Mr. Dole mentioned a few of VA’s partnerships with national Hispanic organizations like the League of United Latin American Citizens (LULAC) and the American G.I. Forum.  He explained how VA

assists veterans with job applications, resumes, benefits, cemeteries and other ventures.  He offered free software for VA’s workforce analysis.  To view Mr. Dole’s presentation, click on the

Dole’s Hispanic Presentation file.

Presenter II: Mr. Michael Gautier, U.S. Army Office of EEO and Civil Rights

“MD-715 Reporter”

Mr. Gautier gave a presentation on the MD-715 Reporter and emphasized the importance of working with HR when preparing workforce tables.  He provided the web address to download the system

developed by the U.S. Army to generate its MD-715 reports. Due to a technical glitch and time constraints, Mr. Gautier could not finish his presentation.  However, he provided electronic copies of his

PowerPoint presentation, which can be viewed by clicking on the MD-715 Reporter file.

Presenter III: Ms. April Harris, Office of Personnel Management

“Career Patterns”

While focusing her presentation on OPM’s recruitment and retention efforts, Ms. Harris provided handouts with the title “Attracting Talent – A 20^th Century Approach.” Ms. Harris explained the importance

of planning ahead to fill the vacuum created by a potential “baby boomer” exodus. Ms. Harris indicated that applicants and employees were attracted to flexible work environment, as opposed to the

traditional workplace. She gave examples of telecommuting or offering part-time employment. She said that OPM is working with other federal agencies to ramp up their recruiting methods. Referring to

information available on the handouts, Ms. Harris explained OPM’s action plan to attract new talent. For example, she suggested conducting research on where applicants are most likely to be available,

expanding recruitment areas of consideration, and offering attractive flexibilities.

She indicated the importance of retaining newly hired employees, as it was extremely wasteful to have a revolving-door policy. Finally, she emphasized the value of recruiting students for federal vacancies at

the entry level while they were still in high school. To view her presentation, click on the Attracting Talent Presentation file.

Closing

Ms. Johnson invited the attendees to inform her of any agenda topics that they would like to address at the next Council meeting and thanked them for their participation.