Improve Interagency Collaboration and Cross-Training of Human Resource Professionals Background Total integration of equal employment opportunity (EEO) into every aspect of human resource management policy and practice in the selection, placement, training, and advancement of civilian employees of the federal government is vital to creating and maintaining a federal workforce that is truly reflective of our nation's diverse citizenry. In order to accomplish this integration, there must be effective collaboration among federal supervisors, managers, personnel professionals, civil rights professionals, and equal opportunity professionals. EEO and Affirmative Employment Reporting. "Strong EEO and Affirmative Action plans play vital roles in the management of diversity. They are stepping stones to valuing diversity wherein differences are identified and an atmosphere is created that promotes respect for these differences as well as ways to benefit from them."(1) However, current EEO and affirmative employment (AE) reporting requirements are fragmented. While agencies must submit data to the Office of Personnel Management (OPM) Central Personnel Data File (CPDF), similar data must be submitted to the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC). The Civil Service Reform Act of 1978 created the Federal Equal Opportunity Recruitment Program (FEORP), which requires agencies to conduct affirmative recruitment for those occupations and grades in which women and minorities are underrepresented. The act assigned to OPM the responsibility for assisting agencies in their affirmative recruitment efforts and for overseeing FEORP.(2) Executive Order 12067 (June 30, 1978) assigned to EEOC responsibility for providing coherence and direction to the government's EEO efforts. It also provided for standardized data collection procedures. EEOC requires federal agencies to submit multi-year AE plans and annual accomplishment reports to evaluate the representation of minorities, females, and disabled persons in the federal workforce. In addition, OPM requires agencies to submit FEORP plans and reports, as well as disabled veterans affirmative action program plans and reports. There needs to be one comprehensive assessment of agency EEO/AE goals, objectives, and accomplishments. Agencies must integrate EEO/AE into their overall strategic business plans, which are developed, evaluated, and monitored by management. Agencies must build their plans around barrier analysis, develop goals, implement strategies to achieve these goals in a specified time frame, and hold managers and supervisors accountable for results. Cross-Training. Cross-training is the first step to creating a competent federal human resource management team. Personnel professionals must understand and adhere to basic EEO and civil rights guidelines in order to ensure that personnel functions and actions are fair and equitable for all employees and applicants. Likewise, EEO and civil rights professionals must understand and adhere to the basic personnel guidelines. The roles and responsibilities of EEOC and OPM present an opportunity for them to work together to provide leadership and training necessary to integrate EEO into every aspect of human resource management policy and practice. These two agencies must make a concentrated effort to ensure ongoing communications and understanding of EEO and AE efforts to achieve a diverse, competent, and productive federal work force. They must provide joint leadership to EEO, civil rights, and personnel professionals to create, develop, review, and improve effective ongoing governmentwide efforts. Need for Change It is imperative that EEOC and OPM collaborate to jointly provide the necessary leadership and cross-training to ensure an effective approach to and outcome of federal human resource management efforts. These efforts must include effective EEO and AE initiatives. EEO/AE plans and accomplishment reports foster agency commitment to and awareness of EEO/AE efforts within organizations and guide the way to increased employment opportunities for qualified women, minorities, and disabled persons. However, there needs to be one comprehensive, automated EEO/AE report for federal agencies. An inordinate amount of resources are devoted to preparing duplicative reports. More importantly, treating the four groups (women, minorities, disabled persons, and disabled veterans) separately is contradictory to the vital mission of accomplishing overall workforce diversity and streamlining government functions. Although each agency must be personally responsible for internal EEO/AE goals and accomplishments, EEOC must continue to fulfill its responsibility under Executive Order 12067--to provide coherence and direction to the government's EEO efforts. EEOC must seek out, identify, recognize, and reward best EEO and AE practices in federal agencies. EEOC must perpetuate those best practices throughout the federal government. In addition, OPM must ensure that the CPDF can generate necessary data and that the capabilities of the CPDF are fully used. For example, the collection of minority college and university information in the CPDF is essential for conducting affirmative employment analysis.(3) Endnotes 1. The National Treasury Employees Union, "Strategic Plan for Agency Diversity Management," Washington, D.C., p. 3. 2. U.S. General Accounting Office, Federal Workforce: Continuing Need for Federal Affirmative Employment, GAO/GGD-92-27BR (Washington, D.C.: U.S. General Accounting Office, November 1991), p. 1. 3. Personal Interview with Dick Whitford, Acting Assistant Director, Affirmative Recruitment and Employment, Office of Personnel Management, Washington, D.C., August 1993.
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