You are a New Member of the JAC; NOW WHAT?

1. You are a New Member of the JAC; NOW WHAT? • As a new Journey-Level Advisory Council (JAC) member, you probably have many questions, including those about what this group does, what is expected of you, what the group’s policies are, etc. This training presentation will give you an overview of the Council’s purpose, organization, and procedures. • First, if at all possible, you should have a discussion with your predecessor on how he/she handled the JAC duties. Any pertinent files should also be passed along to you. You should also meet via teleconference with the JAC Coordinator. The JAC Coordinator will ensure that you have completed this training and have reviewed and signed off on the JAC Charter.

2. What is the JAC? • The JAC was established to use the unique, expert insight and perspective of front-line staff to enhance TIGTA operations. • The JAC includes multiple representatives from the Offices of Audit and Investigations, as well as two representatives from the Office of Mission Support, and one representative each from the Office of Chief Counsel, and Office of Inspections and Evaluations. The Audit and Investigations representatives will include a clerical representative from each function who will represent the entire TIGTA clerical cadre, regardless of function. • The Council generally meets twice a year. In recent years, one meeting has been conducted via teleconference and the other in person.

3. JAC Purpose and Mission • The JAC’s purpose is to identify barriers to organizational excellence and to improve the future direction of TIGTA. • The JAC is not intended to address issues that are handled through existing grievance or complaint processes. • The JAC’s objective is to review suggestions concerning areas of improvement and to prepare proposals on mission-related issues and submit them to senior management for consideration.

4. JAC Membership Requirements • Members must be non-supervisory personnel. • Service on the JAC is on a voluntary basis – managers nominate willing staff members. • Members serve two-year terms, staggered among Council members to ensure continuity.

5. Mechanisms to Give Suggestions and Feedback to Management In recent years, a number of mechanisms other than the JAC have been developed to give suggestions and feedback to senior management. Five such mechanisms found on the TIGTA Intranet are: • IG’s “Employee Suggestion Box” • Contact Office of Audit Executives • Contact Office of Investigations Executives • Contact the Associate IG/Mission Support • Contact the Office of Inspections & Evaluations

6. Mechanisms to Give Suggestions and Feedback to Management (1 of 5) IG’s “Employee Suggestion Box” • Link is located on the home page of the TIGTA Intranet at: http://satsc66005/TIGTA/Lists/IG%20Suggestion%20Box/AllItems.aspx • Questions/comments are submitted directly to the IG; the IG responds directly on the site. • Employee’s name is not required; questions/comments can be submitted anonymously. • Questions and responses are not made public.

7. Mechanisms to Give Suggestions and Feedback to Management (2 of 5) Contact Office of Audit (OA) Executives • Input form to submit questions anonymously to OA executives is located on the OA webpage on the TIGTA Intranet at: http://intranet.tigta.treas.gov/oa_contactexecs.asp • Questions from the current fiscal year, along with responses from management, are shown at: http://intranet.tigta.treas.gov/oa_responses.asp • Archived questions and responses from previous fiscal years are collected in a Word document, which can be downloaded from the “Contact OA Executives” webpage.

8. Mechanisms to Give Suggestions and Feedback to Management (3 of 5) Contact Office of Investigations (OI) Executives • Input form to submit questions anonymously to OI executives is located on OI Headquarters webpage on the TIGTA Intranet at: http://intranet.tigta.treas.gov/oi/hq/contactexecs.asp • Questions from the current fiscal year, along with responses from management, are shown at: http://intranet.tigta.treas.gov/oi/hq/responsesexecs.asp • Archived questions and responses from previous fiscal years can also be viewed on the “Contact OI Executives” webpage.

9. Mechanisms to Give Suggestions and Feedback to Management (4 of 5) Contact Office of Mission Support (OMS) Executives • Input form to submit questions anonymously to OMS executives is located on OMS Headquarters webpage on the TIGTA Intranet at: http://intranet.tigta.treas.gov/oms/hq/contactexecs.asp • Responses from management are shown at: http://intranet.tigta.treas.gov/oms/hq/responsesexecs.asp • Archived questions and responses from previous fiscal years can also be viewed on the “Contact OMS Executives” webpage.

10. Mechanisms to Give Suggestions and Feedback to Management (5 of 5) Contact Office of Inspections & Evaluation Executives • Input form to submit questions anonymously to OMS executives is located on OMS Headquarters webpage on the TIGTA Intranet at: (link to be created) • Responses from management are shown at: (link to be created) • Archived questions and responses from previous fiscal years can also be viewed on the “Contact I&E Executives” webpage.

11. JAC Make-Up • JAC Coordinator/JAC Advisor: Representatives from the Accountability Office; • OA: Multiple representatives; AIGA ensures adequate representation of OA business units; • OI: Multiple representatives; DIGI ensures adequate representation of OI divisions; • Chief Counsel: One representative; • Inspections and Evaluations: One representative; • OMS: Two representatives; and • Clerical: Two representatives, one from OI and one from OA.

12. Council Member Responsibilities • Attend twice yearly JAC meetings; • Maintain JAC visibility and awareness; • Solicit and screen ideas for TIGTA improvement; • Present appropriate ideas to the JAC; • Keep colleagues informed of Council deliberations and actions, especially on colleagues’ own submissions; • Follow-up with management on submissions, as needed; • Serve on JAC committees for Council and TIGTA improvement.

13. JAC Leadership: the JAC Coordinators The JAC Coordinator leads the JAC by: • preparing the standard e-mail call for ideas and suggestions to send to the Council members to forward to the employees in their function; • making decisions about when ad hoc meetings, if necessary to deal with a particular issue, should be held; and • directing and facilitating the JAC semiannual meetings.

14. TIGTA’s Senior Management and the JAC TIGTA’s Senior Managers support the Council and its mission. They: • encourage employees to cooperate with the JAC; • make decisions on submitted issues and suggestions; and • may recommend follow-up work to ensure that issues and suggestions are properly implemented; e.g., they might form focus groups to deal with specific issues, if they feel it is appropriate and workable to do so.

15. JAC Procedures • The JAC meets twice a year, either before or after TIGTA’s Leadership Conference. • The JAC may identify issues that need to be reviewed on its own or through employee suggestions, or it may deal with issues identified at either the Leadership Conference, or from other entities.

16. JAC Procedures, continued • Several weeks before the next JAC meeting, the JAC Coordinator sends Council members an e-mail informing everyone of the meeting. • Members then send an e-mail to the journey-level employees in their organization, informing them of the upcoming meeting and requesting that they submit their ideas for improvement.

17. JAC Procedures, continued • Members evaluate ideas received to determine if they are clear and contain the necessary information to evaluate the idea (including previous attempts at resolution); also determine whether the idea meets the purpose of the JAC. • Members submit ideas satisfying these criteria to the JAC Coordinator.

18. The JAC Meeting • Breakout groups will be formed to address functional issues and review all suggestions for improvement. • Determine which issues have a national (TIGTA-wide) scope and which are local (function-specific); this is done via a multi-vote process of the full Council. • Issues of a national scope will be discussed and forwarded to senior management after the meeting. • Local issues will be discussed and the JAC’s functional teams will make suggestions for resolution. • Each JAC member will take local issues back to their constituency to share the Council’s comments.

19. Ideas/Suggestions from TIGTA Employees • While employees will be canvassed for ideas and suggestions before each JAC meeting, they may submit ideas for organizational improvement at any time to any Council member. • Issues should be submitted with the following information: • Description of the issue • Historical information (e.g., previous attempts to address the issue) • Ideas for possible solutions • Employee anonymity will be protected at all times.

20. Summary Congratulations! You have completed this training program. You now have a basic understanding of what it means to be a JAC member. Please read Section 200-50 of the TIGTA Operations Manual to obtain more detailed information.