Building a Successful Hispanic Employment Program

1. Building a Successful Hispanic Employment Program Melissa Rodriguez United States Department of Energy (USDOE) National Nuclear Security Administration (NNSA) Diversity Program Manager

2. Building a Successful Hispanic Employment Program • Diversity: Framing the Issue • Strategies • Partnerships • Accountability • Diversity Management

3. Diversity: Framing the Issue 3 2009 Cornell ILR

4. Talent Scarcity Looms Boomers retire. There are fewer new entrants. Knowledge and skilled jobs increase. Workforce diversity increases. * U.S. Dept. of Labor The annual labor force growth rate will plummet from a high of 2.6% in the 70’s to 0.3% between 2020 and 2030* as: United Way Metro Atlanta James O. Rodgers CMC, MBA & Associates, Inc.

5. This Is Your New Work Life The U.S. Dept of labor estimates that today’s worker will have 10-14 jobs, By the age of 38. 1 in 4 workers has been with their current employer for less than a year 1 in 2 has been there less than 5 years The fastest growing age cohort is Gen Y. James O. Rodgers CMC, MBA & Associates, Inc. 5

6. A Brave New World The top 10 in demand jobs in 2010, did not exist in 2004. We are currently preparing students for jobs that don’t yet exist, Using technologies that haven’t been invented, In order to solve problems we don’t even know are problems yet. James O. Rodgers, CMC, MBA & Associates, Inc. 6

7. Are you smarter than a 5th grader? The amount of new technical information is doubling every 2 years. For students starting a 4 year technical degree, that means that half of what they learn in their first year will be outdated by their third year of study. James O. Rodgers, CMC, MBA & Associates, Inc. 7

8. The Digital Life 1 out of 8 couples married in the USA last year met on-line! There are over 200 million registered users on MySpace. If MySpace were a country, it would be the 5th largest in the world (between Indonesia and Brazil). James O. Rodgers, CMC, MBA & Associates, Inc. 8

9. The Exponential Era There are over 31 billion searches on Google every month. In 2006, the number was 2.7 billion. To whom were these questions addressed B.G. (Before Google)? If I can answer any question, why do I need you? James O. Rodgers, CMC, MBA & Associates, Inc. 9

10. Text Messaging The first commercial text message was sent in 1992. Today the number of text messages sent and received everyday exceeds the total population of the planet. James O. Rodgers, CMC, MBA & Associates, Inc. 10

11. Global Communicating Years it took to reach an audience of 50 Million: Radio: 38 years TV: 13 years Internet: 4 years IPOD: 3 years Facebook: 2 years How is this crunch affecting your job? James O. Rodgers, CMC, MBA & Associates, Inc. 11

12. Drink from the Fire Hose It is estimated that 4 exabytes (4.0 x 10^19) of unique information will be generated this year. That’s more than the previous 5000 years! James O. Rodgers, CMC, MBA & Associates, Inc. 12

13. Rise of the Machines By 2013, a supercomputer will be built that exceeds the computational capabilities of the human brain. Predictions are that by 2049 a $1000.00 computer will exceed the entire computational capabilities of the human species. James O. Rodgers, CMC, MBA & Associates, Inc. 13

14. The Post American World During the course of this presentation 67 babies were born in the United States 274 babies were born in China 395 babies were born in India James O. Rodgers, CMC, MBA & Associates, Inc. 14

15. A World View China will soon become the #1 English speaking country in the world. James O. Rodgers, CMC, MBA & Associates, Inc. 15

16. A Global Perspective The 25% of India’s population with the highest IQs, Is greater than the total population of the USA. Translation: India has more honors kids than America has kids. James O. Rodgers, CMC, MBA & Associates, Inc. 16

17. Going On The Offense • Diversity is a fact of life. We are beyond that debate. • Diversity is a key factor in business strategy. • Rather than being defensive about diversity, let’s go on the offense.

18. Strategies 18 2009 Cornell ILR

19. Building a Successful Hispanic Employment Program • As a model employer, the Federal government should reflect the Nation’s diversity. • An effective recruitment program will build a diverse, high quality workforce.

20. Building a Successful Hispanic Employment Program Strategies • Support and Implement Executive Order (EO) 13171, October 12, 2000, on Hispanic Employment in the Federal Government. • Post all vacancies on OPM’s USAJOBS website. • Broaden the area of consideration to include applicants from all appropriate sources. • Review ranking factors to ensure that they do not unnecessarily exclude Hispanics.

21. Building a Successful Hispanic Employment Program Strategies (Continued) • Ensure the composition of selection panels are diverse. • Use Hispanic Federal employees from other departments and agencies to serve on selection panels when Hispanic employees at the appropriate levels are not available. • Educate and consult with managers and supervisors about the various hiring programs and flexibilities that are available to them in recruiting and retaining Hispanic employees.

22. Building a Successful Hispanic Employment Program Strategies (Continued) • Appoint a Hispanic Employment Program Manager on a full-time basis and ensure that they are integral members of the agency's management team. Give them the visibility and support they need to do their jobs effectively. • Develop partnerships and cooperation among Federal, public and private sector employers, and appropriate Hispanic organizations whenever such partnerships and cooperation are possible and would promote the Federal employment of qualified Hispanics.

23. Building a Successful Hispanic Employment Program Strategies (Continued) • Support and implement Executive Order 13230, the White House Initiative for Educational Excellence for Hispanic Americans. • Support and implement Executive Order 13162, Federal Career Intern Program to recruit and develop groups of professional and administrative trainees.

24. Building a Successful Hispanic Employment Program Strategies (Continued) • Recruit Hispanic students from Hispanic Serving Institutions (HSIs) and Minority Serving Institutions (MSIs). • Encourage Hispanic students to apply and use the Presidential Management Fellows (PMF) Program.

25. Building a Successful Hispanic Employment Program Strategies (Continued) • Use the flexibilities of the Student Educational Employment Program (SEEP) appointing authorities to recruit Hispanic students to the agency. • Student Educational Employment Program – Student Temporary Employment program (STEP) and the Student Career Experience Program (SCEP). STEP: not to exceed 1 year and may not be converted to permanent. SCEP: may be non-competitively converted to career/career conditional appointments within 120 days of academic requirement and 640 hours of career-related work completion. Students hired under SCEP may be granted tuition assistance by the hiring agency.

26. Building a Successful Hispanic Employment Program Strategies (Continued) • Develop marketing materials for the minority communities, in appropriate languages, that encourage the use of SEEP as a way of paying for college education. • Participate in the HACU National Internship Program. • The intern program is a paid program that is administered by the Hispanic Association of Colleges and Universities (HACU) for Federal agencies. HACU interns are college students who are active in academic and community activities, possess Grade Point Average's of 3.0 or higher and are recommended by their faculty advisors or professors.

27. Building a Successful Hispanic Employment Program Strategies (Continued) • Develop recruitment strategies that include: agency career fairs, visiting college campuses and interviewing potential Hispanic candidates for entry-level positions. • Develop faculty fellowship programs and appointments under the Intergovernmental Personnel Act (IPA), in order to provide a direct link between colleges and universities and appropriate positions to recruit young Hispanics to pursue Federal careers.

28. Building a Successful Hispanic Employment Program Strategies (Continued) • Develop mentoring programs to motivate young Hispanics to pursue higher education and Federal careers. • Support and implement Executive Order 13166, on Improving Access to Services for Persons with Limited English Proficiency by disseminating information in Spanish. • Translate summary information about job vacancies into Spanish and provide it to the Hispanic media for dissemination to the Hispanic community in order to increase awareness about the availability of Federal positions.

29. Building a Successful Hispanic Employment Program Strategies (Continued) • Develop an SES Candidate Development Program and target Hispanic and other minority employees. • Sponsor a joint agency-OPM workshop on the Executive Core Qualifications. Sponsoring agencies should make a special effort to ensure that Hispanic and other minority employees and managers at the GS-13 through GS-15 level are provided the opportunity to attend the workshop. • Conduct exit interviews of employees leaving the agency to determine their reasons for leaving. This will help the agency develop appropriate retention plans.

30. Partnerships 30 2009 Cornell ILR

31. Building a Successful Hispanic Employment Program What is a Partnership? • A partnership is a contract between individuals who, in a spirit of cooperation, agree to carry on an enterprise, contribute to it, by combining property, knowledge or activities and to share its profit. • Partners may have a partnership agreement or a declaration of partnership. • Partnerships within an agency are a form of networking.

32. Building a Successful Hispanic Employment Program Importance of Partnerships • In order to increase your Hispanic employment percentages you need help. • You can not accomplish this task alone. • By involving others you will be more successful and your percentages will increase faster. • Partnerships require effort. Be prepared to put in some time and hard work. • You will be seen as the expert. Be prepared by knowing your subject.

33. Building a Successful Hispanic Employment Program Developing Hispanic Employment Program Partnerships • Read MD-715 – Know it! • Ask for your agency’s Hispanic Employment Data. • Meet with Human Resources (HR), Equal Employment Opportunity Specialists (EEOS), Special Emphasis Employment Specialists (SEES’s) and Management Program Analysts (MPA’s) and ask for their help. • Review MD-715 with them and your agency’s current Hispanic employment data. • Discuss employment recruiting options. • Know what Hispanic internships exist in your area.

34. Building a Successful Hispanic Employment Program Developing Hispanic Employment Program Partnerships (Continued) • Actively involve all program areas in your Hispanic outreach and employment partnerships. • Partnerships include everybody’s ideas and their input is always considered. • Partnerships involve give and take. Be prepared to do your part. • Hispanic partnerships are always evolving. • Make sure you keep your partners informed of what is going on.

35. Building a Successful Hispanic Employment Program Fostering Positive Hispanic Employment Partnerships • Read the mission of each Program Area in your agency. • Find out the needs of each Program Area Manager (PAM). • Meet with PAM’s to discuss the Hispanic internships available to them in their program area. • Ask for their help!

36. Building a Successful Hispanic Employment Program Fostering Positive Hispanic Employment Partnerships (Continued) • Document everything. • Keep an eye on what is going on. • Meet with HR, EEOS, SEES, MPA’s and PAM’s on a routine basis to keep them informed and discuss any ideas or concerns they may have. • Stay in contact with all Hispanic interns hired to find out how things are working out for them.

37. Building a Successful Hispanic Employment Program HEPM Responsibilities and Duties • Responsible for educating management about MD-715. • Communicating your agency’s current Hispanic employment percentages at each grade level to appropriate personnel. • Educating management on the options they have to increase Hispanic employment percentages.

38. Building a Successful Hispanic Employment Program HEPM Responsibilities and Duties (Continued) • Have the Hispanic employment percentages data report sent to you quarterly. • Share this information with all your partners. • Celebrate improvements and establish new goals for continued improvement. • Report this information to your supervisor, HR, EEOS’s, MPA’s and SEES every quarter.

39. Building a Successful Hispanic Employment Program HEPM Responsibilities and Duties (Continued) • Stay informed of current trends in the Hispanic community. • Get involved in Hispanic outreach programs. • Keep your Hispanic interns involved in outreach programs. • Meet with PAM’s routinely to discuss employment possibilities for Hispanic interns.

40. Accountability

41. Building a Successful Hispanic Employment Program Accountability • To ensure the success in increasing the level of Hispanic representation in the Federal civil service, the heads of departments and agencies must hold their executives, managers, and supervisors accountable for implementing effective strategies. Department and agency leadership is ultimately responsible for the planning, development, management, and evaluation of work force composition. Allocation of effort and resources should take into account what can be resolved in the near-term with use of existing programs/policies (e.g., student employment programs) and what can be pursued long-term as a part of the agency's operational mission.

42. Building a Successful Hispanic Employment Program Accountability (Continued) • As part of their orientation, ensure that new supervisors are aware of their roles and responsibilities for meeting the department's or agency's strategic goals, including the recruitment, development, and management of a diverse workforce. Arrange for periodic meetings with all supervisors to review developments and progress related to the strategic goals of the department or agency. • Ensure that managers and supervisors receive periodic training on diversity in order to carry out their responsibilities to maintain a diverse workforce

43. Building a Successful Hispanic Employment Program Accountability (Continued) • Reflect a continuing priority for eliminating minority under-representation within the agency as strategies for achieving workforce diversity goals in the agency’s strategic plan. • Establish a direct link between the departments' and agencies' succession planning and the recruitment, training, and development of minority staff. • Issue guidance to managers and supervisors on procedures for hiring at the GS 13 through SES levels. Include a review of the proposed crediting plan, when appropriate, and a diverse selection panel

44. Building a Successful Hispanic Employment Program Accountability (Continued) Departments and agencies should have their Office of Civil Rights, EEO and/or Diversity: • Provide current workforce data identifying occupational and grade representation as compared to Civilian Labor Force (CLF). Also, include trend data on hiring and retention rates to determine impact on Hispanic employment. • Provide impact analysis of selections on the diversity of the workforce.

45. Building a Successful Hispanic Employment Program Accountability (Continued) • Departments and agencies should conduct progress reviews. • Accountability should be applied using two standards: net employment and hiring opportunities to impact minority representation.

46. Building a Successful Hispanic Employment Program Accountability (Continued) • Regularly review results of recruitment and employment efforts, including promotions and career development. For example, review the number of opportunities and compare them to results. Was progress made? If not, review targeted recruitment plan and modify if necessary. • Hold managers and supervisors accountable for a diverse work force, including Hispanic representation. • Ensure that managers' and supervisors' performance standards include specific language related to diversity recruitment, career development, and retention.

47. Building a Successful Hispanic Employment Program Accountability (Continued) • Semi-annually, review each manager's and supervisor's accomplishments in this area and communicate the outcome. Managers and supervisors need to know that they are accountable and will be evaluated accordingly. • Recognize managers and supervisors who are exemplary in their efforts to recruit, hire, and promote a diverse work force, including Hispanics.

48. Diversity Management

49. Diversity at work The collective mix of differences and similarities we encounter in our workforce, workplace and marketplace. It can be the source of tension and discord. And, it can be the source of extraordinary results and a vital, happy, productive workplace.

50. Diversity and Performance Research shows that: High performance requires diversity PLUS the capacity to manage the complexity it brings.