|
Hispanic...,
Bush Inititive
After 30 years of unsuccessful federal hiring programs, some members of the
government's Hispanic community do not expect the latest effort to end the
groups status as the civil service's only underrepresented minority group.
Manuel Oliverez, president of the National
Association of Hispanic Federal Executives, Applauded the Bush
administration's latest Hispanic recruitment and retention initiative, but cautioned
the situation would not change if front-line managers continue
to overlook qualified Hispanic applicants.
"We can find qualified Hispanics out there who can make a
difference, " Oliverez told FEA. "It's just a matter
of will."
The Office of Personnel Management has taken the lead on the Bush
administration's hiring initiatives. In addition to recruitment,
the OPM plans to address to dearth of Hispanics within the government's
executive ranks.
OPM Director Kay Coles James said the administration would require
departments and agencies to establish outreach and hiring programs
geared toward the Hispanic community. As a result, agencies may
need to increase the use of bilingual and bicultural hiring authority,
find and resolve agency barriers to Hispanic recruitment and hold
management accountable to the effort.
According to the OPM's report to Bush on Hispanic employment,
agencies also should ensure that Hispanic workers have equal access
to career development and promotion into the Senior
Executive Service.
Oliverez, said there is a dearth of Hispanics at the General Schedule
13, 14 and 15 levels, from which the SES draws. What's more, Oliverez
said the SES overlooks many of the upper-level Hispanics that are
qualified.
The OPM report acknowledged that efforts to improve Hispanic representation
in the public sector date back 30 years. Nevertheless, the OPM
found that Hispanic employees make up only 6.6 percent of the civil
service, while Hispanics represent 11.8 percent of the national
labor market and 12.5 percent of the general population.
Last year, former President Bill Clinton issued Executive Order
13171 as the government's latest effort to step up Hispanic recruitment
and improve rentention. The EO required agencies to develop strategic
plans to resolve Hispanic underrepresentation and submit the proposals
to the OPM.
After reviewing the first round of reports, the OPM found that
agencies have made progress.
However, effortrs varied and needed to be enhanced to meet the
administration's objective.
OPM'S 9-POINT PLAN
The Office of Personnel Management has developed a nine-point
plan to recruit Hispanics into the federal government. The plan
directs the OPM to:
-
Work with other agencies and educational institutions to identify
job opportunities for Hispanics.
-
Increase federal job vacancy
information to students, faculty and the Hispanic community.
-
Expand
the use of the Presidential Management Intern program to
recruit and hire more Hispanic college graduates.
-
Assist the
Hispanic Association of Colleges and Universities by coordinating
placement of interns across federal agencies.
-
Work with
agencies to use the Student Employment Program to identify
job opportunities for Hispanic students.
-
Help agencies develop
mentoring programs to encourage young Hispanics to enter
federal careers.
-
Promote the participation of Hispanics in leadership
development programs.
-
Seek to ensure Hispanic employment
program managers are integral members of their agency's
management team.
-
Emphasize successes in the OPM's annual report
on the Federal Equal Opportunity Recruitment Program.
FEDERAL EEO Advisor, 2001 LRP Publications 1098-9301/01
|
