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Espiridion "Al" Borrego
Orange Beach, AL
January 29, 1998
Good morning. The only thing tougher than following Vaune Shelbourn on
the program is knowing that she will be speaking right after you finish,
too.
There’s no one better at presenting complex, technical information
in an interesting, concise way. I’ll try and do the same from a policy
perspective.
It is a great personal honor and privilege to serve the veterans
community as the head of the Veterans Employment and Training Service.
It is an agency which has shown the ability to reinvent many of its
functions while continuing to provide important job development and training
services to its customers — America’s veterans.
We also need the help of local organizations, like the Alabama American
Legion, and others, if we are to continue to build on improvements we have
made.
As we move forward, I know that we will have support from the Secretary
of Labor, Alexis M. Herman. She is sensitive to the needs of veterans in the
civilian labor force.
I have had several one-on-one meetings with her and I know she
understands that veterans not only have special needs, but that they are also a
group that can make special contributions to all employers — employers who
need a qualified, motivated, educated, and drug-free work force to compete in
the global economy.
Tom has asked me to talk with you about where we are as an agency and
what I see as the future for veterans in a changing employment and training
environment.
I really enjoy getting out beyond the Beltway and talking with veterans
and local public officials. It’s awfully easy to get tunnel vision if you
stay isolated from your customers.
I believe that clear, open and continuous communications are the
cornerstones for effective government and an effective Veterans Employment and
Training Service.
I see effective communication as a continuously flowing pipeline of
information between VETS, the veteran service organizations, other DOL offices,
state and federal government agencies, Congress, employers, and the taxpaying
public.
Clear communication prevents misunderstandings and inaccurate
assumptions, encourages innovative problem solving, and, very importantly,
helps us manage the process of change.
And managing change will ensure that we successfully incorporate
veterans’ issues and concerns into the evolving employment and training
environment.
I believe that we all agree on the important goals for America’s
veterans — services and training that lead to quality, career-building
jobs.
But how we perform them, given the changing employment and training
environment, needs to be examined in light of changing circumstances. Perhaps a
bit of context will help.
Because the world of work is changing, the way we look for jobs is also
changing. The old standardized Federal model which has served us for more than
50 years is rapidly becoming a broad variety of decentralized, self-service
employment and training delivery systems.
In the old system, we were hands-on intermediaries between veterans and
employers. As a central point of control, we could put veterans first in line
and even restrict access to jobs so veterans could apply first.
The changing environment makes these practices obsolete. The priority of
the employment service system no longer stresses universal personal service in
the context of a traditional labor exchange.
Today, veterans service representatives are challenged to be flexible,
adaptive, innovative, and skilled in the use of the latest technologies; all
this while continuing to provide quality services in an effective and cost
efficient manner.
Service also means coming to grips with what priority of service means
in the new employment service environment. The definitions and measurement
guidelines we used five years ago do not have the same meaning today.
That’s how fast the system is changing.
We need guidelines and measurements relevant for today — our
funding, our staffing justifications, and our commitment to veterans demand it.
One-stop centers, privatization, direct Internet access to
America’s Job Bank, welfare-to-work are all impacting how VETS provides
programs and services to veterans.
Veterans preference, priority of service — familiar phrases which
are taking on new meaning as laws, policies, and administrative directives
attempt to deal with changes in the workplace and the economy at large.
We need to hear from you, the customer, in order to develop the
appropriate mix of policies, programs, and services that can best serve
today’s veteran.
My assurance to you is that VETS is an active and determined participant
in the deliberation, development, and delivery of employment and training
systems which are taking shape today.
Just as we turn to you for consultation and advice, Secretary Herman
turns to VETS to get perspective on the needs and aspirations of veterans.
Strategic planning will play an increasingly important part of VETS
program activities.
The Government Performance Results Act requires that we measure success
in new ways and that we justify our budgets and our staffs using outcome
criteria that is measurable and quantifiable. GPRA will profoundly affect every
aspect of how we, and all other government agencies, do business.
We are grappling with developing new performance measures for DVOPs and
LVERs that provide outcome measures, as opposed to output measures, which is
what we used in the past.
I can only say that this task is critical — it goes to the very
heart of how VETS will function in the future.
When I left Washington, we were working on the testimony I will give
next month to the House Veterans’ Affairs Committee on our 1999 budget.
I can’t give you specifics because it’s embargoed until
it’s released by the President. But I can say that Secretary Herman has
strongly supported our funding requests.
She told the national convention of The American Legion last September
that she is working to guarantee that we have enough DVOPs and LVERs to improve
veterans’ access to high quality jobs and to make sure that they always
get the job search, development, and counseling services that they have
earned.
She is also very supportive of our efforts to make sure that veterans
don’t miss out on the chance to move quickly into good jobs because of
lengthy and expensive certification and licensure requirements to qualify for
the same job they did in the military.
VETS funded the study done for The American Legion which started this
important ball rolling. And we are working with the employment and training
community, with employers and unions, and with federal and state licensing
agencies to see if we can improve the transition process.
Making armed services training translate to the private-sector work
force is key to one of Secretary Herman’s goals for the Labor Department
— that every American has access to skills development and lifelong
learning necessary to get and hold good jobs in the 21st century.
Where do I see VETS going in the next century? Well, let me do a little
crystal ball gazing with you.
I see quality as the watchword for us in the future — quality of
services we provide to our customers, quality of jobs we make available to
veterans, and quality opportunities we make available to our staff.
We can no longer be content with just finding jobs for veterans. We have
to find good, career building jobs. We have to be concerned about salary
levels, benefits, growth potential, and retention rates.
We must show that we are a valued added service provider, especially for
veterans who may experience difficulties in the workplace because of perceived
disability, discrimination, or homelessness.
By individually case managing services for these veterans, we are
providing them with a new kind of priority which may not available to non
veterans with the same problems.
In addition, our MOUs with the VA on voc/rehab and with OFCCP on sharing
VETS 100 and EEO 1 data put us in a good position to meet these goals.
I see VETS becoming more of a pro-active marketing agency for veterans.
We have to reach out to all kinds of organizations and let them know that
veterans are a valuable but still underutilized resource in the civilian
economy.
Our message needs to get to employer organizations like local chambers
of commerce; to civic and religious organizations that work in your
communities. Secretary Herman is a big believer in forging partnerships among
constituent groups. We need to look beyond our traditional partners and make
new alliances.
You know the local labor markets and local employment situations. You
are an invaluable resource that can help us reach
The veterans who need assistance and the employers who have the jobs.
Finally, I see our VETS staff becoming more multi skilled. We have
upgraded the VPA positions, adding senior investigators, working to secure
access to the latest equipment and to provide the training to use it to its
fullest capacity.
The Greek philosopher Heraclitus said there is nothing permanent except
change. As we move into the 21st century, the needs and aspirations of veterans
will change, too.
Our challenge is to anticipate them if we can, meet them when called to
do so, and look over the horizon and be ready to serve our customers with the
dedication and quality that has come to be the hallmark of VETS.
I look forward to the challenge and to working with you as we achieve
success.
Thank you for your attention.
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