Good afternoon, Chairman Davis, Chairman Akaka, and members of the Subcommittees. My name is Nicole Johnson. I am the Assistant Chief Inspector, Investigations and Security Support, for the United States Postal Inspection Service. In this capacity, it is my responsibility for the oversight and administration of Postal Inspection Service training, development, and recruitment. It is my honor to be here with you today to discuss the Postal Inspection Service's commitment to a diverse and inclusive workforce.

As one of our country's oldest federal law enforcement agencies, founded by Benjamin Franklin, the United States Postal Inspection Service has a long, proud, and successful history of fighting criminals who attack our nation's postal system and misuse it to defraud, endanger, or otherwise threaten the American public. As the primary law enforcement arm of the United States Postal Service, the U.S. Postal Inspection Service is a highly specialized, professional organization performing investigative and security functions essential to a stable and sound postal system.

U.S. Postal Inspectors are federal law enforcement agents with investigative jurisdiction in all criminal matters involving the integrity and security of the U.S. Postal Service. The mission of the United States Postal Inspection Service is to protect the U.S. Postal Service, secure the nation's mail system, and ensure public trust in the mail. To accomplish our mission, which is the enforcement of more than 200 federal laws; Postal Inspectors investigate criminal, civil, and administrative violations.

The Chief Postal Inspector oversees all operations of the U.S. Postal Inspection Service, which includes National Headquarters, field divisions, service centers, and a National Forensic Laboratory. The installations are staffed by 2,965 Postal Inspection Service employees to include 1,685 Postal Inspectors, 568 professional, technical, and administrative staff, 126 Security Force Management, and 586 Postal Police Officers.

On September 28, 1996, the Postal Inspection Service Law Enforcement (ISLE) and Postal Inspection Service Executive Schedule (ISES) pay systems were created. The ISLE pay system applies to all non executive postal inspectors. Postal inspectors in our executive levels are under the ISES pay system. Both pay systems were designed to be similar to the compensation and benefits paid to other federal law enforcement officers. Journeyman postal inspectors are ISLE level 13. Supervisory postal inspector positions are ISLE level 14 (Team Leaders and Program Managers) and ISLE level 15 (Assistant Inspectors in Charge). ISES positions include, Deputy Chief Postal Inspectors, Postal Inspectors in Charge, and Assistant Chief Postal Inspectors.

I appreciate the opportunity to be here today to highlight our recruitment, retention, and leadership development programs. These programs are intended to attract talent to the organization as well as foster and develop the tremendous talent already evident in our employees. The Postal Inspection Service embraces diversity as the uniqueness in background, experience, perspectives, and personal characteristics of our employees, customers, and stakeholders. Our employees are multi-generational and represent a diverse spectrum of educational and ethnic backgrounds. We adhere to the philosophy that a diverse and inclusive environment makes good business sense and promotes a strong successful organizational environment.

The Postal Inspection Service subscribes to core values as the foundation upon which our mission, internal processes, and systems are built. Our core values are:

• Employees - dedicated men and women who carry out our mission
• Diversity - unique skills, talents, and abilities of each employee
• Ethics - maintaining the highest standards
• Integrity - possessing the highest moral character
• Communication - open, honest, and two-way
• Accountability - setting expectations and following through
• Performance - establishing measurable outcomes and recognizing sustained successful performance

The Postal Inspection Service has a wide array of positions requiring unique talents, competencies, and experience. The organization pursues strategies aimed at hiring, promoting, and developing a diverse pool of talented individuals. Positions within the Postal Inspection Service include postal inspectors as federal law enforcement officers; security force officers and managers; analysts specializing in intelligence assessment and program management; forensic scientists; computer forensic specialists; polygraph examiners; security specialists, and administrative specialists and managers.

In an effort to strengthen our capabilities in the areas of recruitment, development, and retention, in the late 1990's the Chief Postal Inspector refocused our attention on diversity. To that extent, the Chief established a unit called Professional Standards and Resource Development. Two key positions, Manager, Workforce Planning and Manager, Executive Resources and Leadership Development were created to oversee and implement strategies to infuse a diversity perspective throughout the organization and to address the highly anticipated retirement of baby boomers.

Beginning in 1998, the Manager, Workforce Planning implemented diversity initiatives that included establishment of field and headquarters diversity liaisons. These liaisons were trained and became the focal point for educating, disseminating information, and consulting with supervisors and managers on diversity-related matters involving workplace climate issues, and Voice of Employee survey data. At this same time, the Manager, Executive Resources and Leadership Development established a formal succession planning process for the Postal Inspection Service. This position also focused attention on the selection and hiring of the executive feeder pool. During this time, a comprehensive task analysis was done on the ISLE 15, Assistant Inspector in Charge position, the primary feeder pool for law enforcement executives. The Postal Inspection Service greatly enhanced its Assistant Inspector in Charge selection process by incorporating the use of competencies and providing selecting officials training on proper interviewing techniques for screening and selection.

The Postal Inspection Service, like many organizations within this ten year period has experienced budget cuts, restructuring, numerous administration changes, and resource changes. In spite of expected challenges, the Postal Inspection Service has demonstrated its commitment to diversity with incremental progress towards identifying and removing barriers and increasing awareness.

Representation of women in the law enforcement executive levels of the Postal Inspection Service has almost doubled over this ten year period from 9 percent in 1998 to 17 percent in 2008. Minority representation in this same category of employees has also grown significantly over this same period from 18 percent to 27 percent. The Postal Inspection Service is striving to build an environment that provides motivated and successfully performing employees the opportunity to advance within the organization, if that is their desire, but equally as important-to work in an environment that values professionalism, integrity, hard work, and results.

The Postal Inspection Service concentrates recruitment and retention efforts on identifying talent, skills, and experience from within the organization and from the outside labor market. Local strategies are developed to identify applicants with relevant skill sets to maximize retention and minimize the negative affect produced by hiring and relocating individuals away from their support system. Field division recruitment specialists use various outreach methods to communicate awareness of our organization to potential applicants. Recruitment specialists have made presentations to Intelligence Groups and employees in the banking and financial industry. They participate in college and university career fairs and community job fairs. Recruiters partner with colleges and universities to offer students internship opportunities with the Inspection Service.

To illustrate the effectiveness of our outreach activities, two former student interns, Lauren Cajuste and George Clark, are now postal inspectors in our Pittsburgh and Philadelphia Divisions. While attending LaSalle University, Lauren Cajuste interned with the Philadelphia Division from January through May 2005. Lauren subsequently received her BA in Criminal Justice. She became a postal inspector in June 2007 and is currently assigned to the Pittsburgh Division. George Clark received his BS and Masters degrees from the University of Pennsylvania. While attending law school at Temple University, he also interned with the Philadelphia Division from September through December 2006. He became a postal inspector in August 2007 and is currently assigned to the Philadelphia Division. He is scheduled to receive his law degree in May 2008.

In addition to our focus on recruitment we are striving to proactively respond to anticipated baby boomer and mandatory retirements. Therefore we are taking steps to grow our future leaders through the adoption of local development programs, a national career leadership program, and the Corporate Succession Planning process. We have found this comprehensive approach an effective model for early identification and development of high potential talent within our organization.

The local development programs focus on the early development of employees with strong leadership potential. Participation is by self-nomination or through management identification and nomination. The Career Leadership Program (CLP) is a national program designed to develop initial level supervisors and position them to be highly competitive for mid-level jobs. CLP is a structured program preparing ISLE 14 postal inspectors for senior management positions within the Postal Inspection Service.

The Postal Inspection Service uses the Corporate Succession Planning (CSP) model developed by the U.S. Postal Service as an instrument in identifying potential successor pools for Postal Inspection Service executive positions. CSP is used to fill the ranks of the Postal Inspection Service Executive Schedule (ISES) positions. CSP is an executive nominated process opened to all Assistant Inspectors in Charge (ISLE 15).

For 2008, there are 379 Postal Inspection Service employees at levels 14 and 15. Out of the 379 ISLE employees, 78 are women; 34 Hispanics; 50 African-Americans, 13 Asian Americans; and 2 American Indian/Alaskan Natives. Minorities comprise over 26 percent and women comprise over 20 percent of our pool of future leaders

The Postal Inspection Service utilizes employee development programs dedicated to adding value to Postal Inspection Service employees by offering training initiatives that deliver the maximum impact on operational performance. An example illustrating the effectiveness of the comprehensive approach used by the Postal Inspection Service in promoting employees is evident in the story of Inspector in Charge Gregory Campbell. Greg was recruited as a postal inspector in 1995. He was a participant in the CLP, nominated to CSP, and subsequently promoted to the executive ranks as Inspector in Charge, Detroit Division.

The Postal Inspection Service partners with numerous groups as part of their outreach strategy for recruiting the best talent. Some of the organizations we partner with include: WIFLE (Women in Federal Law Enforcement); the National Center for Women and Policing; NOBLE (National Organization of Black Law Enforcement Executives); HAPCOA (Hispanic American Police Command Officers Association); and NAPOA (National Asian Peace Officers Association).

With the realization of the value of a diverse workforce, the Postal Inspection Service sponsored and created, with support and cooperation from the Women in Federal Law Enforcement organization, a video honoring women's 35 years of service in federal law enforcement. This video won the prestigious Telly Award from the communications industry. We also won a Telly Award for another recruitment campaign titled "Agents of Impact, Agents of Change" which portrayed female Postal Inspectors and the value of diversity to the Postal Inspection Service.

We were also recognized for our commitment to diversity by the Women in Federal Law Enforcement organization, which honored the Chief Postal Inspector with its Executive Director's Award for his outstanding contributions to its mission.

Our focus today is on the demographics of our executives and high level employees. Today minorities comprise 27 percent of our executives and women comprise 17 percent. In 2008, the 31 Postal Inspection Service law enforcement executives included 5 women, 4 Hispanics, and 4 African-Americans. African Americans represent 13 percent of Postal Inspection Service law enforcement executives versus 7 percent in the rest of the federal government. In addition, Hispanic Postal Inspection Service law enforcement executives comprise 13 percent of the Postal Inspection Service executive ranks compared to 4 percent for the rest of the federal government. As noted earlier in my testimony, our efforts to increase representation of women in the law enforcement executive levels of the Postal Inspection Service have almost doubled from 9 percent in 1998 to 17 percent in 2008.

The Postal Inspection Service seeks to build, foster, and sustain an inclusive, highly skilled workforce where diversity of thought, creativity, and conviction is leveraged to successfully achieve organizational goals. We sustain the same beliefs as the United States Postal Service, which is, open and inclusive development systems and processes to permit employees to align their individual career goals with the goals of the organization. The Postal Inspection Service strives to afford opportunities for full participation, contribution, and engagement in the mission of the Inspection Service to the full extent of their abilities, commitment, and demonstrated performance.

I would be pleased to answer any questions the Subcommittees may have.