News from the VA’s Office of Human Resources and Administration

News from the VA’s Office of Human Resources and Administration

What’s Inside:

1. Emergency Preparedness for Culturally Diverse Communities
2. Dos and Don’ts of Recruiting and Retaining Diverse Talent
3. Survey: 78% Burned Out on Their Jobs
4. Re-Ignite Your Passion at Work
5. Six Signs You Should Leave Your Job

1. Emergency Preparedness for Culturally Diverse Communities
2. Dos and Don’ts of Recruiting and Retaining Diverse Talent.  While there are no “magic pills” for addressing the challenges of recruiting and retaining exceptional talent, these six tips help to focus your thinking and strategizing about one of the most common workplace dilemmas today.
3. Survey: 78% Burned Out on Their Jobs.  According to a survey published by CareerBuilder.com, some 78 percent of American workers say they feel burned out.  But employers have taken notice and are offering more flexible work arrangements to keep employees happy.
4. Re-Ignite Your Passion at Work.  The source for passion’s flame may very well shift over time, and you have to shift with it.  If you do, you will find that work within your career and beyond remains fresh and vital for as long as you chose to stay in the arena.
5. Six Signs You Should Leave Your Job.  DiversityInc interviewed four experts, all of whom previously were employed by major corporations, to learn the tangible signs that reveal the time to resign.
6. Winning Companies Engage Their Employees.  Several day-to-day factors tie in with employee engagement:  interesting and meaningful work, a variety of responsibilities, capable and similarly committed colleagues, and respectful and respected management.
7. Five Ways to Get Noticed at Work, Trusted by Higher-Ups.  Many people have all the skills, knowledge, and ability to be recognized as a leader, but getting their potential noticed by the executive committee or the business community can sometimes be challenging.
8. Weaving Workplace Flexibility Into the Fabric of Business.  Flexibility is the key to alleviating pressures between family and work, and what the employer gets back in return are positive and measurable results.
9. Pioneering Performance Pay.  A Corporate Leadership Council study on the effectiveness of performance management strategies concluded that pay for performance pays for retention, not better performance.
10. Supporting Remote Workers.  Embracing full-time telework requires careful planning of technology infrastructure, HR policies, and IT support processes to ensure a successful implementation.
11. Where Telework Isn’t Working.  Many managers across government say they see the benefit of teleworking, but they question whether the effort to promote more teleworking is worth the trouble.
12. Any Suggestions?  In a recent arbitration decision, the IRS was faulted for not linking all suggestion programs to the National Treasury Employees Union negotiated Employee Suggestion Program.
13. HR Leaders Have Transition on Their Minds.  Katie Malague, senior program manager for the nonprofit Partnership for Public Service, says chief human capital officers across government are thinking ahead to the HR changes that could come with new national leadership.
14. Surveys Show Federal Managers Face Major Hurdles Trying to Do Their Jobs.  Program managers and Federal executives cited poor policy design, lack of training, and ineffective political leadership among the major challenges they faced at work, according to two new surveys.
15. The Golden Manager’s Rule.  Develop the ability of others to perform and contribute to the organization by providing ongoing feedback and by providing opportunities to learn through formal and informal methods.
16. Are You Ready for Management? Ask These Questions.  Before taking the plunge, determine if you have the personality, drive, and attitude to succeed.
17. Promotion? No Thanks.  Some people are at their best right where they are, and moving them or promoting them in order to reward their excellent performance is a formula for failure.
18. Managing People When You Really Don’t Like To!  There are lessons to be learned that will allow all levels of managers and executives to improve their skills in people management, often our most challenging task.
19. 10 Inspirations for Embracing Failure.  Here’s some food for thought to convince you that failure can indeed be an option.
20. The Bad Boss Contest: Could Your Boss Be a Winner?  Now in its third year, the contest for the nation’s worst boss, sponsored by the AFL-CIO community affiliate Working America, provides a frightening look at the demons on the other side of the cubicle.
21. Test Your Knowledge: Handling Workplace Problems.  Test your knowledge of how to handle workplace problems that can threaten the safety of you and your employees, not to mention the financial security of your company if one of these situations is mishandled.
22. OMB to Release Performance Evaluations.  The Office of Management and Budget will release evaluations of the performance of Federal agencies’ major programs by early September.
23. Women’s Brains Are Different From Men’s—and Here’s Scientific Proof.  Men and women show differences in behavior because their brains are physically distinct organs, new research suggests.
24. 10 Ways Generation Y Will Change the Workplace.  There’s no doubt that Generation Y will fundamentally change corporate America.  It’s already started.
25. How Do You Attract and Retain Generation Y? Learn From Google, Intuit, and Disney.  Stop trying to keep them and control them with old, worn out "pay your dues" tactics, and start designing your company to be attractive to this generation.
26. Managers Can Get the Best From Millennials by Tweaking Habits, Adjusting Expectations and Approaches.  The Millennial Generation is being closely watched as it begins to fill the entry-level ranks at advertising agencies, law firms, investment banks, and corporate offices.
27. Challenging Work and Corporate Responsibility Will Lure MBA Grads.  A survey of 759 graduating MBAs at 11 top business schools reveals that the future business leaders rank corporate social responsibility high on their list of values.
28. American Inequality Highlighted by 30-Year Gap in Life Expectancy.  The American Human Development Index shows that America is woefully behind when it comes to providing opportunity and choices to all Americans to build a better life.
29. 2008 Minority Health Disparities Summit.  The Florida Department of Health, Office of Minority Health, 2008 Minority Health Disparities Summit (August 13-15, 2008) will examine health barriers that contribute to health disparities.
30. NIH Summit: The Science of Eliminating Health Disparities.  The National Institutes of Health, National Center on Minority Health and Health Disparities, is convening the first NIH Research Summit on The Science of Eliminating Health Disparities.
31. Things to Say to Black Coworkers.  Complimenting someone on a specific task as opposed to their speech, intelligence, or "difference," removes the condescending stigma attached to remarks such as "you’re so articulate" or "you’re so smart."
32. Things to Say to People with Disabilities.  The key to interacting with a colleague who has a disability, says Nancy Starnes, vice president of the National Organization on Disability, is to interact with the person, not the disability, particularly if you’re meeting the colleague for the first time.
33. Unions Call for Pro-Employee Leaders at OPM, Labor Relations Board.  Federal employee unions call for leaders who respect public servants to replace the outgoing heads of the Office of Personnel Management and the Federal Labor Relations Authority.
34. Investigators Detail Mismanagement, Fraud in SBA Set-Aside Program.  Despite repeated assertions by agency officials that internal controls were in place to protect a program designed to help small businesses, government watchdogs say the program is riddled with fraud.
35. Veteran-Owned Businesses Are Going Great.  Studies by the U.S. Office of Advocacy show that as entrepreneurs, vets have the highest rate of success of any group of Americans.
36. Ruling Expands Veterans’ Access to Federal Jobs.  A recent decision from the Merit Systems Protection Board could open hundreds of law enforcement and other jobs to veterans who previously bumped up against age restrictions during the application process.
37. Pilot Program May Overhaul Treatment of Veterans.  The influx of wounded troops from Afghanistan and Iraq has burst the seams of the military health care system.  The problem is not just about organizations and processes, but about mind-sets.
38. For Veterans with PTSD, Congressman Urges Doctors to “Give an Hour.”  Through the “Give an Hour” program, mental health professionals give an hour of their time each week to provide free mental health services to military personnel and their families.
39. Award Honors Researcher for Path-Breaking PTSD Study.  Paula Schnurr, the deputy executive director of VA’s National Center for PTSD, has won a Ladies’ Home Journal Health Breakthrough Award for her studies of posttraumatic stress disorder in female veterans.
40. The Post-9/11 Veterans Educational Assistance Act of 2008.  The Post-9/11 GI Bill is a new benefit providing educational assistance to individuals who served on active duty on or after September 11, 2001.
41. Inspector General Finds VA Not Meeting Obligations to Veterans.  An investigative report issued by the Department of Veterans Affairs Inspector General found VA is not meeting its obligation to inform new veterans of the benefits they may have earned through their service.
42. Panel Votes to Allow Veterans to Seek Care Closer to Home.  A pilot program approved by the House Veterans Affairs Committee may make it easier for veterans who live far away from the nearest hospital to receive the care they need.
43. Bill Seeks to Ease Disruptions Caused by Military Service.  With family and job disruptions among the biggest concerns of military service members, the House Veterans Affairs Committee approved a bill designed to ease some of the problems they face when they leave active duty and return home.
44. Fight Over the VA’s Ban on Voter Registration Heads to Court.  The state of Connecticut may file a Federal lawsuit to force the Department of Veterans Affairs to allow voter registration drives, says Secretary of State Susan Bysiewicz.
45. Intolerable Tolerance: The Problem with Diversity Training in the Military.  Over the past 50 years, the persistent need to overcome internal cultural barriers to the integration of minority groups into the services has led military organizations to put great effort into creating an environment of tolerance.
46. Important Dates in LGBT Labor History.  The Web site of Pride at Work, an official constituency group of the AFL-CIO, includes a timeline of important dates in LGBT labor history.
47. Conference on Race and Reconciliation in America.  William S. Cohen and Janet Langhart Cohen are hosting leaders from politics, business, entertainment, the military, media, religion, law, and academe to begin a serious, open, civil dialogue on racial, ethnic, and religious prejudice.
48. AAPD to Honor Disabilities Champions, Celebrate ADA Anniversary.  The American Association of People with Disabilities will honor politicians, advocates, and members of the media during a nonpartisan event to commemorate the 18th anniversary of the Americans with Disabilities Act.