Federal Human Resources Week, April 28, 2008, Monday
Copyright 2008 LRP Publications
All Rights Reserved
Federal Human Resources Week
April 28, 2008, Monday
SECTION: Vol. 15 No. 5
BODY:
If your agency is struggling to recruit and retain employees with disabilities, you might need to make sure everyone is on the same page and knows how to use available resources.
Are your HR and EEO offices working together? Do you have a disability program manager, and where does she fit in?
Promote collaboration
The first step is to build strong relationships between your agency's HR and EEO offices.
If they are not working together, "it will greatly impede your ability to increase the representation of persons with disabilities at your agency," said Stephen King, the Census Bureau's disability program manager.
There are many areas where responsibilities overlap and coordination can ensure the agency is reaching out to the right recruitment pools and accommodation resources.
"Encourage agency recruiters to visit campuses to attract strong candidates with disabilities to your agency," King said.
Make sure your recruiters are knowledgeable about Schedule A hiring authorities or can at least put interested candidates with disabilities in touch with your agency's disability program office, he said.
Provide one-stop information
You may also want to look at whether your agency has a full-time person dedicated to disability issues.
"The position may be a collateral duty assignment at some agencies," King said. "If you are at an agency with a low representation of people with disabilities, it will take someone committed to this on a full-time basis to address the shortcomings."
At the Census Bureau, the disability program office is an integral part of the strategic recruitment and outreach branch. But most agency disability program offices are located elsewhere within the organization.
Susanne Bruyere, director of Cornell University's Employment and Disability Institute, said managers often have to gather disability resources piecemeal.
A recent Cornell survey showed that the majority of managers seeking to resolve disability discrimination and accommodation issues go to their EEO offices, but some seek their agency's legal counsel, and others consult safety and ergonomics staff.
King said a full-time disability program manager can:
* Help address managers' fears about supervising someone with a disability. "Always encourage managers to communicate their concerns openly without fear of judgment," he said.
* Create a pool of qualified candidates to refer to hiring managers.
* Help identify and remove barriers for people with disabilities.
Agencies should also utilize the Office of Personnel Management's Disability Employment Liaison, King said.
The longtime liaison, Kitty Kobert, retired in March, and OPM is in the process of finding her replacement, according to Kevin Mahoney, OPM's associate director of Human Capital Leadership and Merit System Accountability Division.
"OPM has every intention to continue its leadership in the area of disability and we are in the process of seeking how to best continue in that leadership," he said.
OPM also has a resource center with information for applicants and employees with disabilities, he said.
"We encourage people to also look at individual agency Web sites as well as OPM's to get as much information as they can in their job search," Mahoney said. "OPM has a good track record for people with disabilities hired annually and will not diminish its efforts to attract and retain highly qualified people with disabilities."
To view OPM's resource page on disability, visit http://www.opm.gov/disability.
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