THANK YOUS, ETC.

ALMOST ONE YEAR AGO, I SPOKE TO YOU ABOUT FACING CHALLENGES TO REACH UNSURPASSED HEIGHTS. SINCE THEN, WE ALL HAVE BEEN FACED WITH NUMEROUS CHALLENGES.

I want to comment on what I call the challenges of change:

FIRST, WE MUST ACKNOWLEDGE THAT EVERY DAY SOMETHING CHANGES. OUR DESTINY LIES NOT IN WHAT WE DO TODAY, BUT IN WHAT CHANGES WE ARE WILLING TO MAKE TODAY OR PLAN FOR, SO THAT OUR FUTURE PROTECTS BOTH THE INTERESTS OF THE MEMBERSHIP AND ALLOWS FOR MORE EFFICIENT AND EFFECTIVE ACCOMPLISHMENT OF THE AGENCY’S MISSION AND MANDATES.

WE DO NOT CONTROL OUR CHALLENGES. OUR CHALLENGES WILL BE SHAPED IN PART BY POLITICAL FORCES AND ACTIVITIES, THE CUSTOMERS WE SERVE AND OUR STAKEHOLDERS, AND

THERE IS A ROLE FOR THE UNION IN THIS PROCESS OF CHANGE AND THE CHALLENGES IT BRINGS

RECENTLY, THE CHALLENGES OF CHANGE HAVE MULTIPLIED. FOR EXAMPLE, THERE ARE CONCERNS ABOUT FURLOUGHS DUE TO BUDGET SHORTFALLS, ABOUT WHETHER EMPLOYEES’ JOBS ARE AT RISK DUE TO CHANGES IN FEDERAL SECTOR EEO REGULATIONS OR DUE TO INCREASED NUMBERS OF POSITIONS BEING LISTED ON THE EEOC’S FAIR INVENTORIES, AND GENERALLY, HOW TO GET MORE WORK DONE WITH FEWER STAFF. THESE CHALLENGES WE FACED THROUGHOUT THE YEAR.

THE CHALLENGES OF CHANGE RAISED TENSIONS LAST SUMMER WHEN WE LEARNED THAT THE NAPA GROUP WAS STUDYING THE AGENCY. THEN, AS A RESULT OF THE INSPECTOR GENERAL’S REPORT, WHICH DISCUSSED MANDATORY AND/OR MORE FREQUENT TELECOMMUTING, EMPLOYEES WERE SUBJECTED TO EVEN GREATER TENSION. WHEN THE AGENCY ISSUED ITS DRAFT SPACE ALLOCATION GUIDELINES, WHICH BY THE WAY, ARE THE SUBJECT OF NEGOTIATIONS BETWEEN THE EEOC AND THE UNION, TENSIONS ROSE EVEN HIGHER. TO ADD ADDITIONAL BURDEN, THE NAPA REPORT FINALLY WAS RELEASED.

ALTHOUGH THE NAPA RECOMMENDATIONS ARE BEING ANALYZED, IT IS CLEAR THAT NUMEROUS CHANGES ARE INEVITABLE. THERE IS SOMETHING CALLED THE CONSTANCY OF CHANGE – IT IS CERTAIN.

AS I THOUGHT ABOUT THE CHALLENGES, I TRIED TO GAIN SOME PERSPECTIVE. SO I THINK ABOUT WHAT CHALLENGES EMPLOYEES HAVE FACED SINCE 1987 WHEN I CAME TO EEOC, I REALIZED THAT THE UNION AND THE EMPLOYEES HAVE HAD CONSTANT CONCERNS:

THE EFFECT OF BUDGET SHORTFALLS ON STAFFING AND OVERALL OPERATIONS, SINCE WE NEVER HAVE ENOUGH MONEY;

THE IMPACT OF IMPROVING WORK PROCESSES. WHEN I CAME TO EEOC, ENFORCEMENT HAD RECENTLY BEEN THROUGH MAJOR OVERALL;

WHETHER EEOC WILL HAVE ENOUGH EMPLOYEES TO GET THE WORK OB DONE EFFECTIVELY;

THE IMPACT OF LEARNING NEW SKILLS OR USING DIFFERENT WORK PROCESSES OR TECHNOLOGIES. WHEN I CAME TO EEOC, WE RECENTLY BEGAN USING THE “DRERADED PC”. WHILE THE BUSINESS COMMUNITY HAD BEEN USING SUCH TECHNOLOGY, WE WERE JUST BEGINNING TO; AND

WHAT I CALL THE PLAGUE OF CATCH-UP TECHNOLOGY.

     AND GUESS WHAT – WE STILL ARE HERE.

SO WHILE THE CONCERNS AND RELATED CHALLENGES REMAIN LARGELY UNCHANGED, WHAT IS DIFFERENT IS THE COMMUNICATION PROCESS!

THE TIMING OF COMMUNICATION HAS CHANGED – IT OCCURS AFTER THE MAJOR DECISIONS HAVE BEEN MADE, AND OFTEN THE UNION GETS SHORT NOTICE, ALMOST AS AN AFTERTHOUGHT,

THE SOURCE OF INFORMATION ABOUT STRATEGIES OR PROBLEMS HAS CHANGED – RATHER THAN SOLICITING INFORMATION FROM THE EMPLOYEES, THE DECISIONS ARE LEAKED AND AFFECTED EMPLOYEES LEARN ABOUT THE DECISIONS SECOND-HAND AND THEN INPUT IS SOUGHT;

THE IDENTITY OF THE MESSENGER HAS CHANGED - TOO OFTEN WE READ ABOUT THE DECISIONS IN THE NEWSPAPERS

THE ROLE OF THE UNION CERTAINLY HAS CHANGED - DESPITE THE UNION’S MEETINGS WITH THE CHAIR AND HER STAFF AND THE UNION HAVING EXPRESSED ITS WILLINGNESS TO DEVELOP STRATEGIES TO IMPLEMENT CHANGES WHICH BOTH SUPPORT THE AGENCY ‘S MANDATES AND MINIMIZE ADVERSE IMPACT ON EMPLOYEES, THE UNION IS AN AFTERTHOUGHT.

THESE CHANGES UNNECESSARILY HEIGHTEN THE SENSE OF ANXIETY

SO WHAT TO DO?

YOU ALL REMEMBER A FEW Y EARS AGO, WHEN IRS WAS CRUCIFIED IN THE PRESS FOR BAD CUSTOMER SERVICE, FOR THE LENGTH OF TIME IT TOOK TO RESPOND AND WAS GENERALLY LABELED THE GUARD DOG? WELL, AS CONFIRMED IN THE NAPA REPORT, AGENCIES WHICH HAVE MOST READILY AND SUCCESSFULLY IMPLEMENTED MASSIVE TRANSITIONS AND CHANGES HAVE DONE SO IN COLLABORATION AND PARTNERSHIP WITH THE UNION.

THE EXAMPLE CITED BY NAPA CONCERNS HOW THE IRS REVAMPED ITS SYSTEMS IN THE PUBLIC EYE, AMID EXTENSIVE CRITICISM ABOUT ABUSES AND LACK OF CUSTOMER SERVICE. WHAT DID IRS DO – IRS WORKED WITH ITS UNION AND ITS EMPLOYEES TO DEVELOP A STRATEGY AND THEN COMMUNICATED THAT STRATEGY NOT ONLY THROUGH FREQUENT INTERNAL COMMUNICATIONS, BUT BY POSTING ON ITS PUBLIC WEB SITE THE STRATEGY IT DEVELOPED, THE CHANGES WHICH WERE BEING IMPLEMENTED, IDENTIFIED THE GOALS ASSOCIATED WITH THOSE CHANGES AND HELD MANGERS AND EMPLOYEES ACCOUNTABLE. THINGS CHANGED CONSIDERABLY AT IRS.

LIKEWISE, HERE AT EEOC, MANAGEMENT AND THE UNION HAVE HAD SIMILAR SUCCESSES IN WORKING THROUGH CHANGE TOGETHER. THE PRIORITY CHARGE HANDLING PROCEDURES MANUAL IS BUT ONE EXAMPLE OF HOW MANAGEMENT AND THE UNION WERE ABLE TO WORK TOGETHER TO DEVELOP STRATEGIES AND IMPLEMENT WORK PROCESS CHANGES FROM WHICH EEOC STILL BENEFITS. OTHERS INCLUDE THE COMPREHENSIVE ENFORCEMENT AND LITIGATION PROGRAMS, AS WEEKLY AS THE MEDIATION PROGRAM.

SO WHAT DOES THIS HISTORY MEAN? THE UNION WILL CONTINUE TO BE VIGILANT IN ITS EFFORTS TO -

MAINTAIN A COLLABORATIVE RELATIONSHIP WITH MANAGEMENT:

RESPOND TO THE NAPA RECOMMENDATIONS,

DEVELOP ALTERNATIVE STRATEGIES SO THAT EMPLOYEES DO NOT LOOSE THEIR JOBS OR FACE LENGTHY FURLOUGHS,

STREAMLINE AND IMPROVE THE AGENCY’S WORK PROCESSES THROUGH THE USE OF APPROPRIATE STAFF AND TECHNOLOGY,

OBTAIN LESS CUMBERSOME AND MORE CLEARLY DEFINED MANAGEMENT ROLES,