(October 17, 2007)

In order to further improve the lines of communication and to respond to the concerns between the National VA Council and you our members, I have established a National VA Council Briefing. This NVAC Briefing will bring you the latest news and developments within DVA and provide you with the current status of issues this Council is currently addressing. I believe that this NVAC Briefing will greatly enhance the way in which we communicate and the way in which we share new information, keeping you better informed.

Alma L. Lee
National VA Council, President

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In This Briefing:  Office of Diversity Management and Equal
Employment Opportunity NewsLink – October 17, 2007

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NewsLink

Links to Internet news items and other information related to diversity and inclusion, provided every week by the Office of Diversity Management and Equal Employment Opportunity (06), a program office within VA's Office of Human Resources and Administration.

Volume 7, Issue 3                            October 17, 2007

This Week's Web Highlight
10 Ways to Operationalize Your Diversity Process

Think Past Cash for a Happy Staff.  Showing appreciation, involving staff in goal and policy setting, creating a healthy work and social environment, respecting personal lives, and cultivating an attitude of respect from management may be more important than compensation.

Leading Business Researcher Sees Value of Engagement, but Advises Firms to Leverage their Entire Organizational Culture.  Employee engagement and satisfaction may be more a result of good performance than a cause.

Study Reveals 10 Most Terrible Office Behaviors.  A coworker who takes credit for someone else's work or rattles off obnoxious jokes is engaging in one of the top 10 most offensive workplace no-no's.

Abused Workers Fight Back by Slacking Off.  Employees toiling under an abusive supervisor often rebel quietly and indirectly by slacking off on the job and handing in sloppy work.

Performance: Ideas for Improving the Flow of Information.  The road to achieving corporate success starts with engaging the employee team.  Engaging the employee team starts with ensuring communication processes exist and work.

Communicating Your Message to Your Team.  In order to work together effectively, team members must be aware of the team’s vision, mission, purpose, specific goals, and allocated roles and responsibilities.  Ongoing review, evaluation, and feedback facilitate such teamwork.

Delegating Upward.  As a rule, delegation moves downward—from the executive to division and department heads, managers, and so forth.  However, sometimes employees need to delegate upward, to get their boss to take responsibility on their behalf.

Building an Alliance with Your Boss.  Inept, disorganized, power hungry, or downright mean, bad bosses come in all sizes and shapes.  Often, they’re so busy with their own careers that they’re blind to the potential or goals of the people they supervise.

Mid-Level Hires Rank Government above Previous Employers.  Employees entering public service in mid-level jobs are at least as satisfied with the government as they were with their former employers in all but one category: their agencies' ability to deal with employees who don't perform well at their jobs.

Pentagon to Require Joint Duty for Executive Promotions.  Beginning next year, Defense Department civilian employees who hope to reach the senior executive ranks will need a far more diverse range of experience.

First Boomer Files for Social Security.  The so-called silver tsunami began on October 15, 2007, when a Maryland woman became the first of the baby boomer generation to file for Social Security benefits.

Will Age Bias Hinder Your Plans to Work Beyond Normal Retirement Age?  In these days of longer life spans and smaller nest eggs, more workers say they plan to stay on the job well past normal retirement age.  The question is, will workplaces welcome these older workers?

Ambitious Young Workers Want Good, Fast Start.  Generation Y—twentysomethings reared on instant messaging and iPods—are shaking the career ladder.  Multitaskers armed with savvy and skills, they're looking for good jobs from the get-go.

Women's Group Requests Hearing on SBA Program.  The Women's Chamber of Commerce is pushing for a court hearing on the status of the Small Business Administration's women's procurement program.

Anita Hill Asks, Has the Workplace Changed?  Ask lawyers in the field of sexual harassment whether things have actually gotten better, and you'll get a decidedly mixed answer.

Successful Women Fight War for Talent on Two Fronts.  Stories of successful MBA-qualified business women emerge so regularly now that, in the U.S. and Europe at least, it barely creates a stir.

What Modern Women Want: a Beta Male.  The alpha female doesn’t need an alpha male to sweep her off her feet.  She wants a caring man who can pick up some of the domestic slack.

Handbook for Women Prompts Lawsuit.  Women should avoid gossiping at work, being too bossy at home, and should eat ice cream to avoid burnout.  That advice, and more, can be found in a handbook for female officers graduating from the New York Department of Correctional Services academy.

Survey Reveals More Asian Americans Experiencing Obstacles to Academic Success.  More Asian American students now come from low-income homes with limited financial capacity to pay for college, and fewer are attending their first-choice institutions than in past years.

Thoughtless Discrimination.  A recent survey done by the Level Playing Field Institute of San Francisco with Korn/Ferry International found that subtle forms of discrimination may cost U.S. employers as much as $64 billion per year in costs associated with turnover.

Religious Discrimination Complaints Increase.  There were 2,541 religious discrimination charges filed with the U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission in 2006, up nearly 9 percent from 2005 and up more than 30 percent since before the September 11, 2001, terrorist attacks.

Cultural Diversity Presents Special Challenges for Mental Health.  Since every individual has the right to his or her own values, culture, and beliefs, it is the responsibility of health care providers to develop intercultural competencies to be able to provide appropriate care.

Employer-Sponsored Depression Programs Work.  An employer-sponsored program using telephone counseling and screening for employees with depression helps those workers retain their jobs, perform more effectively, and significantly improve their depression.

Black Gay Men, Lesbians, and Bisexual Individuals Have Significantly Fewer Mental Disorders than Whites.  By contrast to the findings about mental disorders, more Black and Latino gay men, lesbians, and bisexuals than Whites reported a history of serious suicide attempts.

What It Means to Be Trans.  A coalition of LGBT organizations has worked tirelessly toward passage of the first transgender-inclusive Employment Non-Discrimination Act.  This has caused many wanting to know more about what “transgender” really means.

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NewsLink is part of VA's ongoing effort to increase awareness and acceptance of diversity and to promote a flexible and inclusive work environment. For more information, visit the Office of Diversity Management and Equal Employment Opportunity Web site at www.va.gov/dmeeo.

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