Comments on: Ask the White Guy: What Is Wrong With the Federal Government?

By: Anthony

Anthony — Fri, 04 Jan 2013 15:09:12 +0000

As a former EOA (military counterpart to EEO), I would like to point out that one of the biggest challenges that I faced was the lack of interest in completing a command climate assessment survey, a major problem we have is, too many survey’s. At my last command I was presented with at least 5 survey’s in a year. For those that ever put together a command sized survey, there is a significant amount of work and time involved.

Luke’s earlier statement about competent’s will leave, was on point; after seeing the hurdles that make up EEO, I will never work in the field again. I still believe that promoting and encouraging diversity is the right and honorable thing, I just don’t believe the federal government is anymore committed to diversity than fixing the budget.

By: Bette Turner

Bette Turner — Thu, 07 Jun 2012 01:31:12 +0000

Mr. Visconti, you are spot on about the VA. I am disabled veteran with PTSD. I was hired under the VRA program of all things and was railroaded out of my job. They intentionally put me in situations that aggravated my disability. When I was unwell and went to the emergency room(in the VA hospital I worked in) they still reported me AWOL with a doctors note. When I went to EEO they called me AWOL for that. In both cases their justification was I made no attempts to call my supervisor. So they just conjured up scenarios to exploit my disability until they had enough evidence to fire me–that right fire me. And this all happen in my first 90 days on the job. I have sin e then decided to leave the workforce altogether for health reasons. The congresswoman I contacted looked the other way also. I’m working on getting private attorneys to pursue this.

By: Carol Dawson

Carol Dawson — Wed, 06 Jun 2012 17:32:37 +0000

You are only discovering the tip of the iceburg, Luke. I worked for both the OFCCP (protecting private industry employees) and the US Census Bureau/NPC (as an internal EEO Manager “protecting” federal employees). Within just a few short months working as the EEO Manager, I realized the depth of the problem within the federal EEO system (internal)…there is no real accountability. Who deals with the head of a federal agency when that agency decides not to comply with the federal government’s own regulation on EEO? The answer comes straight from the EEOC’s mouth – nobody. Well, actually action would fall upon Congress. I asked the EEOC if Congress has EVER acted upon the EEO non-compliance of an agency and the response was straight to the point – no. Until someone holds the top officials accountable, nothing will change. Often agencies simply show a video to employees in order to comply with EEO and Diversity related training needs (not all, but most), and some do not even do that. Federal EEO Officers do not have the power to take action if discrimination is found. That office is used to filter the complaint through the investigative process, then they are done. Their job descriptions are clear that they are not decision makers and that they are not to even determine if the complaint is valid. I did it anyway and found my head bruised and bloodied by ramming it against all the walls lined with red tape. I am currently writing an article about this subject, using the federal government’s own statistics on compliance. The federal government could use lessons from many in private industry on how to be respectful of workplace diversity. Carol Dawson, CCDP, EEO GUIDANCE, Inc.

By: Luke Visconti

Luke Visconti — Tue, 05 Jun 2012 15:02:09 +0000

No doubt that political appointees are a considerable problem – but a bigger problem, in my opinion, is the bloated headcount and poor management. There’s so little work actually being done that people have the time to plot against each other in the game of vicious political infighting among career civil servants that seems to take up 90% of the conversations I’m involved in. Another huge problem is that nobody’s rewarded for thrift or efficiency. Ever hear of “use it or lose it”? It’s the federal government philosophy that you have to spend every dime of budget allocated to you or you won’t get the same budget next year. As far as fat goes, I don’t know of a single federal agency that has trimmed its workforce over the past ten years to match successful corporate models of utilizing human capital with the increases in productivity brought by information technology in mind. There are also some 100% “fat” areas – for example, the Small Business Administration. I know dozens of successful entrepreneurs and I’ve never met one with a sustainable business that’s been helped by the SBA. I’m reasonably successful – been out on my own since 1994 – and from that perspective, I can tell you that we should shutter the SBA today. Immediately. Maybe reconstitute it along the lines of economic development in specific underserved regions – but maybe the government shouldn’t be in that business in the first place! Luke Visconti, CEO of DiversityInc

By: Luke Visconti

Luke Visconti — Tue, 05 Jun 2012 14:59:31 +0000

Sorry for the shorthand. A workforce is an ever-evolving place – people are hired, people retire or leave for other reasons. In the federal setting, almost nobody gets fired. When I was on active duty, there were guys who had countdown calendars to retirement prominently displayed. We called people like that “retired on active duty.” At least in the military, there is an up-or-out policy these days – a relentless drive to root out incompetents. That’s not the case for almost all of the federal workforce. So, if you hire 2% incompetents and don’t fire anyone (and have very low turnover), next year you have 4% incompetents, the following year 6% (2+2+2), and so on. I’ve observed that competent people will not hang around and work with or for incompetents, given a choice. In my estimation, when the level of incompetent people gets over 10%, you’re in trouble – 20% is the tipping point where the competent people flee. Not all federal agencies are incompetent. Some, like the IRS, are very, very good at what they do. (The IRS is also very good at managing diversity.) I realize many of you are laughing at the irony of this – but, you see, it’s all about money. Accountability for money, whether it is the Komen Foundation, General Mills or the IRS, forces the issue: Is it more profitable to take the extra measurements to ensure top quality by ensuring equity in recruiting and talent development – or can we afford to discriminate? Luke Visconti, CEO of DiversityInc

By: Phil Seeberg

Phil Seeberg — Tue, 05 Jun 2012 13:20:53 +0000

Could a big part of the difference (problem) compared to the private sector be that the top level is tied to the party in power, and as you said, it seems that lower levels of management can just wait out the heads and whatever programs may be put in place?
And there is so much talk about cutting costs in agencies that the managers probably figure that they need to keep as much fat as possible so when the cuts come they can still do some of their job.

By: ANON

ANON — Tue, 05 Jun 2012 12:06:47 +0000

From Luke: “A very wise man posited that you can’t help but avoid hiring 2 percent incompetent people every year. But if you don’t fire anyone, 2 percent becomes 4 percent, which becomes 6 percent—and soon, the incompetents are running the roost and figuring out how to squeeze out the competent people.” APPARENTLY I AM NOT A VERY WISE MAN. PLEASE EXPLAIN HOW THIS IS MATHEMATICALLY POSSIBLE. THANK YOU.

By: Lisa R

Lisa R — Mon, 04 Jun 2012 20:43:13 +0000

We used to have a robust “minority” program (that’s what we called it back then), but it was employee driven and not micro-managed from on high. Local managers supported us by chipping in a few dollars here and there and not standing in our way when something was working. Suddenly, HQ management decided to disband our groups and replace them with a management-driven agenda, i.e. create a new diversity program that makes it look like they’re doing something, but actually nothing gets done, probably because all the worker bees who used to get things done have been disenfranchised. The diversity program is now a total joke, but when some manager somewhere gets his yearly review, the diversity program check box is colored in. I doubt our Director even knows we have a failing diversity program.

By: Luke Visconti

Luke Visconti — Mon, 04 Jun 2012 19:15:51 +0000

You're right, I've been too polite up until now. Fair warning. Luke Visconti, CEO of DiversityInc

By: Anonymous

Anonymous — Mon, 04 Jun 2012 19:14:47 +0000

Why don’t you come right out and say these things when you speak at our agencies–you described it so EXACTLY!!!!