HUMAN RESOURCES REPORT
Office of JHB •§• ••k. Human Resources Management July 1988
NEW HR INITIATIVE FOR WOMEN
AND MINORITIES
Last December, we launched the Greater Leadership Opportunities Program. GLO, as it came to be called,
has really taken off!!! In the first six months there have been two week-long courses producing 45
participants. A third course will be held in Denver, Colorado in August.
The objective of the GLO program is simple: give women and minorities the opportunity to acquire some
of the leadership and supervisory skills required to compete for and assume supervisory and management
positions in EPA. Designed exclusively for EPA employees, the GLO program was conceived and nurtured
through its infancy by both OHRM and the Office of Civil Rights not only as a career development
opportunity, but also as an additional way to meet Affirmative Action goals. Although it does not guarantee
its graduates a promotion or a new position, the GLO program has several features that help its participants
become more visible and capable.
One of the program's prime features is the post-classroom focus group. After the week-long formal
classroom training is completed, the class breaks up into several groups of three or four persons. Each group
decides on a project, designs it and implements it over the course of several months. Each member of the
group is the leader of the project for a month, thus assuring that everyone has the opportunity to work on
the leadership skills learned in the classroom. At the end of the project period, usually about three months,
the group presents its product. One group has produced a brochure about the focus group concept.
Another unusual facet of the GLO program, that also takes place after the course ends, is that each
participant completes one or more developmental assignments. One of these could be a rotational
assignment with an EPA manager or supervisor for one to two weeks. During this time, the GLO participant
will attend meetings with the manager, listening, watching, and learning about the decision-making process.
Another developmental assignment could be a rotational assignment within his/her technical area.
By focusing on particular segments of our population, we hope to expand the pool of available talent while
simultaneously helping to meet EPA's strong commitment to equal employment opportunity and affirmative
action. The continued success of GLO depends on the active support of managers, both to encourage their
employees to participate and to help them as they pursue their follow-up projects, rotational assignments,
and rotations.
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FACTS AND FIGURES ABOUT GLO . . .
~ 45 participants to date
- 95% evaluated GLO as an unqualified success
- 41 women; 38% minority: 13% Hispanic, Asian, or Native American
- 21 from Regions; 6 from Reid Offices
CONGRATULATIONS TO ...
. . .the forty-five GLO program participants to date. We'd like to tell you about four of these outstanding
EPA employees, and how GLO helped change their careers....
Ann Pitchford....began her Federal career in
EPA's Environmental Monitoring Systems
Laboratory (EMSL) In Las Vegas as a GS-4
Physical Science Aide hired in the summer of
1972. She continued to work at EMSL-Las vegas
each summer while completing her education
by receiving her MS degree in Physics. She
became a full-time temporary employee through
EPA's Graduate Student Fellowship program.
Ann has been in Las Vegas ever since, in
progressively more technical positions. She
credits the GLO program with giving her the skills
to be made an Acting Program Manager for the
Ecosystems Monitoring Program.
Sam Marquez started his Federal career as a
GS-4 Project Application Reviewer in Region
VIM's Air and Water Division. Sam rose in the
grants system to become a GS-12 Grants
Management Specialist and Team Leader for the
Grants Administration Group. Sam participated
in the December, 1987 GLO program. In January
1988, he became Acting Chief of the Superfund
Management Office. "I truly believe that the GLO
program inspired me to make some changes in
my career path," says Sam.
Lynda Carroll came to EPA in 1984 as a
Program Analyst after several stints as a teacher
in the Arizona public schools and the Military
Intelligence Center. Early in her career Lynda
was an Administrative Assistant with the
Department of Defense in Frankfurt, Germany.
She rose quickly In EPA as a Senior Program
Analyst, Unit Chief, and now is Acting Section
Chief of the Planning and Evaluation Section in
Region Vl's Management Division.
Linda Zarow Linda put her GLO experience
to work immediately!!! Having served for nine
years in the Pesticides program as a Special
Assistant and a staff economist, Unda was asked
to come to the Office of Human Resources
Management on a detail to work on the GLO
program, where she is now the Acting Program
Director for GLO. Already Unda has made her
presence felt. With boundless energy and
enthusiasm she organized the first alumni
luncheon for GLO participants, and helped
design the Denver program's curriculum.
I'm sure we'll all be hearing more from and about these forty-five
outstanding EPAers in the future.
2 Human Resources Report July 1988
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IS GLO FOR YOU????
Are you a GS-11 through 13 ???
Have you worked with EPA for at least two years....???
Are you interested in learning how to make yourself more competitive for EPA management
positions ???
Do you work well with people, enjoy teaching and leading others ???
Are you a self-starter. ?????
IF YOUR ANSWERS TO THESE QUESTIONS ARE YES,
THEN GLO IS FOR YOU
NEXT STEPS
o talk to your supervisor or manager
o call the GLO Office, Linda Zarow, at 382-3311 to get an application packet and more information
o talk to previous GLO participants. Linda has a list in her office, Room 3910 mall.
WHAT MANAGERS SAY ABOUT GLO . . .
"GLO focuses on those people who need the opportunity to break into the leadership ranks."
- LeeDeHihns
Deputy Regional Administrator
Region IV
The GLO program represents what the Agency should be doing more of - investing in the development of
future managers and leaders."
- Susan Wayland
Deputy Director
Office of Pesticide Programs
"This is an excellent initiative on behalf of the Agency...A great first step. We all need to focus on the
follow-through for those who have shown their commitment to career advancement."
- Alex Smith
Chair
Human Resources Council
and Deputy Regional Administrator
Region VIII
Human Resources Report July 1988 3
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EDITOR'S CORNER
The Human Resources Report is published by
the Office of Human Resources Management.
We will highlight a particular topic of interest
about human resources in each issue, with
special editions of the Report published as
appropriate. This issue, the third in 1988, focuses
on OHRM's new GLO (Greater Leadership
Opportunities) Program. We welcome comments
on this and other issues, as well as suggestions
for future issues. Please send them to Geoff
Lewis, Office of Human Resources Management
(PM-224).
AND COMING UP ...
Discussion of the new Office of Human Resources
Management....What it is....Who it is What we
want to achieve, and a word or two about some
exciting new programs.
A WORD FROM
BILL HENDERSON . . .
Eighteen months ago I became Director of
OHRM. It has been one of the most rewarding
experiences of my career. We have a great
Agency and the people in EPA are among the
best, brightest and most dedicated in public
service. This is due largely to commitment at all
levels of the organization to sustaining a high
quality of life, one of the goals we in OHRM have
worked very hard to achieve.
We are fortunate to have leadership that endorses
and encourages the creation of new human
resources programs like GLO. We need to
continue to foster these new initiatives and fully
integrate them into the fabric of the Agency by
installing them in each Headquarters, Regional
and field office. This can only be done with the
support and involvement of all EPA employees.
For it is thanks to you that we have GLO, the
Institute, local human resources councils, SCAC,
Sci-Tech, and the myriad other HR initiatives
throughout the Agency.
I have enjoyed working with you. We've
accomplished much, and we will accomplish still
more. Best wishes.
We all wish Bill the best of luck in his new
assignment as the Deputy Director of
Administration in Cincinnati.
Human Resources Report
Managing Editor
Geoff Lewis, OHRM
Room 3910 Mall
382-3337
Editorial Review Board
KenDawsey
Deputy Director, OHRM
Clarence Hardy
Deputy Director, OHRM
Thome Chambers
Director
Employee Participation and
Communications Division
4 Human Resources Report Jufy 1988
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