Career DevelopmentTo advance their careers, women need opportunities to develop credentials, organizational knowledge, and management and executive competencies. Agencies and managers have many options available for developing high potential Federal women, including significant, high impact assignments; mentoring; formal career development programs; and formal education. Significant, High Impact AssignmentsA woman's potential for career growth is enhanced by the breadth and richness of work experiences with which she is presented. To be worthwhile, these experiences must offer her opportunities to learn new skills and to apply previously acquired knowledge and skills to new situations or in different contexts. The experiences must also include activities of significant importance to an organization, with high visibility, where a woman is given increasing authority and responsibility and success or failure is easily recognized and widely known. Such experiences can be provided by special projects, targeted organizational assignments, assignments to cross functional teams and interagency groups, developmental assignments, rotational assignments, and details to other organizations or other agencies. MentoringGenerally, there are three different kinds of mentoring. Supervisory mentoring consists of the day-to-day coaching and guidance that an employee receives from her boss. Informal mentoring is an unofficial pairing of individuals that naturally occurs between people as needs arise. Structured - facilitated mentoring is the most formal type of mentoring, consisting of planned, sequenced steps, and it is organizationally sponsored. Many agencies use formal mentoring programs to develop and maintain a well-trained and versatile workforce. For example, the Department of Energy (DOE) has a structured mentoring program that started with a pilot program in 1995. DOE now has several tailored versions of the basic program involving offices in Headquarters, at field installations, and in major contractor operated facilities. About 60 percent of the participants, mentors and mentees, are women. To support the program, DOE's Office of Training and Human Resource Development developed a Mentoring Program Guide. The Guide helps organizations decide what to do and how to do it and is available on the Internet. Companies like NIKE and state governments such as New York have downloaded it. For more information and to access the mentoring materials, contact Jenny Hermansen at DOE Headquarters at 202-426-1530 or jenny.hermansen@hq.doe.gov. Formal Career Development ProgramsFormal career development programs may be conducted within an agency, shared between agencies, or sponsored by the private sector. Most Federal agencies have formal programs which target both low level and mid level employees. Successful programs allow participants to hone their negotiating, interpersonal, oral communication, partnering, and written communication skills; practice explaining, advocating, and expressing facts and ideas in a convincing manner; negotiate with individuals and groups internally and externally; manage and resolve conflicts; build effective teams; develop strategic thinking and problem solving skills; learn to be accountable; develop their political savvy; identify the internal and external politics that impact the work of their organizations; learn about financial management, human resource management, and technology management; strengthen their dedication to public service; and build a professional support network. The Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC), for example, has three developmental programs for support staff: the Certified Professional Secretaries Program, which enables secretaries, who are mostly women, to obtain at least college credits in six different disciplines, the Computer Science Program, and the Administrative Skills Enhancement Program, which is for administrative support people, who also are mostly women. The programs started in the early 1980's and since that time dozens of NRC women have participated in them. Many individuals in the administrative support programs have gone on to become para and full professionals. The Department of Housing and Urban Development designed a Mid-Level Development Program to develop supervisory, managerial and leadership skills of high-performing, mid-level employees in the Office of Administration. The 16-month program consisted of a mix of formal training, developmental on-the-job assignments, required readings, seminars, and the establishment of professional relationships. Half the program participants were women; all program participants currently serve in supervisory positions. Often agencies use the programs developed by OPM and now conducted by the USDA Graduate School, such as the Executive Potential Program, Women's Executive Leadership (WEL) Program, and the New Leader Program. For example, the Social Security Administration (SSA) currently participates in the Graduate School's WEL Program. SSA uses this 1-year program for GS-11 and GS-12 employees to provide them supervisory and managerial training and prepare them for future positions as supervisors and managers. Formal EducationFormal education can provide women with opportunities to round out their academic backgrounds and broaden their technical or professional knowledge as well as their knowledge of management theory and practice. Using the flexibilities of Federal training law, agencies and managers can pay for training and education or reimburse an employee for the expenses for training. Agencies may also share the costs of training and education with employees. Finally, anecdotal information suggests that career advancement of support, technical, and professional staff and of those interested in management is greatly facilitated by programs that provide roadmaps (career paths, mentoring, career development assignments), organizational knowledge (internships, details, rotational assignments), and, for those on management tracks, long term leadership development (rotational assignments, project management, management training). OPM encourages agencies to use these approaches to develop the women they employ. 
 Page modified 18 October 2002 |
