Federal and Military Spouses Want Portable Careers, Remote Training, and Telework
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NEW TELEWORK WEBSITE
The Office of Personnel Management, in conjunction with the General Services Administration (GSA), has launched a new website for information about telework in the Federal sector--www.telework.gov.
This "one-stop" site makes it easier for agencies to locate guidance about telework. The site links directly to both OPM and GSA telework websites. Agencies can look to the site to find the latest OPM guidance about Congressionally mandated reporting requirements regarding telework. One pge features direct access to a collection of agency telework policies.
If you have any feedback about the site, email jxhirsch@opm.gov.
Check Telework.gov for information about an October 30 satellite broadcast on telework.
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The spouses of Federal and military personnel who are deployed overseas face unique career dilemmas. Spouses have often had to forego or stall their careers, or make serious career sacrifices, because locations where they reside don’t offer the same opportunities that are available in the continental U.S. In addition to the limitations placed on career aspirations, the opportunity to build financial security is limited, as well.
The good news is that the Spousal Telework Employment Project (STEP) is coming to the rescue. STEP is led by a task group, made up of public/private partners, formed to increase opportunities for spouses of Federal employees with deployable missions to pursue education/training goals and/or private sector employment/careers, augment family income, and improve the quality of family life.
This initiative started in April 2000 when General Joseph Barnes, Army Judge Advocates General (JAG) Office, aware that spousal satisfaction and long term retirement security weigh heavily on an employee’s decision to stay on the job, began informal discussions with members of the General Services Administration (GSA) Telework Team, Glenn Woodley and Dr. Wendell Joice. General Barnes’ focus was how to retain commissioned, non-commissioned, and enlisted persons in the military by expanding training and employment opportunities for their spouses through private sector teleworking.
Within one month, Glenn Woodley, now Chairman of STEP Task Group, reviewed the initial proposal and with the assistance of volunteers from GSA, Department of Defense (DOD), Department of State, National Guard Bureau, and the private sector, prepared a more comprehensive proposal. That proposal included a recommendation to establish a public/private task force with partners from other Federal agencies and possibly private contractors with deployable
missions.
The new task group met for the first time in August 2000, formalized the name, STEP, and expanded its focus to encompass: "Portable Careers, Remote Training, and Telework for the Spouses of Federal Employees and
Military Personnel." Debbie Thompson of the State Department coined the name STEP.
The group has met each month since that time, and now includes officials from: DOD (including the Office of the Secretary of Defense, Army, Navy, Marines, Air Force, and the National Guard Bureau); State Department; Department of Labor’s Veterans’ Employment and Training Services (VETS); GSA; the Community Learning and Information Network (CLN); and a major private consulting corporation.
Response to the Issues
The STEP task group took a number of important steps to create the appropriate groundwork for carrying out its mission.
STEP objectives were identified and presented in a concept paper that outlined the organization and its support requirements. Training and teleworking technology initiatives were researched, discussed, refined and published in a report. The organization took steps to be fully established with a charter and a board of directors. Marketing and briefing materials were prepared and outreach efforts are underway.
Beta-testing sites now exist at eight locations in the U.S., Mexico, and Europe.
STEP Initiatives
Members of STEP have shared information about the initiative with private businesses and public sector organizations at job fairs, conferences and seminars in several cities across the U.S., as well as England and Mexico. Members of the task group are briefing officials at several Federal agencies and other organizations. STEP proposed the following initiatives to support their objectives:
- Formalize partnerships with government agencies with deployable missions;
- Formalize partnerships with private businesses, associations, and foundations;
- Create or use existing shared employment databases;
- Create or use existing resume databases;
- Use existing equipment, tools, and facilities in the public and private sectors for beta testing;
- Expand marketing and outreach efforts;
- Gain private sector sponsors for websites, publications, and communications infrastructure;
- Expand use of new FTS 2001 and other telecommunications services throughout the U.S., Mexico, Germany, and additional international locations (including commercial satellite services);
- Expand use of National Guard distance learning facilities, colleges with foreign country facilities, and GSA telecenters; and
- Gain approval for enabling legislation and government/private sector funding.
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OPM Issues a Compendium of Success Stories About Telework
Telework Works: A Compendium of Success Stories, published May 2001, reports on a special telework study conducted by OPM's Office of Merit Systems Oversight and Effectiveness, Philadelphia Oversight Division.
By showcasing examples of telework success stories from a variety of jobs and work situations, OPM hopes the examples will encourage agencies to expand their telework programs.
The report makes clear that the intention of the study was to provide antecdotal examples of successful telwork experiences and not to draw conclusions. The study does, however, identify broad, but common themes that appear to be key elements to successful telework experiences.
PDF.text and html versions of the 36-page booklet are available at www.opm.gov/studies/index.htm
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Business/Public Sector Partnerships Continue to Grow
Since most private and public sector organizations are faced with the same retention dilemma, several Federal agencies such as the Department of Commerce, Department of Agriculture, and several private businesses with deployable missions have expressed an interest in joining the partnership.
Department of State Secretary Colin Powell has begun pilot STEP job search assistance programs in Mexico City, Monterey, and Guadalajara. It is expected that administration leaders at the DOD, Department of Labor, GSA, and the National Guard Bureau will also provide support to STEP as it moves forward to pursue formal agreements with private businesses, nonprofit organizations, and other interested groups.
Several major companies and/or organizations, including the University of Maryland in Europe, have already expressed a willingness to expand telework and/or employment training opportunities for spouses.
STEP initiatives are anticipated to be in the formative stages
for three to five years before gaining full executive, legislative, and private
sector acceptance.
For more information about STEP, call Glenn Woodley, General Services Administration, at (202) 273-4667 or email glenn.woodley@gsa.gov, or Jean Marie Ward, Department of Defense, (703) 693-8307 or email wardjm@pr.osd.mil, or Debbie Thompson, Department of State, at (202) 647-1076 or email thompsondm1@state.gov.
