Federal Women's Program Resources * Why do we have an FWP? * Marketing the FWP * Involving a New Top Manager * Training the FWP Committee * The Ideal FWPM About my work Mary Dingee Fillmore, Director Clients Projects	Your New Top Manager: A Friend to the FWP? Many new top managers don't even know there is a Federal Women's Program; those who have heard of it have mixed impressions which are often more fiction than fact. To win your new manager over as a friend and ally (and to avoid dry years with neither budgetary nor moral support), consider these steps. Learn as much about your new managers as possible. With a little detective work, you should be able to get a copy of the new person's biography. If it's not available from your own organization's press office or "upstairs," try calling the White House if the manager is a Presidential appointee. The more you know, the more effective you are going to be at strategizing how to persuade them that your Program is worthy of their support. You may even be able to link up to someone who has worked for the new person in a prior life. If so, don't hesitate to call. A manager who has shown a commitment to equal opportunity issues before will probably be a good friend to you; otherwise, it's your job to turn your new manager into a new ally. Don't wait to be asked for information on your Program and what it has accomplished. Write your new manager something snappy and concise which explains: what the Federal Women's Program is and who it is for, to ensure that the new person understands that this is an official, U.S. government program with specific objectives, not an extracurricular activity or club. For example: "The FWP was mandated by the President in 1967 through Executive Order 11375, to ensure the representation of women in all types of Federal jobs, at all levels." Tell them where it is located in your agency. the particular goals of your Program in the last few years. Have you stressed recruitment of women into nontraditional occupations, work/family issues, development of a cadre of women ready to move into management, or what? The more specific you can be the better. the need for your Program. Document the situation that led you to establish the particular priorities you have identified. Three pages worth of imaginative graphics should illustrate just where the glass ceiling is for women, the differences between "minority" and white women, and highlight the gender disparity in every occupational category. Amplify each major point with a quick example of a woman's actual career history. For example, if you show that the glass ceiling for white women is GS-11, but only that Hispanic women's careers stall at the GS-9 level, illustrate the career path of an Hispanic woman who has been stuck there for five years, and quote her saying something like "I try to stay motivated and keep on doing a good job, just for my own satisfaction. But it's hard when you are getting awards and barely keeping up with inflation -- especially if you see others with less experience getting ahead." what the Federal Women's Program has accomplished. Remember, it's just like writing a 171; don't emphasize ongoing duties or activities (sponsored three Brown Bag Lunches attended by 58 employees), but rather what you have achieved. For example: monitored the selection of all GS 15 and up positions to ensure that women candidates received equal consideration; developed a recruitment program targeted at women in traditionally black colleges; organized a task force on gender disparities in research grants whose report was the prototype for others throughout government. your present plans: what activities are coming up, and what role they might have in reaching agency and program goals. If you feel that your FWP hasn't accomplished much lately, be clear about what your aspirations are. Lay the groundwork for a meeting when the dust has settled. To set a collaborative tone, learn as much as you can about the new manager's priorities so that the FWP's goals will flow logically into the overall organizational goals. specific steps you would like the new management to take to show their support for the Program. Ask for something small and easy at first, like a signoff on a letter which reaffirms their support for the Program. Give them tangible suggestions for action, such as questioning the certificates of eligibles they review to ensure that women are represented -- just as the President Elect has done. If your EEO Manager, Civil Rights Officer, or someone else to whom you report, is already setting up a briefing, provide that person with excellent data to work with. Of course, it is best for you to be included in the briefing, but, if not, a paper along the lines suggested above will impress top management. If your supervisor is sitting around to see what happens, try anything short of bureaucratic suicide to get the word upstairs as rapidly as possible. Your Program needs the visibility, and so do you. Even if you don't get an ideal reception the first time, keep knocking at those upstairs doors. Eventually, you will probably find someone who is receptive, and at the least you will learn your way around the new players. To win an ally for the long haul, position yourself as a resource who can help them solve their problems -- rather than someone who is creating difficulties for them.
© 1996 - 1998 Mary Dingee Fillmore, Changing Work <mfillmore@usa.net>. All rights reserved.