Statement of OPM Director Katherine Archuleta
Digital Town Hall Event
November 14, 2014
As prepared for delivery
Hello everyone! Welcome to our digital town hall!
It has been one year since the President gave me the best job of my life – Director of the Office of Personnel Management. And what an incredible year it's been. Here at OPM, we have delivered a great deal together!
During this eventful year, we developed a sweeping Strategic IT plan. We are fulfilling our commitment to timely and accurate security background checks. We are keeping our word to Federal employees to efficiently and quickly process their retirement claims and provide the benefits they are entitled to. And we are working hard to provide accurate, responsive and timely service to all of our customers.
None of this could have happened without the team I work with at OPM // that inspires me every day with their talent and dedication to public service.
As Director, I have met thousands of Federal employees across this country. Their wisdom and their suggestions have enlightened me and guided me. They have inspired me and my team to create a new initiative that is focusing on how we can recruit, develop and engage a diverse workforce for today and for the future.
This initiative is called REDI, which stands for Recruitment, Engagement, Diversity and Inclusion. REDI will help us recruit more people like Gioia Massa, whom I met at NASA's Kennedy Space Center. Gioia told me that she had dreamed of growing plants in space since she was 12. And now, more than 250 miles above the Earth, Gioia's lettuce is growing at the International Space Station.
Through REDI we are helping hiring managers across government bring more Gioia's into Federal service. We will tap into the innovation and imagination of Americans who are interested in science, technology, engineering and math. We will let them know there is a place for them in Federal service.
REDI is also about rethinking how we find talent and how we communicate with job seekers.
As our workforce ages, we need to recruit more young people like Matthew Gonzales, whom I met in Los Angeles. He works on satellite communications for the Air Force. Matthew made me understand that for us to attract more millennials like him, we need to create buzz about Federal jobs. This generation wants to work at places that are trending, where they can innovate, where they make their marks.
Matthew helped me see that we need to go where job-seekers are going. So we're using more social media. We're Tweeting job postings. We're on LinkedIn. We're putting job announcements on USAJOBS in plain English. And, I decided to talk with all of you today virtually at this digital Town Hall.
My travels this year also moved me to find more creative ways to bring people into the Federal workforce who too often have been left out, who don't know how to get their foot in the door.
REDI is also about making sure our talented employees are engaged in their workplaces and that we provide them with the training, the education and the ability to develop and grow their careers.
Part of the REDI process includes enhancing our Pathways programs for student interns, recent graduates and Presidential Management Fellows. When I think about the strength of Pathways, I recall my visit with Miriam Martin earlier this year at Fort Sam Houston in San Antonio. When I met Miriam, she was starting her transition from Army soldier to civilian. She was trying to figure out how she could use her military logistics skills in civilian life. I recently learned that after our conversation, Miriam decided she wants to try Federal service. She's thinking about a Pathways internship.
My visits with Miriam, and other veterans I met around the country, inspired me. They inspired me to make sure we fulfill the President's vision of helping our returning military members move to civilian life – especially women.
I have learned a lot from employees this year and I will continue to listen to their ideas about how we can recruit, hire, and develop a model 21st century workforce.
Before we open this up to questions, I have a message for the Federal employees tuning into our digital town hall today. It's a simple one. Thank you. I honor, appreciate, and respect the service you give each and every day. I know that together, we will continue to show every American that they are served by a mission-driven, talented, and dedicated Federal workforce.
Now let's talk.