 |
U.S. Office of Personnel Management
Holiday Inn on the Bay |
Hello. I am so pleased to be with you today.
Carole Lowe and the Office of Personnel Managment CFC operation make sure the Combined Federal Campaign stays high on my list of priorities, not only in an administrative sense but as a donor. Im like the guy on the commercial who says, Im not only head of the company, Im a customer.
Before launching into my remarks -- the term launching somehow comes to mind -- I especially want to thank John Glenn, the coordinator of this round table; and Jay Gardella, the campaign manager for the San Diego CFC, and all the people who worked with him to create this event and make it a success.
Big John, you should know that the OTHER famous John Glenn is the ranking Democrat on the Senate Committee that oversees civil service matters. It seems you have a name that lends itself to a lifetime of public service, as well as a lifetime of seeking new heights.
And, Jay, I believe I have some good news that sort of ties in with the workshop that follows lunch. I understand that our Inspector Generals office just gave the automated pledge card processing project an A-Plus. Congratulations!
I became the Director of the Office of Personnel Management only two months ago, although I have been with OPM for five years in other capacities. It is a great honor, and I am committed to making the federal workforce even more effective in its service to the American people.
But recently, it seems more like I am dedicating my life to the Combined Federal Campaign.
Only 10 days ago, I was celebrating the success of the Combined Federal Campaign within OPM with awards for those who made this latest campaign a great success. I didnt know it was going to happen, but while I was busy passing out honors to our people, OPM was given the Pacesetter Award from Norm Taylor, the Director of the CFC of the National Capital Area.
At OPM, we not only exceeded our cash goal by more than 7 percent -- and it was not an easy goal but a stretch goal -- but we also did well on participation. I went into the awards session with my most recent information -- which said we had gone from 70 percent participation in 1996 to 72 and a half percent participation in 1997. Fortunately, Norm showed up to correct me. He announced the latest figures showed we were at 75 percent -- and the dollar total was going up a bit, as well.
Norm, thank you again for that good news, and your leadership.
Then, just last Wednesday morning, I was in Cincinnati, attending the quarterly meeting of the Federal Executive Board. A major part of that meeting involved honoring their superstars from the Cincinnati Metro Area CFC 1997 campaign.
It was an altogether appropriate setting for me at that particular time.
Only the night before, I had sat in the chamber of the House of Representatives and listened to the President outline three pillars for a stronger America in his State of the Union address.
I was struck by how we in this room and the entire federal workforce is already strengthening the nation along the same lines.
The Presidents vision encompasses an American economy that honors opportunity, a society that demands responsibility, and a nation rooted in community.
Isnt that a vision that fits what we, here, in this room, are all about?
In his State of the Union address, the President stressed that he wants to give American families the tools they need to make the most of their opportunities.
They are:
Those are among the things the President discussed that he wants for all Americans. We can all see what these initiatives would mean to the charities we assist and the values we hold dear.
And what the President said last Tuesday about the changing nature of government was vastly more than rhetoric.
The President said -- quote --we must be committed to a new kind of government -- not to solve all our problems for us, but to give our people -- all our people -- the tools they need to make the most of their lives.
For the last five years, I have been at OPM while this President and Vice President have reinvented government. They created a government that works better and costs less. During those five years, we also improved government along the lines the President mentioned in the State of the Union.
We have made the federal workforce better reflect the face of America. We lead the nation in our pursuit of diversity, by creating opportunity for all, not through privilege but by allowing an equal chance to compete on the basis of merit.
We installed more flexibility for, and demanded more responsibility from, our workers and our agencies.
In less than one year, we recruited more than 2,000 workers from the ranks of former welfare recipients and are on track to bring 8,000 more into our workforce before the end of the Clinton Administration in 2001.
We have installed family friendly policies. We are working to create more and better child care for our workers and their non-federal neighbors.
When the President was preparing his Health Care Bill of Rights -- which he also discussed in the State of the Union -- he wondered how his own workforce stacked up to his vision. He asked OPM to check on this, since we administer health care benefits for the federal governments workers.
We told him, that it will be no problem for federal workers to receive the rights the President desires for all Americans, because in the federal service we already have essentially accomplished his health care agenda.
The compliment to costs less -- or downsizing and improved efficiency -- is works better. One of the key ways we have accomplished both is through increased and better use of technology.
Following our luncheon session, there is a workshop on OPM, the CFC and Employee Express that demonstrates one of the ways we are harnessing technology to provide a more efficient government.
We are automating the CFC through a system called Employee Express. This on-line and kiosk-based computer network is already in place in numerous federal government buildings around the nation to assist employees in making benefit, payroll and personnel changes to their own records. We are working to make the CFC accessible to all employees at their own desk-top stations sometime in the future. I believe youll be very interested in this initiative.
And already, the National Aeronautics and Space Administration -- see, were back to the launch theme again -- and the Central Intelligence Agency operate on-line campaigns.
It is important to remember that we accomplished all these improvements for the federal workforce while balancing the budget, a feat accomplished in no small measure by the downsizing of the career federal workforce.
Let me tell you about that downsizing, because it is important to the CFC.
The weekend before last -- eight days ago -- an athletic contest was held in this city.
I believe it was called the Super Bowl.
You would have to fill the stadium that held the Super Bowl four times to equal the number of persons who have left federal service over the past five years -- a total of 331,000 people.
This is not an incidental consideration to this audience. Because one of the great challenges facing the Combined Federal Campaign is increasing participation and the rate of giving from among a federal workforce whose members face greater job uncertainty than at any time in recent history.
I know about this uncertainty. My agency -- The Office of Personnel Management -- has been literally cut in half during those five years. Yet, we manage a 75 percent participation rate in CFC. How is that possible?
Because, especially at OPM, public servants are aware of the value of service to their communities. Because at OPM, the bottom line is that we enable the federal civil service to serve the National Community and all the other communities that combine to create the United States of America.
That is one reason why the Combined Federal Campaign is the largest, most successful workplace campaign in the world. You, of course, are another big reason for our success.
Our national community depends upon partnership among our many communities -- such as the partnership between the United Way and the Combined Federal Campaign. And the 399 campaigns conducted globally that together comprise the Combined Federal Campaign.
We face quite a challenge. But we know what that challenge is. Simply, we must find a way to increase the rate of participation.
Were doing an outstanding job of increasing the individual contribution. Were all looking forward to finding out what the final figures are in 1997. But the trend for individual donors is unmistakable. In 1996, the average payroll deduction was $142.83. In 1991, it was $99.80. In 1992, $108.40. In 1993, $119.54. In 1994, $125.27. In 1995, it was $136.76.
Thats wonderful. Imagine how wonderful it would have been if the participation rate had kept track with the donation rate. Unfortunately participation went the other direction -- from 53 percent in 1991 to 41 percent in 1996.
As you are aware, this decline in participation is a historical progression. And our community -- the one which has gathered today -- is fully aware of this. And the campaigns, federations, unaffiliated charities, OPM and the federal employees -- who are actively involved as CFC volunteers -- are in partnership with one another to reverse this situation through shared resources, increased outreach and an exchange of best practices.
We all know that the world of philanthropy is changing. The future of the CFC rests firmly on a special, creative alliance between donors and the charity community, which includes the government and non-profit organizations.
Part of the overall challenge the CFC faces is ownership of the program by federal workers, not only as donors, but also as decision makers and volunteers on the local federal coordinating committees in various and diverse communities.
OPM serves as a facilitator of the campaign operations, but it also is an advocate for this employee constituency. While the CFC is an entitlement program for the donor, it is a privilege for the charities in the CFC.
Cultivating this dynamic constituency involves several considerations.
There has to be leadership that sets the tone of social responsibility, choice, cooperation, and participation without coercion. The morale of the donor is influenced by such leadership, commitment and enthusiasm. Education and training of donors and volunteers are critical to success.
It is important to remember that, even as we downsize, we continue to bring almost 50,000 full-time, permanent new hires into federal service each year. For many younger or newer employees, the traditions of giving and volunteerism must be instilled through personal relationships and personal experience with charitable causes. Many of the most enthusiastic donors are those who have personal experience with the charities as a recipient, and perhaps as a volunteer.
Thus, the Presidents call for Service to Community needs no explanation to this audience -- you all know the vital need for participation to build community, and the real-world wisdom of his attempt to create a nation of volunteers. We are a people who, historically, just go ahead and get the job done. That is a value that cannot be lost without losing who we are. That is why it is essential to enlist more Americans into service to our Nation and all its communities.
I am very proud of what our federal workers have accomplished. But I have absolute faith that what has come before is only a prelude to the great things that lie ahead.
And I am very pleased to meet with you here in San Diego, as members of the partnership that makes the Combined Federal Campaign such an incredible success. For us, too, the past is a mere prelude to greater things.
Thank you.
###
Web page created 5 February 1998