Increased employee morale, greater trust in the grievance process and improved employee workplace relations are just some of the reasons why four federal agencies were recognized Thursday for exceptional alternative dispute resolution (ADR) programs.
The Department of Agriculture's National Finance Center (NFC), the Defense Logistics Agency, the National Institutes of Health and the U.S. Postal Service all received the Office of Personnel Management's Director's Awards for Outstanding ADR programs during a ceremony Thursday at OPM headquarters. The Corporation for National Service received an honorable mention.
The awards recognize the agencies' efforts to resolve workplace disputes more effectively and efficiently. Nearly 30 agencies submitted applications.
"With models like these, I'm confident that ADR and programs like these will continue to grow, prosper and take root," OPM Director Janice R. Lachance told the audience during the ceremony.
Federal managers and employees often find the traditional complaint process for allegations, ranging from discrimination to retaliation for whistleblowing, to be a bureaucratic maze. In 1998, President Clinton ordered the formation of an alternative dispute resolution working group to promote greater agency-wide use of alternative resolution methods. Now, all federal agencies are required to establish ADR programs, which are designed to settle disputes outside a courtroom using some form of arbitration or mediation.
"This is an important priority for the President," Lachance said while greeting winners at a reception following the award ceremony. "He very much believes that this is the answer to a lot of workplace conflict."
For Patricia Parker, president of the American Federation of Government Employees local at the NFC, the workplace resolution programs have meant a reduction in grievance claims.
"I'd say within the last three years I think we've only filed one grievance," said Parker, who flew in from New Orleans to attend the ceremonies. "Prior to then we were filing sometimes three or four in a week."
The NFC's winning Morale Improvement Program incorporates conciliation, mediation and early conflict resolution techniques.
Parker said her agency has a union member involved in each facet of its program so that the employees' perspective is always present in discussion and planning.
"It's more inclusive," Parker said. " Now they [employees] feel like they have someone to listen to their concerns."
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