Photo By Cpl. Jackeline Perez Rivera | Roberta Henry, a range operations officer with Range Management at Marine Corps Air...... read more read more
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MARINE CORPS BASE CAMP LEJEUNE, N.C. -- Representatives from across Marine Corps Installations East gathered to learn how to best serve different groups in the work force at the Special Emphasis Program Manager Course, Oct. 20 through Oct. 24, at the Base Education Center aboard Marine Corps Base Camp Lejeune.
The course offered newly appointed Special Emphasis Program managers and other equal employment opportunity professionals information on the best way to attract, hire and retain women, minority and disabled employees to work aboard MCIEAST.
Special emphasis programs are initiatives to attract women, Hispanics, African Americans, Asian Americans, Native Americans, Pacific Islanders and native Alaskans and people with disabilities.
The course is a proactive measure to help commands comply with regulations.
In class, students learned ways to reach out to underrepresented groups and to review actions, behaviors and processes that could affect maintaining members of those groups.
"It’s making sure that we look at anything an agency is doing to make sure there are no barriers for equal opportunity," said Ramon Ayala-Heredia, the deputy director of Equal Employment Opportunity with MCIEAST. "It’s the right thing to do."
Throughout the course, students learned to recognize areas of concern, define the extent of barriers present, create ways to counteract barriers, promote equal opportunity in all aspects of the workforce and create programs to attract quality individuals to their home installations, added Ayala-Heredia, a native of Bayamon, Puerto Rico.
"It’s a very intense class," said Vivian Molina, a human resources assistant with MCIEAST’s Civilian Human Resources.
Participants were taught how to look at facts and statistics to compare the diversity of the local population with the workforce.
"When you look at the numbers, it shows the overall pictures of where there are gaps in our community," said Molina, a native of New York City. "Numbers never lie."
It’s a broad subject the program managers are tackling, but it’s important to address.
"It was a crash course," said Monique Randolph, the Diversity Awareness Program coordinator with Marine Corps System Command. "I don’t think people understand how much research and work goes into understanding where barriers are."
Most people may not think of the diversity in the workplace, when walking into work they may not see who is around them, or more importantly notice the groups not present in their workplace, Randolph, a native of Portsmouth, Virginia, added.
"The class was enlightening," said Randolph. "I had no idea what goes into creating a diverse workplace and maintaining it."
Equal Employment Opportunity professionals work to create a proactive approach to creating a merit based system in the workplace, where employees have the opportunity to work and grow in their offices, said Ayala-Heredia.
After completing the course the representatives will work in different installations reaching out to many different groups, but each will play a part in creating a fair workforce throughout MCIEAST.
"It’s important that everybody is treated fairly," said Rita Lindsey, Equal Employment Opportunity manager with Marine Corps Air Station Cherry Point. "One of the key parts of that is being proactive. Training, education and a proactive approach are important to Equal Employment Opportunity.
For more information about Equal Opportunity throughout Marine Corps Installations East, call 451-5272.
| Date Taken: | 10.30.2014 |
| Date Posted: | 12.10.2014 13:54 |
| Story ID: | 149967 |
| Location: | CAMP LEJEUNE, NORTH CAROLINA, US |
| Web Views: | 94 |
| Downloads: | 0 |
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