2/8/00: Postal Service Receives Hammer Award for Diversity

Archive

February 8, 2000
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Contact: Kristin Krathwohl
(202) 268-3964
Release No. 11
Internet: http://www.upsp.com

POSTAL SERVICE RECEIVES HAMMER AWARD FOR DIVERSITY

MIAMI-The Postal Service has won a prestigious Hammer Award for its diversity initiatives, Postmaster General William J. Henderson announced at today's Board of Governors meeting. The award was presented because of the Postal Service's success in integrating diversity in strategic planning, closing the gap between initial level supervisor programs and advanced leadership programs, and reaching out to customers through supplier diversity and recruitment.

Created by Vice President Al Gore, the Hammer Award recognizes government agencies for developing new ways of doing business that improve service.

Henderson thanked Governors LeGree S. Daniels and Dr. Tirso del Junco for their foresight and leadership in commissioning an independent study in 1998 to review postal diversity practices.

Based on that report, the Diversity Oversight Committee launched 23 broad-ranging initiatives to promote diversity at all levels of the organization.

Specific other accomplishments include:

expanding the executive Corporate Succession Planning program to promote entrance and continuing advancement for under-represented groups
increasing diversity awareness by advertising in national publications
developing a job applicant database to access and track data pertaining to under represented groups and, jointly, establishing a comprehensive recruitment process focused on those groups
issuing a revised Retention Guide to address needs of new employees
designing and implementing Career Management Programs to enhance employee's job-related competencies while ensuring inclusiveness of all groups in the program's initial implementation.

The Postal Service received Hammer Awards in 1997 and 1998, however, this is the first time the agency won for its Diversity programs.

The Hammer Award, created in 1994 by Vice President Gore, recognizes the significant teamwork of federal employees who have put into practice the principles of the Vice President's reinvention formula for better government.