Articles by Steve Oppermann
HR and EEO: "Why Can't We Be Friends?"
There is often a tense relationship between EEO and human resources. Here are some of the reasons for the tension and possible solutions to the problem.
Posted: February 20, 2008 | Full Story | Discuss this Article
The Best Performance Appraisal Advice I Ever Borrowed (Part II)
This is part two of Steve Oppermann's "Performance Appraisal Advice" based on a document developed by the Environmental Protection Agency for the managers and supervisors of that agency.
Posted: January 27, 2008 | Full Story | Discuss this Article
The Best Performance Discussion Guidance I Ever Borrowed
Both supervisors and employees often dislike performance reviews. They take time, effort, paperwork and may involve conflict and confrontation. It is a task that often gets pushed aside or ignored. Here is practical advice on ways to improve a performance discussion for employees and supervisors.
Posted: January 18, 2008 | Full Story | Discuss this Article
Pondering the Impact of Workplace Violence
Organizations prepared to deal with violence are the exception rather than the rule. There were 564 workplace homicides in 2005, and homicide is the leading cause of death for women at work and the second leading cause of fatal occupational injury for men.
Posted: November 7, 2007 | Full Story | Discuss this Article
The ABCs (Attributes, Behaviors and Characteristics) of Good Supervision
What characteristics make for an effective supervisor? After reading this article, which also describes a former federal employee's personal experiences as an employee and as a supervisor, you will have a good idea of the varied skills and attributes necessary to succeed in this difficult task.
Posted: August 23, 2007 | Full Story | Discuss this Article
Articles by Steve Oppermann: 27
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Steve Oppermann completed his Federal career on March 31, 1997, after more than 26 years of service, virtually all in human resources management. Steve rose from a basic personnel management trainee at Fort Riley, Kansas, to Regional Director of Personnel for General Services Administration (GSA) in Denver in less than 10 years.
In the latter position, he managed, through four subordinate supervisors, the functions of position classification, position management and pay administration; external recruitment and internal placement, including administration of the agency's Merit Promotion Plan; labor relations, including contract negotiations and day-to-day contract administration with three different labor organizations with exclusive recognition; employee relations, including performance management, conduct and discipline, and benefits administration; employee development and training; affirmative action, including special emphasis programs; and personnel action processing. After moving from GSA to the National Park Service (NPS) in 1985, Steve served as Chief of Personnel Operations for nearly nine years.
In addition to 25 years as a first-, second-, and third-line supervisor and program manager, Steve gained experience in every human resources function, as well as in equal employment opportunity (EEO). He also represented agency management in a wide variety of third-party settings, and worked effectively with top agency management and with supervisors and non-supervisory employees at all levels of the organization.
In 1993, Steve won a Congressional Fellowship sponsored by the American Political Science Association, spending from November of 1993 through October of 1994 working as a Legislative Assistant in the Washington, D.C., office of U.S. Senator Daniel Akaka of Hawaii. He spent the last 2 ½ years of his Federal career serving as a senior consultant to the NPS on the most complex third-party cases in employee relations and EEO. For the last four years, Steve has served as president of the board of Volunteers in Prevention (VIP), a registered Colorado non-profit organization that mentors at-risk youth.
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