The Office of Personnel Management Tuesday recognized three federal offices for their efforts to put an end to legal bickering by using alternative dispute resolution (ADR) programs.
The ceremony to present the first-ever OPM Director's Awards for Outstanding Alternative Dispute Resolution Programs arose from a May 1998 memo from President Clinton in which he asked agencies to make ADR a priority.
The initial winners of the awards were: Air Force headquarters, the Air Force's 37th Training Wing at Lackland Air Force Base and the Treasury Department's Bureau of Engraving and Printing. Four agencies received honorable mention: the Agriculture Department's National Finance Center, the Interior Department's Bureau of Reclamation, The REDRESS program at the Postal Service, and the Intergovernmental Alternative Dispute Resolution Consortium at the Seattle Federal Executive Board.
A panel of experts selected the winners from more than 40 agency nominations.
"I'm so proud of what [the winners] have been able to do in less than 12 months," said Attorney General Janet Reno, who gave the keynote address at the awards ceremony. "Too little attention is paid to the problem-solving aspect of the law," she said.
ADR efforts aim to prevent lengthy litigation through early intervention and dispute resolution. Often a neutral mediator is used to help parties reach a compromise, instead of having a judge hand down a decision.
The award-winning Air Force headquarters program has trained more than 1,400 personnel in mediation techniques. Air Force officials track overall ADR use, resolution rates and the amount of time saved in resolving cases. Between 1997 and 1998, the program dealt with more than 5,000 disputes, resolving 71 percent of them and saving taxpayers millions of dollars.
The 37th Training Wing won its award for developing an outstanding site-specific program. The effort aims to reduce the number of EEO complaints, save money from processing complaints and grievances and provide a simpler, friendlier way to address workplace disputes.
The Bureau of Engraving and Printing's ADR program started as a partnership between the agency's executive staff and the heads of 16 unions. The program allows labor and management to settle disagreements at the agency's lowest levels. Last year, ADR efforts saved the bureau nearly $2 million.
Any program that helps resolve federal disputes is likely better than traditional methods, Reno said. ADR is more humane, saves money and comes up with positive solutions for everyone involved, she argued. With typical drawn-out solutions, "there are only losers," she said.
At the ceremony, OPM also released a new version of its handbook, "Alternative Dispute Resolution: A Resource Guide." The guide includes one-page summaries of current ADR programs in government and provides contacts for more information about those programs. It also explains the various forms ADR can take, including conciliation, facilitation, fact-finding, mediation, early neutral evaluation and interest-based problem solving. ADR training courses, Webs sites, books, articles and professional organizations are listed as additional resources.
The new guide is available at OPM's Web site.
NEXT STORY: House passes regulatory reform bill