PERSONNEL: THE TIMES THEY ARE A-CHANGIN'

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June 2005; Vol. 1 No. 2

PERSONNEL: THE TIMES THEY ARE A-CHANGIN’

By Jason Miller

New civilian personnel system modeled after Defense and DHS is coming—and soon

The rules governing how civilian agencies hire, pay, promote and fire workers will change sooner than many people expect.

Before the end of the fiscal year, agency managers will have at least an initial understanding of a new personnel system that closely mirrors the Defense and Homeland Security Department personnel systems, a senior administration official said.

The White House will submit a legislative proposal to Congress to “transform” the civilian agency personnel system, said Clay Johnson, the Office of Management and Budget’s deputy director for management.

“Personnel reforms address all personnel, and we have to expect managers to be managers, so they have a clear definition of what it means to be a good one,” Johnson said last month at the 2005 Interagency Resources Management Council’s conference in Cambridge, Md.

Placing emphasis “The current system rewards longevity and not performance, and it doesn’t place an emphasis on good management, because money is not tied to an evaluation.”

Johnson said OMB has discussed the reforms with congressional leadership and the employee unions. The White House also has met with leaders of the House Government Reform and Senate Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs committees.

“Congress gets it, too,” Johnson said. “They know we have to change the civil-service system.” He said the personnel rules must catch up with the changing workforce environment in government, including greater competition with the private sector for skilled workers.

Renato DiPentima, president of the government sector for SRA International Inc. of Arlington, Va., and a former Social Security Administration deputy commissioner and CIO, said federal workers used to hear the click of the golden handcuffs after about 10 years because the retirement system was inflexible. But the switch years ago to a private-sector model— which lets workers take their retirement plans with them—has increased turnover, both with government workers going to industry and vice versa.

DiPentima said that, earlier this year, 35 SRA employees went back to work for an agency.

“The key,” Johnson said, “is for people to grow professionally. Managers have to focus on personal and professional growth, and the only way to do that is if you have a personnel system that recognizes that.”