GovernmentExecutive.com

Collaboration between the Office of Personnel Management and agencies' chief human capital officers is vital to improving the federal hiring process, according to a General Accounting Office official.

An OPM report issued Friday cited agencies' rare use of new personnel flexibilities, such as category rating and direct hire authority, as the cause for slow progress. However, a new GAO survey of chief human capital officers reported that a lack of OPM guidance is one of the biggest barriers.

Whether flaws in the federal hiring process continue due to a lack of agency implementation or a lack of OPM training, only improved communication between the top personnel officers and OPM will solve the problems, according to Chris Mihm, managing director of strategic issues at GAO.

"This isn't an issue where we need to point fingers," Mihm said. "There is plenty for everyone to do."

Marcia Marsh, the vice president for agency partnerships at the Partnership for Public Service, stressed the need for agencies to take the initiative and use the flexibilities. "They say they're waiting for guidance from OPM, but then why aren't managers and leaders banging on the table and calling up Director James and asking to have a conversation about how to use them?" Marsh asked.

Mihm sees the Chief Human Capital Officer Council as a possible forum for discussing barriers and solutions.

"The beauty of the CHCO council is that it can be a real partner in identifying needed improvements, the course that can be taken and coming up with solutions," Mihm said. "There's an incredible opportunity here."

Chad Bungard, deputy staff director and senior counsel for the House Government Reform subcommittee on civil service and agency organization, said that Chairwoman Jo Ann Davis, R-Va., is committed to fixing the process and getting past the blame game. On Monday, the panel held a hearing on the issue.

"You have the GAO report saying that OPM is not giving agencies guidelines, and OPM is putting it out on the agencies," Bungard said. "So we're going to have a follow-up hearing with GAO and OPM and agencies on the panel. We're going to do it, and we're going to do it soon."

OPM Deputy Director Dan Blair believes that his agency has sufficiently guided other departments in implementing hiring flexibilities.

"We've briefed, instructed, and informed the CHCOs since their inaugural meeting," he said. "We can offer everything in the world, but agencies need to have the wherewithal to take advantage of it. We can't do it for them."

The date of the follow-up hearing has not been determined. A Chief Human Capital Officer Academy meeting next week will also address hiring flexibilities.

COMMENTS

• It is difficult to believe that in 2004 agency chief human resource officers are begging for more guidance from OPM on how to use available hiring flexibilities. For years all of us complained that OPM regulations and requirements were burdensome and the primary cause of hiring failures. I spent the last eight years of my career trying to find creative ways to speed up the hiring process, to better use the new authorities granted to us by OPM, and also attempting to make the entire process easier for our most important customers: applicants. Our agency did have some gratifying successes in identifying, attracting and quickly hiring new talent. Let me make it clear, however, that these successes did not happen because we sat around waiting for OPM direction. Instead, we studied the rules already on the books, interpreted them positively and developed new and creative processes to implement them in conjunction with technological improvements in the staffing arena. In short, we studied the problem, found avenues to act and took calculated risks in the name of progress. If chief human capital officers are looking for more detailed OPM guidance, the problem is not with OPM. Rather, the issue is leadership at the agency level and below, or more specifically, the lack of leadership. Apparently, the accepted behavior pattern for getting anything done is still to seek unanimous decisions in order to insure that no one can be blamed for any failures. Working with people is important, but people also want leadership. After all voices have been heard, some one still needs to make decisions, take responsibility and move out. This continual "whining" for more OPM guidance is a sad commentary on the state of Federal HR leadership. It is also a function of the smothering push for centralization and standardization that now pervades the Federal HR community. Now, no one has the ability to think on their own or the courage to act when they know they are right. Well, this is what the Administration and OPM wanted. Now they have it. John Wines Posted June 16, 2004 1:20 AM
• As a contractor trying to become an FTE, I too find the hiring process ridiculously complex. Fear of being unfair ought to be tempered by fear of being so laborious that highly qualified, well-intentioned people just give up. I am personally motivated to work in government, but it's awfully tempting to go elsewhere sometimes. GovExec.com reader Posted June 15, 2004 11:14 AM
• I've been in the federal workforce over 25 years and some things never change. Cronyism, favoritism and nepotism; which are the real merit principles in the Customs Service. Most of us learned years ago, THEY can do what THEY want to do for whoever THEY want to do, if any one of the previously mentioned criteria are the deciding factors. Try to get a even a "desk audit" for additional duties !! THEY just keep wanting more and more but are not willing to pay for it. We're now seeing thousands of long time, dedicated employees retiring with very bitter attitudes. No longer do you greet anyone with "how ya doin?" It's now "how much longer you got?" And now we have "MAX-HR" ! The potential "manna from heaven" for the good ole boy networks !!! GovExec.com reader Posted June 15, 2004 6:11 AM