Reform v. The Recession

Brittany Ballenstedt had a good piece yesterday exploring what the Office of Personnel Management is doing to help agencies staff up as they begin spending stimulus funding. A lot of the details are important, but this excerpt towards the end strikes me as the key takeaway:

Bailey also expressed concern that providing blanket fast-track hiring authorities would limit federal agencies' recruiting and hiring strategies. "What happens is that everyone fixates on direct-hire authority or dual compensation waivers, but that does a disservice because you throw out everything else that might possibly assist [agencies] better," she said.For example, Bailey said, providing such authority could prevent agencies from tackling the true problem in federal hiring -- the lengthy application process and a lack of communication with applicants.

The argument, essentially, is if OPM gives agencies the tools to skate through this crisis, that they'll lose the impetus for reform. I can understand why OPM would want to show agencies where the current process gets them when push really comes to shove, and I can understand why OPM would want to build momentum behind its efforts to streamline the hiring process. And I can understand why this need for momentum would be true of a whole range of workforce reforms.

I do wonder what it means for the stimulus, however. Will tailor-made solutions be enough to get agencies and departments the staffing they need to spend the money promptly, effectively, and with a minimum of waste, fraud, and abuse? Could there be a middle ground? Maybe agencies and departments could be required to sign on to hiring reform efforts in exchange for limited-time access to direct hire authority? Seems like it might be a reasonable incentive.