Agency Recruitment and Retention Efforts

Wed., June 15, 2005
12 p.m.-1 p.m. ET

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from Norfolk, Va

I have not seen anything in writing or heard any discussions about persons with disabilites. How will the pay for performance affect them or will they be corraled into positions where they will not interact with "normal" persons and consequently not be able to qualify for training.

Marcia Marsh

The new personnel system provisions should result in more transparency and information about expectations, performance, and better management. This should benefit all employees, including those with disabilities.

from Los Angeles, CA

Are you considering 'streamlining' background checks? That is basically the reason hiring takes as long as it does. It sounds as if you want to exclude some portion of the applicants in order to include some handpicked applicants. In these days of homeland security issues I think background checks should be expanded.

Marcia Marsh

OPM has assumed responsibility for helping to streamline the background check process. Additionally, DoD has a team working very hard at considerably shortening the time for checks without compromising our security. It clearly is an area that needs real attention -- DoD, CIA, DHS, etc need talent in critical areas and need that fast. This area has high priority for their leadership teams.

from Wash, DC

Prior to the extreme makeover, what was the average time to hire; specifically, what was the average time between: posting of announcement to offer made, close of announcement to cert generation, cert generation to offer extended, and offer extended to offer accepted? Using the same metrics, what was the average time for announcements that were a part of the extreme makeover?

Marcia Marsh

The answer to the before question is all over the map. It varied by organization and position. We can tell you that in our Center for Medicare and Medicaid Services demo project - the time from posting to the offer was less than thirty days in the first round and under two weeks in the second. Not bad! Kudos to the CMS manager and the HR team there.

from GovExec.com reader

How long did it take to actually build the announcement, from the date the requisition was received in HR and the day the announcement opened?

Marcia Marsh

That varied across agency. For the CMS announcement - it took a few weeks. During that period of time an expert panel and the hiring manager met to do an in-depth job analysis. Theirs was a volume hiring position and they really wanted to get it right and move quickly on more than a dozen hires. The manager at the end of the process said -- "that took time -- but was worth it!" At other Agencies with existing positions, that process moved very quickly. Typically within a week or two -- if the managers were very clear on what they wanted. We designed a new process to interview managers about their needs to speed this process, hopefully that will move the time frame from weeks to days or a week or two.

from Watertown, NY

How do you convince a college graduate with lots of tuition debt to come work for the government when it is actively and aggressively contracting out every job it can - under the false guise that money is being saved, which is not a proven fact as there is no comprehensive set of metrics that pass muster to prove that point?

What's the incentive to take a potentially short term job to find the job contracted out to Indian tribes under no-bid contracts, low ball bidders, competetive sourcing, A-76, etc.

Marcia Marsh

If your competition is the private sector, your college applicant is facing the same uncertainty. They restructure, reorganize and contract out as well with even more frequency than in the government space. But, they don't have the mission that you do will help to tip those scales.

The real problem for college applicants based on our research is a lack of awareness of how meaningful government jobs are and the hiring process. Many young people simply do not understand the great opportunities that exist within government, have stereotyped federal service as too bureaucratic and recoil when they see the awful vacancy announcements and cumbersome application process.

We are working to change the impression of federal service through our Call to Serve program on college campuses and our Service to America Medals program that we share with Atlantic Media (the parent of Government Executive magazine). We try to share the exciting stories about the unsung heroes in federal service.

Through the Extreme Hiring project -- we are trying to create new models to allow both current and aspiring government employees to find great positions more quickly.

from GovExec.com reader

Did the extreme makeover include any training of HR staff, so that they can replicate the extreme makeover on a wide scale on a large number of announcements?

Marcia Marsh

The Extreme Makeover has and continues to have training as a core part of the project. What is interesting about the training in EHM is that it typically involves the HR team, hiring managers and executive officers learning together. That's a great way to enhance a system that really belongs to managers with HR as expert advisors.

HR teams have been trained on conducting strategic discussions with managers at the front end of the process, how to write new and updated job announcements that really sell, how to determine appropriate assessment tools and strategies and how to use the Internet and other tools in targeting new sources of talent.

The training continues over the next several months - to include effective change management - but, the feedback we have had has been great. Our dream team sponsors have hosted a series of workshops to provide new tools and approaches.

We are working with OPM's Extreme Makeover team as well to create a government-wide toolkit and training for later this year. So, stay tuned...

from GovExec moderator

In the past there were constant reports of a human capital crisis in that the federal workforce was aging and many would retire and leave a large gap in institutional knowledge...has that happened? And if not, how did agencies ward it off?

Marcia Marsh

Steve Benowitz leads the retirement system administration at OPM. He was just quoted this morning in the Washington Post saying that based on what they see -- the wave has started. Whether it's this year or next or the next, sooner or later those baby boomers are going to move out.

We have seen some very smart programs to retain senior talent across agencies. EPA partnered with an outside organization to bring retired executives back into the mix to mentor new or more junior talent. I believe that HUD developed a program for knowledge transfer and mentoring two to three years ago to help forestall their crisis. Those are examples of how to bridge the generation gap.

The HHS Emerging Leaders and NNSA Future Leaders programs are two examples of efforts to fill the pipeline with new talent.

from Garden City, New York

How does the NSPS system account for cronyism in the workplace where unliked employees get all the work, while the cronies gets no work at all, but the cronies get the higher ratings, and the unliked employees gets low ratings.

Marcia Marsh

If properly implemented, like the GAO system, NSPS should result in much more transparency in the system. Leadership, managers and employees should have much more open conversations about expectations, assignments and evaluations. While you can't eliminate favoritism completely, that transparency helps.

The implemented system should also include safeguards in the form of pay panels, peer panels and second reviews for pay banding decisions and evaluations -- that tends to drive much more balanced treatment of employees into the system.

Employees across the government have clearly indicted the current system as ineffective in dealing with favoritism and adhering to real merit principles. The new system will hopefully help to improve that but, it will take time.

Based upon my experience in the private sector, it usually takes 5 - 7 years to see a complete transformation. Hopefully, the implementation teams will be very open to feedback throughout the process and you will be able to help shape the future.

from GovExec moderator

How did you convince private and public sector hiring experts to donate their services for this project?

Marcia Marsh

Our dream team participants did not take too much persuading. They signed on to an initial diagnosis of the problems at the agencies. After meeting their teams and learning about their mission, their challenges and talent needs, every sponsor said we can help and expanded their efforts.

The Monster team worked on issues ranging from branding and marketing through Quick Hire modifications. They helped to change the job announcements to much more exciting and understandable tools. And they helped to lead our category rating pilot efforts.

The team from CPS mapped the hiring process at all three Agencies and helped to lead the teams on process improvements. In one instance, they eliminated over fifty steps from the process.

AIRS taught the teams how to use the Internet to locate great candidates who might not be looking for federal jobs -- addressing that information gap I referred to earlier. They located candidates that had posted resumes on other job boards, conference web sites or trade associations. Those individuals received an email pointing them to the job announcement. Hundreds looked and dozens applied in our pilot efforts.

EPredix and Brainbench helped agencies with assessment tools and processes and structured interviews. That really helped to bring the best candidates to the top of the certifications.

And, Korn Ferry brought its executive recruitment know how to the front end of the process.

All tolled these experts gave well over $200,000 in expertise in this effort. They worked well as a team and are very proud of their results. Hear more about that at our July 20 unveiling event -- check our website http://www.ourpublicservice.org for more information.

from GovExec moderator

How have OPM's changes to its federal jobs Web site impacted hiring?

Marcia Marsh

We understand that USAJobs just crossed the 1,000,000 applicant mark and by many measures -- the number of visitors multipled ten fold between 2002 and 2004, customer service feedback is improved, etc. - the effort has been a success.

If you haven't had a chance to look at their new job announcement format - the five tab presentation - go take a look. Finally, federal jobs are being presented in a way that is exciting, relatively easy to read and understand and conveys a real sense of the job.

We used the five tab format and their featured job of the week as part of our hiring makeover to great success. All agencies should take full advantage of these tools.

Kudos to OPM for these enhancements.

from GovExec moderator

What part can telework programs play in boosting retention and recruitment numbers?

Marcia Marsh

Federal agencies should use all the tools in their arsenal. For many people, teleworking -- like the alternative work schedule -- will be a great sell. Two of my private sector colleagues joined the CIA a few years ago -- drawn by the work and the flexibility. Federal positions combine exciting and impactful work and often, the prospect of a real life. Let's sell and use that to the max.

Thanks so much to everyone for joining us today. Keep reading GovExec.com and watching the Partnership For Public Service's Web site for more about the Extreme Hiring Makeover project.

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