Postal Service execs get SES privileges

Executives in the Postal Service's inspector general's office are now considered Senior Executive Service corps equivalents, according to the Office of Personnel Management. OPM has determined that executives in the Postal Service IG's office meet SES standards and, as such, are entitled to the same personnel benefits and privileges as corps members. IG executives can also transfer to SES positions in other agencies and departments. The new status went into effect on Nov. 29. "We have entered into an agreement with the inspector general's office to allow for career senior executives in the SES to move to the office of the IG at the [Postal Service] and vice versa," said Joyce Edwards, director of OPM's Office of Executive Resources Management. "We have a similar agreement with the General Accounting Office." SES members administer public programs at the top levels of the federal government. Positions are primarily managerial and supervisory, and candidates must undergo a rigorous selection process prior to entering the SES. In 1998, when OPM did a top-to-bottom review of the SES, one proposal it considered was making mobility mandatory. Executives wouldn't be able to advance into the top pay grades of the SES until they had worked at more than one agency, under the proposal. While the proposal was never adopted, OPM has been encouraging mobility among the federal government's senior executives. For example, a recently unveiled Web site, http://sesmobility.opm.gov, aims to help agencies identify executives to fill temporary or permanent jobs quickly. "This agreement with OPM will enhance our ability to recruit senior managers from the federal SES," Postal IG Karla Corcoran said. Edwards said the new designation could be used as a recruitment and retention tool. "We certainly believe that executive mobility is a good thing, when people change jobs it's good for their professional development," Edwards said. "It's a flexibility that we think will be useful to both the Postal Service and the executive branch."