OPM workforce tool to help flatten federal hierarchy

The Bush administration plans to use a workforce planning model developed by the Office of Personnel Management to flatten the federal hierarchy, according to the administration's fiscal 2002 budget, released Monday. In its fiscal 2002 performance plan, OPM said a wave of upcoming retirements and the need for new skills in the federal workforce prompted the agency to develop a state-of-the-art workforce planning system to help agencies better align human resources with their missions. More than one-third of the employees in the federal workforce will be eligible for retirement in the next five years, according to the General Accounting Office. OPM launched a workforce planning model and Web site at the end of fiscal 2000, but does not yet have statistics on how many people are using the site. When the statistics are reviewed, OPM will update the model to assist agencies with staffing and succession planning and help the administration flatten the federal government's hierarchy, the agency's performance plan said. The Bush administration has repeatedly called for a leaner federal workforce and has plans to reduce management layers throughout the federal government. Under the 1993 Government Performance and Results Act, agencies submit annual performance plans to Congress that spell out what they hope to accomplish in the coming year, along with their budget requests. OPM goals for fiscal 2002 include:

• Team up with industry to create links to the USAJOBS Web site and maintain a 90 percent or better customer satisfaction level among the site's users.
• Increase by 10 percent the number of agencies with human resources management accountability systems that are aligned with strategic goals.
• Fully implement the Federal Employees Health Care Protection Act of 1998, which penalizes unreliable health care providers in the federal employee health care system.
• Conduct oversight reviews of agencies whose personnel are not covered by Title V of the United States Code, including the IRS, the Postal Service and part of the Federal Aviation Administration. Title V contains the rules governing most of the federal workforce.