STATEMENT OF THE HONORABLE SEAN O'KEEFE
DEPUTY DIRECTOR
OFFICE OF MANAGEMENT AND BUDGET
BEFORE THE
UNITED STATES SENATE
SUBCOMMITTEE ON OVERSIGHT OF GOVERNMENT MANAGEMENT,
RESTRUCTURING AND THE DISTRICT OF COLUMBIA
JULY 17, 2001
Mr. Chairman and Members of the Committee:
Thank you for the opportunity to appear before the Committee to
discuss the Administration's
views on expanding flexible personnel systems government-wide. We welcome
your interest and
the continued opportunity to work with you to strengthen the quality of the
Federal workforce so
it can effectively serve the American people, both now and in the
future.
I am pleased that the Senate confirmed Kay Cole James last week. We
are anxious to work with
her and the U.S. Office of Personnel Management (OPM) to jointly develop a
plan for the
strategic management of human capital.
The President's Management and Performance Plan
Strategic management of human capital is one of the key elements of
the President's Management
and Performance Plan. The Administration's effort to strengthen the
quality of the workforce is
being undertaken as part of a coordinated and coherent plan of Government
reform to improve
Federal management and deliver results that matter to the American people.
The other
government-wide elements of that plan include budget and performance
integration, competitive
sourcing, improving financial performance, and expanding e-government.
These five initiatives
not only work together, but also are mutually reinforcing. The combination
of all of these
initiatives pursued concurrently is far greater than the mere sum of the
parts. Each is dependent
on the others to assure maximum advantage.
Strategic Management of Human Capital
The President has proposed to make the Government more
citizen-centered. This means ensuring
that there is as little distance as possible between the citizens and
decision-makers by flatting the
Federal hierarchy, reducing the numbers of layers in Government, and using
workforce planning
to help agencies redistribute higher-level positions to front-line,
service-delivery positions that
provide value for citizens.
To accomplish this important goal, the Administration has asked each
department and agency to
prepare a five-year restructuring plan, based upon a workforce analysis, as
part of the FY 2003
budget request and annual performance plan. This restructuring plan will
outline how the agency
will restructure its organizations and its workforce to get the job done as
effectively and
efficiently as possible. Agencies will reshape their organizations to meet
a standard of excellence
in attaining the outcomes important to the Nation.
Near-term strategy
Agencies must make better use of the flexiblities currently in place
to acquire and develop
(through recruitment, teaming, and reward strategies) excellent talent and
leadership. Just last
week, in the course of the first meeting of the President's Management
Council, OPM discussed
the flexiblities currently available to departments and agencies under
current law. Most of the
deputies, who function as the agencies' chief operating officers, were
unfamiliar with these
flexiblities, as well as the tools and resources available to them. Given
that, there are now plans
to disseminate best practices to allow agencies to take advantage of
strategies available under
current law.
There also are many human resources flexiblities that have been
successfully tested through
existing demonstration authorities. These flexiblities include
broadbanding, pay for performance
systems and simplified hiring processes. OPM is convening a workgroup to
assess the successes
and failures achieved under the demonstration projects and other exemptions
from Title 5 to
determine how well existing human resources strategies support agency
mission, goals and other
organizational needs.
Only when departments and agencies better understand and fully
exercise the flexiblities currently
available to them can we determine what works. Then it will become
opportune to determine
which demonstration projects should be considered for availability
government-wide and what
statutory changes are needed to enhance management flexibility, permit more
performance-oriented compensation, correct skills imbalances, and provide
other tools to recruit, retain, and
reward a high-quality workforce.
The remaining challenge
The nature of the challenge we are facing is a civil service system
that perpetrates a 20th century
hierarchical and process-driven culture. Federal personnel policies and
compensation tend to
take a "one-size-fits-all" approach. Excellence goes unrewarded, while pay
raises tend to be
diluted across the entire Federal workforce. Federal pay systems do not
reflect current labor
market realities, and rewards are not strategically targeted to attract and
retain a high performing
Federal workforce. For example, under current law, the entire General
Schedule that covers
almost every kind of white-collar occupation must be adjusted by a single
percentage in each of
the 32 localities in the contiguous 48 States. Furthermore, procedures for
removing unproductive
employees are too cumbersome, often taking months to complete. High
performance must
become a way of life that defines the culture of the Federal service. The
civil service system
should demand and deliver sustained excellence and high levels of
performance. It must use clear
and carefully aligned performance incentives for its individual employees,
for its teams, and for
its leadership which are tied clearly to reaching their agency's mission
objectives. The civil
service system must comprise talented people who are attracted and retained
by emphasizing the
rewards of public service. Accountability for results must be clear and
meaningful, with positive
rewards of success and real consequences for failure.
Conclusion
I look forward to working with the Committee and Congress to reach
our shared goal of building,
sustaining and effectively deploying the skilled, knowledgeable, diverse,
and high-performing
workforce needed to meet the current and emerging needs of the Government
and its citizens.
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