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In his June 9, 2000, memorandum to heads of executive departments and agencies, President Clinton directs agencies to:
The President also redesignated the Interagency Advisory Group of Federal Personnel Directors as the Human Resources Management Council (HRMC). The HRMC:
The President's memo reflects the emerging and vital role that human resources management plays in accomplishing agency missions.
What does the President's memo mean for employee performance management? Janice R. Lachance, Director, Office of Personnel Management, spoke on June 13, 2000, at the National Academy of Public Administration's 2000 Performance Conference. In her speech, the Director described the role of performance management in implementing the President's memo. She stated: "We must keep our employees engaged in the work to achieve mission results. This means we must use effective HRM programs to ensure that our employees are committed people with a shared vision of excellence and service, and we must direct the talents, energy, and skills of all our employees toward clearly understood organizational goals. We do this through effective employee performance management and rewards systems that are flexible enough to adapt to the Government's varied missions, work technologies, and labor markets."
In other words, HRM programs and practices, including performance management programs, must align with agency missions. Specifically, effective performance management programs require that:
As the President stated in his memo, "The Federal Government's most valuable resource is the talented and diverse group of men and women who work every day to make a difference in the lives of the American people they serve. Effective management of this workforce is critically important to accomplishing your agencies' varied missions and continuing to improve service."
Read Director Lachance's entire June speech.
Originally published on August 2000.