OPM TO ENSURE MERIT APPLIES AS AGENCIES
ASSUME HUMAN RESOURCE FUNCTIONS

Washington, D.C. -- The micromanagement of agency human resources programs continues to be dissolved, while the Office of Personnel Management promises compliance with merit principles through a new "Good Government Framework," OPM Director Jim King announced today.

As agency autonomy in human resources management is implemented, and with OPM providing guidance and analysis of agency-designed human resource programs, Jim King further reaffirmed OPM's steadfast determination to measure the results of agency independence to ensure compliance with merit principles.

"This program will enable OPM to concentrate its resources on upholding merit principles, the foundation of the federal government's personnel system, while permitting OPM to be more responsive to its clients," stated Jim King.

With the unveiling of the Good Government Framework, OPM will measure program results to ensure that merit principles are applied to all areas of personnel, including the hiring, training and promotion of employees.

To prepare agencies for the policy change, OPM will offer, free of charge, two new training courses that provide agency managers and systems designers with the tools to develop and operate their own human resource programs using merit principles.

The Good Government Framework is a new accountability process "that is consonant with the principles of deregulation, delegation, and flexibility within the framework of merit principles," said Jim King in a memorandum to heads of government departments and agencies. King added that the new partnership between OPM and agencies will assist in the elimination of "all unnecessary barriers to mission accomplishment while assuring accountability for merit principle results...."

"The Merit System Principles: Understanding and Applying Them," the first course to be offered under the framework, provides managers with the basic knowledge necessary to exercise their human resources management authority consistent with statutory merit principles and with accountability for results.

The second course, "The Good Government Framework," gives human resource professionals and others common ground for designing and implementing, in partnership, agency-specific systems for assuring adherence to merit principles, while maintaining accountability for mission accomplishment.

For course information, contact OPM's Personnel Systems and Oversight Group at (202) 606-2980.

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Web page created 2 December 1997