Washington, D.C. - Kay Coles James, Director of the U.S. Office of Personnel Management (OPM), announced the establishment of a new Chief Human Capital Officer (CHCO) Academy. "Over the past several years the Federal government has gone through significant changes in the way its most valuable resource, its employees, are managed," stated James. "It is essential that the leaders in our government be well informed and ready to deal with new issues that may arise and affect the federal workforce."

CHCO Academy sessions will be led by recognized leaders in the field, sometimes drawn from Federal agencies whose programs could be modeled as best practices, and at other times, from the private sector. The Academy's inaugural session will review current human resources flexibilities authorized in title 5, the basic civil service statute. Subsequent sessions will cover personnel implications related to competitive sourcing human resources services, the new pay for performance system for the Senior Executive Service and agency head designations for emergency personnel in the event of man-made or natural disasters. Additional topics will be added to the monthly meetings based on input from the council members and developing needs.

The meetings are scheduled for the third Thursday of each month beginning February 19, 2004. The CHCO Academy will be hosted at OPM headquarters in the Theodore Roosevelt Federal building.

In the first meeting of the council for 2004, Director James issued a memo outlining the first of three monthly meetings designed to provide key insights to issues that are critical to the success of the Federal government's human resources systems and to the success of the President's Management Agenda.

Other issues discussed in the meeting included the upcoming second administration of the Federal Human Capital Survey, the Emergency Preparedness and Procedures Seminar that OPM will be hosting in the Theodore Roosevelt building on January 29, 2004 and the establishment of the Senior Executive Service performance-based pay system.

For more information about the CHCO Academy or OPM, please contact J. Porter at the OPM Office of Communications and Public Liaison at 202-606-2402.

Our mission is to ensure the Federal Government has an effective civilian workforce. OPM supports U.S. agencies with personnel services and policy leadership including staffing tools, guidance on labor-management relations and programs to improve work force performance.