Washington, D.C. 20530

February 1, 2001

MEMORANDUM FOR HEADS OF DEPARTMENT COMPONENTS

SUBJECT:      "Managing Senior Executive Service (SES) Performance" Seminar

As we welcome new leadership to the Department during this transition, we have many important issues to address. One such issue is SES performance management. As you are aware, July 1, 2001, is the date we as senior leaders, with the delegated authority for the executive resources, must implement the Office of Personnel Management's new performance management regulations for the SES. Our success in implementing these regulations will depend, in part, on our ability to instill a fundamental culture change within our organizations. Given the never-ending challenge to find new ways to manage our executive resources more effectively, performance management has ceased to be just an annual chore, and has become an indispensable tool to gauge our success in managing the everyday accomplishments of the Department and its executives.

The regulatory charge to move performance management practices from an activities-based system to one that balances organizational results with customer and employee perspectives is a challenging one. Accordingly, I am pleased to announce an executive development seminar that is designed to help us, as a community, prepare ourselves to take on this challenge.

The seminar entitled, "Managing SES Performance," will provide us an excellent opportunity to learn the latest thinking on performance management. Two outstanding guest speakers on the agenda will be the Honorable David M. Walker, Comptroller General of the United States, and the Honorable Maurice McTigue, Distinguished Visiting Scholar, Mercatus Center at George Mason University. Biographical sketches for them can be found at web sites http://www.gao.gov/cghome/dwbiog.html and http://www.gmu.edu/mercatus/about/mctigue.html.

There is no cost for attending the seminar scheduled on March 13, 2001, from 9 a.m. to 11:15 a.m. The deadline for registration is two weeks prior to the scheduled seminar date or until the seminar is full. SES members may register via e-mail with alejandro.m.bartning@usdoj.gov or by calling (202) 616-3619. The seminar will be filled on a first-come, first-served basis to the specified number of registrants. All confirmed participants will be notified when they are registered to attend.

It is my hope that the seminar will serve as the starting point to energize individual creativity and will result in innovative approaches to SES performance management within each component. Please distribute this memo and the attached information on the seminar to all your SES members. I look forward to seeing you there.

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