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A Performance Oriented Civil Service for the 21st Century

Flexibility with Accountability

Remarks by
THE HON. DAN G. BLAIR
Acting Director
U.S. Office of Personnel Management

Delivered at the GAO Human Capital Symposium
Washington D.C.

March 9, 2005


Good morning. I am glad that the Office of Personnel Management had this chance to participate as a partner this morning with GAO, MSPB, and the Partnership in convening this very important symposium. I see many friends and colleagues in the audience and so I thank you for giving me this opportunity to open today's discussion.

In reviewing the materials for today's program, I was struck by the title: Human Capital - a Symposium on Designing and Managing a Performance-Oriented and Market-Based Pay System. Believe me, it's not that we don't believe in the title. It's that we have come so far. No longer does it seem to be a question of if - of if government can design, adopt and implement systems designed to recognize and reward performance within a workplace culture of performance and results. But the question is now when!!!!

I suspect we will have some lively debates and instructive discussions. We all have a lot to learn from the successes and challenges that are inherent in transitioning-to and managing pay systems that are performance-oriented and market-based.

We will hear from a cross-section of organizations such as IBM and the Red Cross, by the Commonwealth of Virginia and the FDIC. We will learn from the Comptroller of the Currency along with NAPA and the Merit Systems Protection Board. The perspectives will - hopefully - continue to shed light on how best to continue as we move down the path of transformation and reform of our civil service system.

We are here today after decades of discussions, debates and extensive surveys and pilot projects. So today, we can begin to move forward on what the future holds for the American civil service.

We need comprehensive pay for performance. We need pay flexibilities that can help Federal employees and the Federal government compete with the private sector. We want to guarantee flexibilities for managers. We need the ability to place the right person in the right job at the right time and in the right way.

Experts who have conducted exhaustive studies agree the current system is obsolete and requires major modernization. Non-experts, who have waited six-months to find out if their job application was even received, also agree that the hiring rules are antiquated, arcane and too slow, to put it mildly.

We have made significant progress and that can be seen in the legislation creating the Department of Homeland Security and in the legislation authorizing the new National Security Personnel System. The role of human capital management has been elevated throughout government. For example, we now have a Chief Human Capital Officers Council designed to provide a critical forum while offering perspectives on government human capital management. We now have government-wide reforms and flexibilities that include innovations such as direct hire and category ratings.

Significantly, we now have a pay for performance system in place for rewarding and incentivizing the Senior Executive Service.

It is time to modernize the rest of the Federal workforce now. With the transformations underway at DOD and DHS, over 50% of the Federal workforce is being transitioned into the 21st Century. Further delays in denying other Federal agencies access to these reforms will only exacerbate the differences, put the other agencies at a disadvantage and perpetuate a piecemeal balkanization of the entire Federal workforce.

We have started the ball rolling. The change has been tremendous, but what's next? Where do we go from here? Our President encourages us to make a difference and not just mark time.

Everything that we do has to fit within a framework of our core values and principles. Anything that we do, any initiatives that we undertake, any new ideas, all have to touch back to the core values and the principles of the American civil service. It is who we are.
Those principles are grounded in our merit system. They are grounded in the prohibited personnel practices. They are grounded in our veterans' preference legislation and regulations.

Modernization must preserve the legacy of Theodore Roosevelt and the values set forth in the merit principles that ground our Nation's civil service laws, regulations, procedures, and practices - literally every aspect of the relationship between the Federal Government and its employees.

These principles represent the core of the system and guarantee a civil service free from partisan political activity or influence - without diminishing the responsiveness and accountability of our civil servants.

We will talk today about flexibility but I suggest we move forward. The new systems embodied by DHS and the proposed regulations for the NSPS not only represent flexibility, but more importantly they signify new authorities that these agencies can use in administering and managing their workforces. And these new authorities are balanced against the accountability and results expected from these new systems.

We can learn more from these experiences - but waiting to learn is not a reason to forgo moving forward in establishing a Governmentwide framework for an American 21st Century civil service.

To meet this challenge, we must develop and deploy a civil service system that is agile and responsive enough to adapt to any circumstance. We must provide agencies - and leaders - with maximum flexibility - but, again, within the bounds set by the core values that define the civil service system.

No institution can transform itself successfully without the "buy-in" of critical stakeholders and for the Federal civil service, that means everybody, from senior agency executives and managers to front-line employees and the organizations that represent them.

America needs a Federal workforce that is working together, that is energized and motivated.

Every day we face a very healthy dilemma, a necessary tension. It's the tension between the core values and the flexibilities that we know we so desperately need.

This is not easy. This is difficult and requires patience and wisdom, which is well represented here in this room today.

Let me assure you that the Office of Personnel Management will continue to provide leadership in this critical government-wide reform and through our oversight role, ensure flexibility with accountability.

Thank you again for participating in this important discussion today. The advice and counsel you contribute here will not only assist in creating a more efficient American government but will go a long way toward helping the Federal workforce become a stronger and more cohesive organization that will meet the challenges of centuries to come.

Thank you.

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