News Release

WASHINGTON – Kay Coles James, Director of the U.S. Office of Personnel Management, hosted an energetic dialogue on modernizing Federal pay at a visiting session of Harvard University’s Kennedy School of Government’s Executive Session on the Future of Public Service on April 29.

The meeting was held at OPM headquarters, in the Theodore Roosevelt Federal Building. This marked the first time in its history that the Harvard Executive Session on the Future of Public Service was held at a location away from Harvard. By hosting this Executive Session, OPM demonstrated once again that it is a prime force driving the human capital issue within the Federal Government. OPM is also responsible for the management of human capital within the President’s Management Agenda.

“The Kennedy School of Government is one of the preeminent academic institutions examining the important challenges and opportunities facing government today,” James said. “By accepting OPM’s invitation and coming to Washington, the members of the Executive Session have demonstrated their shared concern about the issue of how the federal workforce is paid. The Kennedy School of Government is committed to working with stakeholders on this issue, and I welcome their active participation in the national dialogue.”

The Executive Session on the Future of Public Service participants included members of Congress, including Senator George Voinovich, Congressman James Moran, and Congresswoman Constance Morella, representatives of America’s universities and the private sector, members of public interest organizations, representatives of Federal agencies, and the national presidents of the two largest Federal employee unions.

During the Executive Session, James formally released OPM’s White Paper, A Fresh Start for Federal Pay: The Case for Modernization. This document presents the case for reviewing the current pay structure under which 1.2 million general schedule Federal employees are paid. Without recommending a specific solution, the paper highlighted the importance of developing a contemporary pay system that will help the Federal Government’s efforts to recruit, retain, and manage a 21st century work force.

TheWhite Paper notes that the current compensation system was created soon after the end of World War II for a predominantly clerical work force. While appropriate in its time, it fails to recognize the fundamental changes that have occurred in the nature of government work or the increased levels of employees’ professional and technical skills.

The White Paper further notes that any comprehensive improvements to the pay system “would be momentous” and therefore should be considered “only after carefully examining the means and implications of ensuring that the white-collar pay system is an effective tool for the strategic management of human capital.”