U.S. Office of Personnel Management - Ensuring the Federal Government has an effective civilian workforce

2005 Presidential Award for Management Excellence

Social Security Administration

Strategic Management of Human Capital

The Social Security Administration’s (SSA) mission is to advance the economic security of the nation’s people through compassionate and vigilant leadership in shaping and managing America’s Social Security programs.  They serve more than 52 million people, making payments to them under the Social Security and Supplemental Security Income programs. 

In July, 2004, SSA received a green score in the Strategic Management of Human Capital initiative.  Since the launch of the President’s Management Agenda, SSA has been guided by the fundamental principle of demonstrating accountability through performance and results.  They also realized that to be successful, they must assemble a workforce of dedicated, talented, and well-trained employees, prepared to carry out the current work of the Administration and meet future challenges.  The mechanism to ensure that success was establishing a direct link from their Agency Strategy Plan to their Human Capital Plan.

Specifically, one of four objectives in their Agency Strategic Plan is to “strategically manage and align staff to support our mission by recruiting, developing and retaining a high-performing workforce.”  The Agency Human Capital Plan, updated in 2005, directly supports this objective by setting the course for measurable human capital results, improved service to the American public, and strategic management and alignment of staff to support their mission. 

The foundation of SSA’s success in human capital management is its use of analytical techniques and structured planning.  Specifically, their retirement wave analysis serves as the cornerstone of their human capital planning activities including recruitment, retention, and employee development.  Findings and recommendations from that analysis are presented in their Retirement Wave Report used at the Agency and component levels to efficiently shape their future workforce. 

To that end, they have implemented a national recruitment strategy “Make a Difference in People’s Lives and your Own.”This recruitment platform, along with their use of various Hiring Flexibilities such as the Federal Career Intern Program, enabled SSA to implement a massive recruitment effort to hire 2,200 new front-line employees to support the recent Medicare drug benefits legislation. 

Other human capital accomplishments include a 26 day fiscal year-to-date average hiring timeline (the OPM benchmark is 30 days); an increased retention rate for new hires from 84% in 1998 to 89.9% for those hired in 2002; and a focus on mission critical occupations. 

The initiatives the Social Security Administration have implemented and results they have achieved reflect their commitment to the advancement of the Strategic Management of Human Capital.