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SECY-98-122

May 28, 1998

PURPOSE:

To inform the Commission of staff actions to develop a methodology for assessing the availability of technical skills at the NRC.

BACKGROUND:

As part of Phase II of the Strategic Assessment and Rebaselining Initiative, the Steering Committee forwarded to the Commission a direction-setting issue paper: Staffing and Core Capabilities (DSI-18). DSI-18 concentrated on five key areas which would apply to the management of human resources within the Agency. These areas are: (1) projecting skills requirements and availability; (2) staffing mission and programs; (3) training and developing staff; (4) attracting and retaining staff; and (5) managing staff imbalances. The Commission requested the staff to prepare a preliminary action plan for projecting and maintaining skills requirements, availability, and staffing, to be finalized after the strategic plan is formulated and receives Commission approval. On May 30, 1997, the staff provided a preliminary plan (SECY-97-112).

On June 6, 1997, the Commission approved a related effort, SECY-97-075, Methodology and Criteria for Evaluating Core Research Capabilities, and directed that a similar process be extended to NRR, AEOD, and NMSS. On October 2, 1997, the Commission approved the preliminary human resources action plan presented in SECY-97-112, with substantial comments. Among other things, the SRM requested the staff to provide a methodology for identifying core capabilities in coordination with related agency activities and schedules.

The SRM also asked the EDO, CFO, and CIO to review the need for carrying out all of the tasks included in SECY-97-112 and to determine whether a simpler approach would be feasible. The response of the EDO, CFO, and CIO was provided to the Commission on March 4, 1998 (SECY-98-037).

On May 6, 1998, the staff provided the Commission SECY-98-102, Core Capabilities, which described a methodology for determining that a capability is core and for selecting a core competency source. SECY-98-102 also provided an integrated plan and schedule for identifying core capability requirements and acquiring and maintaining the core competencies to respond to them. Development of a skills assessment methodology, the next step in the plan and schedule, is the subject of this paper.

DISCUSSION:

The staff has developed a methodology for conducting a technical skills assessment. The approach is based on the development of a technical skills survey instrument that can be used across the agency as a means for gathering data about the availability of staff to perform various technical activities (e.g., inspection, licensing) in areas specific to the NRC (e.g., operating reactors, medical isotopes). The survey also gathers data about the availability within the staff of certain technical disciplines of particular interest to the NRC.

The survey instrument has been developed by a working group from the Office of Human Resources (HR), the Office of Nuclear Reactor Regulation (NRR), the Office of Nuclear Materials Safety and Safeguards (NMSS), the Office of Nuclear Regulatory Research (RES), and the Office for Analysis and Evaluation of Operational Data (AEOD). It will be initially tested by small groups from the four technical offices to determine whether it is a useful instrument for capturing information about the availability of staff to perform core technical functions. The methodology to be used and sample survey instrument are discussed in more detail in Attachment 1.

Included in the initial implementation of the methodology will be an assessment of the staff's ability to record and manage the data collected with information technology currently available in HR. The survey results will be obtained electronically and converted into a database that will interface with human resource information developed through the new PayPers system by means of existing client-server technology. The PeopleSoft software that NRC will purchase in order to implement STARFIRE has a skills assessment module that NRC will consider implementing after the core modules needed for STARFIRE have been implemented. This step would improve the staff's ability to maintain and manage skills information.

The overall plan and schedule for the core capabilities initiative and a figure depicting the process are also attached (Attachment 2).

RESOURCE CONSIDERATIONS:

Implementation of this methodology has been coordinated with the respective program offices and will be accomplished within existing in-house staff resources.

COORDINATION:

This paper has been coordinated with the Chief Information Officer.