Managing for Results A New Chapter in Government Human Resources

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

Delivered at 2005 Government Performance Summit
The Future of Human Capital Management

Washington DC Convention Center
March 15, 2005

Good afternoon and thank you for attending this important summit. I have been looking forward to this opportunity to discuss with you the progress we are making in transforming the way we manage and motivate our most important asset in Government today – our people.

How many times have you attended conferences and workshops to talk about the need for reform – the need to change the way we manage – in order to improve the way government operates?

Well, today, change is taking place. We are modernizing the civil service, we are achieving results for the American people.

This is real. This is happening.

Just as America re-tooled and re-armed to address the threats to world peace that existed following the Second World War, today we are responding to the need to address a more contemporary threat.

We have an active agenda – the President’s Management Agenda – which is enabling us to make real progress and produce real results.

The new personnel systems at the Department of Homeland Security and the Department of Defense are defining the civil service of the future – a civil service that is able to react to changing events, adjust to unexpected circumstances and respond to unforeseen dangers – while getting the daily work of the government done. And done better with an urgency and commitment so necessary in today’s world.

Of course, with the immense size of the government, with the many complexities and variety of scenarios, it is not happening overnight. Nothing does. But things are moving faster today than ever before.

In looking at these changes, it’s important to see where we started and just how far we have come. Each generation in American history has had its own defining moments. The Great Depression, Pearl Harbor, President Kennedy’s assassination, the Fall of the Berlin Wall.

Clearly, the moment that defines and drives how we think and operate in the Federal government today were the events of September 11^th.

In looking back over the course of the last three years, who could have imagined the

challenges we face today?

Every day we see the many unique ways our world has changed. Drive around the Washington beltway and you’ll see signs urging motorists to report suspicious activities. Four years ago, such signs would have been confronted with skepticism and we would have found ourselves scratching our heads in amazement. Now, sadly, it’s a fact of daily life.

Our world has changed and the threat is real. This requires that we change the way government operates, and, more importantly, its systems for managing its people.

The role of government, its function ever more important, has no room for failure. We must be able to do our job and do it well if we are going to meet the need to protect and defend our Nation.

Requiring government to do its job quicker and better also now requires a new framework in place so our civil servants can meet the demands of this changing environment.

First, we saw the launch of the President’s Management Agenda – putting people first. This preceded the 9/11 attack. But it recognized that having the right folks, in the right place, doing the right job, was fundamentally important if government was going to perform and perform well.

We heard the President’s call for a new Department of Homeland Security, assembling

together roughly 24 disparate agencies and subcomponents. And the recognition that a

contemporary workforce couldn’t adequately operate under a framework designed 50 years ago.

More changes have been in the works. We now see the Department of Defense undergoing a transformation of its civilian workforce with new personnel rules, all in an attempt to have a flexible environment to better fight the war on terrorism.

The National Security Personnel System, designed by OPM and the Department of Defense for the DoD civilian workforce, will establish a new human resources management system that we believe is as flexible, contemporary, and responsive as the President and the Congress envisioned and will do so without compromising the core principles of merit and fairness, while preserving veterans preference, that embody the Federal civil service.

We believe the systems both for DHS and DoD strike an important balance – recognizing the mission while honoring merit and encouraging and rewarding performance.

In each case we struck a careful and critical balance between operational imperatives and employee interests, without compromising either mission or merit.

There has been a broad outreach effort at OPM. In crafting the systems, we engaged managers, employees and their representatives. At DoD, we made sure that all 43 of their unions had a place at the table… and that means a big table.

And when the new human resource systems are in place – at DOD, at DHS, and throughout the entire Federal workforce, we will need talented and capable leaders to run the government agencies of tomorrow with excellence. And ladies and gentlemen, they are out there – and eager to join.

In a November 2003 Executive Order, President Bush instituted the Presidential Management Fellows program, updating an older program, and expanding participation to all executive branch agencies.

We have made the program more competitive by strengthening program standards and including demonstrated leadership potential as a criterion.

This year, 639 students from universities nation-wide have been selected as finalists in the prestigious Presidential Management Fellows (PMF) program.

These individuals have been selected as PMF finalists demonstrating not only academic excellence and outstanding leadership skills, but also the intense desire to serve their country.

Due to the competitive nature of the program, only the best qualified of these eligible students are nominated by their respective academic leadership.

There were more than 3,000 nominations. Those nominees underwent a rigorous review and selection process and, from that group, OPM selected 639 finalists.

This is one of our most significant initiatives to insure succession planning in the civil service. Here is a tremendous opportunity for Federal agencies to interview and hire some of the brightest graduate students in the country who will become the leaders of tomorrow.

Further, the President's Executive Order extends the opportunities created by this program to mid-career recruits as well. The Senior Presidential Management Fellows (SPMF) program will be a national recruitment program designed to attract those interested in the executive pipeline by bringing them on at the Grade 13 through 15 level. We hope to publish the final regulations establishing this program later this summer.

The PMF program is critical to Federal agencies' efforts to meet today's work force needs, while ensuring new leaders are being groomed and trained. It is just one of many initiatives designed to modernize and expand federal leadership opportunities.

Attracting top talent is important, and making sure we have the process in place to bring them on quickly is just as important. That is why we are working hard at transforming the federal hiring process.

Agencies have a broad range of tools to use - from recruitment, retention and relocation bonuses to student loan repayments. Further, agencies can utilize direct hire authorities to fill critical positions.

We also have new ways of examining and assessing potential candidates. For example, agencies can now employ category rating as a way to rate and rank applicants, as opposed to the archaic “rule of 3.”

But using these tools is the challenge. We must ensure agency leaders know and understand what HR tools are available and use them as they manage their changing workforces. This requires a new, more proactive role, for agency HR personnel.

That’s why Congress directed that agencies employ a new HR leadership paradigm. As in IT, procurement and financial management, agencies have Chief Human Capital Offices in place to ensure that HR issues are integrated into key agency decisions.

Ensuring a strong role for HR in agency management decisions gives life to the meaning of the “strategic management of human capital.” This represents a fundamental transformation and this initiative will infuse a human capital component into every significant agency decision.

The President’s Management Agenda is focused on results. Obtaining these results can only be done by making sure we have the right people with the right skills doing the rights job. Assessing agencies on their performance at this is central to the agenda.

Your agenda today referenced our job at OPM as “staring down the barrel at one of the worst human capital losses in government history.” But this is only part of the story. The real story is how the President, through his management agency, harnessed the energies of government and required it to address its problems in a systematic and progressive way.

Look at how far we have come in just four years. The first PMA scorecard looked like an ad for Target. Red dots across the board. Now, those reds have given way to yellows and greens. Agencies are focusing on results and focusing on improving their management of their workforces.

Ladies and Gentlemen, it all boils down to this proposition: Government is people. And the key to reaching people – leading and motivating them – is the strategic management of human capital.

The agencies that have achieved a “green” light on the PMA scorecard are proof this proposition is true.

Government is made up of people who have been given the meaningful responsibility of managing the public agencies of this great country.

It’s important to remember who responded to the events of September 11. When government opened for business on September 12, civil servants across America responded by reporting for duty. Remember that it’s the human capital element of our government that keeps our government working.

The single most important factor determining any organization’s success and effectiveness is the quality of its employees and the management of those employees. The Federal government is no exception.

As we aim to achieve even greater results, as we improve the services we deliver, we will see our mission of achieving a government that is citizen-centered, results-oriented and market-based in service to the American people.

We have learned that winning managers value the diversity of ideas so essential to the effective management of people.

Further, one of the most important lessons is that the desire to be the best must come from the top. An observable commitment from senior leaders drives continuous improvement in performance from everyone in an agency.

This requires agency leadership to commit to improve their workforce – present and future.

It means that department and agency leadership should be proactive when it comes to solving problems. That means it seeks out problems, acknowledges their existence and makes an honest and transparent effort to resolve them.

Over the next three days, I urge you exchange ideas and lessons learned.

Take the best practices you hear about today back to your agencies and discuss them, modify them and use them.

We appreciate your participation, your support, and your ongoing contribution in working to meet the needs of our most important customer – the citizens of the United States.

We are all on the threshold of something new and exciting – the American Civil Service of

the 21^st century. You are the first responders in making sure government delivers on its promise. You are the ones who are on the forefront of making government better and making America safer.

Each of you contributes to the home front effort to make America stronger. And for that – your efforts are recognized and appreciated. Thank you!

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