On 16 August 2000, the Department of the Navy (DON) Chief Information Officer, Mr. Dan Porter signed a Memorandum for Distribution releasing the final draft of the Department of Navy Civilian Career Path Guide for Management of Technology, Information, and Knowledge. The final version will be released in early 2001, and will be converted to a Web-based tool.
It is inevitable that many future Information Technology (IT)-related jobs will be better suited to the private sector, the DON must ensure that it maintains a core workforce, skilled in the various Knowledge Management (KM), Information Management (IM), and Information Technology (IT) disciplines of strategic value to the DON. The Clinger-Cohen Act of 1996 requires the CIO to "develop strategies and specific plans for hiring, training, and professional development" to meet agency requirements. The Career Path Guide (CPG), released in August 2000, will assist our employees in developing into managers and leaders capable of handling the future business of the DON.
To build a skilled workforce for the future, focus must be directed to increasing the breadth and scope of employee skills. Targeting competency requirements and offering superior technical and professional training and developmental opportunities can do this.
The CPG is a very robust tool and is usable now. It assists employees in determining the career paths, educational and experience opportunities and competency requirements for DON KM/IM/IT career areas. Structured into two volumes, it provides guidance for each KM/IM/IT career field in the DON workforce, delineating career areas, job roles, a career development process, and recommended competencies. The CPG helps to ensure that employees acquire the competencies that will enable them to excel. The CPG illustrates a full range of developmental opportunities, including education and training, on-the-job learning experience, and assignments. The CPG can be used in developing a Career Progression Plan that identifies the career goal, competency requirements and education, training and experience opportunities that are formalized into an execution plan tailored to the individual.
The ultimate goal for the CPG is to assist the DON in developing a highly competent KM/IM/IT workforce. The CPG promotes this goal by:
• Providing employees with a comprehensive list of competencies needed for excelling in KM/IM/IT work.
• Providing learning objectives that exemplify established standards for performance and accountability.
• Providing employees and their supervisors or mentors with a comprehensive reference to assist in determining the training that prepares employees for more responsible and challenging positions.
• Assisting supervisors in making effective use of scarce training resources by identifying critical competencies, training opportunities and certifications. This helps employees plan to attend the appropriate courses at the appropriate time, while gaining useful on-the-job experience.
• Enabling employees to plan and sequence appropriate career development activities.
• Developing and strengthening employees' professional qualifications and leadership abilities.
Intended Audience
The primary audience for the CPG is the current and potential DON KM/IM/IT employee. The DON recognizes the need for comprehensive career planning guidance in order to recruit for and retain our valuable KM/IM/IT workforce.
This guide is to be used by managers and mentors in helping an employee construct a formal training plan. The CPG is most beneficial when it is shared between managers/mentors and employees because it helps identify employees' career goals, assess their current competencies, and outline what may be required of them to qualify for their target job(s).
The CPG enables employees to formulate a personalized execution