Strategic Human Capital Management Plan
FY 2003 - 2007

September 27, 2002

Memorandum

To: All Employees

From: P. Lynn Scarlett
Assistant Secretary – Policy, Management and Budget

Subject: Strategic Human Capital Management Plan

I am pleased to announce the publication of the Department’s Strategic Human Capital Management Plan for FY 2003-FY 2007. The Plan was developed through the Management Initiatives Team and truly represents a cross-bureau collaborative effort. It was submitted along with the Department’s budget request to the Office of Management and Budget on September 9.

I encourage each of you to read the Plan, which sets forth the actions which we plan to take over the next five years to ensure that our employees have the skills they need to carry out the mission of the Department. The Plan builds on the Department’s Strategic Plan, which presents end outcomes and intermediate outcomes consistent with achieving our overall mission. The demographic features of our workforce, its geographic dispersion, and the wide diversity of skills needed to fulfill our mission are all explored in the Plan. The Plan describes several key challenges: an aging workforce; insufficient numbers of people with pivotal business and information technology skills; and a need for negotiation and partnership skills among all employees in the field. In addition, it describes some of the internal and external “drivers” that are shaping the extent, complexity, and volume of our work.

One of the keys to addressing our expanding challenges is to build the skills and capacity to make cross-bureau coordination a hallmark of our efforts. The Plan describes our steps towards greater intra-Departmental integration; the use of consultation, communication, and cooperation to expand partnerships and increase the use of volunteers; and more effective and efficient operations. In addition, the Plan describes three of our especially important and urgent challenges: Indian Trust Management, Wildland Fire Management, and Law Enforcement and Security. Specific actions that the Department will take are described in each of these areas.

The Department’s Management Initiatives Team, which includes Deputy Assistant Secretaries and Deputy Bureau Directors, will oversee implementation of the Plan and will develop additional actions needed over time to meet our performance goals.

We will be distributing hard copies of the report once they have been published. In the meantime, the Plan can be found on the Department’s website at www.DOI.gov.