CHAPTER 6 . DEVELOPING FINANCIAL HUMAN RESOURCES
In view of the changing demands on financial management personnel as a result of the CFO Act, GPRA, GMRA, and organizational right sizing, it is imperative that personnel responsible for the administration of the Department’s financial resources continuously upgrade their skills so that they can meet the challenges imposed by internal and external forces.
To assist the Department financial management personnel in achieving the skills needed to operate in a changing environment, the Department is committed to developing and maintaining a cadre of highly skilled financial management personnel. To that end, and to ensure a strong and effective financial management program, the Interior CFO Council provides guidance to the Office of Financial Management in developing an overall training and development plan for the Department.
To facilitate the development and implementation of a training and development plan, the Department has designated a Training Coordinator within the Department of the Interior University (DOIU) to work with the Office of Financial Management to implement the plan. The DOIU delivers services through:
• DOIU Learning Centers located in Washington, D.C.; Anchorage, Alaska; Denver, Colorado; and Albuquerque, New Mexico.
• DOIU Online Learning Center, provides new delivery methods (e.g., distance learning, Internet training) to enable the Department to reach more employees — anytime, any place and at any pace.
• DOIU Leadership Institute manages the Department’s formal career development programs — the Team Leadership Program (TLP), the Senior Executive Service Career Development Program (SESCDP), and the Acquisition Intern Programs (AIP). The Institute manages the AIP on a governmentwide and departmentwide basis.
The Training Coordinator directs the Department’s Financial Management Training and Development Program (FMTDP), schedules financial management training, locates and reserves training sites, identifies instructors and on-the-job training experiences, tracks and records participants’ training, reviews and maintains participant’s Individual Development Plans (IDPs), prepares and distributes training certificates, and monitors and responds to program evaluation and feedback. The Training Coordinator also serves as the Department’s liaison to the governmentwide CFO Council for Human Resources, the Joint Financial Management Improvement Program (JFMIP), the Association of Government Accountants, the Training Officers Conference, the American Association for Training and Development, and professional organizations related to financial management.
The focus of the FMTDP Training Coordinator is to improve personnel who support financial management throughout the Department. Improvement will be made in two areas:
• Sponsoring Diverse Training Programs in Financial Management that deliver effective training to financial managers and their staff throughout the Department to improve the skills and knowledge to enable financial management personnel to perform their jobs in an excellent manner.
• Increasing the Number of Availability of Qualified Accounting, Financial Systems, and Other Financial Personnel to ensure adequate human resources are available to carry out financial management responsibilities.
Sponsoring Diverse Training Programs in Financial Management
The primary objective of the Financial Management Training and Development Program is to provide proper training and professional development opportunities to financial management personnel so that they are prepared to carry out their responsibilities. The Department’s training program provides information on external training courses, provides cost effective training to Interior bureau personnel through the use of internal instructors or external instructors, and develops special training programs to address individual bureau needs.
The Department will expand the training and development program over the next five years by aggressively publicizing program opportunities and encouraging employees to avail themselves of program opportunities. The Department, through the program, will also continue to prepare financial management employees for current and future challenges in financial management. To assist in that effort, the Department will offer an array of training in accounting, governmental accounting, budgeting, financial analysis, project management, team building, and problem solving techniques.
FY 1999 Accomplishments
• Financial Management Conference: The Finance Officers’ Partnership sponsored the Department’s 1999 Financial Management Conference. Approximately 250 Department personnel attended the April 1999 Conference to focus on ways to work together to improve performance and accountability within the Department. Conference attendees overwhelmingly rated the conference as very good or excellent.
• Web Site for Course Offerings: The Office of Financial Management home page (http://www.doi.gov/pfm/training.html) was used to disseminate course offerings to the Department and other agencies.
• Conducted a departmentwide survey on training needs for FY 1999.
• Participated in the Development of JFMIP Documents: Assisted the JFMIP in the development and issuance of the governmentwide CFO Human Resources Committee core competencies for budget analysts, accountants, and financial managers to the Department’s financial management community for inclusion in their selection process for these positions.
• Conducted training courses in the following subject areas:
- Accounting I
- Accounting II
- Cost Accounting
- Introduction Federal Financial Accounting
- FASAB Update
- FASAB No. 4, "Managerial Cost Accounting and GPRA Measurement"
- Team Building
- Appropriated Fund Law
- Standard General Ledger
- FACTS II
- Leadership
- Change Leadership
- Statement of Financing and Statement of Budgetary Resources
• Trained 964 staff members at DOIU’s Washington, Denver, and Albuquerque Learning Centers.
• Provided training to National Business Center customers in the following areas:
- Fixed Assets
- Use of FFS
- IDEAS
- Hyperion
- Remote Data Entry
PLANNED ACTIONS
Ongoing Activities
• Continually analyze training results and make appropriate curriculum revisions.
• Analyze and report periodically on the results of the financial management training and development program to Bureau CFOs, DCFOs, and Finance Officers.
FY 2000 Planned Activities
• Work with the National Business Center, bureau finance officers, and bureau budget officers to develop a cross training program related to FFS as funding and other resources become available.
• Make contact with Gateway, a government consortium, to explore the possibilities of bringing distance learning to Interior financial management personnel.
• Based on survey results, at a minimum, conduct and or sponsor training in the following subject areas:
- Cost Accounting
- Appropriated Fund Law
- FASAB Standards
- Leadership
FY 2001 and Beyond Planned Activities
• Develop financial management training for non-financial managers (FY 2001).
• Develop a core curricula for entry level technical and clerical personnel within financial management (FY 2001).
• Develop an activity specific curriculum and training plan that meets the needs of the Department and its bureaus (FY 2002).
• Develop a formal process using the Individual Development Plans (IDP) to ensure thta financial management personnel receive cross training. Use the certification component of the Financial Management Training and Development Program to ensure that department bureau finance and budget officers cross train and cross utilize financial management managers and staff (FY 2003).
• Partner with the CFO Human Resources Committee to recruit top quality entry level personnel for the Department’s financial management community. Completion date is dependent on the Human Resources Committee implementing the recruiting program.
• Work with nonprofit student placement agencies, the Department’s Human Resource Division, and budget offices to recruit junior persons to internship positions in financial management (FY 2003).
• Work with OPM and the Department’s Office of Personnel Policy to establish the CFO Council’s core competencies for financial management as the criteria for job selection, promotion, and training (FY 2003).
• Encourage and support participation in the Department’s Team Leadership Program (TLP) and Senior Executive Leadership Program (SESCDP).
Increase the Availability of Qualified Accounting, Financial Systems, and Other Financial Personnel
The second focus of the Human Resource Program is to support the need for additional qualified accounting, financial systems, and other financial personnel to fill critical vacancies expected over the next few years with retirements. This support will include establishing a Financial Management Intern Program to recruit and train junior individuals for professional careers in accounting and financial management in the Department and bureaus. This is a new program for the Department and will take advantage of the knowledge of the DOIU in developing and managing such programs.
PLANNED ACTIONS
FY 2000 Planned Activities
• Explore with the Department’s financial management community ways to increase the knowledge and skills of the current workforce or retrain the current workforce where trends show specific jobs will disappear or be transformed.
• Design the intern program including: duration of the program, target population for selection, rotational assignments, number of hours of technical and non-technical training, mentors, and full performance level of graduates.
• Determine budget for program including: staffing, salary and expenses of interns.
• Determine number of interns the bureaus are interested in supporting through the intern program.
• Develop curriculum for training the interns.
• Develop brochures for marketing the program.
• Manage the vacancy announcement and selection process.
• Conduct a pilot class of financial management interns by 2000.
FY 2001 and Beyond Planned Activities
• Conduct the first class of financial management interns (May 2001).
• Hold orientation, develop IDPs, assign mentors, begin training and rotational assignments.
• Design and implement a financial management mentoring program at all levels.
• Develop a long-range plan to identify and implement recruiting methods and training programs that will provide well prepared professionals for the Department’s future financial management positions.