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Disclaimer
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April 14, 2004
For well over a century, the merit system principles have served our civil service,
and our nation, well. However, while those principles continue to assure the
integrity of that system for 1.8 million Federal employees and the American
people they serve, we are long overdue to modernize the policies and processes
we use to put those principles into practice. As the successor to Theodore Roosevelt's
Civil Service Commission, the Office of Personnel Management (OPM) is the steward
for those merit principles, and it is imperative that we lead that modernization.
This concept paper is designed to begin a dialogue among policymakers, human
resource professionals, and stakeholders, including veteran service organizations,
managers and unions, on the way ahead - what must be done to build a civil service
system for this new century without compromising on the foundational values
that have served us so well.
Even as OPM has continued to preserve the ideals of the merit system, we have
also been at the very center of one of the most transformational changes in
the Federal civil service in the last fifty years - the creation of the Department
of Homeland Security (DHS). And while the regulations establishing its new human
resources (HR) system are still in the final stages, it is not too soon to look
to DHS as a model for modernization - in the substance of that new HR system
as well as in the collaborative process we used to design it. In this regard,
Congress has recognized the vital role OPM must play in the modernization process,
and it is a role we embrace as part of our institutional mandate.
Civil service modernization does not signal a belief that "one size fits
all." That is the old paradigm of reform. Rather, we must develop and deploy
a civil service system that is flexible, agile and responsive enough to adapt
to the diverse missions, cultures, and work forces of the agencies that make
up the Executive Branch. We believe that we can do so and still remain true
to the common ideals that have made our Federal service so special. Of course
some elements of our civil service system, such as the successful Federal Employee
Health Benefits Program, will remain uniform, capitalizing on the tremendous
efficiencies and economies that can only be achieved by leveraging the Federal
government's immense "buying power" as a single employer. In this
regard, finding the right balance between flexibility and uniformity will be
our greatest challenge.
This is an exciting time to be an HR professional in the Federal Government.
Fundamental change is taking place, and we are at its forefront.
Sincerely,
Kay Coles James
Director
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