The Senior Executive Service
was established by Title IV of the Civil Service Reform Act (CSRA) of
1978 (P.L.
95-454, October 13, 1978) and became effective on July 13, 1979. The CSRA
envisioned a Senior Executive Service whose members have shared values,
a broad perspective of government, and solid executive skills. Its stated
purpose was to "ensure that the executive management of the Government
of the United States is responsive to the needs, policies, and goals of
the nation and otherwise is of the highest quality." The Government's
senior executives would be held accountable for individual and organizational
performance. To achieve this purpose, CSRA gave greater authority to agencies
to manage their executive resources and assigned OPM the responsibility
for governmentwide leadership, direction, and oversight.
Under CSRA, the SES was set up
as a "third" service, completely separate from the competitive and excepted
services. It replaced over 60 separate executive personnel authorities
covering from one to several thousand positions. Top management positions
that had been subject to disparate rules and practices, with requirements
for prior approval of almost every personnel action, were joined into
a unified and distinct personnel system that provided for considerable
agency authority and flexibility.
Since 1979, OPM's approach to
executive resources management has gradually
evolved from the traditional regulatory and procedure oriented approach
to one that focuses on leadership, provides expert assistance and quality
services to agencies and executives, and preserves merit principles and
other governmentwide interests. Our goal today is to maintain a proper
balance between the agencies' need for flexibility and OPM's responsibility
to preserve the governmentwide interests of a corporate, merit-based executive
service.