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What’s Next: The Framework for Civil Service Modernization
The four principles we have outlined above provide a framework for the
way ahead, for modernizing merit. And for those who worry about whether
that modernization should be Governmentwide or agency specific, our approach
does not require an “either/or” choice between these two paths.
Rather, we believe that it is possible to establish, through legislation
and regulation, a standard Governmentwide framework for modernization
that uniformly (and unequivocally) preserves and protects the core ideals
of our civil service, and at the same time affords agencies, under OPM’s
leadership, maximum flexibility to design their own HR systems to serve
their unique mission needs. This is a logical extension of demonstration
project authority, but one that recognizes and takes full advantage of
the quarter century of knowledge and experience accumulated under that
process. It is time to move forward in that regard, beyond experimentation
to implementation.
Reforming the Modernization Process. Instead of more
demonstration authority, the way ahead should start with Governmentwide
legislation that provides the personnel flexibilities given to DHS and
DoD, as well as the same process for exercising them. As with DHS and
DoD, that legislation must hold core civil service principles -- merit,
due process, veterans’ preference, equal employment opportunity,
union representation, whistleblower protections – sacrosanct; provide
agencies with the discretion to design HR systems that fit and foster
their missions; assure employee and union involvement; and keep OPM in
the center of it all…as the overall governor on and of the exercise
of that discretion. This approach acknowledges once and for all that a
traditional, “one size fits all” approach to reform simply
does not comport with the complex reality of our civil service (the General
Schedule itself is evidence enough of that); however, it does assert that
our civil service system can be modernized via a single, overarching framework.
Reforming Pay and Performance Management Systems. Reform
in these areas should be our top priority. We believe that the framework
outlined above is particularly well suited for modernizing compensation,
classification, and performance management systems, simply because its
architecture is so evident. The broad paybands being proposed by DHS and
DoD are progeny of the original China Lake demonstration project, as are
those developed by the Federal Aviation Administration, the Internal Revenue
Service, and others who have been given this flexibility. All told, these
paybanding systems, all variations on the same central theme, may soon
cover well over half the Federal civil service; indeed, we are long past
the “tipping point” in this regard, and if we do not act soon,
we risk placing agencies outside this emerging architecture at a competitive
disadvantage when it comes to recruiting and retaining the best and brightest.
Other Incremental Pay Reforms. We believe that there
is no need for further demonstration and/or delay when it comes to pay-for-performance.
We need to expand and extend the DHS/DoD framework, its process as well
as its substance, to those agencies that are ready to move forward and
modernize their pay and performance management systems. And for those
agencies that are not quite ready to move forward, our modernization strategy
should also provide for incremental transformation under more controlled
conditions…the Human Capital Performance Fund is a good example,
providing agencies limited but nonetheless important pay and performance
management flexibilities (and funding), subject to OPM approval and oversight.
We should consider a similar approach to modernizing the process for setting
special salary rates for those agencies that remain under the General
Schedule.
Reforming Employee and Labor Relations Systems. There
are aspects of the Federal employer-employee relationship that are not
so amenable to an agency-by-agency approach, where a greater degree of
uniformity is appropriate, and our modernization strategy should address
these areas as well. For example, the due process guaranteed every Federal
employee may be best protected by a single set of adverse action procedures
for both misconduct and poor performance, as well as a single independent
adjudicating agency, for all but the most egregious of offenses. This
is not to say that the status quo should prevail in this area –
both process and adjudication clearly need to be streamlined and simplified,
perhaps based on lessons learned from DHS and DoD; however, those lessons
may be more appropriately applied uniformly across all agencies. The same
may be said for labor relations and collective bargaining.
Other Possible Governmentwide Reforms. Finally, as our
four principles suggest, the way ahead must also address those elements
of the civil service system that are best modernized across the board,
where one size does need to fit all. For example, we have just implemented
a new, standardized pay-for-performance system for members of the Senior
Executive Service, and there are other common, structural elements of
our senior career services that need to be similarly transformed (for
example, the increasingly arbitrary distinction between executive and
technical/professional leadership). The challenge of modernizing the pay
and benefits of our law enforcement and protective occupations may also
demand a more uniform approach, particularly given the illogical disparities
that exist today. Similarly, we will continue to modernize our common
benefit systems, offering all Federal employees enhancements like Health
Savings Accounts, to ensure that they remain on par with the best that
the private sector has to offer. Thus, there always will be a need for
standardization, but it need not necessarily come at the expense of flexibility.
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