[Senate Report 111-184]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
Calendar No. 373
111th Congress Report
2d Session SENATE 111-184
_______________________________________________________________________
FEDERAL HIRING PROCESS IMPROVEMENT ACT OF 2010
__________
R E P O R T
of the
COMMITTEE ON HOMELAND SECURITY AND
GOVERNMENTAL AFFAIRS
UNITED STATES SENATE
to accompany
S. 736
TO PROVIDE FOR IMPROVEMENTS IN THE FEDERAL HIRING PROCESS, AND FOR
OTHER PURPOSES
May 12, 2010.--Ordered to be printed
U.S. GOVERNMENT PRINTING OFFICE
WASHINGTON : 2010
COMMITTEE ON HOMELAND SECURITY AND GOVERNMENTAL AFFAIRS
JOSEPH I. LIEBERMAN, Connecticut, Chairman
CARL LEVIN, Michigan SUSAN M. COLLINS, Maine
DANIEL K. AKAKA, Hawaii TOM COBURN, Oklahoma
THOMAS R. CARPER, Delaware SCOTT P. BROWN, Massachusetts
MARK L. PRYOR, Arkansas JOHN McCAIN, Arizona
MARY L. LANDRIEU, Louisiana GEORGE V. VOINOVICH, Ohio
CLAIRE McCASKILL, Missouri JOHN ENSIGN, Nevada
JON TESTER, Montana LINDSEY GRAHAM, South Carolina
ROLAND W. BURRIS, Illinois
EDWARD E. KAUFMAN, Delaware
Michael L. Alexander, Staff Director
Kevin J. Landy, Chief Counsel
Lawrence B. Novey, Senior Counsel
Lisa M. Powell, Staff Director, Subcommittee on Oversight of Government
Management, the Federal Workforce, and the District of Columbia
Brandon L. Milhorn, Minority Staff Director and Chief Counsel
Amanda Wood, Minority Director for Governmental Affairs
Jennifer A. Hemingway, Minority Staff Director, Subcommittee on
Oversight of Government Management, the Federal Workforce, and the
District of Columbia
Trina Driessnack Tyrer, Chief Clerk
C O N T E N T S
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Page
I. Purpose and Summary..............................................1
II. Background and Need for the Legislation..........................1
III. Legislative History..............................................9
IV. Section-by-Section Analysis......................................9
V. Estimated Cost of Legislation...................................11
VI. Evaluation of Regulatory Impact.................................12
VII. Changes in Existing Law.........................................13
Calendar No. 373
111th Congress Report
SENATE
2d Session 111-184
======================================================================
FEDERAL HIRING PROCESS IMPROVEMENT ACT OF 2010
_______
May 12, 2010.--Ordered to be printed
_______
Mr. Lieberman, from the Committee on Homeland Security and Governmental
Affairs, submitted the following
R E P O R T
[To accompany S. 736]
The Committee on Homeland Security and Governmental
Affairs, to which was referred the bill (S. 736) to provide for
improvements in the Federal hiring process, and for other
purposes, having considered the same, reports favorably thereon
with an amendment and recommends that the bill (as amended) do
pass.
I. Purpose and Summary
Those seeking federal employment have long faced an opaque,
lengthy, and unnecessarily complex process that ultimately
serves the interests of neither federal agencies nor those
seeking to work for them. S. 736 seeks to fix this problem by
transforming the way Federal agencies conduct their hiring. It
would direct agencies to improve their strategic workforce
planning and to streamline the processes by which job
applicants apply for vacancies and agencies fill them, and
would require agencies to develop plans for reducing the time
it takes to hire Federal employees, with a statutory goal of 80
calendar days on average.
II. Background and Need for the Legislation
Many experts over the years have recognized that the
Federal hiring process is not meeting agencies' needs because
it is too cumbersome and too slow.\1\ Weak recruiting,
unintelligible job announcements, onerous application
requirements, an overly long hiring process, and poor
communications with applicants deter potential candidates from
applying and cause many of those who do apply to abandon the
effort before a hiring decision is made. Moreover, the
inadequacy of many agencies' strategic workforce planning
prevents them from effectively identifying and meeting their
hiring needs. The Committee has concluded that legislation to
streamline and improve the Federal hiring process is necessary
to help agencies hire the strongest candidates and to meet the
agencies' human capital requirements. This report describes
weaknesses in Federal hiring and how S. 736 would address them.
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\1\The Government Accountability Office has issued many reports
highlighting shortfalls in the Federal hiring process, dating back at
least to 1990, including Federal Recruiting and Hiring: Making
Government Jobs Attractive to Prospective Employees, August 1990, GAO/
GGD-90-105; Human Capital: Opportunities to Improve Executive Agencies'
Hiring Processes, May 2003 (GAO-450); Human Capital: Additional
Collaboration Between OPM and Agencies Is Key to Improved Federal
Hiring, June 2004 (GAO-04-797); Human Capital: Federal Workforce
Challenges in the 21st Century, March 2008 (GAO-07-556T ). See also
Report of Senator Fred Thompson, Chairman of the Committee on
Governmental Affairs of the U.S. Senate, on Management Challenges
Facing the New Administration, S. Prt. 106-62, 106th Cong., 2d Sess.
(October 2000), at pp. 21-23, 27 (detailing the slow and inadequate
hiring process and recommending that agencies undertake comprehensive
workforce planning and take immediate action to reduce recruiting and
hiring delays and provide better feedback to job applicants), available
on Committee website [http://hsgac.senate.gov/ public/
index.cfm?FuseAction=Files.View& FileStore_id=ed881776-6679-4fb2-89da-
b95b684bd47b]; Report of Senator George Voinovich, Chairman of the
Subcommittee on Oversight of Government Management, Restructuring, and
the District of Columbia of the Senate Committee on Governmental
Affairs, Report to the President: The Crisis in Human Capital (December
2000) (discussing various experts' observations about the Federal
hiring process and concluding, ``There is almost universal agreement on
the need to streamline and expedite the government's hiring
process.''), available on Committee website at [http://
hsgac.senate.gov/public/index.cfm?
FuseAction=Files.View&FileStore_id=19fabe06-b755-4afa- a5d0-
d56400b42a32].
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Problems in the Federal Hiring Process
In January 2008, the Merit Systems Protection Board (MSPB)
reported on the results of a survey of new Federal employees
about their experiences getting hired.\2\ The survey found that
the largest obstacle these successful applicants faced was how
long it took for the agency to make a hiring decision.\3\
Nearly 30 percent of those hired through the competitive hiring
process waited five months or more from application to
hiring.\4\ The MSPB observed that it is often agencies'
discretionary internal processes, not statutory requirements,
that create unnecessary barriers and add to the hiring time.\5\
It recommended that agencies identify and address causes of
delay, eliminate unnecessary burdens on applicants, and
frequently communicate with job seekers to reduce the number of
good candidates who simply lose patience and drop out before
the long process concludes.\6\ The MSPB recommended that the
Office of Personnel Management (OPM) work with agencies to
develop a government-wide framework for Federal hiring reform
and help individual agencies simplify their hiring procedures
while ensuring merit-based hiring.\7\
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\2\U.S. Merit Systems Protection Board, Attracting the Next
Generation: A Look at Federal Entry-level New Hires, January 2008, at
p. 54.
\3\Id. at p. 49.
\4\Id. at p. 50.
\5\Id. at p. 56.
\6\Id. at p. 50.
\7\Id. at p. 56.
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The need to create a more efficient and effective hiring
process is particularly pressing now, when large numbers of
retirements in the near future will leave vacancies and skills-
gaps that agencies must fill. OPM reports that roughly one-
third of the Federal workforce, or nearly a half million
employees, were eligible to retire at the end of fiscal year
2009,\8\ and three to four percent of the workforce, or roughly
60,000 employees, will retire each year through fiscal year
2016.\9\ The Partnership for Public Service (the Partnership)
in its annual report, Where the Jobs Are: Mission-Critical
Opportunities for America, estimates that in the next three
fiscal years, Federal agencies will need to hire close to
273,000 full-time employees to fill mission-critical vacancies
and a total of approximately 600,000 new employees government-
wide.\10\
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\8\U.S. Office of Personnel Management, An Analysis of Federal
Employee Retirement Data: Predicting Future Retirements and Examining
Factors Relevant to Retiring from the Federal Service, March 2008, at
p. 4.
\9\Id. at 6.
\10\Partnership for Public Service, Where the Jobs Are: Mission-
Critical Opportunities for America, 3rd ed., September 2009, at p. 2.
``Mission Critical Positions'' are defined as ``positions considered
crucial by agencies to fulfill their essential obligations to the
American people.'' Id.
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To build the specialized expertise and institutional
knowledge needed for senior-level Federal positions, the
government must hire a large number of entry-level employees to
create a career pipeline, especially to fill the many openings
impending retirements will soon create. Indeed, the Partnership
has observed that the only way Federal agencies can effectively
meet their immediate and long-term workforce needs is by
recruiting and hiring younger employees. Unfortunately, current
hiring processes fail to do this adequately. Based on a fall
2005 survey, the Partnership reported that the Federal
government's biggest problem in attracting college graduates
has not been a lack of interest in Federal service, but a lack
of knowledge among college students about Federal jobs and how
to apply for them.\11\ The Partnership conducted follow-up
surveys and discussions and recommended a variety of relatively
low-cost, targeted recruitment strategies, such as email
notifications, recruitment visits by agency employees to
campuses, and educating school faculty about the process for
applying for Federal employment.\12\
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\11\Partnership for Public Service, Back to School: Rethinking
Federal Recruiting on College Campuses, May 2006, at pp. 10-11, 20.
\12\Partnership for Public Service, Making the Difference: a
Blueprint for Matching University Students with Federal Opportunities,
October, 2007, at pp. 5-6.
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The MSPB likewise reported in 2008 that Federal recruitment
and hiring practices systematically depress the hiring of the
younger candidates that are essential to building and
maintaining the workforce.\13\ These practices include weak
investment in recruiting, particularly on college campuses, and
the use of applicant assessment tools--like ones requiring
applicants to write a narrative describing how their past
experience demonstrates their qualifications for the position--
that tend to favor years of experience over skills.\14\ The
MSPB recommended that agencies change their recruitment and
assessment practices in order to identify individuals who are
best suited for particular positions regardless of age or
experience.\15\
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\13\MSPB, note 2 above, at pp. i, 1, and 53.
\14\Id. at pp. 21-25.
\15\Id. at p. 54.
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In May 2008, the Subcommittee on Oversight of Government
Management, the Federal Workforce, and the District of Columbia
(OGM Subcommittee) held a hearing, entitled ``From Candidates
to Change Makers: Recruiting and Hiring the Next Generation of
Federal Employees,'' which highlighted a number of weaknesses
in Federal recruitment and hiring and explored possible
solutions. The first witness, from the Government
Accountability Office (GAO), testified that Federal agencies'
recruitment and hiring practices have long put the government
at a serious competitive disadvantage in attracting and hiring
the best candidates.\16\ The GAO witness described a multitude
of problems: the lengthy and paperwork-intensive process,
passive recruitment strategies, confusing vacancy
announcements, insufficient candidate assessment, ineffective
use of existing hiring flexibilities, and inadequate strategic
human capital planning.\17\ Echoing the findings of the
Partnership's 2005 survey, GAO concluded that the failure to
reach out to college campuses resulted in missed opportunities
to expose potential entry-level employees to information about
Federal jobs.\18\ Other witnesses also testified to the
difficulty in reaching young people, as well as the Federal
government's need to provide better information online, where
an increasing number of people look for jobs.\19\
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\16\See Statement of Robert N. Goldenkoff, Director, Strategic
Issues, Government Accountability Office, Human Capital, Transforming
Federal Recruiting and Hiring Efforts, (GAO-08-762T) (hereinafter
``Goldenkoff Statement''), for hearing entitled, ``From Candidates to
Change Makers: Recruiting and Hiring the Next Generation of Federal
Employees,'' U.S. Senate Subcommittee on Oversight of Government
Management, the Federal Workforce, and the District of Columbia, May 8,
2008 (hereinafter ``2008 Hiring Hearing''), at pp. 3-4.
\17\See id. at pp. 4, 7.
\18\See id. at p. 4.
\19\See Statement of Dan Solomon, Chief Executive Officer of
Virilion, Inc., for 2008 Hiring Hearing, at pp. 2-3; Statement of
Colleen M. Kelley, National President, National Treasury Employees
Union, for 2008 Hiring Hearing (hereinafter ``Kelley Statement'') at p.
5 (``We believe that OPM needs to step up its marketing and outreach
particularly to younger workers.'').
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Dr. John Crum, Acting Director of the Office of Policy and
Evaluation at the MSPB, attributed hiring delays in part to
unnecessary steps that agencies add to the process.\20\ Dr.
Crum and others explained that agencies generally require all
applicants to submit lengthy knowledge, skills, and ability
(KSA) essays to gain even initial consideration, and that
eliminating this requirement could significantly streamline the
application process.\21\ Dr. Crum testified that agencies often
make little effort to recruit candidates for vacancies, and
that poorly written, jargon-filled, difficult-to-understand
vacancy announcements often discourage potential applicants
from applying.\22\ (Now, nearly two years after the hearing,
many agencies continue to require KSA essays or response to
lengthy questionnaires from all job applicants.) Moreover, the
long hiring process, combined with poor communication by the
agency with applicants about the status of their applications,
increases the chances that those who do apply will accept other
jobs before the agency makes a decision.\23\
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\20\See Statement of Dr. John Crum, Acting Director, Office of
Policy and Evaluation, U.S. Merit Systems Protection Board (hereinafter
``Crum Statement''), for 2008 Hiring Hearing, at p. 4.
\21\See id. at p. 8 (stating that MSPB streamlined and improved its
hiring by eliminating KSAs); Statement of John Gage, National
President, American Federation of Government Employees, for 2008 Hiring
Hearing, at p. 3.
\22\See Crum Statement at p. 7.
\23\Id. at p. 4; see also Kelley Statement at p. 5 (stating that
many applicants ``wait for months and sometimes up to a year to hear
from the agency . . . Many people get discouraged and find other
work.'').
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Yet another problem: because hiring efforts are generally
not coordinated across government, applicants must submit and
resubmit application materials for each vacancy, even for
positions having the same types of duties and requiring the
same experience.\24\ Moreover, with no standard application
form, the same information often must be submitted multiple
times in different formats.\25\ Dr. Crum testified that,
according to surveys, the burdensome process is a top reason
applicants have not applied more for Federal jobs: ``These
respondents did not want to re-write descriptions of knowledge,
skills, and abilities; re-write or re-format their resumes;
respond to lengthy questionnaires; and, in general, spend an
inordinate amount of time applying for Federal jobs.''\26\
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\24\See Crum Statement at p. 5.
\25\Id.
\26\Id.
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The witness testifying on behalf of OPM at the May 2008
hearing recognized the weaknesses in Federal hiring and
described efforts to improve it:
We are well aware that the Federal hiring system has
evolved over many years into a cumbersome process and
hiring takes far too long. There are few of us who do
not have a story to tell that illustrates frustration
with the Federal hiring process, whether it is our own,
a friend's, or a neighbor's. OPM, through collaboration
with agencies and on our own, has instituted some
important initiatives to ``fix the hiring'' over the
years.\27\
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\27\See Statement of Angela Bailey, Deputy Associate Director for
Talent and Capacity Policy, U.S. Office of Personnel Management
(hereinafter ``Bailey Statement'') for 2008 Hiring Hearing, at p. 2.
OPM reported that it was working to create and publish
government-wide standards for hiring, ``along with a `how to'
guide for agencies that includes successful practices,
templates, and scripts for communicating with applicants.''\28\
OPM was also working with agencies to improve workforce
planning and to shorten and simplify job vacancy
announcements.\29\
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\28\Id. at p. 3.
\29\Id.
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Shortly after the hearing, in August 2008, OPM published
its hiring reform plan, named the End-to-End Hiring
Roadmap.\30\ This initiative was intended to foster a more
user-friendly, less burdensome and time consuming application
process; clear, understandable job announcements; better
communication with applicants; and timely decision-making by
the agencies. The Roadmap addressed the entire hiring cycle,
starting with strategic workforce planning, recruitment of
applicants, hiring, employee security and suitability reviews,
and new-employee orientation, and has continued to serve as the
foundation for the current Administration's efforts to reform
the hiring process.
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\30\Office of Personnel Management, End to End Hiring Initiative,
available online at [www.opm.gov/staffingportal/EndToEndRoadmap.asp].
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S. 736's Proposed Solutions
On March 30, 2009, Senators Akaka and Voinovich introduced
S. 736 to establish a statutory framework for addressing the
longstanding weaknesses in Federal hiring. The bill would
direct each Federal agency to develop a strategic workforce
plan and to incorporate it into the agency's overall
performance planning under the Government Performance and
Results Act of 1993. Under S. 736, each workforce plan would
include hiring projections, strategies to address critical
skills gaps, recruitment strategies to attract the best
candidates, and plans to streamline the agency's hiring
process. The legislation also would require agencies to develop
ways to measure the effectiveness of their hiring reforms. OPM
would be required, using the agency plans, to develop a
government-wide strategic workforce plan and update it
annually.
S. 736 would also require agencies to simplify the
application process and make it user-friendly. It would direct
agencies to post brief, clear, and concise job announcements
using plain writing. Applicants could opt to submit resumes and
cover letters as part of an initial application, and would not
have to include knowledge, skills, and abilities essays or
additional supporting materials, such as photocopies of degrees
or transcripts, with initial applications. S. 736 would also
require OPM to offer applicants the option to join a
comprehensive inventory of those seeking Federal employment;
agencies could use the information in the inventory in filling
vacancies, making it a valuable asset for both applicants and
agencies.
Under the bill, agencies would, to the extent practical,
have an average of 80 days from the date they identify a
vacancy to fill it. The workforce planning efforts and
applicant inventory required by S. 736 would help agencies meet
this standard. Moreover, to address concerns about poor
communication with applicants, S. 736 would require timely
notification regarding the status of their applications.
Applicants would receive information about the hiring process
and estimated timeline, and would receive several notices,
including when the application is received, when the initial
qualification rankings are completed, and when the position is
filled.
Reaction to S. 736
On May 7, 2009, the OGM Subcommittee held a second hearing
on Federal recruitment and hiring, focusing on S. 736 in
particular and entitled ``Uncle Sam Wants You! Recruitment in
the Federal Government.''\31\ The first witness, OPM Director
John Berry, stated that ``there is no other priority more
important than making the Federal recruiting and hiring process
as transparent, efficient, effective, and user-friendly as
possible, from the perspective of both job applicants and the
Federal agencies that need these critical skills in order to
accomplish their missions.''\32\ Director Berry, who had
recently been confirmed to the position, recognized OPM's and
other agencies' past efforts to improve the Federal hiring
process, but he stated that real progress will come only when
the improved hiring practices are made mandatory:
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\31\Hearing entitled, ``Uncle Sam Wants You! Recruitment in the
Federal Government,'' U.S. Senate Subcommittee on Oversight of
Government Management, the Federal Workforce, and the District of
Columbia, May 7, 2009 (hereinafter ``2009 Hiring Hearing'').
\32\Statement of the Honorable John Berry, Director of the Office
of Personnel Management, for 2009 Hiring Hearing, at p. 1 (hereinafter
``Berry statement'').
What concerns me, though, is that while these
initiatives have received good press and are supported
at the highest levels within the human resources
community, they have unfortunately not permeated
throughout the Federal agencies, or, more importantly,
become a standard way of operating. Even within my own
agency, I find that sound human resources management
practices have not taken hold.
This optional, voluntary approach to driving
innovative and bold changes to human resources
management is not working. If we are going to make any
real progress toward addressing what the American
public has requested--an easy-to-use application
process that both Federal managers and applicants
deserve and a recruiting and hiring process that brings
the right talent to the mission--we must engage in an
aggressive campaign to mandate the needed
innovations.\33\
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\33\Id. at pp. 1-2.
As to S. 736, the Director testified that he was still
reviewing the bill, but that he thought it was excellent
overall and that he planned to proceed with implementing
essentially the same reforms administratively.\34\ (As
discussed below, the Office of Management and Budget (OMB)
subsequently directed agencies to adopt some of these reforms.)
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\34\Oral testimony of the Honorable John Berry at the 2009 Hiring
Hearing.
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Several witnesses discussed specific problem areas
addressed by provisions of S. 736. For example, both Linda Rix,
Co-Chief Executive Officer of Avue Technologies Corporation
(which provides human resource services to some Federal
agencies), and OPM Director Berry stressed a need to make job
announcements shorter and less confusing for applicants.\35\
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\35\See Berry Statement at p. 4; Statement of Linda Rix, Co-CEO of
Avue Technologies Corporations, at 2009 Hiring Hearing, at p. 6.
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Similarly, Max Stier, President and Chief Executive Officer
of the Partnership, testified that ``at a minimum, all agencies
should adopt a user-friendly application process (for example,
allowing a resume to serve as an application whenever
possible); clearly written job announcements; timely and useful
information about the status of an application; and a timely
hiring decision.''\36\ Mr. Stier also stated that the
Partnership ``strongly support[s]'' S. 736, and he encouraged
the OGM Subcommittee to make the enactment of bipartisan
legislation a top priority.\37\
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\36\See Statement of Max Stier, President and CEO of the
Partnership for Public Service, at 2009 Hiring Hearing, at p. 7.
\37\Id. at pp. 7-8. See also Partnership for Public Service Press
Release, ``Partnership for Public Service Applauds Senators Daniel
Akaka and George Voinovich for Introducing the `Federal Hiring Process
Improvement Act of 2009,''' March 30, 2009, available online at [http:/
/ourpublicservice.org/OPS/pressroom/releases/statement--090330--
fedhiringact.shtml]
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On June 11, 2009, OMB Director Peter Orszag issued a
memorandum building on OPM's August 2008 reform plan and
directing agencies to begin implementing many of the same
reforms as S. 736 would require.\38\ The memorandum
characterized the Federal hiring process as ``lengthy and
encumbered by burdensome requirements and outdated technology
systems.''\39\ In the memorandum, agencies were asked to map
their current hiring processes using OPM's End-To-End Hiring
Process Mapping, to review job announcements for critical
occupations and write them in plain language, and to notify
applicants of their status. The memorandum also called on
agencies to engage the hiring managers (that is, the managers
from offices where the successful candidates will work and who
will make the final hiring decision), not just the human
resources professionals, in all critical parts of the hiring
process.\40\
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\38\Peter M. Orszag, Office of Management and Budget Director
Memorandum on Planning for the President's Fiscal Year 2011 Budget and
Performance Plans, June 11, 2009, available online at [http://
www.whitehouse.gov/ omb/assets/memoranda--fy2009/m09-20.pdf].
\39\Id. at p. 5.
\40\ Id.
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OPM Director Berry expressed the administration's views on
S. 736 in a letter dated July 23, 2009, and addressed to the
Chairman and the Ranking Member of the OGM Subcommittee. In the
letter, the OPM Director stated:
OPM strongly supports the principles embodied in S.
736--making the Federal recruiting and hiring process
as transparent, efficient, effective, and user-friendly
as possible for job applicants and Federal agencies.
Many of the provisions in S. 736 mirror the initiatives
that OPM currently has under way.
OPM supports the intent of S. 736; but we are
concerned that the bill uses the legislative process to
mandate good agency practices that may result in
agencies' losing flexibility and ability to adapt to
change. . . . OPM is confident we can achieve the
intended results of S. 736 by administrative means,
through proper leadership, planning, measurement,
management, transparency, and accountability.\41\
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\41\Letter from John Berry, Director, Office of Personnel
Management, to Senator Daniel K. Akaka and Senator George V. Voinovich,
Chairman and Ranking Member, respectively, of the Subcommittee on
Oversight of Government Management, the Federal Workforce, and the
District of Columbia of the Senate Committee on Homeland Security and
Governmental Affairs, July 23, 2009.
The Committee is pleased that, with Director Berry's
leadership, this Administration appears to be making progress
in improving agency hiring processes, in part by implementing
policies like those required by S. 736.\42\ However, the
Committee respectfully disagrees that the type of comprehensive
changes that all observers agree are needed can be fully
implemented and sustained without the type of statutory
mandates contained in S. 736. Director Berry testified at the
2009 hearing that he found upon his arrival that sound hiring
practices had not taken hold even at OPM. To address entrenched
habits that make adequate change very difficult to achieve,
strong legislative requirements and the full weight of not only
this Administration, but the Congress as well, are needed.
Moreover, legislation is required to make permanent
improvements; otherwise, the current, focused efforts to make
progress may not be sustained, and the hiring process could
easily be allowed to revert or regress in the future.
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\42\For example, on May 11, 2010, President Obama issued a
memorandum to all agency heads entitled, Improving the Federal
Recruitment and Hiring Process, requiring agencies to implement several
key hiring reforms. Among other things, agencies must stop requiring
job applicants to submit essays describing the applicants' knowledge,
skills, and abilities (KSA essays) in the first stage of the
application process, instead allowing applicants to begin the process
by submitting resumes. Agencies will also be required to stop using the
``rule of three,'' under which hires must be selected from the top
three candidates. Instead, agencies must develop methods for placing
applicants into quality categories and then choosing hires from the top
category, enabling them to select from a pool of top-rated applicants.
Memorandum available online at
[http://www.whitehouse.gov/the-press-office/presidential-memorandum-
improving-federal-recruitment-and-hiring-process].
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The Committee is convinced that enactment of this
legislation would strengthen the existing efforts and make them
permanent, while maintaining ample flexibility that OPM and the
agencies need to implement reform in the manner that best
serves the unique and evolving situation at each agency. For
example, in requiring that agencies prepare annual strategic
workforce plans, S. 736 describes the contents of such plans in
broad terms that can accommodate each agency's specific
circumstances now and in the future, and the bill structures
these plans as part of the overall performance planning that
each agency must already undertake under the Government
Performance and Results Act of 1993. Moreover, the bill would
achieve reform by having each agency develop its own processes
to achieve broadly stated objectives, not by imposing specific
mandates or prohibitions. In summary, the Committee has
determined that, to ensure essential improvements in agency
hiring are fully implemented government-wide and are sustained
under any future administration, the necessary management
framework and requirements must be established in statute, as
S. 736 would do.
III. Legislative History
On March 30, 2009, S. 736 was introduced by Senators Daniel
K. Akaka and George V. Voinovich. Senator Tom Carper
subsequently joined as a cosponsor. The bill was referred to
the Committee on Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs and
was further referred to the OGM Subcommittee, which held a
hearing on the bill on May 17, 2009.
The Committee considered S. 736 on July 29, 2009. Senator
Akaka, for himself and Senator Voinovich, offered a substitute
amendment, which clarifies the roles of OPM and OMB in the
development of the strategic workforce plans required by the
bill, requires that an analysis of the contractor workforce be
included in such plans, and makes several technical changes to
the bill. The Committee adopted the amendment and ordered the
bill reported favorably, as amended, both by voice vote.
Present for both actions were Senators Lieberman, Akaka,
Carper, Pryor, Landrieu, McCaskill, Burris, Collins, Coburn,
and Voinovich.
IV. Section-by-Section Analysis
Section 1--Short title
This section titles the bill the ``Federal Hiring Process
Improvement Act of 2009.''
Section 2--Definition
For purposes of the legislation, this section defines the
term ``agency'' by cross referencing the term ``Executive
agency,'' as defined in 5 U.S.C. Sec. 105. That term includes
Executive departments, government corporations, and most
independent agencies in the executive branch, but section 2 of
the bill excludes the Government Accountability Office (GAO)
from the definition for purposes of this legislation.
Section 3--Strategic workforce plan
Subsection (a)--In General. This subsection requires the
head of each agency, in consultation with the Office of
Personnel Management (OPM) and the Office of Management and
Budget (OMB), to develop a strategic workforce plan as part of
the overall performance plan that agencies are required to
prepare under the Government Performance and Results Act of
1993. Each strategic workforce plan must include the following
elements: (1) hiring projections by occupation and grade level;
(2) plans to address critical skills deficiencies; (3)
recruitment strategies to attract highly qualified candidates
from diverse backgrounds; (4) streamlined hiring processes to
meet the provisions of this Act; and (5) a specific analysis of
the contractor workforce and of whether the balance between
work performed by the Federal workforce and the contractor
workforce should be adjusted. 31 U.S.C. Sec. 1115, which lists
what must be included in each agency's annual performance plan,
would be amended by this subsection to require inclusion of the
strategic workforce plan.
Subsection (b)--Hiring Projections. Under this subsection,
projections made under the strategic workforce plans must be
made available to the public, including on agency websites.
Subsection (c)--Submission to the Office of Personnel
Management. This subsection requires each agency to submit its
strategic workforce plan to OPM.
Subsection (d)--Government-Wide Strategic Workforce Plan.
Under this subsection, based on the plans submitted under
subsection (c), OPM must develop and annually update a
government-wide strategic workforce plan, and must make the
government-wide strategic workforce plan, as updated annually,
available to the President, the Congress, and the public.
Section 4--Federal job announcements
This section requires each agency to make several specific
improvements in the development and distribution of Federal job
announcements.
Subsection (a)--Targeted Announcements. This subsection
provides that the head of each agency, in consultation with the
Chief Human Capital Officers (CHCO) Council, must take steps to
target highly qualified applicant pools with diverse
backgrounds, seek to develop relationships with the people in
such applicant pools prior to posting job announcements, and
clearly and prominently post job announcements for a reasonable
period of time.
Subsection (b)--Public Notice Requirements. This subsection
clarifies that the posting requirements in subsection (a) do
not supersede public notice requirements for Federal
employment.
Subsection (c)--Plain Writing Requirement. Under this
subsection, agencies must ensure that job announcements are
clear, concise, and well-organized and follow other best
practices of plain writing in accordance with guidance provided
by OMB.
Subsection (d)--Contact Information. Job announcements must
include contact information for applicants to seek further
information about the vacant position and the hiring process.
Section 5--Application process and notification requirements
Subsection (a)--Application Process. This subsection
requires the head of each agency, in consultation with OMB and
OPM, to develop processes to achieve several specific
improvements in the Federal hiring process, including
eliminating lengthy writing requirements at the initial
application stage and allowing applicants to submit a cover
letter, resume, and respond to brief questions to complete
their application. Also each agency must include an agency
hiring manager in all parts of the hiring process.
Subsection (b)--Notification Requirements. Under this
subsection, the head of each agency, in consultation with the
Chief Human Capital Officers (CHCO) Council, must develop
mechanisms under which all job applicants receive timely
notification of the status of their applications at each phase
of the hiring process.
Section 6--Applicant inventory
This section requires OPM to establish and keep current a
comprehensive inventory of individuals seeking employment in
the Federal Government. The inventory will contain information
voluntarily provided by those applicants for employment who
elect to have their information kept on file. The inventory
would be made available to agencies for use in filling
vacancies.
Section 7--Training
This section requires OPM, in consultation with the CHCO
Council, to develop a training program for agency human
resources professionals on implementing the Act and fulfilling
its requirements. Agencies would be required to develop a
training implementation plan and to report such plan to OPM.
Section 8--Reduction in the length of the hiring process
This section requires agency heads, in consultation with
OMB, to develop plans to reduce the length of the hiring
process. Such plans will include an analysis of the current
hiring process, at the time of enactment of this Act, and
performed in accordance with standards established by OPM
before enactment. To the extent practical, agency plans will
also require that a vacancy be filled within an average of 80
calendar days after the vacancy is identified. This section
further requires agencies to submit an annual report to
Congress on the average time period taken to fill jobs, as well
as on job vacancies cancelled or reopened.
Section 9--Measures of Federal hiring effectiveness
This section requires each agency to measure and collect
information on key indicators of hiring effectiveness and to
annually report this information to OPM. The section details
items that must be assessed, including specific aspects of the
hiring process and the hiring managers', applicants', and new
hires' satisfaction with the process. OPM must annually provide
this information in a consistent format to Congress and the
public, including making the information available on OPM's
website. The Director of OPM will prescribe regulations on the
methodology, timing, and reporting of the data.
Section 10--Regulations
This section requires the Director of OPM to prescribe
regulations to carry out the Act. The Director of OPM is
required to consult with the CHCO Council in developing the
regulations.
VI. Estimated Cost of Legislation
August 20, 2009.
Hon. Joseph I. Lieberman, Chairman,
Committee on Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs,
U.S. Senate, Washington, DC.
Dear Mr. Chairman: The Congressional Budget Office has
prepared the enclosed cost estimate for S. 736, the Federal
Hiring Process Improvement Act of 2009.
If you wish further details on this estimate, we will be
pleased to provide them. The CBO staff contact is Matthew
Pickford.
Sincerely,
Douglas W. Elmendorf.
Enclosure.
S. 736--Federal Hiring Process Improvement Act of 2009
S. 736 would require all federal agencies to streamline
their recruitment and hiring processes. The bill would require
agencies to develop plans to identify hiring needs and
recruitment strategies, shorten the hiring process and make it
more applicant-friendly, maintain an inventory of all federal
job applicants, and measure the effectiveness of those hiring
reforms and efforts.
Most of the provisions of S. 736 would codify and expand
the current recruiting and hiring practices of most federal
agencies and would not significantly increase the costs of
carrying out those activities. The Office of Management and
Budget requested in June of this year that agencies improve
their hiring processes including creating timeliness, using
plain language, and streamlining announcements and
communications with applicants. In addition, the Office of
Personnel Management (OPM) has designed templates and is
providing training to assist agencies as they streamline those
processes.
Based on information from OPM and selected agencies, CBO
expects that enacting S. 736 would impose additional
requirements on agencies primarily to gather and analyze hiring
statistics and to provide reports to the Congress. Subject to
the availability of appropriated funds, CBO estimate that such
activities would cost agencies about $40 million over the next
five years ($15 million in 2010 to develop these data-gathering
systems and smaller amounts annually thereafter to maintain
them). Enacting the bill also could affect direct spending by
agencies not funded through annual appropriations (such as the
Tennessee Valley Authority or the U.S. Postal Service). CBO
estimates, however, that any increase in spending by those
agencies would not be significant or would be offset by
corresponding increases in rates charged by those entities.
Enacting the legislation would not affect revenues.
S. 736 contains no intergovernmental or private-sector
mandates as defined in Unfunded Mandates Reform Act and would
not affect the budgets of state, local, or tribal governments.
The CBO staff contact for this estimate is Matthew
Pickford. This estimate was approved by Theresa Gullo, Deputy
Assistant Director for Budget Analysis.
V. Evaluation of Regulatory Impact
Pursuant to the requirement of paragraph 11(b)(1) of rule
XXVI of the Standing Rules of the Senate, the Committee has
considered the regulatory impact of this bill. The
Congressional Budget Office (CBO) states that there are no
intergovernmental or private-sector mandates as defined in the
Unfunded Mandates Reform Act and no costs on State, local, or
tribal governments. The legislation contains no other
regulatory impact.
VII. Changes in Existing Law Made by the Bill, as Reported
In compliance with paragraph 12 of rule XXVI of the
Standing Rules of the Senate, the following changes in existing
law made by the bill, as reported, are shown as follows:
(existing law proposed to be omitted is enclosed in black
brackets, new matter is printed in italic, existing law in
which no change is proposed is shown in roman):
THE CODE OF THE LAWS OF THE UNITED STATES OF AMERICA
* * * * * * *
TITLE 5--GOVERNMENT ORGANIZATION AND EMPLOYEES
* * * * * * *
PART III--EMPLOYEES
* * * * * * *
Subpart B--Employment and Retention
* * * * * * *
CHAPTER 33--EXAMINATION, SELECTION, AND PLACEMENT
Subchapter I--Examination, Certification, and Appointment
* * * * * * *
3330. Government-wide list of vacant positions
(a) * * *
* * * * * * *
(e)(1) The Office of Personnel Management shall establish
and keep current a comprehensive inventory of individuals
seeking employment in the Federal Government.
(2) The inventory under this subsection shall--
(A) be made available to agencies for use in filling
vacancies;
(B) contain information voluntarily provided by
applicants for employment, including--
(i) the resume and contact information
provided by the applicant; and
(ii) any other information which the Office
considers appropriate;
(C) retain information for no longer than 1 calendar
year;
(D) not include information relating to--
(i) the application of the applicant for a
specific vacancy announcement; or
(ii) any other information relating to
vacancy announcements; and
(E) shall provide for a mechanism to allow--
(i) applicants to update resume,
qualifications, and contact information; and
(ii) agency officials to search information in
the inventory by agency and job classification.
[(e)] (f) The Office shall prescribe such regulations as
may be necessary to carry out this section. Any requirement
under this section that agencies notify the Office as to the
availability of any vacant positions shall be designed so as to
avoid any duplication of information otherwise required to be
furnished under section 3327 of this title or any other
provision of law.
[(f)] (g) The Office may, to the extent it determines
appropriate, charge such fees to agencies for services provided
under this section and for related Federal employment
information. The Office shall retain such fees to pay the costs
of providing such services and information.
* * * * * * *
TITLE 31--MONEY AND FINANCE
* * * * * * *
Subtitle II--The Budget Process
* * * * * * *
CHAPTER 11--THE BUDGET AND FISCAL, BUDGET, AND PROGRAM INFORMATION
* * * * * * *
Sec. 1115. Performance plans
(a) In carrying out the provisions of section 1105(a)(28),
the Director of the Office of Management and Budget shall
require each agency to prepare an annual performance plan
covering each program activity set forth in the budget of each
agency. Such plan shall--
(1) * * *
* * * * * * *
(5) provide a basis for comparing actual program
results with the establish performance goals; [and]
(6) describe the means to be used to verify and
validate measured values[.] ; and
(7) include the strategic workforce plan developed
under section 3 of the Federal Hiring Process
Improvement Act of 2009.
* * * * * * *