OPM Director Says Agency Rebuilding, Hundreds Hired
Office of Personnel Management (OPM) Director Kiran Ahuja stated that a congressionally mandated report on reforming the federal government's human resources (HR) has galvanized the workforce to support change.
At the National Academy of Public Administration's Standing Panel on the Public Service's Conversation, Ahuja reported that OPM has hired approximately 340 new employees since March of this year to combat recent attrition in federal government HR.
Ahuja explained that OPM has spent considerable time reforming federal human capital management and developing new policies. The ambitious agenda includes improving hiring, internships, pay, and benefits, and creating hybrid work environments for all federal employees. As part of this process, OPM has proposed development of a central internship portal on USAJOBS that will provide access to third-party internship programs, and to assure workers of good job opportunities, competitive salaries, and rewarding careers, OPM has taken an active stance with unions and low wage workers.
As part of OPM's initiative to sustain and rebuild the federal workforce, the agency also released a playbook for HR professionals to hire quickly and effectively, as well as a fact sheet detailing hiring authority for federal agencies.
“The goal is not just to build a federal workforce for today’s challenges, it’s to create a foundation for a federal government that allows Americans to thrive for decades to come,” stated Ahuja, “We’re mindful of the time we have, and those short-term successes provide us something to build on with some of the long-term systematic changes that we all also long for.”
Congress commissioned the Academy to author the aforementioned report following the Trump Administration's proposal to abolish OPM and consolidate its components between the General Services Administration (GSA) and the Executive Office of the President (EOP). The Academy's Panel of Fellows concluded that the former administration's plan would not fix the federal government’s human capital challenges.
Janet Hale, J. Edward Kellough, Peter Levine, Ellen Tunstall, and David Walker comprised the five-member panel that recommended the executive branch and Congress strengthen OPM's position as the federal government's hub for human capital issues (rather than just Title 5 agencies) and develop a data-driven, customer-oriented organizational model for OPM.
Although several of the fellows' recommendations require legislation, such as amending the Civil Service Reform Act to make OPM responsible for managing all human capital in civilian federal agencies, the fellows believe that agency can accomplish the majority of their goals.
“The advantage of OPM is its director is a full-time person on human capital issues. While the OMB deputy director for management has that in her portfolio, she must cover other issues as well," stated Levine, "And what we’ve seen in recent years is with the dual hatting of the deputy director as director of OPM, whether acting or confirmed, it’s not clear whether that person is speaking for OMB or OPM or what the relation is to the human capital work of the government.”
Further, Levine said the biggest change OPM needs to make is how they oversee the HR operations of the different agencies. The report recommended letting agencies handle much of their compliance-related responsibilities rather than OPM approving individual decisions.
On December 2, the House Oversight and Reform Committee voted 25-14 to advance Rep. Gerry Connolly (D-VA) legislation aimed at reforming OPM and protecting it from political interference to the House floor. Introduced on November 23, the Strengthening the Office of Personnel Management Act carries several recommendations from the Academy regarding how to reform the federal government's HR agency and elevate it to the top of the human capital management field.
“NAPA’s recommendations to Congress, the president and OPM address the challenges preventing OPM from serving as the go-to resource for federal human capital innovation, a stalwart of federal hiring flexibilities, training opportunities and retirement processing,” stated Rep. Connolly.
