OPM Highlights FY22 Actions, Outlines Roadmap for Future Efforts
Alice Li | The Washington Post
At a press conference last week, Office of Personnel Management (OPM) Director Kiran Ahuja told reporters the agency must improve its human capital management capabilities to become a strategic center for the federal government. Although OPM has made progress by implementing initiatives to improve diversity, equity, inclusion, and accessibility (DEIA) across the government, Director Ahuja noted, challenges remain for the agency.
Director Ahuja reached the one-year mark in her role on June 22, 2022. The anniversary marks the first time a confirmed OPM director has completed a full year in office since 2015. To note Ahuja’s one year anniversary, OPM shared some of the agency’s major accomplishments under her tenure:
The agency has released two hiring authorities focused on early-career talent and is revamping the government’s Pathways Program for internships;
Implemented President Biden’s executive order, which defines DEIA efforts broadly, into hiring and retention initiatives;
Assisted agencies with strategic workforce planning for application of the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law; and,
Worked on an additional pay increase beyond raising the federal civilian minimum wage to $15 per hour this year.
However, this is not a time for celebration, according to the director. In the same spirit, OPM has more reforms on its agenda, including:
Restructuring the still heavily paper-based retirement claims process that has seen its backlog grow following the COVID-19 pandemic;
Improving the ability of agencies to attract new talent, and improving the retirement claims system’s backlog; and,
Implementing recommendations from the National Academy of Public Administration (NAPA) to move from a transactional-oriented model to one centered on being a government-wide leader in strategic human capital management.
“We’re certainly making a dent, but there’s a lot more work to do,” Director Ahuja concluded.
