CHAPTER 3

Developing and Training the Best People

Aileen G. Zaballero and Thomas Argondizza

The federal government is confronted by serious challenges: the imminent surge of senior federal employee retirements, budget cuts that diminish federal programs, and the declining morale of federal workers. According to the U.S. Office of Personnel Management’s (OPM’s) 2012 Federal Employee Viewpoint Survey, the largest rating decreases from the previous year were in

•  Preparation of employees for potential security threats

•  Meaningful recognition of high employee performance

•  Satisfaction with pay. (OPM, 2012)

In addition, retirements are expected to rise through 2016. According to the Government Accountability Office (GAO; 2012), approximately 30 percent of the federal workforce will be eligible to retire by 2016. In some agencies, the proportion is even larger: The Department of Housing and Development will see 42 percent of its workforce become eligible for retirement in 2016 (Rein, 2013). Given this impending wave of retirement, the critical concern is the loss of competencies and skills that cannot be easily replaced. Therefore, it is urgent that federal agencies take steps now to ensure that the next generation of employees will be ready to lead as the retirement wave continues.

FEDERAL REFORMS

Modern efforts to reform federal workforce practices began more than half a century ago. The Government Employees Training Act (GETA), passed in 1958, authorized federal agencies to plan, develop, establish, implement, evaluate, and fund employee training programs. GETA established a flexible framework for training and development by authorizing the use of nongovernmental training resources to meet training needs that could not be met with existing governmental programs and facilities. It allows agencies to fund employee training needed to achieve agency missions and performance goals by improving employee and organizational performance. However, persistent problems with GETA included the lack of effective evaluation of agency training programs and the absence of agreement among agencies regarding how much to charge for training. Furthermore, according to GAO (1977), the Civil Service Commission failed to assess measurable improvements in federal training management or determine why its products and services were not used more.

In 1994, GETA was amended by the Federal Workforce Restructuring Act, which permits agencies to take advantage of the existing training marketplace, government or nongovernment. This allows agencies to choose the best and most cost-effective training solutions and places new emphasis on retraining federal employees to move into new career areas where they will be most productive (Clinton, 1994).

Since 1993, the federal government has actively taken steps to reform training programs. These steps began with the Government Performance and Results Act of 1993 (GPRA; OMB, 1993) and continues with the President’s Management Agenda (PMA) of 2002 and, most recently, the Open Government Directive (Orszag, 2009).

Government Performance and Results Act of 1993

GPRA requires federal agencies to establish measurement standards and metrics for performance. Implemented during the Clinton administration, the law requires federal agencies to develop a five-year strategic plan that describes annual performance targets, quantifiable measures for progress, annual performance reports that explain success, and their overall goals and objectives. These strategic plans are submitted to Congress to help guide the budgetary decision-making process. In addition, this act requires an orientation on the development and use of strategic planning and program performance measurement for all managers (section 9 of GPRA). Finally, the annual reports are used to judge the performance reviews of individual federal employees and can be used directly for hiring, firing, and promoting employees.

President’s Management Agenda of 2002

The President’s Management Agenda (PMA), implemented during the Bush administration, focused on prioritization to improve the management and performance of the federal government. The PMA contains five governmentwide goals:

1. Strategic management of human capital

2. Competitive sourcing

3. Improved financial performance

4. Expanded electronic government

5. Budget and performance integration. (OMB, 2002)

In addition, the PMA includes nine agency-specific goals:

1. Faith-based and community initiatives

2. Privatization of military housing

3. Better research and development investment criteria

4. Elimination of fraud and error in student aid programs and deficiencies in financial management

5. Housing and urban development management and performance

6. Broadened health insurance coverage through state initiatives

7. A “right-sized” overseas presence

8. Reform of food aid programs

9. Coordination of veterans affairs and defense programs and systems. (OMB, 2002)

Since the PMA was launched in 2001, e-Government (information and communication technologies used to improve the activities of public sector) has implemented several initiatives such as e-Payroll, e-Recruitment, e-Clearance, and e-Training. The e-Training initiative consolidated numerous online federal training capabilities into a premier e-Training portal (www.GoLearn.gov, discussed later in this chapter) providing enhanced access to high-quality training and competency development for federal employees (E-Government Strategy, 2003).

Open Government Directive

Many Americans believe the federal government hides information from them and maintains an overall culture of secrecy. From the exposure of President Nixon’s clandestine abuse of power to speculation about Area 51 and CIA mind control experiments, this persistent notion creates distrust among citizens regarding their government. The Open Government Directive is intended to bridge this gap between the federal government and the people it serves. This directive aims to eliminate the perception of a culture of secrecy in Washington, DC, by incorporating three key principles into government: transparency, participation, and collaboration:

•  Transparency: Promotes accountability by informing the public about what the government is doing.

•  Participation: Encourages the public to contribute ideas and expertise so that the government can set policy based on widely dispersed information.

•  Collaboration: Improves the effectiveness of government by encouraging partnership and cooperation within all levels of the federal government and across private institutions.

To encourage collaboration with the public and greater transparency, new tools and techniques that required training and professional development directly linked to the objectives of the Open Government Directive were introduced.

FEDERAL AGENCIES IMPACTING TRAINING AND DEVELOPMENT

Four key federal agencies that impact the administration of training programs are OPM, the Office of Management and Budget (OMB), the General Services Administration (GSA), and GAO.

Office of Personnel Management

OPM’s mission is to ensure that the federal government has an effective workforce. Originally known as the Civil Service Commission, it was later reorganized into three new organizations: OPM, the Merit Systems Protection Board, and the Federal Labor Relations Authority. OPM’s main purpose is to implement initiatives, programs, and materials to recruit and hire the best talent. In addition, OPM aspires to constantly promote an inclusive and diverse workforce. Finally, OPM aims to train and motivate employees to achieve their greatest potential.

Office of Management and Budget

OMB is the largest component of the Executive Office. Because its core mission is to serve the president of the United States in implementing a vision across the executive branch, it reports directly to the president. OMB impacts federal human resource (HR) development and training through funding and financial control structures. OMB reviews budgets and identifies the shortfalls or excesses that must be addressed when allocating funds for training. OMB also issues directives on staffing, finances, travel, and outside contracting that affect agency management decisions regarding HR development.

General Services Administration

GSA’s mission is “to deliver the best value in real estate, acquisition, and technology services to government and the American people.” GSA oversees the business of the federal government, provides workplaces for federal employees, and oversees the preservation of historic federal properties. GSA directs and controls the management of items necessary to accomplish employee training and development, including travel, property and management practices, and technological resources (such as computers and related services).

General Accounting Office

GAO is an independent, nonpartisan agency that works for Congress. Often called the “congressional watchdog,” GAO investigates how the federal government spends taxpayer dollars. GAO’s mission is to “support the Congress in meeting its constitutional responsibilities and to help improve the performance and ensure the accountability of the federal government for the benefit of the American people.” GAO provides Congress with objective reviews of agency programs and recommendations for strategic interventions. These reviews lead to policy and procedural changes to make HR development more effective. GAO also assists government agencies and determines what constitutes a lawful training expenditure.

PRIMARY TRAINING STATUTES AND REGULATIONS

Policies that govern training and development of federal employees are established by statutes and regulations, public laws, executive orders, and OMB budget and procurement guidance. These regulations are intended to increase the agency’s accountability for employee-sponsored training and demand for more accountability from each organization. Reporting requirements have been initiated for all training and development programs.

In May 2006, OPM issued final regulations that required agencies to report training data to support workforce training needs. The rules stated:

Each agency is responsible for regularly submitting its data to OPM, and OPM loads it into a federal workforce metadata repository or information warehouse called the Enterprise Human Resources Integration. The system currently collects, integrates, and publishes data for federal employees on a biweekly basis, supporting agency and governmentwide review.

As part of the federal government’s ongoing review of agencies’ efforts to address their human capital challenges, a conceptual framework was developed by GAO (2004) as a set of principles to guide how agencies plan, design, implement, and evaluate effective training and development programs. The published guide focused on training and development as a systematic process of human performance improvement, improving organizational performance and enhancing employee skills and competencies by addressing performance gaps. It established mechanisms for collecting information about training and development programs, increasing efficiency, providing opportunities to enhance coordination, identifying emerging best practices, and developing more credible data.

STRATEGIC HUMAN CAPITAL PLANNING

Aligning human capital strategies with agency missions, goals, and objectives is critical to the management of human capital programs. According to OPM’s regulations, agencies are required to design a strategic human capital plan—a framework of policies, programs, and practices that will reinforce the agency’s progress toward building a performance-based organization and highly effective workforce. As a guide for continuous improvement, each agency’s plan becomes the means of transforming the culture and operations of that agency. At a minimum, a strategic human capital plan should include the following (OPM, 2005d):

•  A clearly understood strategic direction

•  Customer and stakeholder human capital management outcomes and goals

•  Strategies or interim objectives for accomplishing the goals

•  An implementation plan

•  A communication or change management plan, if needed

•  An accountability system.

Strategically Planning Training

Before 1993, few federal agencies incorporated strategic planning as a management practice. However, the Federal Workforce Flexibility Act of 2004 amended 5 U.S.C. §4103, Establishment of Training Programs, to require all agencies to regularly evaluate and modify their training programs to ensure they meet and support specific agency strategic objectives. Figure 3.1 illustrates the process recommended to strategically plan training.

FIGURE 3.1. Strategically Planning Training

OPM, 2000a.

Analyze Established Goals

The first step is to analyze the agency’s strategic and performance goals and determine where training could enhance the achievement of those goals. A gap analysis will identify competency discrepancies that hamper achievement of the future desired state. Some key questions to ask are:

•  To reach each goal, what competencies must the current or future workforce members possess?

•  What benchmarks can be used to create innovative approaches to reaching this goal?

•  Are there competency gaps that must be addressed to meet this goal?

•  Could training help reduce other HR problems, such as high staff turnover? (OPM, 2000)

Develop Training Strategies to Achieve Goals

The next step is to develop alternative strategies to close the identified gaps using both training and nontraining solutions. If the conclusion of the analysis is that training solutions are necessary, then a cost-benefit analysis will be required for justification of a training program. Key questions to ask are as follows:

•  Could training address the competency gaps?

•  Are non-training strategies needed to support the training intervention?

•  What types of training should be provided (e.g., classroom, distance learning, electronic performance support, on-the-job training)?

•  Do the anticipated benefits from training outweigh the projected costs? (OPM, 2000a)

Integrate Training into Strategic Plans

This step incorporates the training activities into the organization’s strategic plan to obtain the required support and resources. The strategic plan is the foundation for performance objectives and should include specific metrics. Some questions to ask are as follows:

•  What is the goal of the proposed training?

•  Can you relate this training goal to an existing goal in your agency’s strategic plan?

•  How will you measure training goal accomplishments?

•  What tasks and resources are required to implement the training? (OPM, 2000a)

Evaluate Training Goal Accomplishments

The final recommended step is to evaluate the training results and assess whether the training program had a positive effect on the needs, problems, or opportunities it was intended to address. Measuring the outcomes or results and considering the cost-benefit ratio will help determine whether the training was worth its expense. Some questions to ask are as follows:

•  Did you achieve the training goal?

•  How much did it cost to achieve this goal?

•  Did accomplishing this training goal help support the agency’s achievement of the related strategic goal?

•  Did the benefits outweigh the costs?

•  What modifications should we make to the strategic plan based on the evaluation findings? (OPM, 2000a)

Best Practices in Strategic Human Capital Planning

TRAINING AND DEVELOPMENT PROCESS

Effective training and development can attract and retain a more knowledgeable and skilled workforce. Continuous investment in training and development is essential for improving federal workforce performance and, thus, the services provided by the federal government. Encouraging employees, managers, and agencies to be accountable for continuous learning is important. Therefore, OPM provides guidance and tools to assist agencies in achieving strategic goals and creating a highly trained workforce. OPM (2011e) has provided a framework to support agencies in the development of training strategies. Figure 3.2 illustrates the phases of the framework:

1. Develop a training strategy: Training strategies require an evaluation to determine the training audience as well as a needs assessment to determine the gaps that training can resolve. This phase focuses on defining the delivery of training, developing a strategy document, designing training curricula and standards, and developing a training plan.

2. Plan the training: The training plan specifies course modules and objectives, as well as a schedule of training.

3. Schedule the training facilities: Scheduling involves setup logistics and facilities scheduling.

4. Prepare the training materials: Developing the course/module materials may include a facilitator’s guide, participant guides, and evaluation tools.

5. Conduct the training: The implementation phase involves refining the training materials, delivering the training, and evaluating the training.

FIGURE 3.2. Training Phases

OPM, 2011e.

STRATEGIC PARTNERSHIP

It is imperative that training programs build strategic partners. HR professionals act as consultants with agency managers to develop, implement, and assess human capital policies and practices to achieve the agency’s shared vision. Financial management, HR management, strategic planning, and information technology staff should work collaboratively to ensure interoperability. For example, the Human Resources Line of Business is a governmentwide, cost-effective, standardized, and interoperable HR solution that establishes oversight over development of common solutions and enables agencies to choose from a public or private shared service center for their HR functions. This allows agencies to use data from other federal, state, and local agencies, as well as nonprofit organizations and private firms, to establish benchmarks for training (OPM, 2011c).

A successful human capital initiative requires a collaborative effort. A 2012 GAO review of 225 professional development activities led to the conclusion that no single federal agency has the ability to address all federal employee needs. Therefore, agencies must work together in a whole-of-government approach. GAO found that interagency training and other professional development activities build foundational knowledge, skills, and networks intended to improve collaboration across agencies (GAO, 2012).

Some agencies use interagency rotations as a type of professional development activity that can help improve collaboration across agencies. For example, the U.S. Army’s Interagency Fellowship Program is a 10-to 12-month rotation that places army officers in intermediate-level positions at other federal agencies and allows them to learn the culture of the host agency, hone collaborative skills such as communication and teamwork, and establish networks with their civilian counterparts (GAO, 2012b).

Interagency Rotations

In a 2012 report, GAO identified key policies and practices that promote interagency personnel rotation programs: creating shared goals, establishing incentives, and undertaking careful preparation. Although interagency rotation programs can bring positive results for all involved parties, there are potential costs to participants’ career progression due to time away from the home agency. Rotation programs, if not managed effectively, can also temporarily diminish the home organization’s workforce capacities. However, in the face of diminishing resources, managers may become even more reluctant to let their high performers go on interagency rotations (GAO, 2012b).

Agencies should undertake strategic workforce planning to identify the competencies, size, and deployment of the workforce they need to accomplish their current and future missions. Such planning should also address any current or future gaps. Training and development activities such as interagency rotations should be designed to fill these gaps so that the agency can more effectively achieve its strategic goals. Therefore, interagency rotation programs should be designed to achieve the agency’s collaboration-dependent goals and, ideally, cross-organizational goals.

In linking a program to overarching or shared strategic goals, agencies should make the case that the benefits of interagency rotations outweigh the costs to the organization as a whole. Figure 3.3 illustrates how both home and host agency can benefit from the knowledge, leadership and collaborative skills, and professional networks that participants develop during their rotations. Some factors that agencies should consider in rotation planning are organizational differences in structures, planning processes, and funding sources. These differences may hinder collaboration.

Best Practices in Interagency Collaboration

FIGURE 3-3. Effective Interagency Rotations Achieve Collaboration-Related Results for Individuals and Organizations

GAO, 2012.

TRAINING NEEDS ASSESSMENT

To identify performance requirements and the knowledge, skills, and abilities needed by an agency’s workforce, it is important to conduct a needs assessment. An effective assessment addresses the essential resources that the agency needs to achieve its organizational mission, improve productivity, and provide quality products and services. It directs resources to areas of greatest demand by identifying gaps between required and current performance. When a difference is found, the assessment explores the reasons, as well as methods for closing or eliminating the gap. It also considers the consequences of ignoring gaps.

Training needs assessments also identify benefits to an agency from engaging in the assessment process itself. Information gathered during this step helps decisionmakers and stakeholders understand the concept of a needs assessment.

Levels of Assessment

Organizational assessment considers various external factors such as political trends, technological advancements, a globally shifting economy, and changing demographics. An assessment of this type examines the skills, knowledge, abilities, and occupational discrepancies or gaps that can be caused by a new direction taken by an agency. It also explores new ways to do work that can minimize these gaps or discrepancies.

Individual assessment looks at how well an individual employee is doing at a particular job and determines whether that person’s capacity is appropriate for new or different work. This type of assessment provides information on which employees need training and the kind of training they need.

Training Needs Assessment Process

Agencies must conduct a needs assessment before establishing any training and development program, as required by the United States Code, Executive Order 11348, the Code of Federal Regulations, and the Treasury Financial Manual. To determine the most useful measurement tools and training evaluation strategies, an agency should work with key managers to understand their requirements:

• What do they see as the most significant needs?

•  Where would they like to see the emphasis?

•  What are their expectations in one year, three years, and beyond?

A needs assessment helps an agency eliminate redundant training efforts, reduce unnecessary training expenditures, and identify performance requirements that can best be satisfied by training and other developmental strategies. To actually achieve the desired outcomes, the agency also needs to consider sustainability. The following section outlines OPM’s training needs assessment process (OPM, 2013g).

1. Determine agency benefits of needs assessment. Needs assessments are based on the alignment of competencies and skills with the agency mission and determine the performance requirements for agencies to succeed. This phase includes the following steps:

a. Identify key stakeholders.

b. Solicit support.

c. Describe desired outcomes that will contribute to mission objectives.

d. Clarify critical behaviors needed to achieve desired outcomes.

e. Define required drivers essential to sustaining the critical behaviors.

2. Planning the needs assessment. Planning steps include the following:

a. Set goals/objectives for the needs assessment.

b. Evaluate organizational (agency) readiness and identify key roles.

c. Evaluate prior/other needs assessments.

d. Prepare project plan.

e. Inventory the capacity of staff and technology to conduct a meaningful training skills assessment and analysis.

f. Clarify success measures and program milestones.

3. Conduct needs assessment. Steps include the following:

a. Obtain needs assessment data (e.g., strategic plans, HR metrics, job descriptions, survey results, performance appraisals).

b. Analyze data.

c. Define performance problems: occupational group/individuals.

d. Describe the critical behaviors needed to resolve problems.

e. Determine and clarify why the critical behaviors do not currently exist.

f. Research integrated performance solutions.

g. If training is the best solution, determine the best training and development approach(es).

h. Assess costs and benefits of training and development approach(es); build a business case.

i. Include organizational drivers needed to reinforce the critical behaviors that will affect problems.

j. Describe how critical behaviors will be monitored and assessed after implementation of the improvement plan.

The results of the needs assessment allow the training manager to set training objectives and identify who needs training by answering two basic questions:

•  What needs to be done?

•  Why is it not being done now?

It is important to consider that training is not always the best solution. Some performance gaps can be minimized through other management solutions:

•  Streamlining information-sharing process

•  Improving the work environment

•  Identifying the best fit for the work and the worker.

These interventions also are needed if training is to result in sustained new behaviors needed to achieve new performance levels for an individual, an occupation, or an entire organization.

MENTORING AND COACHING

Mentoring and coaching are both “helping” or supporting activities, employed either as distinct interventions or together as part of a package of personal development, that enable individuals to achieve their full potential. Mentoring is a process that focuses specifically on providing guidance, direction, and career advice. The primary emphasis of coaching is on maximizing people’s potential by working on their perceptions, self-confidence, and creative drive. Mentoring and coaching programs can be either standalone or part of a training and development program within an organization.

Not all mentoring and coaching relationships are formed through formal programs. Informal programs can also be effective in helping to facilitate these relationships. Two examples of informal mentoring are flash mentoring and speed mentoring. Both facilitate short-term mentoring relationships. Flash and speed mentoring involve short-term meetings between a mentor and protégé to share knowledge and experiences. Flash mentoring is usually a one-time meeting between a mentor and protégé, in person or virtually. Modeled after speed dating, speed mentoring is a method in which one or more mentors provide information to individuals in a time-controlled environment.

Informal coaching may occur in everyday workplace conversations. This form does not have an overall beginning or end, but is an ongoing process in which the coaching conversation is open-ended. Supervisors may adapt informal coaching as a management style when providing feedback to employees.

Some reasons why agencies choose to establish mentoring programs follow (OPM, 2008:3):

•  Mentoring helps new recruits, trainees, and recent graduates settle into the organization.

•  Mentoring enables experienced, highly competent staff to pass their expertise on to others who need to acquire specified skills.

•  Mentors play a key role in defining professional behavior for new employees. This is most important when employees first enter the federal workforce.

•  Mentoring helps employees plan, develop, and manage their careers. It also helps them become more resilient in times of change, more self-reliant in their careers, and more responsible as self-directed learners.

•  Mentoring encourages the development of leadership competencies, which are often more easily gained through example, guided practice, or experience than by education and training.

•  Mentoring helps bridge the gap between theory and practice. Formal education and training is complemented by the knowledge and hands-on experience of a competent practitioner.

•  Mentoring can help communicate the values, vision, and mission of the organization; a one-on-one relationship can help employees understand the organizational culture and make any necessary changes.

•  Mentoring helps model desired behaviors, encouraging the development of competencies in support of customer service and, above all, cultivating the right attitudes.

•  Mentoring provides an encouraging environment through ongoing interactions, coaching, teaching, and role modeling that facilitates progression within the organization. Mentoring helps establish an attractive organizational culture and is a tangible way to show employees that they are valued and the company’s future includes them.

•  Mentoring can enhance recruitment goals by offering additional incentives to prospective employees.

•  Mentoring can foster knowledge exchange between members of different organizations.

Best Practices in Mentoring

EXECUTIVE DEVELOPMENT PLAN

Development should not end once an individual becomes an executive. Lifelong learning ensures that the executive’s skills remain relevant in today’s fast-paced environment. Facing constant challenges and changing technologies, executives must pursue ongoing professional executive development to succeed and grow. It is crucial that executives continue to strengthen their executive core qualifications, broaden their perspectives, and sharpen their performance. Federal agencies are required by law (5, U.S.C §3396) to establish programs for the continuing development of senior executives (USDOT, 2012).

Senior Executive Service (SES) members are required to prepare, implement, and regularly update an executive development plan (EDP). The EDP is a key tool in assisting an executive in his or her continued development. It should outline the senior executive’s short-term and long-term developmental activities. These activities should meet organizational needs for leadership, managerial improvement, and results. EDPs should be reviewed annually and revised as appropriate by an executive resources board or similar body designated by the agency to oversee executive development (USDOT, 2012).

OPM has developed a sample EDP template that may be used by an individual or agency. The U.S. Department of Commerce has also developed an EDP template for its executives, and the U.S. Department of Labor has created an EDP template and a guide to writing EDPs that includes a sample EDP (Figure 3.4). All of these document and tools are available through OPM (2014b).

FIGURE 3.4. U.S. Department of Labor Example Executive Core Qualifications Template

OPM, 2014b.

Barriers or perceived barriers to executive development might arise. OPM’s 2008 survey of senior executives (Carey, 2011) found that many executives felt their training and developmental needs were not being met by their agencies. More than one-third of the executives surveyed indicated that they had never taken advantage of the activities commonly used for developing executives (e.g., 360 degree assessments, details, mentoring, coaching, residential programs).

Executive Onboarding

HR professionals refer to two processes: onboarding and orientation. Although these terms are sometimes used interchangeably, they are notably different. Nevertheless, both are critical processes in the successful assimilation of new hires. The sooner a new employee experiences the benefits of a comprehensive and well-implemented orientation or onboarding program, the sooner the employee will become a contributing member of an organization. Table 3.1 shows some important distinctions between orientation and onboarding.

Executive onboarding is acquiring, accommodating, assimilating, and accelerating new leaders into the organizational culture. The best onboarding strategies provide a fast track to meaningful, productive work and strong employee relationships; they are tailored to the needs of the individual. Executive onboarding should be strategic, so that it not only prevents executives’ from going “off-track” but also expedites the executives’ contribution to strategic achievement. Successfully onboarding employees during their first year of service increases their engagement, raises their retention by as much as 25 percent, improves their performance, and reduces the time to full productivity, according to research done by the Partnership for Public Service (PPS; 2008).

Onboarding of key executives is even more critical than for other employees, owing to higher performance expectations and their greater impact on the overall performance of the organization. Some federal agencies, such as the Naval Sea Systems Command and National Science Foundation and Treasury’s Office of the Comptroller of the Currency, have established comprehensive onboarding programs for their employees and executives.

TABLE 3.1. Onboarding vs. Orientation

OPM, 2012c.

Best Practices in Executive Onboarding

LEADERSHIP DEVELOPMENT

Leadership development should begin well before an individual transitions into a supervisory or managerial position. To ensure these individuals are well prepared to fill these positions, agencies may provide training for employees interested in becoming supervisors or managers. Critical to the supervisory development process is the individual development plan crafted by the employee and his or her supervisor. Through this document, the employee should be able to clarify professional aspirations, and the supervisor can provide insights on career tracks essential to both the employee and the organization.

Pre-Supervisory Leadership Development Program

The head of each agency is responsible for establishing a succession management program that includes training to develop employees to become managers (5 U.S.C. §4121 and 5 CFR 412.201). As a result of effective succession planning, an agency’s employee development program can ensure an adequate number of educated and qualified individuals to fill supervisory and managerial positions for critical functions within the organization. Agencies should consider the competencies listed in the OPM Supervisory Guide (OPM, 2013a), as well as the executive core qualifications, in developing pre-supervisory developmental programs (OPM, 2008c).

Many agencies have established pre-supervisory training programs. A catalogue of federal leadership development programs can be found on OPM’s website under “FedLDP.” This catalogue, which is searchable, contains information on leadership development programs throughout the federal government. Programs are listed in this catalogue by agency. The U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) and GSA are excellent examples of best practices in leadership development.

Best Practices in Leadership Development

SUCCESSION PLANNING

As previously discussed, Baby Boomer eligibility for retirement is at a record high, which will result in a loss of a key federal workforce leadership. How will government keep the talent pool filled with innovative, creative, forward-thinking, and dynamic individuals given these circumstances? OPM has proposed succession planning as one possible solution.

OPM’s succession management plan is a fundamental component of its overall human capital planning. It supports workforce planning by providing direction for managing leadership development resources and helps ensure the best use of those resources to achieve organizational goals and objectives. It also provides a mechanism for ensuring continuity of leadership by creating a systematic process to identify leadership needs and develop plans to meet those needs. Furthermore, a succession plan supports the identification of potential leaders—individuals exhibiting exceptional talent and performance. Employees are often made aware at the time of their hiring that they will undergo continuous training to meet the needs of their jobs, and succession management helps justify the cost of training devoted to leadership development (OPM, 2008).

A succession plan begins with a thorough assessment of the structure of functions the organization needs to reach strategic goals (including agency mission). Based on strategic alignment and data from workforce analysis, competency modeling and gap analysis, and leadership potential assessment, OPM works with each agency to develop a workforce and succession planning process. OPM compiles and presents specific strategies to address any leadership pipeline or workforce gaps identified in the analyses. Along with best practices from other organizations and agency succession planning goals, the plan will recommend strategies to lessen the impact of institutional knowledge loss as employees retire or leave and to maximize current talent utilization by closing leadership staffing and competency gaps and deficiencies. Positions that fill the organizational design can then be determined. Strategic succession planning is not about talents the organization needs now, but about foreseeing the talent, knowledge, skills, and competencies needed for the future of an agency or organization.

Senior Executive Service Candidate Development Program

According to government data, retirement among senior executives has been on the rise since 2009. By the end of the 2012 fiscal year, 33.9 percent of senior executives governmentwide were eligible to retire; 62.8 percent will be eligible by 2017 (PPS and McKinsey, 2013).

To prepare for and manage this leadership exodus, agencies must focus on developing and implementing effective succession strategies and providing high-quality leadership development opportunities for their workforces. SES candidate development programs can play a vital role in providing agencies the necessary bench strength to manage their leadership turnover.

An SES candidate development program, as an OPM-approved training program designed to develop executive core qualifications, helps federal agencies to identify, develop, and prepare future senior leaders. The program provides SES candidates at the GS-14, GS-15, or equivalent levels with training and development opportunities to enhance their executive competencies. Furthermore, to broaden a governmentwide executive pipeline, the candidate development program aims to broaden the knowledge of each candidate with an understanding of the wide range of federal government programs and issues beyond their current agencies and professions. For the federal government to expand its senior executive talent pool, all agencies must take a strategic approach to developing the capabilities of potential leaders (PPS and McKinsey & Company, 2013).

Agencies must obtain OPM approval before they conduct a program or make substantial changes to an existing one. Agencies must seek re-approval every five years thereafter (OPM, 2011). An SES candidate development program must last a minimum of 12 months.

SES candidate development programs can recruit from all groups of qualified individuals within the civil service, or all groups of qualified individuals whether in the civil service or not (OPM, 2011). Candidates from outside the federal government or employees serving on other than career or career-type appointments (e.g., term, temporary) may not be used to fill a permanent position (OPM, 2012).

Graduates of an OPM-approved SES candidate development program who are selected through civil service–wide competition and are certified by OPM’s qualifications review board may receive a career SES appointment without further competition; however, board certification does not guarantee placement in the SES (OPM, 2007).

NEW TECHNOLOGIES FOR DEVELOPMENT PROGRAMS

Rapid advances in technology have transformed the workplace in recent years. Technology has changed the way we learn, communicate, and collaborate. Advancements in technology have introduced new tools that allow learners to share knowledge and best practices, form networks, and create and modify content on the Internet instead of just reading websites. Some agencies have begun to implement these technologies into their learning and development programs, using these tools to cut training costs, reduce carbon footprints, and foster continual learning outside the classroom. Common examples of Web-based tools follow (OPM, 2013):

•  Web conferencing allows individuals to conduct live meetings, trainings, and presentations via the Internet.

•  Social networks/communities of practice connect groups of people to further develop friendships, find professional connections, share interests, and gather knowledge and information. Learning and development programs can utilize these networks to link course participants before and after a training event to share knowledge and ideas regarding the course.

•  Podcasts allow learners to access trainings at different times, depending on workload and availability. Instructors create course podcasts for learners to download and listen to on a computer, MP3 player, mobile phone, or laptop.

•  Blogs allow an author to share opinions and reflections and discuss topics in the form of online journals. Learning and development programs can incorporate blogs to provide supplemental course information and updates on course materials.

•  Microblogs facilitate the sharing of knowledge and resources with other individuals. Instructors can incorporate microblogs to create a community around a course or an activity. Instructors also can post tips, assignments, and other information pertaining to the course.

•  Integrated collaboration environments or collaborative workspaces are virtual environments where teams can work on projects and share information. Project teams can access a shared workspace where they upload files and share them with one another.

•  “Wikis” allow users to create and edit content on any number of interlinked Web pages via a Web browser. This method is used in learning and development programs to promote collaborative learning and information sharing. Instructors and participants use wikis to create reading lists.

•  Social bookmarks are a system allowing users to collect and store bookmarks online, tag them with key words, and share those bookmarks and tags with others. This type of tool allows course instructors to develop course reading lists.

•  Media sharing uses an online environment to allow users to search for photos, videos, or other media for use in presentations, learning materials, coursework, and so on. Instructors can record workshops and upload them to an online social network.

•  Virtual worlds are a simulated environments in which users can interact with one another and create objects through an onscreen avatar. This type of environment allows course participants to attend live workshops and conferences in a virtual classroom or conference space. Participants are able to interact with each other as they would while attending a real workshop or conference. Course project teams can meet and collaborate in a virtual space.

•  Authoring tools or instructional tools are software packages that instructional designers use to create and deliver content to end users. Authoring tools are commonly used to create e-learning modules.

•  Mobile learning (or m-learning) focuses on learning across contexts and locations by the means of mobile devices (e.g., laptops, cell phones, personal digital assistants, MP3 players, smartphones, game devices, tablet PCs, and e-books). M-learning devices are used to access online courses and resources and can also foster collaboration among individuals, help conduct assessments and evaluations, provide access to performance support, and capture evidence of a learning activity.

Best Practices in New Technologies

COMPREHENSIVE LEARNING PORTALS

GoLearn is a comprehensive HR development system whose mission is “effectively and efficiently implementing solutions that align workforce development with organizational goals, resulting in improved mission attainment.” GoLearn is a Web-based learning management system (LMS) or learning content management system allowing management of all forms of content and human capital performance tools. GoLearn also delivers training content and services including live “e-structors,” or subject matter experts, and live telephone mentoring. Another component is a collaborative tool capable of online meetings and virtual classrooms using real-time video and audio, collaborative whiteboards, communities of practice, chat capabilities, and breakout sessions. GoLearn also provides the following services:

•  Planning and strategy development services. GoLearn assists client agencies in developing detailed learning requirements, constructing implementation strategies, milestones, and related planning documents. GoLearn coordinates the development and communication of agencies’ e-learning business cases, estimates of costs, and impacts on the strategic management of human capital, as well as change management consulting services.

•  Acquisition support services. GoLearn provides the following services: developing statements of work and task orders, conducting task order award competitions, and coordinating activities between GoLearn vendors and client agencies, as well as making task order awards. GoLearn can manage the postaward work with a certified project management professional.

•  Project management professional services. GoLearn provides a project manager to manage and provide oversight for all LMS implementations and human capital–related IT system implementations. Since 2007, GoLearn project managers have implemented some of the largest e-Training systems in the federal government.

Best Practices in Online Learning

Individual Learning Accounts

Individual learning accounts (ILAs) provide a flexible and innovative approach to developing federal employees. An ILA is an account managed by employees as a vehicle for funding continuous learning. This allows employees to take control of their own learning and career development. By offering ILAs, an agency can shift its focus from one-time learning events to continuous learning, from required training to strategic workforce development; it can incorporate resources for training while balancing work and learning time. In addition, employees can choose what they want to learn and how they want to learn, and can gain the skills they need. The overall intent of this program is to encourage individuals to invest their own money in building up their skills and to manage their own careers (OPM, 2010).

PERFORMANCE MANAGEMENT

Performance management is an important area that has a significant impact on human capital management but is too extensive a subject for this book. Two critical points can be made about it here: Performance management is both strategic and cyclical. Performance management is tied to strategic planning and agency mission and goals; it is a systematic process by which an agency involves its employees—as individuals and as a group—in improving organizational effectiveness. Public agencies have a huge challenge to define and measure their results and are required to comply with complex regulations governing their performance management programs. Performance management uses performance measurement information to

•  Help set performance goals

•  Allocate and prioritize resources

•  Instruct managers to adjust policies or programs to meet performance goals

•  Report on success in meeting performance goals. (National Performance Review, 1997)

Because performance management is cyclical, it is critical to training. The singular function of training within performance management is to assist with change, in the sense of transforming the current state to the desired state. Training facilitates individual capability-building, which can in turn lead to an agency’s desired changes, thus improving productivity at the individual level and subsequently at the organizational level.

It is important to understand that training cannot by itself improve performance. Training is integral to accomplishing individual and organizational goals by focusing not only on individual employees but also on teams, programs, processes, and the organization as a whole.

Employee Performance Management

Employee performance management includes

•  Planning work and setting expectations. Planning, in this case, means setting performance expectations and goals for groups and individuals to channel their efforts toward achieving organizational objectives. Getting employees involved in the planning process helps them understand the goals of the organization: what needs to be done, why it needs to be done, and how well it should be done.

•  Continually monitoring performance. Ongoing monitoring provides the opportunity to check how well employees are meeting predetermined standards and to make changes to unrealistic or otherwise problematic standards. By monitoring continually, unacceptable performance can be identified and assistance provided at any time during the appraisal period to address such performance, rather than waiting until the end of a rating period.

•  Developing the capacity to perform. Developing, in this instance, means providing training, giving assignments that require new skills or increased responsibility, improving work processes, or other approaches. Providing employees with training and developmental opportunities encourages good performance, strengthens job-related skills and competencies, and helps employees keep up with changes such as the introduction of new technology.

•  Periodically rating performance in a summary fashion. Rating means evaluating employee or group performance against the elements and standards in an employee’s performance plan and assigning a summary rating of record. The rating is assigned according to procedures set forth in the organization’s appraisal program and is based on work performed during an entire appraisal period.

•  Rewarding good performance. Rewarding means recognizing employees, individually and as members of groups, for their performance and acknowledging their contributions to the agency’s mission. A basic principle of effective management is that all behavior is controlled by its consequences. Those consequences can and should be both formal and informal and both positive and negative.

Appraisal Program Development

Performance appraisal programs and systems can be based on a variety of designs, from behavioral to results-oriented. OPM can help agencies identify an optimal performance appraisal strategy to ensure accountability, fairness, and alignment with agency function and strategy. Performance appraisal programs should include the following:

•  Performance appraisal system requirements, procedures, forms, and cycles that comply with the law and OPM regulations

•  Performance-based job elements linked to the agency’s strategic plan and metrics in annual reports to Congress

•  A valid, weighted derivation formula to create summary ratings of performance

•  Broad program or office goals for performance plans

•  A competency rating tool that facilitates standardization in rating generic core competencies.

TRAINING EVALUATION

Training evaluation is a continual and systematic process of assessing the value or potential value of a training course, activity, or event. Evaluation results are used to guide decision-making around various components of the training (e.g., instructional design, delivery, results) and its overall continuation, modification, or elimination. To assist agencies in evaluating their training programs, OPM published a training evaluation field guide (OPM, 2011d).

Program evaluation means assessing how well a program is working. It examines achievement of program objectives either in the context of other aspects of program performance or in its individual context. Program evaluations are often conducted by experts external to the program, whether inside or outside the agency. GAO regularly conducts program evaluations and reports its findings to Congress.

A program evaluation can be used to ask questions about every aspect of a training program or other initiative, from the resources used to create the program (inputs) to the results (outcomes). Although its principles can also apply to an overall program, training evaluation is used to assess the training and development activities within a program (e.g., training courses and events). Because programs may have other activities in addition to training (e.g., services, meetings), training evaluation data can be used in the overall program evaluation, helping to make decisions such as modifications to courses or adopting a communication tool for remote team members.

Why Evaluate?

According to OPM, evaluations are conducted to

•  Examine the assumptions upon which an existing or proposed training course or program are based

•  Inquire up front about expected results

•  Create, then study, goals and objectives

•  Collect information about inputs and outcomes

•  Compare the program to preset standards

•  Report findings in a manner that facilitates their use. (2011d:8)

Agencies are required to evaluate their training programs annually to determine how well they contribute to mission accomplishment and meet organizational performance goals (5 CFR 410.202). Demands for demonstration of training program efficiency, program effectiveness, and public accountability are increasing. Evaluation data are used to meet these demands in various ways:

•  To assess needs

•  To set priorities

•  To direct allocation of resources

•  To guide policy

•  To analyze course/program effectiveness or quality

•  To determine achievement of objectives

•  To identify strengths and weaknesses of a program/course

•  To determine the cost-effectiveness of a program/course

•  To assess causes of success or failure

•  To direct decision-making

•  To improve effectiveness

•  To identify and facilitate needed change

•  To continue, expand, or terminate a program or course

•  To maintain accountability.

Kirkpatrick and Kirkpatrick’s Four Levels of Evaluation

One tool useful to evaluation activities is the four evaluation levels developed by Kirkpatrick and Kirkpatrick (2006): reaction, learning, behavior, and results. Table 3.2 describes each level and its evaluative target.

TABLE 3.2. Kirkpatrick’s Four Levels of Evaluation

Kirkpatrick and Kirkpatrick, 2006; OPM, 2011e:6.

An excellent example of the application of these evaluation levels is the Large Business and International (LB&I) Division of the Internal Revenue Service, which uses them in the training of newly hired field agents. The following example summarizes the evaluation of training after a redesign to follow a blended learning model. LB&I’s operational goal is to balance customer service, employee engagement, and business results (OPM, 2011). These high-level goals should be found in some form in all training, specifically in Level 4. This particular case follows LB&I’s new-hire training and the use of Levels 1–3 (Table 3.3).

TABLE 3.3. Evaluation Levels Used in LB&I Training Redesign

OPM, 2011e.

Not only is the implementation of these evaluation levels itself a best practice, but feedback from it was used to improve training. As a result of feedback obtained from the Level 1 and 2 evaluations, specific changes were made:

•  An 11-week course was changed into a 22-week course because the former was found to be too ambitious and limited the ability to track progress on live casework.

•  A capstone event was rescheduled for week 26 for hires, rather than the original week 52. (OPM, 2011e)

Best Practices in Training Evaluation