The following is an adapted excerpt from the forthcoming book, Modernizing the Federal Workforce: Hiring, Developing, and Retaining Top Talent, due for publication in September 2023.

The federal government is the nation’s largest employer, including both civilian and uniformed populations. It’s important for any employer, and certainly the largest, to develop their employees to ably perform their assigned functions. Government employees perform in a host of capacities from national security to paperwork processing for the American people. The skills needed can be quite varied, unique, and sometimes hard to acquire. To fill this gap, government agencies and organizations are authorized, and have the responsibility, to develop their employees to fulfill the government’s missions.

While the history of the federal government is highlighted in the long, rich, and colorful history of the nation—the history of its talent development is much shorter and less nuanced within national policy (in the forms of Presidential Executive Orders and Congressional laws). These documents are important as they stipulate the authority and responsibility for the government’s departments, agencies, and organizations to support learning opportunities to the federal workforce. Here are some of the high-level federal documents that help guide these entities to build, maintain, and update their learning and talent management programs.

1880s

The eighteen hundreds marked the beginning of an organized approach to the federal workforce. Theodore Roosevelt set the foundation of the Civil Service Reform Act of 1883 during his seven years as president in which he outlined the fundamentals of the modern federal government. His leadership brought a thriving period of major governmental expansions that developed into the current federal civil service. Roosevelt’s enthusiastic efforts on behalf of reform led then President Benjamin Harrison (1889–1893) to appoint him as US Civil Service Commissioner in 1889. During his term (1889–1895), the full force of his energy, enthusiasm, and aggression was put toward building up the federal civil service system.

1940s

The American Society for Training and Development (ASTD) was founded in 1943. Its mission was, and still is (in its current iteration as ATD), to support those who help others achieve their full potential by improving their knowledge, skills, and capabilities. Members now come from more than 120 countries and work in organizations of all sizes and in all industry sectors.

1950s

The Government Employees Training Act (GETA), enacted in 1958, established a flexible framework for federal agencies to plan, develop, establish, implement, evaluate, and fund training and development programs that improve the quality and performance of their workforces and achieve their missions. GETA was amended by the Federal Workforce Restructuring Act of 1994, Pub. L. 103-226, to allow agencies to take advantage of existing training, including government and non-government entities. Four and a half decades later the Federal Workforce Flexibility Act (FWFA) required agencies to provide training on a regular basis to execute performance plans and strategic goals.

1960s

Executive Order 11348—Providing for the Further Training of Government Employees (April 20, 1967) states, “It is the policy of the Government of the United States to develop its employees through the establishment and operation of progressive and efficient training programs, thereby improving public service, increasing efficiency and economy, building and retaining a force of skilled and efficient employees, and installing and using the best modern practices and techniques in the conduct of the Government’s business.”

1990s

Executive Order 13111 of January 12, 1999—Using Technology to Improve Training Opportunities for Federal Government Employees—states that “a coordinated Federal effort is needed to provide flexible training opportunities to employees and to explore how Federal training programs, initiatives, and policies can better support lifelong learning through the use of learning technology.”

2000s

The CHCO Council was formally established by the Chief Human Capital Officers Act of 2002. It was enacted as part of the Homeland Security Act, Public Law 107-296, on November 25, 2002, and made effective on May 24, 2003. The CHCO Council became the principal interagency forum to advise and coordinate agency activities on such matters as modernization of human resources systems, improved quality of human resources information, and legislation affecting human resources operations and organizations. The Chief Learning Officer Council is a central body comprised of chief learning officers (CLOs) or their equivalents that meet periodically to share best practices and create engaging learning opportunities for US government agencies and organizations. Through a memorandum of understanding with the CHCO Council, the CLOC formally serves as an advisory committee and has generated measurable results to support the CHCOs and OPM on workforce development.

2010s

In 2015, Executive Order 13714—Strengthening the Senior Executive Service—established a government-wide goal that 15 percent of SES members would rotate for a minimum of 120 days (including to different departments, agencies, subcomponents, functional areas, sectors, and nonfederal partners) for experiential learning, which is important at senior levels.

Today

While each of these documents have incrementally improved talent development in the federal government. They have not been the panacea required for the federal workforce to keep up with the ever-changing technology, policy, and political environment in which they work. Vast inefficiencies, availability, and throughput still hamper the efficient and effective development of the workforce. Accordingly, a coordinated, enterprise-wide solution that provides flexibility while recognizing the unique structure required of the federal government must be explored, designed, and shared.