The federal human capital system needs to stay focused on mission first, principles always, and accountability for both. That’s the key message in No Time to Wait Part 2: Building a Public Service for the 21st Century, a new report released by the National Academy of Public Administration.
The report, sponsored by the Volcker Alliance and the Samuel L. Freeman Charitable Trust, is a follow-up to the original No Time to Wait whitepaper released in 2017, and picks up where the initial one left off with a diagnosis of the root cause of the problem, more detailed recommendations for ways to solve it, and a greater sense of urgency for action.
“This new report makes a compelling case for action,” said Panel Chairman Donald F. Kettl, NAPA fellow and professor at the Lyndon B. Johnson School of Public Affairs at the University of Texas at Austin. “The federal workforce is the bedrock of the government’s ability to function, so there is even less time to wait than ever before."
No Time to Wait Part 2 concludes that because the last major changes to the federal government’s civil service system occurred in 1978, each passing year means that the system falls further out of sync with what it takes to manage programs well. In addition, it has become overwhelmed by regulations that have created a culture of compliance, where meeting the requirements of the rules has become more important than delivering value to taxpayers.
According to the report, the best solution to this core problem is to change the culture of compliance to a promise of performance. Let’s take a closer look at five principal recommendations for immediate action:
1. Build flexibility into the pursuit of the mission.
Federal leaders know best what they need to do their jobs, and they should have the flexibility to build the systems to meet those needs. Evidence should drive the system to what works best, through a four-part strategy: experiment, test, learn, authorize.
2. Replace current detailed job specifications with a competency-based talent management model.
Competencies should be vested in individuals and individuals should be matched to missions, instead of having static occupations define both. Rules have encrusted the federal personnel system to the point that compliance has become the driving rule. The federal government needs a system that recognizes that it doesn’t matter where government employees sit—what matters is what they know and how they contribute to the mission.
3. Reinforce the pursuit of merit-system principles.
These principles have become even more encrusted in rules than job classification. Nonetheless, the core values of the system remain: hiring and promoting federal employees based on what they know, not who they know; and ensuring that they can do their jobs without political interference. The system must be recast to advance these principles while freeing them from the rules that too often bind them.
4. Lead from the center.
The federal government needs a strong enterprise-level entity to lead the transformation of its human capital system. It needs to focus on encouraging flexibility and innovation in federal agencies, promoting government-wide merit system principles, and developing a learning system so that government can move forward at the speed of innovation.
5. Transform the federal government’s human capital backbone.
Title 5 of the U.S. Code is the system’s core, but it hasn’t had a thorough housecleaning in decades. Some of these changes require legislation, but more than half of the necessary changes can be accomplished through administrative action. A task force of federal chief human capital officers should be given 90 days to draft a plan of reforms that can be implemented administratively.
“As this new report underscores, we cannot wait any longer to adapt to the changing nature of work,” said Teresa W. Gerton, president and CEO of the National Academy of Public Administration, in a written statement. “Our government functions and capabilities are getting further and further behind as technology rapidly evolves all around us. Now is the time to launch a comprehensive and strategic effort to rebuild the federal workforce for the 21st century, in order to more effectively serve our citizens.”
