Appendix G_OPM_end-to-end-hiring-initiative.pdf

OPM.GOV� MARCH 2017

End to End Hiring Initiative

United States Office of Personnel Management

TABLE OF CONTENTS

PREAMBLE 3

CHAPTER 1 – Background 4

CHAPTER 2 – Methodology 7

CHAPTER 3 – The End-to-End (E2E) Hiring Roadmap 10 o The E2E Roadmap – Comprehensive set of integrated components o Workforce Planning 11-17

Overview Assumptions Challenges Elements and Tasks Measures o Recruitment 18-26

Overview Assumptions Challenges o Hiring 27-37

Assumptions Challenges o Security and Suitability 38-43

Assumptions Challenges o Orientation 44-52

Assumptions Challenges Elements and Tasks o Measures 53

Appendix A – References 54

Appendix B – Participants 56

Appendix C - Way Ahead (Timeline and Milestones) 57

Preamble

The End-to-End (E2E) Hiring Roadmap is a product of the partnership between the Office of Personnel Management and the Chief Human Capital Officers Council Subcommittee for Hiring and Succession Planning. This new approach to Federal hiring is designed to focus on the applicant: his or her expectations, needs and interests. One of the challenges facing Federal agencies is how to attract and recruit qualified individuals by meeting their expectations for user-friendly application procedures, clear communication about the hiring process and an engaging orientation experience. The E2E Hiring Roadmap puts into practice the principles underlying the following Pledge to Applicants.

Pledge to Applicants*

We recognize that a Government’s most important asset is its people. To attract talented people to the service of the Nation, we believe the application process should enable rather than deter job seekers. To that end, we will work to ensure a process that reflects these principles.

1. A user-friendly application process that is not unduly burdensome or time consuming.

2. Clear, understandable job announcements and instructions for applying.

3. Timely and informed responses to questions about the requirements and the process.

4. Prompt acknowledgement that their application has been received.

5. Regular updates on the status of their applications as significant decisions are reached.

6. A timely decision-making process.

* The “Pledge to Applicants” can be found on the first page of the Delegated Examining Operations Handbook, the principle guide for HR specialists. It can be found at www.opm.gov/deu/Handbook_2007/DEO_Handbook.pdf.

CHAPTER 1 – BACKGROUND

In the next five years, the Federal Government will lose a significant portion of its valued workforce through attrition, primarily due to retirement. The Government’s ability to replace this loss of skills and experience with new talent will depend on our capability to efficiently and effectively recruit, hire and retain high performing employees.

There is broad agreement that the current competitive hiring process could be improved.

Applicants regularly report confusion about differences among agencies’ application processes, complex application requirements that are difficult to meet, and lack of communications from the agencies as to the hiring process and the applicant’s status. Human Resources (HR) professionals express frustration at a perceived lack of managerial commitment to participate fully in the key elements of hiring such as workforce planning and delays in decision making that slows the process. Managers complain that HR policies and procedures are unclear, overly bureaucratic and non-responsive to their needs.

These combined frustrations make it more difficult for the Federal Government to hire qualified employees in the stiff competition for the top talent.

Past attempts to address hiring processes have taken a component-by-component (or stovepiped) approach. Based on these previous experiences and agencies’ current hiring needs, OPM decided to take a new, comprehensive and integrated approach to Federal hiring. In 2008, OPM launched four initiatives, all designed to honor the Pledge to Applicants by transforming the hiring experience for applicants, managers and HR. These initiatives are:

• Streamlined job opportunity announcement: In early April, OPM created a new job announcement template for Governmentwide entry-level accounting and secretarial vacancies. Since April, OPM has collaborated with the Federal Acquisition Institute, along with the Chief Information Officer Council, and Patent and Trade Office, and the Chief Financial Officer Council (to name a few) in developing additional streamlined job announcements for the acquisition, information technology, patent and trademark, and law enforcement communities. The new templates reduce the length and complexity of traditional announcements–OPM’s model is now approximately four pages written in plain language and eliminates the additional requirement, beyond the resume, for further explaining the applicants’ knowledge, skills and abilities (KSAs).

• Centralized repository of qualified applicants for the acquisition community: OPM brokered an agreement across major agencies and organizations involved in recruitment for the Governmentwide mission critical occupations (for example: Contract Specialist).

The agreement creates a centralized repository of qualified applicants for entry-level acquisition positions. Participating agencies will be able to draw from this central repository for immediate placement of individuals who have already been certified as qualified for these positions. Currently, participants include DOD, the Federal Acquisition Institute (FAI) OPM and others.

• Senior Executive Service (SES) Pilot: OPM initiated a two-pronged approach to hiring at the Government’s highest levels: one approach provides for ascertaining that the applicant possesses Executive Core Qualifications (ECQs) based solely upon his or her resume and the other approach stays more in line with traditional hiring by requiring the applicant to demonstrate possession of ECQs in a more narrative form. This new practice, which has been implemented as a pilot, will allow OPM to determine whether more streamlined job announcements for its executive leadership will result.

• End-to-End (E2E) Hiring Initiative: OPM joined with the Chief Human Capital Officers

Council Subcommittee for Hiring and Succession Planning to transform Federal hiring by strategically integrating and reengineering its five components: workforce planning, recruitment, hiring process, security and suitability and orientation.

This document presents the E2E Hiring Roadmap. The Roadmap explains each of the five components of hiring, shows how the five are strategically integrated, provides step-by-step implementation instructions and establishes key Governmentwide measures for effective hiring.

The Roadmap is designed to transform the competitive hiring process for applicants from outside the Federal Government while still complying with applicable law.

The E2E Roadmap begins with Workforce Planning. Workforce planning is a systematic process for identifying the human resources required to meet an agency’s mission and goals and developing strategies to meet these requirements. This includes: 1) determining the number as well as the skills (and proficiency level) of required workers and where and when they will be required; 2) identifying actions that must be taken to attract, develop and retain the number and types of workers the agency requires. Workforce planning is also an essential tool for aligning human resource requirements through workforce shaping with budget decisions so organizations can meet their strategic objectives.

The second component of the E2E Roadmap is Recruitment. Recruitment is an on-going process requiring attention even at times when the agency is not “actively” seeking to fill jobs.

Recruitment strategies should be directly informed by workforce planning in order to target anticipated talent requirements. Posting a job opportunity announcement is not a substitute for the more focused recruiting that agencies need to undertake to fill positions with the best qualified applicants. It is essential that agencies use all of the tools available to ensure a sufficient pool of qualified and diverse applicants.

The third component of the E2E Roadmap is the Hiring Process. Effectively attracting and evaluating candidates, while following merit system principles and meeting veterans’ preference requirements, drives the components within the hiring process. It is imperative that the HR servicing office and line management engage in hiring as a collaborative process with open communications and shared accountability. Advanced planning, the effective use of technology and clear and continuous communication are keys to an effective hiring process.

The fourth component of the E2E Roadmap is Security and Suitability. Suitability is the process by which the character and conduct of applicants and employees are assessed to assure that their Federal employment will protect the integrity and promote the efficiency of the Federal service.

The security clearance process includes investigating and adjudicating the background of applicants and employees to determine their eligibility for access to classified information, as appropriate.

The fifth and final component of the E2E Roadmap is Orientation. Orientation is the agency’s effort to acculturate a new employee into the organization. As with any new relationship, how the agency treats a new employee during the first interactions leaves a lasting impression. It is the responsibility of every agency to inform and educate new Federal employees about the civil service, their specific organization, their duties and responsibilities and the pay and benefits aspects of Federal employment. This is based on the assumption that the sooner a new employee experiences the benefits of a comprehensive and well-implemented orientation program, the sooner the employee will become a contributing member of that organization and the more likely that individual is to stay with the agency.

Together, these five components create a strategic hiring process that is focused on positive outcomes for applicants, hiring managers and human resources officials. The outcome measures that accompany the Roadmap will be used by OPM and the CHCO Council to assess Governmentwide progress toward the initiative’s goal to ensure the Federal hiring process is clear, communicative and effective.

CHAPTER 2 – METHODOLOGY

The End-to-End Hiring Initiative was launched in February 2008 as a partnership between the Office of Personnel Management (OPM) and the Chief Human Capital Officers Council (CHCO Council) Subcommittee for Hiring and Succession Planning. The goal of the initiative is to improve the overall experience for applicants and hiring officials in the Federal hiring process by:

• Designing a roadmap for hiring end-to-end, from workforce planning through the first year of a new employee’s orientation.

• Integrating all aspects of hiring to attract qualified candidates, keep applicants well informed of the hiring process and acculturate new employees to agency mission.

The End-to-End Hiring Initiative focused on competitive hiring for applicants from outside of the Federal Government, which is governed by Title 5 of the United States Code and OPM regulations interpreting and applying Title 5.

Initiative Steps and Results

OPM published the End-to-End Hiring Initiative as an Operational Goal in the 2008 Addendum to the agency’s Strategic and Operational Plan. The goal states, “Collaborate with one or more pilot agencies to design an end-to-end hiring model by April 1, 2008; implement and evaluate the model by July 1, 2008; and issue a Governmentwide standard by September 1, 2008.”

Collaborate with one or more pilot agencies to design an end-to-end hiring model by April 1, 2008:

OPM kicked off the initiative in February 2008 with a one-day conference of the CHCO Council Subcommittee on Hiring and Succession Planning, along with other stakeholders, including the Partnership for Public Service, the Corporate Leadership Council, Young Government Leaders, the Government Accountability Office and the Merit Systems Protection Board. During the meeting, several agencies presented efficient and effective hiring processes which served as the foundation for developing the five components of the E2E Roadmap (Workforce Planning, Recruitment, Hiring, Security and Suitability and Orientation). During this initial meeting, the group also set the parameters for defining a successful hiring process.

After the February session, an interagency workgroup comprised of several CHCO Council Hiring and Succession Planning Subcommittee member agencies met on a weekly basis to design the E2E Roadmap and associated outcome measures.

Goals established by the E2E Hiring working group included:

• Develop specific standards for each component of the E2E Roadmap in order to measure effectiveness.

• Develop efficient and effective solutions to the E2E processes and procedures in an effort to further reduce the time to hire for both the applicant and the manager.

• Work with Federal agencies to pilot and refine the E2E Roadmap by conducting gap analysis on current practices and processes, providing assessment and evaluation and issuing formal recommendations and standards on the E2E process.

• As a companion to the issued standards, develop a “user’s guide” that provides the “who, what, when, why and how” to all aspects of E2E hiring processes and procedures. The user’s guide will include tools, scripts, tips, successful practices and other support elements that agencies can integrate into their own hiring processes and procedures.

The working groups first thoroughly assessed the processes and procedures of the five key components to determine the current facts and perceptions of Federal hiring. They identified the policy drivers and developed measures of performance for each area.

In analyzing each component, the working group assessed the procedures, mechanisms, process or procedural gaps, sequencing of sub tasks and any successful or promising practices. The working group identified several areas within each component where efficiencies might be realized while enhancing that component’s outcome. The working group then analyzed all components together as an integrated, systemic whole. They found several key linkages, for example, the root cause for less than optimal results in a particular component was often affected by one or more of the other components. In addition, the working group identified strategic “threads” that link the five components. One example is the Career Patterns initiative, in which agencies use workforce planning to identify needed occupations and the career patterns that relate to these occupations. The Career Patterns thread carries the results of this analysis forward into the other components of E2E hiring: recruitment efforts targeted to these career patterns, job opportunity announcements that advertise attractors for people in these career patterns, communications during security and suitability processes to manage expectations for these employees and an orientation process that addresses the specific concerns and expectations of employees exhibiting these career patterns. Other strategic threads were identified to assure clear integration of the five components of hiring.

Implement and evaluate the model by July 1, 2008:

From April through June 2008, CHCO Council subcommittee pilot agencies continued collaborating with OPM on a process to test and improve the E2E Roadmap. Each component of the Roadmap was piloted in at least one agency and in some cases multiple agencies piloted one component to enable comparison of experiences. To launch the pilot process, agencies conducted gap analyses between their “as-is” and the “to-be” processes and procedures delineated in the Roadmap and created implementation plans for testing the new processes and procedures. The pilot agencies also established baselines against several of the outcome measures identified by the workgroup for the E2E Roadmap.

Midway through the pilot process, agencies assessed the implementation results, identifying successes, challenges and any gaps in policy, process or procedure. The working group analyzed these assessment results and incorporated pilot agency recommendations and lessons learned into the Roadmap.

During the pilot phase, the five component workgroups further developed the E2E Roadmap components, researching promising practices and creating a step-by-step guide for implementing each component. Workgroup and pilot agencies met every two weeks to discuss the interrelatedness between the developing model and the implementation testing. The result of this effort is the Roadmap contained in this document.

Issue a Governmentwide standard by September 2008:

To ensure that the Federal human resource community had the opportunity to comment on the Roadmap, OPM disseminated the draft to all the CHCO Council agencies on July 2, including additional representatives from the small agency community. Thirteen agencies responded with constructive feedback including specific suggestions for changes to the document. Based on this feedback, the Roadmap was revised and reviewed with the interagency working group. The final version was shared with the CHCO Council’s Hiring and Succession Planning Subcommittee for approval prior to its Governmentwide dissemination on September 1, 2008.

CHAPTER 3 – THE E2E HIRING ROADMAP

The Roadmap - A Comprehensive / Integrated Set of Components

Hiring Process (Applicant - 70 calendar days / Manager - 80 calendar days)

Validate Need

(1 Day)

Request Personnel

Action (1 Day)

Review / update Position

Description (1 Day)

Confirm Job Analysis and Assessment

Develop Strategy (5 Days)

Create and Post Job

Opportunity Announcement including Career Patterns

(2 Days)

Receive Applications & Notify Applicants

(10 Days)

Orientation

Security/Suitability

Validate Need

(1 Day)

Designate Position Sensitivity/Determine Level of Investigation

(1 Day)

Close Job Opportunity Announcement

D yn am ic

P ro ce ss es St at ic

P ro ce ss

Building the Foundation

(60 Days prior to Entry on Duty)

Initial Acceptability Using OF-306

(1 Day)

Initiate Request for Investigation (10 Days)

Adjudicate Investigation

(20 Days)

Investigation In progress Interim

Credentialing upon

Fingerprinting Results (2 Days)

(40 Days if extensive investigation required)

Pre-On-boarding (20 Days prior to Entry on Duty)

Engagement & Training

(1st 30-90 Days)

Performance & Team Building

(120 Days from Entry on Duty)

Integration & Transition (300+days from Entry on Duty)

On-boarding Phase I: 1st 5 Days

Phase II: 1st 30 Days

Evaluate Applications

(15 Days)

Issue Cert

/ Notify Applicants

(1 Day)

Selecting Official:

Review Applications / Conduct Interviews / Check References /

Select / Return Certificate (15 Days)

Tentative Job Offer /

Acceptance (3 Days)

Initiate Security

Check (10 Days)

Official Offer /

Acceptance (2 Days)

Entry on Duty

(14 Days)

Workforce Planning Set Strategic

Direction (Human Capital Strategic Plan)

Analyze Workforce Supply & Demand

Develop Competency Action Plan

Implement Plan (Start of FY)

Monitor / Maintain Reconcile

(Continuous)

Recruitment

Create Agency Brand

Create Recruiting / Staffing Plans

Develop Marketing Strategies

Identify Career Patterns

Cultivate Relationships Build Network

(On-Going)St at ic P ro ce ss es

Select / Train Recruitment

Team (On-going)

(6 mos prior to FY start)

Evaluate / Measure (Quarterly Reporting)

Adjust Plan (As needed)

Evaluate / Measure Recruiting / Staffing

Plans Marketing Strategies (On-Going)

Adjust Plan (As needed / required)

Identify Agency- Specific

Recruitment Cycles (5 Days)

(6 mos prior to FY start)

(6 mos prior to FY start)

WORKFORCE PLANNING ROADMAP

Workforce Planning

Workforce Planning Recruitment Hiring Security / Suitability Orientation

► 7 functions ► 52 weeks

Set Strategic Direction

(Human Capital Strategic Plan)

Analyze Workforce Supply & Demands

Develop Competency Action Plan

Implement Plan Monitor - Maintain Reconcile

(Continuous)

Evaluate – Measure (Quarterly)

Adjust Plan (As Required)

1 Oct1 Apr

6 Months Prior to FY Start

Budget Execution

OVERVIEW

Workforce planning is a major component of strategic human capital management. It is defined as the systematic process for identifying and addressing the gaps between the workforce of today and the human capital needs of tomorrow. Workforce planning is based upon a set of workforce analyses which provide insight into how agencies can align their workforce to meet human capital goals and objectives that link to the agency’s mission and strategic objectives.

Effective workforce planning enables the organization to: 1) link workforce requirements directly to the agency’s mission and strategic and annual business plans; 2) develop a comprehensive picture of where gaps exist between competencies the workforce currently possesses and future competency requirements; 3) identify and implement gap reduction strategies, especially for mission critical occupations; 4) make decisions about how best to structure the organization and deploy the workforce; and 5) identify and overcome internal and external barriers to accomplishing strategic workforce goals.

Identifying workforce requirements requires a top-down approach beginning with the agency’s strategic objectives. Analysis must include consistent, reasoned criteria and methods for determining and validating the positions’ required skills, grades, types and locations.

The development of practical workforce strategies to include recruiting, retention and shaping requires the participation of executive leadership, management, employees, and agency staff responsible for financial management and acquisition as well as human resources. A good workforce planning process also will have a comprehensive communication plan and change management mechanisms in place as tools to allow agency personnel to adjust recruiting and retention strategies relative to possible changes in mission and/or resourcing.

Workforce planning is also an essential tool for aligning budget allocations to human resources requirements so organizations can meet their strategic objectives. The workforce planning process has multiple steps and is a continuous, cyclical process that must begin well before the new budget execution cycle. The workforce planning process is designed for execution in sequence as each step informs the next. For practical purposes it is necessary to begin some steps prior to completion of the next step, and to align execution of steps with the budget planning and execution timeline.

Workforce planning is an essential piece of the hiring process. But it is not a stand alone component; as previously stated, it must be correctly done up front if the other four components of the hiring process are to be effective. Once the workforce planning phase is complete, it must be effectively managed as it will impact the subsequent related hiring components.

ASSUMPTIONS

• Workforce planning is used as the keystone to an effective and efficient recruiting and hiring program

• Workforce planning is an ongoing process tied to budgetary decision making

• Agency Strategic Plan is current

• Agency has dedicated workforce planners who are trained and competent on use of workforce analysis

• Workforce planning is conducted in concert with other agency staff functions (budget, human resources, operations, logistics, facilities, information technology (IT), other)

• The current workforce competencies are validated. If competencies are not validated, additional time will be needed to adequately develop, assess and validate the competency model

• There will be variation in the time needed to accomplish tasks due to the following:

o Executive interest and message to agency, workgroup, etc.

o Expertise in workforce planning o Size of agency

CHALLENGES

• Inadequate analysis tools or systems

• Lack of workforce planning competencies and expertise

ELEMENTS AND TASKS

Set Strategic Direction (6 months prior to beginning of fiscal year (FY), 4-6 weeks duration) - Align the workforce planning process with the agency’s strategic plan, annual performance and business plans and work activities.

Ownership: Executive and mid-level management, Human Resources Office

• Obtain leadership commitment to include champion at executive level

• Set mission, vision and objectives with emphasis on integrating agency and component level organization perspectives

• Identify organizational direction and ensure that all supporting plans and documentation link to workforce planning efforts:

o Agency Strategic Plan o Human Capital Plan o Recruitment Plan (agency branding efforts, staffing plan, Career Patterns analysis, hiring flexibilities, incentives) o Succession Plan (mission critical occupations, key leader) o Career Pattern analytical tool

• Identify roles and responsibilities:

o Define and integrate Human Resources as a strategic partner o Have a process for soliciting and receiving input from line managers, team leaders and key workforce planning staff o Identify current processes and conduct risk assessment to include barrier analysis.

Develop Workforce Planning System and Processes:

o Workforce Plan should be completed 90 days prior to fiscal year.

o Workforce plan is integrated with the budget cycle (year of execution and at least one budget year).

o Ensure workforce requirements are appropriately prioritized and all necessary funding and resources are in place to execute the plan and document unfunded requirements and impacts.

• Identify desired results of workforce planning system:

o Make the business case for workforce planning.

• Set measures for organizational performance.

Best Practice: Create a Strategic Workforce Planning Team made up of key personnel from different organizational levels.

Analyze Workforce Data and Identify Skill Gaps (6 months prior to beginning of FY) - Analyze the current workforce and then compare needs against available skills.

Ownership: Managers, Human Resources Office

• Analyze current state of workforce to answer two basic questions, “Who works for the organization today?” and “What skills, and at what strength and proficiency levels, exist in the organization’s current workforce?”

• Conduct baseline assessment:

o Population: total workforce, organizational composition, series, grade/band, etc.

o Workforce projections: accessions/separations, transfers, retirement, turnover/attrition, termination, retention.

o Consider the many variables regarding workforce demographics.

• Analyze future state of the workforce:

o Develop workforce requirements (this becomes the foundation for developing the position descriptions).

o Future considerations, such as labor trends, market shifts, economic factors, educational trends, technology changes, competitive sourcing, hard to fill jobs, bench strength of workforce and reorganizations.

o Develop forecast models of both best case scenarios and worst case scenarios.

o Identify mission critical occupations such as; IT, Human Resources Management and Acquisition.

o Complete the Career Patterns checklist to ensure agency talent needs are identified.

• Conduct workforce competency assessment (the identified competencies are derived from job analysis):

o Review mission, strategy and trend data to develop competency models for mission critical occupations.

o Work with senior agency and program leadership to refine and select strategic competencies.

o Review positions to identify where those competencies are required.

o Assess current workforce against required competencies, including desired proficiency levels for each position.

o Use competency assessment results to analyze the gaps between current workforce and identified needs.

Use “future state” analysis to consider evolution of current workforce into the future, including changes in demand and supply.

The results of this phase will help develop strategies to manage the future workforce to meet mission requirements.

Validate and utilize assumptions for scenario building.

o Forecast hiring needs by number and occupation (skill) and develop strategies for a proactive approach to meeting projected vacancies.

o At this point, agencies may:

Get pre-approval from upper management for proactive recruitment to required/approved levels of hiring.

Develop a system for tracking hiring against vacancies as per the approved hiring plan.

• Complete job analysis (performed in the Workforce Planning process by the Human

Resources Office).

o Create position description.

• Assess risk level and sensitivity level for the position.

Develop Competency Action Plan (6 months prior to beginning of FY) - Identify strategies to close gaps, plans to implement the strategies and measures to assess strategic progress

Ownership: Manager, Human Resource Office

• Develop plan to close competency gaps:

o Create strategies, implementation actions and timelines to close the gaps.

o Identify plan stakeholders and responsibilities (who does what and when).

o Identify critical success factors, measures and risks.

o Identify strategies to close competency gaps including recruitment, training, redeployment, mentoring and other initiatives.

o Set milestones against which to periodically assess the plan to ensure objectives are being achieved.

• Develop Human Resources infrastructure and program support to implement the actions.

o Recruitment Plan: agency branding efforts, staffing plan, identify Career Patterns, identify hiring flexibilities, incentives.

• Develop communications strategy.

Tip: The workforce plan will include a number of strategies for addressing talent management issues. For instance agencies may choose to close competency gaps through recruitment, training and development, business process reengineering, etc, all of which may require a separate action plan that includes associated resourcing issues.

Implement (beginning of FY) - Ensure human and fiscal resources are in place, roles are understood and the necessary communication and coordination occur to execute the plan and achieve strategic objectives.

• Develop an implementation strategy for the workforce plan:

o Ensure that all roles are clarified o Establish timelines and milestones o Provide for accountability as appropriate

• Communicate the workforce plan (continuous–not a one-time effort).

• Obtain organizational buy-in:

o Executive level buy-in o Consider using pilot initiatives to test innovative methods and approaches as well as manage change o Establish reconciliation mechanism to compare the plan against actual results during implementation o Revise based on feedback from managers, workforce and other stakeholders

Monitor (during workforce plan implementation) - Observe, review and monitor program activities and internal and external developments that may affect the action plan

• Monitor progress against milestones and measures

• Adjust plan as needed to address new workforce issues resulting from changes in mission priorities or resourcing posture

• Assess for continuous improvement purposes

TIP: The following questions may help to determine effectiveness of the strategies:

• Are there any needed adjustments to the plan and strategies?

• Were the strategies completed?

• Are the assumptions of the need and supply analysis still valid?

• Have there been any new workforce and organizational issues that have occurred?

• Did you meet your projected business outcomes?

Evaluate (quarterly) - Assure linkage of workforce planning to accountability system and processes

• Assess outcomes against indicators to determine success, lessons learned and failures

• The agency’s plan is evaluated by internal stakeholders for effectiveness and to determine if adjustments are required

• Address new workforce and organizational issues

• Monitor progress against milestones

• Assess for continuous improvement purposes

Adjust Plan (as required) - Make adjustments to plan to address all relevant issues

MEASURES

Percentage of managers reporting they have the information needed to make effective decisions regarding staffing requirements.

Percentage of annual staffing projection (number and required competencies) achieved (Source:

Annual Human Capital Management Report and Systems, Standards and Metrics, Mission Critical Occupation Resource Chart).

RECRUITMENT ROADMAP

Recruitment

Hiring Security / Suitability Orientation

Create Agency Brand

Select and Train Recruitment Team

(On-going)

Create Recruiting and Staffing Plans

Identify Career Patterns

Develop Marketing Strategies

Cultivate Relationships

Build Networks (On-going)

Identify Agency- Specific

Recruitment Cycles (5 Days)

1 Oct1 Apr

6 Months Prior to FY Start

Budget Execution

Workforce Planning Recruitment

► 9 functions ► 180 to 270 days – specific to the agency’s Human Capital Strategic Plan

Evaluate and Measure Recruiting, Staffing and Marketing Plans

(On-going)

Adjust Plan (As required)

Effective recruitment in high-performing organizations occurs when management owns the process and human capital efforts are tied to the agency’s mission and program goals. The agency’s recruiting and workforce planning efforts must be based on the understanding of the talent challenges, hiring needs, required skills and competencies and a comprehensive strategic human capital plan. Hiring priorities and overall recruitment strategies must be outlined and approved in the workforce planning process.

Recruitment is an on-going process which requires attention and resources, even when agencies are not "actively" seeking to fill jobs. Posting a job opportunity announcement is not a substitute for the more focused recruiting agencies should undertake to fill positions with highly qualified applicants. Passive recruitment strategies have proven ineffective in attracting the best qualified and most diverse pool of candidates. Agencies with a proactive recruitment model focused on building talent pipelines, cultivating and maintaining partnerships, monitoring recruiting activities and sharing accountability will be more successful in securing top talent.

Recruitment budgets in most agencies have remained steady or decreased. Agencies must ensure their recruitment teams have the necessary training, tools and support to maintain or increase the quality of hires while working within the constraints of limited resources. In order to develop a solid, efficient recruiting plan after first identifying, validating and prioritizing workforce requirements, it must bedetermined where the highest payoff can be realized and targeting those areas/institutions first. Developing employment branding and identifying strategic recruitment activities in the up-front phase of the workforce planning process will better position agencies to achieve greater results in recruiting top quality hires.

To assess and improve the way the Federal Government is attracting the right talent, agencies should solicit feedback from new hires with no prior civil service experience for assessing the reasons they chose to work for the agency, as well as their job search and hiring experience.

• Recruitment is:

o Based on merit principles o A critical management function o An ongoing process requiring constant management and adjustments based on changes in the organization’s mission or resources

• Complies with statutes and regulations

• Accords with the “Pledge to Applicants”

• Strong commitment and support from senior-level officials and managers in the recruiting process at all levels

• Agencies’ human capital initiatives include strategies to attract, recruit, develop and retain a diverse workforce

• Workforce Plan was developed and up-front planning activities were conducted

• Agencies promote their mission and career opportunities to potential applicants at all times, not just when filling jobs

• Full-time Equivalent (FTE) allocations and recruitment initiatives are aligned with the agency’s strategic priorities and performance budget, and are funded within existing budgetary guidelines

• Resource constraints for recruiting activities (e.g., staff)

• Talent shortage in the job market and increased competition across Federal agencies for highly qualified talent

• Shortage of highly skilled human resources practitioners

• Existing technology/automation is not always used effectively, especially for tracking and reporting

• Inattention to recruiting process optimization due to lack of planning, staff, training and resources

Create or Refine Agency Brand (as necessary)

Ownership: Managers

Maximum number of calendar days: 6 months prior to fiscal year (in conjunction with workforce planning)

• Develop an agency “brand” and branding strategies to build credibility with employees and potential applicants. Large agencies may want to develop an agency brand in addition to brands for bureaus and component agencies

• Develop strategies to implement the brand; branding the job is also important

• Ensure brand execution on the website

• Create recruiting materials and e-recruiting tools that reflect the agency brand

• Conduct brand audit to understand the internal state of the brand (e.g., What do employees and new hires think about the agency brand? Does the agency have any “off-brand” recruiting materials? Are potential applicants aware of the brand?)

Helpful Hint: Large agencies may find it difficult to create a consistent brand that applies to all its components. Find a unified theme that best describes the mission of the agency. Also, consider how well the brand will translate across the country.

Select and Train Recruitment Team

Maximum number of days: On-going.

• Create a recruiting toolkit for the recruitment team and “train the trainer” materials

• Select a cadre of effective and diverse recruiters with the right competencies to market the agency mission and its careers; recruitment teams should comprise a variety of career employees (e.g., managers, recent college graduates/new hires, human resources practitioners, “veterans” of the agency) who are in the kind of jobs for which the agency is recruiting

• Train recruiters on recruitment functions, protocols, roles and responsibilities in the recruiting process

• Designate an individual and/or committee to work with the recruitment faculty at colleges, universities, downsizing industries, military transition centers, or other institutions that might provide a source of qualified candidates

• Designate someone to identify and build relationships with professional organizations

• Review training materials frequently to ensure information is current

Helpful Hint: Include in your training program information on appointing authorities and recruitment, relocation, retention and other incentives.

Create Recruitment and Staffing Plans

Maximum number of calendar days: 6 months prior to fiscal year.

• Align recruitment plan with the agency workforce plan, staffing acquisition plan, succession plan, affirmative employment plan, retention plan and other human capital initiatives

• Set an overall recruitment vision for the agency and articulate goals, objectives, expectations and accountability

• Request input from stakeholders in the development of recruitment strategies

• Identify skills gaps

• Create an evaluation plan

• Review career paths and utilize individual developmental plans

• Analyze retirement projections and exit interview survey data

• Analyze staffing needs

• Identify incentives, such as student loan repayments and recruitment and relocation incentives to attract high-quality candidates. Incentives must be aligned with the agency’s strategic priorities and performance and funded within existing budgetary resources

• Establish a mechanism to communicate with stakeholders groups

• Select recruiting metrics (e.g., applicants per recruiting source, recruitment yield, high-quality candidate ratio) and establish measures for assessing the effectiveness of individual recruitment activities (e.g., qualified applicants return on investment (ROI), offers ROI, hires ROI)

• Identify talent pools and recruitment methods o Study labor market o Determine skills sets of talent pools o Determine positions needing additional sourcing o Identify recruiting sources:

Colleges and universities with strong undergraduate and/or graduate programs in relevant areas

Job fairs Career placement offices Professional organizations Advertisements in professional association publications In-person presentations at professional gatherings (e.g., luncheons, conferences) Internet Resume banks Job announcements on listserv

Job boards (e.g., private sources, as well as USAJOBS) Online forums (i.e., blogs) Industry-specific publications (advertise) Military transition centers and veterans organizations Employee referrals Applicant search firms State employment offices

• Determine internal and external applicant sources (both competitive and non-competitive).

Identify Career Patterns

Ownership: Managers

Maximum number of calendar days: 90 days prior to fiscal year (in conjunction with workforce planning).

• Develop strategies to connect employees to the career path they want to be on and identify Career Patterns dimension such as time in career, mobility, permanence and flexible arrangements. For information on the Career Pattern initiative refer to http://www.opm.gov/hcaaf_resource_center/careerpatterns/.

Helpful Hint: Market the competitive Federal benefits package (e.g. annual leave, sick leave, health insurance, retirement) and work-life programs to attract the next generation of Federal employees, as well as experienced workers with appropriate competencies.

http://www.opm.gov/hcaaf_resource_center/careerpatterns/

Develop Marketing Strategies

Ownership: Managers, Human Resources Offices

Maximum number of calendar days: 90 days prior to fiscal year (in conjunction with workforce planning)

• Create or improve recruiting page on agency’s website to communicate effectively with applicants

• Select job posting websites to reach desired talent; include non-traditional marketing as part of the overall recruiting efforts to reach out to a diverse applicant pool

• Improve and streamline job opportunity announcements to ensure the information is clear and understandable to applicants

• Provide a realistic job preview to applicants; employment branding must be in sync with what the job is really like

• Survey the new-hires who were a good fit in their jobs and organizations at milestone points throughout their first year in the position to gauge their satisfaction with agency recruiting strategies; obtain their suggestions on ways to attract high-quality applicants

Helpful Hint: Share proven recruitment strategies and marketing models that work for the agency with its departments/components; this approach will eliminate costly and inefficient practices in the agency; establish a central resource center facilitates intra-agency distribution of information.

Cultivate Relationships and Build Networks

Ownership: Managers

Maximum number of calendar days: On-going

• Establish relationships with community colleges, four-year colleges and universities and professional organizations to draw from a cross-section of society (including, for example, historically black colleges and universities, Hispanic-serving institutions, women’s colleges and schools with international programs)

• Partner with professional organizations that reach out to diverse applicant pools

• Develop effective relationships with university career placement offices, faculty and student and alumni organizations and keep them informed of internship opportunities and vacancy announcements

• Provide colleges and universities with data on projected hiring needs and skills that will be on demand in the future so they can tailor their courses to address those needs;

partner with targeted universities in curriculum design

• Develop recruitment strategies (or localized marketing efforts) to fill a particular skills gap (e.g., military transition centers to fill acquisition gaps)

• Host speaking engagements at local middle and high schools to educate students about your agency’s mission and careers and grow the next generation of applicants

• Develop targeted recruitment strategies for specific skills needed (e.g., partnership with

Federal Acquisition Institute).

Helpful Hint: Partner with student, employee and professional organizations to conduct workshops on how to apply for a Federal government job and/or provide materials online to help educate applicants

Identify Agency-Specific Recruitment Cycles

Maximum number of calendar days: 5

• Determine recruitment cycles based on the recruitment and staffing plans

• Coordinate agency-wide recruitment activities to maximize communications with recruitment teams and avoid duplication of efforts

• Develop and implement an ongoing feedback process and evaluation on the recruiting system

Helpful Hints: Post the calendar of professional and collegiate recruiting events the recruitment team will attend during the fiscal year on the agency’s career website; also, a well-managed Student Career Experience Program (SCEP) summer intern program provides available talent pool for entry- and career-level positions

Evaluate and Measure Recruitment, Staffing Plans and Marketing Strategies

Maximum number of calendar days: On-going or within 60 days of event

• Implement metrics to monitor the effectiveness of the recruitment program

• Review results of recruitment activities and identify what recruitment sources led to a larger number of qualified hires

• Monitor attrition rate of new hires

• Conduct customer satisfaction surveys and evaluate ratings

• Share results of evaluations with senior management, recruitment team and other stakeholders to obtain recommendations

• Revisit recruitment plan and recruiting activities regularly to make necessary adjustments

• Provide feedback to career placement officers, school administrators, deans, faculty, professional organizations and alumni groups on recruitment initiatives and results

• Prepare recruiting budget projections

• Ensure hiring projections are realistic

Adjust Plans

Maximum number of calendar days: As needed (required step)

• Adjust recruitment plan and recruiting activities based on evaluation/measures

Orientation (refer to Orientation Process Roadmap)

MEASURES

Percent of applicants reporting hearing about the job from agency recruitment efforts (sources include the applicant survey (USAJOBS and/or agency survey))

Percent of new employees reporting hearing about the job from agency recruitment efforts (source: agency’s New Hire Survey)

HIRING PROCESS ROADMAP*

Hiring

Security / Suitability Orientation

Validate Need

(1 Day)

Workforce Planning Recruitment Hiring

► 14 functions ► 80 days (Based on 2-week announcement window)

Request Personnel

Action (1 Day)

Review Position

Description (1 Day)

Confirm Job Analysis

Assessment

Strategy (5 Days)

Create / Post Job

Opportunity Announcement

(JOA)

including Career

Patterns (2 Days)

Receive Applications

Notify

Applicants (10 Days)

Close

JOA

Evaluate Applications

(15 Days)

Issue Certificate /

Notify Applicants

(1 Day)

Selecting official;

Review applications / conduct interviews / check references / select / return certificate (15 Days)

EOD

(14 Days)

Tentative Job Offer / Accept (3 Days)

Initiate Security Check

(10 Days)

Official Offer

/ Accept (2 Day)

Days

Days

Days

* The number of days for each step within the 80-day Standard is based on agencies using E2E Roadmap as an integrated strategy and agency best practices. Agencies may need to adjust the number of days for each step within the 80-days based on their particular practices and procedures.

The hiring process begins well before a job ever materializes. It effectively incorporates the full E2E experience, including numerous tasks associated with Workforce Planning, Recruitment, Security and Suitability and Orientation. The success of the hiring process is dependent on the effectiveness and efficiency of the workforce planning and recruitment components. By ensuring position descriptions are systematically reviewed for currency and relevance to ever-changing mission requirements, managers can proactively plan for vacancies and potential shifts in the composition of their workforce.

Effectively attracting and evaluating candidates drives many of the components within the hiring process. It is imperative that management coordinate and openly communicate with the Human Resources Office and vice-versa. Decisions such as use of the various hiring flexibilities, ranking procedures and assessment instruments should be discussed well in advanced of any job as part of an overall hiring strategy. Sound job analysis is imperative and establishes the foundation of any hiring effort, thereby impacting recruitment strategies, job announcements, qualification requirements and assessments.

The variety of application procedures and automated staffing tools used throughout Government significantly challenges developing a standard hiring process. However, even under these current conditions progress can be made. The hiring process consists of some very definitive steps based on legal and regulatory requirements based on clearly described merit principles. With advanced planning, as well as effective use of technology and communication tools, considerable improvement can be achieved.

• The Federal Government’s “Pledge to Applicants” is applied.

• The hiring process is designed for filling positions with new hires from outside the Federal Government into the competitive service under the agency’s delegated examining authority (5 USC 1104(a)(2). It was not designed for filling positions under merit promotion procedures.

• Workforce planning and recruitment processes are completed (for example:

positions are developed, validated, approved for resourcing, classified, position description is established and the appropriate assessment tools are developed prior to initiating the request for personnel action).

• Merit system principles are maintained. These principles are located at http://frwebgate.access.gpo.gov/cgi-bin/getdoc.cgi?dbname=browse_usc&docid=Cite:+5USC2301.

• Veterans’ preference requirements are followed. Information on veterans’ preference can be found on OPM’s website at http://www.opm.gov/veterans/.

http://frwebgate.access.gpo.go…