CAREER SERVICE PROGRAM

• Document Type: CREST
• Collection: General CIA Records
• Document Number (FOIA) /ESDN (CREST): CIA-RDP80-01826R000400020003-7
• Release Decision: RIPPUB
• Original Classification: S
• Document Page Count: 6
• Document Creation Date: December 9, 2016
• Document Release Date: August 21, 2000
• Sequence Number: 3
• Publication Date: January 26, 1954
• Content Type: MF

Approved For Release 2001/04/05: CIA-RDP80-01826R000400020003-7
_- a ..- .- .-- K 1- 1 A I W
26 January 1954
MEMORANDUM FOR: Director of,Central Intelligence Agen c
SUBJECT : Career Service Program
1.. The purpose of this memorandum is to report to you the status
of the Career Service Program, and to obtain your approval of certain
steps which should be taken to reorganize the present system of career
management.
2. The following major developments have been accomplished in the
Career Service Program since 1 July 1953:
a. A legislative task force was established to examine
those aspects of employee benefits which could not be accomplished
administratively. This group has finished its work.. The CIA
Career Service Board has studied its report in detail and forwarded
it to you with its approval. It recognized that the appropriate time
should be chosen for submission of this legislation to Congress.
It is my opinion that it should not be submitted in the present
session. However, regardless of when it is submitted the study has
been made and the findings and recommendations and legislation pro-
posed will be valid in the future.
be The Senior Executive Inventory has been completed. This
required the nomination by the top 70 executives in the Agency of
individuals considered qualified to be their successors. These
names were in turn reviewed by the Deputy Directors. The result
is approximately 200 names, now assembled in a loose-leaf notebook
for your use. It should be noted that a tremendous amount of work
was required to assemble the biographic data on these indivisuals,
in many instances still incomplete, due to the chaotic condition
of the personnel files. To insure proper security for the Registry,
the material was prepared in this office.
c. The charter of the Professional Selection Panel was complete-
ly rewritten. Inasmuch as this is one of the important aspects of
the proposed reorganization, it will be dealt with later.
d. An insurance task force has cleared actuaries surveying
types of insurance available to agency employees. This program
may result in a more beneficial form of insurance for employees
and produce an added incentive for making a career with CIA. It
can proceed regardless of the organization of the Career Service
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e. A Women's Panel and a Junior Officer's Task Force have
prepared reports relating to the problems of women and junior
officers in making a career with CIA. Their reports have been
studied by the CIA Career Service Board. Any beneficial results
from these two studies will come from the Personnel Office and
from the supervisors..
f. A task force commenced the preparation of a paper to
inform employees "What a Career in the CIA Means to You." It is
important that such a paper be produced. The lack of knowledge
about the career service program is very great overseas,, and is
also apparent in Washington.,
g.. The CIA Career Service Board has 40 Career Development
Slots assigned to it. These slots enable employees to take
external training or a tour of duty with another office without
encumbering a slot in the parent office, although the parent
office must guarantee to have a slot open upon the employee's
return. The fact that there are still many of these slots open
is indicative of a lack of interest in career development or
encouragement of rotation among the offices.
h. The CIA Career Service Board worked with the Honor
Awards Board in developing a system of awards for meritorious
or valorous service. This has now been accomplished and there
is no purpose to be served for continued affiliation between
these Boards.
i. The CIA. Career Service Board interested itself in
nominations for the Harvard School for Advanced Management and
the senior schools of the military services. The lack of interest,
particularly in the DD/P Area, in nominating candidates for these
schools is also indicative of a lack of interest in career
development.
j. There are 25 other Career Service Boards in the Agency
besides the CIA Board. These include boards for all of the offices,
the DD/P staffs plus a DD/P, DD/I and DD/A Board. These Boards
have functioned with varying degrees of effectiveness: and authority.
In many cases the Boards are purely advisory to the office or staff
chief; in others the Boards, in effect, have more influence. Un-
fortunately the Boards have concerned themselves largely with
matters of promotion, transfers, etc.--personnel actions Ir eviously
handled on a routine basis by executive action of the individual
offices. There is no indication that creation of "career service
boards" has improved these actions any.
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k. The CIA Career Service Board has attempted to arbitrate
a difference of opinion between the DD/A and DD/I Boards. The
DD/A Board holds that all administrative personnel in the DD/I
Area should have career-designations to DD/A Career Service Boards,
e. g., a personnel officer in ORR would have a career designation
to the Personnel Office rather than ORR. There is an almost
unanimity of opinion against this in the DD/I Area. In the DD/P
Area most administrative officers have accepted DD/A career
designations., although it should be noted that this was done with
somewhat of a shotgun approach--they were told to either take ad-
ministrative designations or be prepared to explain in six months
why they were in administrative positions.
3. It is my opinion that the following major defects now exist
with the CIA Career Service Program:
a. There are too many career service boards and they are
improperly constituted. A career service board for each office
has simply continued office nationalism and done nothing to further
making CIA a career. The number of boards creates a waste in
executive manpower for the participants and in clerical time for
support.
b. The career service boards devote the bulk of their time
today to matters that should be handled differently. Promotions
should be a matter for intra-agency boards, not office boards.
Inter-office rotations or transfers. cannot be handled on a
unilateral basis by an office board and therefore becomes a case
of inter-office negotiation, or "slave mart" transactions by the
individual.
c. With the exception of one or two offices there is little
career planning by the boards, yet this is one of the most
important aspects of career service and one of the most neglected
parts of career development. The lack of career planning is
probably the greatest single factor in poor morale in the Agency.
More and more employees are leaving the Agency because they don't
know what future there is in CIA.
d. The career service boards have served to dissipate both
the authority of the supervisors and of the Personnel Management.
It should be noted that the major single reason for the creation
of a Career Service Program was the failure of both the Personnel
Office and the supervisors in the Agency in personnel management.
But it is my opinion that continuation of a large number of career
service boards will not solve the problem of personnel management--
for which the Personnel Office should be held responsible for policy
and the supervisors for implementation.
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e. As is natural in a government the career service boards
have tended to become paper-mulls. The amount of paperwork done
by the various boards varies, but generally speaking it has
gotten beyond either reason or value.
14. It is recommended that the following steps be taken to reorganize
the Career Service Program:
a. All of the office career service boards be abolished and
in their stead be created five professional boards, namely: Intelli-
gence, Operations, Administration, Training and Communications.
b. The number of career designations be reduced from 26 to 5--
as above. However, there should be a limited number of sub-desig-
nations such as Analyst, Researcher, Collector under Intelligence;.
Psychological, Espionage, and Paramilitary under Operations;: Person-
nel, Fiscal, Logistics under Administration.
c. These five boards would be charged primarily with the
career development of all employees. This career development would
insure that each employee received proper training, opportunity for
rotation within CIA, consideration for promotion, etc. To accomplish
this the boards would be supported by staffs supplied jointly by the
Personnel Office and the offices primarily concerned with each
board. Career plans would be developed for all professional employees
of the Agency.
d. Three se7e ction or promotion panels would be created. These
panels would be charged with recommending selection in, selection
out, and promotion of all Agency employees. These would be:
(1) Supergrade Panel (or Board) composed as presently
proposed by the Deputy Director of Central Intelligence
of the Deputies plus Assistant Directors for Personnel,
Communications and Training to pass on all promotions or
selections in or out of supergrades.
(2) Senior Selection Panel to pass on selection in, out,
or promotion of all personnel in Grades GS-13, 14 and 15. The
promotions would be intra-agency, conducted twice annually on
a competitive basis.
(3) Junior Selection Panel to pass on selection in, out,
or promotion of all personnel in Grades GS-O, 10, 11 and 12.
NOTE: These Panels would operate on the following basis. No
employee-applicant would be considered until the gaining office
had submitted a career plan indicating the assignments of the
individual-for at least the first three years and preferably
longer. Each employee-applicant would be personally interviewed
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by the appropriate (for his or her grade) board prior to
employment. Promotions would be made twice annually-May
and December--and would be on an intra-Agency competitive
basis. Rotations between offices would be accomplished on a
quota basis, e.g., 10 from DD/I to DD/P and vice versa each year;
20 from DD/A to DD/P and vice versa each year.. Selection-out
consideration would be given to each employee at the end of the
first-year of employment (when, under Civil Service procedures,
termination can be accomplished), and at the end of three-years
which should be the administratively-established CIA probationary
period.
e. The standard probationary period for all CIA employees be
established at three years--and as of a specific date all incoming
employees will be advised of the probationary period and informed
that if they fail to live up to standards they may be selected out
at the end of one year or three years (or any point in the first
three years).
f. It is the belief of the CIA Career Service Board that for
a true career service employees should be obligated to serve when,
where, and how the Agency desires--personal considerations being
given full evaluation in the decision. Inasmuch as many individuals
entered CIA under different terms, this cannot be imposed by mandate)
but should be on a voluntary basis.
g. The CIA Career Service Board be continued on much the same
basis as presently, being primarily an advisory body and a sounding
board for insuring development of the Career Service Program. This
body might eventually be chaired by the Assistant Director for
Personnel, when that individual has been on duty for a longer period.
5. In summation an employee's career in the CIA would be guided in
the following fashion;
a. Prior to employment the individual's career plan would be
reviewed by the appropriate selection panel, and the individual
would appear before the panel;.
b. At the end of one year and again at the end of three years:
the appropriate selection panel would review the individual's
performance and indicate continuance or termination;-
c.. At the end of the three year probationary period the appro-
priate dareer service board will review the individual's career
plan for the ensuing period;
d. At the time an individual is promoted to GS-13--selected by
the Senior Selection Board--determination will be made whether the
individual is qualified for the Junior Executive Inventory--or should
be assigned to specialist jobs.
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. 6. Finally it is recommended that a date be selected for imple-
mentation of the above steps in the Career Service Program. At that
time all employees will be queried to determine whether they wish to
make a career with the Agency and are willing to accept the obligation
to serve when and where required. At that time all employees should
be given a full and frank statement of what a career in CIA means
(2.f. above).
7. I believe what 1 propose will enable us to embark on a true
career program.
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