INCREASED MOBILITY AND ROTATION BARRIERS TO MOVEMENT AND ROTATION

• Document Type: CREST
• Collection: General CIA Records
• Document Number (FOIA) /ESDN (CREST): CIA-RDP82-00357R000600070022-9
• Release Decision: RIFPUB
• Original Classification: U
• Document Page Count: 6
• Document Creation Date: December 12, 2016
• Document Release Date: April 8, 2002
• Sequence Number: 22
• Content Type: REGULATION

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INCREASED MOBILITY AND ROTATION
Barriers to Movement and. Rotation
1. Increased. mobility and. rotation are so obscure in meaning and.
so controversial in their implementation that no one meeting is likely
to produce more than a partial consensus concerning what additionally
should-be done in these areas. If agreement were reached, however, in
the Director's Annual Conference, or in the Executive Committee, on a
preferred. approach or approaches, the effort would. be a notable accom-
plishment and. it could. provide the basis for establishing d.etailed.poli-
cies and.proced.ures later on.
2. Few managerial issues have been discussed more and acted. upon
less than increased. mobility and. rotation. Most officials agree both
are desirable objectives, and most agree the Agency should. strive to
increase its performance in achieving both. Officials and. employees
differ, however, on the question of whether there is a sufficient amount
of movement and. rotation, and few agree how these elusive goals can best
be accomplished..
3. Instead of talking about the advantages of mobility and rota-
tion, it would. be more productive to face head-on a number of the barriers
involved.. By confronting these at the outset, we can surface the anti-
rotation sentiment embedded. in our organizational culture, and. we can
consciously consider ideas for improved mobility and. rotation within a
framework of known objections. Some obstructions are the following:
a. Confusion as to the meaning of mobility and rotation.
b. Disagreement as to the purposes of increased. mobility
and, rotation.
c. Institutional and administrative restrictions on
employee movement.
d. Essential freedom of career services to prevent
employees from crossing their borders (their careerists out
and. non-careerists in).
e. Suspicions between the senders and receivers of
employees transferred in mobility and. rotation programs.
f. Differences concerning the appropriate grade or age
levels that should. be stressed in increased. mobility or rota-
tion programs.
g. Doubts about the usefulness of individual experiences
gained in rotational exchanges or mobility movements.
h. Employee fears that separation from parent career
service for a substantial period. of time may be counterproductive.
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i. The very real problem that the transfer of an
individual.. to a new career service may interdict the advance-
ment opportunities of others in the gaining career service.
j. Difficulty in identifying meaningful experiences
for transferees or rotatees, rather than makeshift tasks
or training orientations that impose no accountability upon
the individual.
k. Differing views relative to the desired organiza-
tional or geographical location of movement and rotation;
e.g., inside versus outside an employee's career or functional
specialty; within or across career service and. directorate
lines, intra-agency movement versus movement to other agencies,
academia and. industry.
1. T/O and. manpower restrictions on the absorption of
employees outside the jurisdiction of career services.
m. Problems of finding a replacement or absorbing the
work in the losing office when a person is moved or rotated.
for longer than a brief interval of time.
n. Limited. success in previous attempts to institute
formal rotation programs.
overcoming the Barriers to Movement and. Rotation
1. These barriers can be overcome only if a set of positive values
are identified and. accepted throughout the organization. First, they,
must have The firm support of top management. Second., the objectives of
increased. mobility and rotation, once agreed. to and. declared. as policy,
must be implemented. by practical structural arrangements and procedures;
otherwise, the policy statements are apt to become .rhetoric, not reality.
Third, the declared policies and. the administration of these policies
should. be monitored closely to make sure the program actually works.
There is no point in achieving one of these three elements without obtain-
ing the other two.
2. The following observations and comments are offered. upon a number
of popular conceptions or misconceptions, in an effort to stimulate an
increased area of agreement about what mobility and. rotation are and are
not and. ghat they should. and. should, not be:
a. Mobility is freedom of individual movement. It
encompasses the freedom of individuals to move within the
organization, and. the freed.om of the organization to move
employees. The absence of either constitutes a problem of
immobility.
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b. Whereas mobility refers to the capacity of the struc-
ture to move people quickly, whenever the need. arises to fill
jobs or to help employees (programmed. or unprogrammed,), rota-
tion is usually a planned. action designed. to help an individual,
and it is often a part of a sequence of planned, movements arranged.
for developmental purposes. Exposing promising people to various
parts of an organization and. testing them as they move is common
in business; e.g., Sears Roebuck's rotation of trainees among
departments within a store and, among stores in different localities.
Many examples of rotational programs are also found. in Government;
e.g., health care executives in the VA and, field. office managers
in IRS. Within this Agency, the term rotation also is frequently
used. to describe an employee's movement for a tour or a shorter
period. of time. When the term is used. in this manner, it may relate
simply to the assignment of an employee outside his component or
career service with the understanding he will be returning to it
later on.
c. Career services have a great deal of mobility within
their own functional and. geographical areas. Because of the
parochial interest career services have in retaining good. employees
and. avoiding the assumption of additional responsibility for
employees outside their jurisdiction, they patrol their borders
very closely. This largely unchallenged freedom constitutes the
main deterrent to an office securing an employee outside its area
and, to an employee wishing to move from one spot to another. From
an Agency standpoint these barriers have their worst impact in
retarding the movement of new young professionals who acquire a
career label restricting their movement even before they learn
what their job will be or whether they like it.
d.. Since it would be absurd. to drastically change the
Agency's system of career managing merely to achieve more mobility,
the question posed. by the independence of the career structures
is to the extent to which the Agency should, curb their authority
for denying the admission of non-careerists or preventing the transfer-
out of their careerists.
e. We should. stop thinking of increased. mobility and. rotation
in statistical terms. However impressive or modest the statistics
may appear, there is enough mobility when individual interests,
career development considerations and. operational needs are promptly
served. and. there is too little mobility when jurisdictional hassles
and. tribal disputes continually delay or defeat needed mares.
f. Although rotation is relatively easy to accomplish inside
the career services, lack of planning and, emphasis on specialization
are factors limiting the use of rotation by career services within
their own borders, in order to systematically achieve the professional
development of their careerists.
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g. In the Guidelines on :Executive Development in the
Federal Service, mobility and. rotation are cited as primary
instruments for intensifying the effective utilization of
executives and. for exposing executives and pre-executives to
new experiences. Ways will have to be found. to meet these
requirements even if career service prerogatives suffer, since
CIA is covered. by the Guidelines. Moreover, the Director's
wish to achieve increased mobility and. rotation of Agency
employees and executives across directorate lines, when needed.
in the Agency's interest, is an overriding concern that should.
not be allowed. to go by default for lack of a structure and
enforcement system.
h. Although rotation may be needed at any age and. grade
level, it should. be emphasized. at the early stages of individual
development. Career services should concentrate most of their
rotational efforts in converting young employees from beginners
to fully qualified, professionals or technicians. In the lower
grade levels, rotational movements produce relatively few disrup-
tions in office procedures or T/O patterns. Moreover, the likeli-
hood. of causing damage to employees involved. in shifts from a
familiar to an unfamiliar environment is minimized. All of the
administrative, organizational and. personal objections to increased.
mobility and. rotation multiply when middle-aged. or graded officers
and. senior officers are the ones thrust into unfamiliar and. com-
plex tasks. Even the well-qualified. may falter.
3. The Director's expressed. interest in furthering Agency mobility
and the binding effects of the Guidelines on Executive Development compel
the undertaking of new Agency-wide initiatives to improve employee move-
ment and. rotation. To facilitate the formulation of a set of principles
or guidelines for discussions in the Director's Annual Conference, or in
the Executive Committee, the following approaches are suggested. for con-
sideration. It is hoped, that these ideas and other views generated. by
them will be assimilated, into an Agency blueprint for increased, mobility
and rotation.
a. Emphasize the rotation of young professionals.within
each career service by requiring each career service to pre-
pare a rotation plan and. submit it to the Deputy Director
concerned. for his approval.
b. Instruct each career service, unless it has previously
done so, to establish a model of the kinds of job experiences
(one or more) that generalist and, technical officers should
receive during the first six years of employment in the course
of becoming technically or professionally fully competent.
c. Direct each career service to annually review the
movement of individual careerists in conformance with its
rotation plan and report on the results to the Deputy Director
concerned.
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d.. Require each career service to decide, as a part of
its rotation plan, what developmental movement and rotation
is needed. outside the career service, if any, and. who are
involved..
e. Require each career service to identify some posi-
tions which may be filled by members of other career services.
It is hoped. that the desire for movement can be met
at the career service level. When this is not the case,
employees must be made to feel free to seek job counseling
service in the Office of Personnel. Pexy.it the Director of
Personnel- to authorize, if necessary, the prospective gaining
office to have up to a year's time to work out T/O and. ceiling
problems. Require the Director of Personnel to negotiate
actively for the transfer of those who seek job counseling
when he believes they can best be utilized. elsewhere, particu-
larly when the employee may. leave the Agency. Reports of
successes arid, failures to be provided.. periodically by the
Director of Personnel to the Executive Director-Comptroller.
g. Authorize each career service bead., with the con-
cur.rence of the Deputy Director concerned., to personally
seek. the transfer and./or rotation to his jurisdiction of
an employee outside the Directorate, provided both the
career service head. and the Deputy Director agree the vacancy
is a priority job and no one in the Directorate is better
qualified to fill it.
(J-) If negotiations between the career ser-
vice heads are unsuccessful, authorize the Deputy
Directors concerned. to personally attempt to re-
solve the proposed, transfer or rotation.
(2) Provide for. appeal of the issue to the
Executive Director-Comptroller for a decision,
when desired.by either Deputy Director or by the
employee concerned.
(?,) Require the Director of personnel to seek
other suitable candidates and provide his findings
to the requesting career service head., the Deputy
Director or Deputy Directors and. the Executive Director-
Coraptroller, as applicable.
(~-) :Provide an option to the employee to transfer
permanently (with change in Service Designation) to the
gaining career service at the end. of any rotation lasting
a full year if the gaining career service agrees.
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h. Consistent with the principles in the Federal Guide-
lines on Executive Development, arrange for the Executive
Committee to annually review the utilization of all super
grades and. identify (in its capacity as the Agency's Executive
Manpower Resources Board.) the appropriate changes inassign-
ment or rotations for supergrades entailing movement across
Directorate lines.
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