PRINCIPAL FACTORS INVOLVED IN MEETING REDUCTIONS IN PERSONNEL CEILINGS AND AVERAGE GRADE

• Document Type: CREST
• Collection: General CIA Records
• Document Number (FOIA) /ESDN (CREST): CIA-RDP82-00357R000700070014-7
• Release Decision: RIFPUB
• Original Classification: K
• Document Page Count: 5
• Document Creation Date: November 17, 2016
• Document Release Date: August 9, 2000
• Sequence Number: 14
• Publication Date: September 7, 1971
• Content Type: REPORT

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PRINCIPAL FACTORS INVOLVED IN MEETING REDUCTIONS SEP 1971
IN PERSONNEL CEILINGS AND AVERAGE GRADE
1. The requirement to reduce Agency personnel strength and at the
same time reduce average grade of employees on duty presents a very diffi-
cult management problem. The three variables which influence changes in
average grade are separations, accessions, and promotions; the variables
affecting changes in personnel strength levels are separations and acces-
sions. While all three of these factors are subject to influence by
management action, limitations on.accessi.ois and promotions are less
traumatic in the short range than the kinds of action necessary to increase
separations. Action on all three factors. demands careful consideration.
in terms of its long-range effect on the. work force.
2. Our personnel statistics indicate that the Agency normally loses
people at the higher grades than it enters on duty, thereby lowering the
average grade of the work force through the interplay between accessions
and separations. For example, in FY' 1971, this transaction alone resulted
in an average grade reduction of .15. However, during the same period the
added effect of promotions more than offset this reduction resulting in
an overall net increase of .095 in average grade for the year.
3. Very significant reductions in personnel strength can be accom-
plished through attrition alone; e.g., the overall attrition rate approxi-
mates 11-12% while the rate of clerical attrition exceeds 20%. By itself,
attrition creates an increase in average grade because of the higher loss
rate among employees in the lower grades.
~+. The problem of reductions can be defined statistically in terms
of grade points (average grade times on-duty-strength equals grade _points).
.In order to meet specified reductions in strength and average grade,
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a career service must calculate and stay within a maximum number of GS
grade points. For example, a 400 man career service having an average
grade of GS-l0 and required to achieve a 5% decrease in strength (20
employees) and a one-tenth loss in grade (from 10.0 to 9.9) must reduce
its total grade points from 4000 to 3762, a difference of 238.. The loss
of 20 people at the current average grade of the career service would
amount to a reduction of 200 grade points, instead of a 238 grade point
decrease needed to achieve the combined objective of reducing both strength
and average grade to required levels. Thus, the career service would have
to accomplish a further reduction of 38 grade points (238 -200).
5. Attached is a hypothetical illustration of the maximum number of
grade points available for the entry-on-duty of new personnel in a career
service that has space to bring in 40 people to replace 60 losses after
meeting the 5% reduction in strength.
THINGS TO CONSIDER IN DEVELOPING
A SPECIFIC PLAN FOR REDUCTION
1. No single approach or solution will meet the varying needs of
all career services, and many career services will have to consider a
variety of possible accession and promotion plans before finally concluding
a specific arrangement for reducing average grade and personnel strength.
The answers to three questions should be'evaluated by each career service.
in order to determine what projected combination of factors will most
nearly allow the best possible management of that career service. These
questions are: (a) What are the essential requirements for professional
input (types and grade levels)?; (b) What are the minimal essential re-
quirements for clerical input?; (c) How many promotions should or can be
made in relation to needed professional and clerical inputs or prospective
actions to declare a number of personnel surplus to the career service?.
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2. The interplay of promotions, separations, and accessions will
precipitate conflicting'or trade off values that must be properly balanced.
Grade points, saved through reductions in professional input, may accom-
modate additional promotions; yet, a promotion at any grade level. will
increase the average grade by one grade point. Curtailment of promotions
will cause discontent, which is apt to intensify with the passage of time,
but an. alternative reduction of surplus personnel might have greater
morale repercussions. Reducing strength by attrition is an obvious
approach to reducing personnel strength, but insufficient professional
input or the wrong mix can seriously hamper achievement of organizational
purposes and can have long range adverse effects on the career service.
3. Even though primary emphasis must be placed upon the determination
of a specific reduction plan for FY 1972, it should be remembered that the
requirement for average grade reduction will also apply in Fi"seal Year
1973, and it is possible that additional ceiling cuts may be levied.
Accordingly, constraints placed upon promotions and accessions in FY
1972 cannot be automatically offset at the close of the Fiscal Year.
With this thought in mind, the future implications of planned accessions
in FY 1972 should carefully be assessed in order to avoid serious dis-
tortions of the staffing balance of the career service and to minimize
poor employee morale.
!E. The possible need for direct action to reduce surplus personnel
requires very careful consideration. Such action might become necessary
in some circumstances to avoid manpower problems of an even more serious
nature. Those Offices that manage career service personnel assigned to
other components have special problems and should keep abreast of the re-
ductions in those components that could result in the return of employees
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5. Each career service should identify any clerical and technical
employees that have the potential for use in professional or technical jobs
of greater responsibility following a suitable training and job orientation
program geared to their own specific needs and the requirements of the career
service. These employees should be used whenever possible in lieu of hiring
new professionals and technicals at higher grades.
REEXAMINING POSITION REQUIREMNNTS
To achieve these goals in the short range, obviously care and attention
must be given to promotions and accessions of personnel. To insure that,
career services adhere to staffing patterns consistent with work requirements,
new T/O's should be established to incorporate ceiling cuts and reductions in
grade structure. Only in this way will future work requirements be made
apparent and imbalances in personnel clearly identified. To achieve a leaner
grade structure and to determine the feasibility of consolidating organiza-
tions and functions, with reduced manpower, excessive levels of supervision.
should be identified; special assistant positions should be reviewed; and
organizational structures should be examined.
ACTION BY THE AGENCY
1. At the Directorate and Agency levels, actions should be concerned
primarily with monitoring the progress of Agency components in career services
in effecting their reductions.
2. The Director of Personnel is in a unique position to observe the
interaction between reductions and accessions among all components and career
services and to adjust external recruitment accordingly. To avoid the hiring
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of new professionals in order to fill requirements that could be met reason-
ably through the reassignment of personnel on duty, each Deputy Director
should designate a senior officer to represent the Directorate and to assist
the Director of Personnel in identifying and resolving such situations.
These representatives should also meet as a group, upon call by the Director
of Personnel, to assist in the development of policies and procedures for
achieving the combined reductions of average grade and strength in the best
interests of the Agency.
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