DIGEST OF A POLICY STATEMENT ON EXECUTIVE DEVELOPMENT

• Document Type: CREST
• Collection: General CIA Records
• Document Number (FOIA) /ESDN (CREST): CIA-RDP82-00357R000800170015-4
• Release Decision: RIFPUB
• Original Classification: K
• Document Page Count: 3
• Document Creation Date: November 11, 2016
• Document Release Date: March 30, 1999
• Sequence Number: 15
• Content Type: REPORT

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DIGEST OF A POLICY STA7.'Eiill?'r ON FXECUTIVE DEA1ELOPMEITT
( ;ub)nitted to the CSC to 1. ect Reporting, Requirements in
the Guidelines for Executive Development in the Federal Service)
Devel_opmentral. Prol ram
Basic Considerations in a Personal
It may be conceded that cream rises to the top and so do people of
recognized superior ability. There is no assurance, hog.*ever, that ran-.
dom exposure-of employees to training courses and assignments wia.l pro-
duce the best qualified and seasoned candidates for the more senior
positions., Moreover, conclusions about the potential of specific i):ldi.?-
viduals must be constantly re-examined as they move up in the hierarchy.
The Agency should guard against development for development sake,
arousing personal expectancies that cannot be met. It should simulta-
neously move on two fronts: develop'the more gifted for higher posi-
tions of rnanE,;c.?rial responsibility and develop people in the skills they'
,gill need in i)eir current positions or in jobs of higher responsibility,:
below the executive level.
Specific developmental 'actions in individual cases should fit organ-
izational needs', as seen by Deputy Directors and career service offi-
cials
T`xecutive and Pre-l xeci Live Development
ecutive Development is a dual process: --planning the improvement:
-of individuals wko have already bccome executives (supergrades in the
Federal Government) and developing designated mid-officers and senior
officers who have the potential to be executives.
Executives can materially benefit from formal internal and external
treining experiences, but their utilization' and development chiefly de-:
peed upon periodic reviews of their effectiveness. Uninterrupted tenure
of,executives for years in one job or place can be counterproductive,
despite the expertise gained on the job. The practice frequently observed
in the business world of annually examining the status, current usage
and prospective usefulness of each individual could be applied productively
within the Agency.
1Central to an effective program of executive development' i.s the
identification and personal development of well-qualified mid-career and
senior officers in the Grades GS 13-15. Many promising employees at
these grade levels have spent most of their careers acquiring substantive
expertise. More often than not, they have experienced over the years a
number of assignments and training courses; but their past preoccupation
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Career services to Implement 'fndiyiclual Development
The Agency has several functional career services formally consti-
tuted to competitively review all employees under their jurisdiction with
respect to promotions, assignments and developmental opportunities. These
units are directly responsible to a career service head. who is also a scn:i.oir
operating of'ficia.l, and career service heads are directly responsible to a
Deputy Director of the Agency. Career service boards and panels, co,tnrised
of Agency executives and operating officials. make the compet11-tive reviews
and decisions a -luded to, and supportive personnel career management
officers, personnel officials, training officers and other supportive or
staff personnel -- are designated to help boa.Lils do d panels; meet regularly
with careerists to discuss their personnel needs and-interests; and to ixiple-
ment specific decisions or actions of the career service boards and panels.
-The Agency will rely upon the career services to periodically evaluate
the potential of careerists within their jurisdictions for executive posi-
tions and to specify individualized developmental training and assignments
forthose. concerned. We are confident,that this process of individualized
with substance causes the mid.-e rcer. stage to be i critical time for them
to obtain a fairly comprehensive view of managerial skills and principles.
Since instruction and experiential :tcarning in the i.nformationa:L, man -
gerial and i chavloral sciences are among OTR's capabilities, formal training
is a valuab-le resource at this time in their development. Closer l-i.nk ge
of train.-iin g and personal development, therefore, becomes a key clement in
future Agency planning. .
review and. planning can better achieve. -the purposes of the Agency and the
-Federal Guidelines than the development of individual career plans in a
-form-.or document. (In earlier years, the Anerc?v exten,ive1;- experimented
suecessfci.)
with elaborate individual career plans and found them to be largely un-
--- The- career service heads and members of the career service boards and
panels are links between supervisors and the Agency's top executives. This
linkage. of line officers -- supervisors, career service officials, Deputy
Directors, Executive Director-ComptroLler and the Director -- will be an
-important factor in insuring the uniform and responsible implementation of
policies decided upon by the EMEB (consisting of the Executive Director-
Comptroller and Deputy Directors).
Systematic Agency-wide Efforts for Identifying Executive
Candidates; Individual Personal Development; and
Use of Training Resources
To- accomplish the essentials of an improved developmental program and
to achieve the principal fc a ores of the Federal Guidelines for Executive
Development, the Agency needs to systematically engage in the individual
1 'a
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planning of developmental. training and assigrnnents for employees vrith
executive potential.
Spc cif e developmental prograim of the career services should be
tailored to their individual needs and problems, but certain contnon ap-
proaches and criteria should be observed by all in order to assure the
success of the developmental effort and to achieve l~gency-wide ob~~ect'i_ves.
Each career service should project the ,--mount of upward movement in the
future and examine the capability of promising career:i.sts to fill positions.
of responsibility in Grades GS-1.5 and above. Thereafter, each career serv-
ice should establish specific training, assignments and other planned
developmental activities for each careerist identified for execut:i_ve de-
velopment. In identifying assignments and training, effort should be made
to fill observable gaps in the career experience of individual employees
and to determine means of overcoming relative weaknesses in the skills and
abilities of otherwise well-qualified employees with executive potential.
Each career service should be encouraged to establish general norms or
guidelines cove:ci.ng the preferred kinds of training and assignments that
would be most beneficial in furthering the development of executive can-
didates.
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