PERSONNEL DEVELOPMENT PROGRAM - FY 1975

• Document Type: CREST
• Collection: General CIA Records
• Document Number (FOIA) /ESDN (CREST): CIA-RDP82-00357R000800220010-3
• Release Decision: RIFPUB
• Original Classification: U
• Document Page Count: 7
• Document Creation Date: December 9, 2016
• Document Release Date: September 13, 2000
• Sequence Number: 10
• Content Type: REQ

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PERSONNEL DEVELOPMENT PROGRAM - FY 1975
1. The development of executive and management personnel continues
to be a matter of major concern in the Federal Government, and the Office
of Management and Budget and the Civil Service Commission have collaborated
on building a comprehensive executive development program in the government
agencies. Guidelines have been issued establishing structures, policies
and processes to implement an executive and managerial development program.
Executive identification and development is a program of major significance
and was introduced to the Agency's personnel management processes in FY 74
as the initial phase of the Personnel Development Program. The current high
rate of retirement among experienced senior personnel has reinforced the
importance of this program in our personnel planning. The bunching or
clustering of peer groups of retirees results from the Agency's hiring prac-
tices in earlier years when employees came to the Agency in about the same
cluster framework. This "bunching" also limited the opportunity for upcoming
personnel to have the scope of experiences needed to develop their managerial
or executive talents or to prepare them for assignments as senior analysts,
advisors, or operations officers. No organization can produce instant "execu-
tives" or "wisemen." The Personnel Development Program provides a management/
executive level identification and training section designed to alleviate
this problem.
2. A well planned career management system must offer general oppor-
tunity for professional development and growth. Efforts of this kind have
been implemented in various Agency components. Now this aspect of personnel
management will become a formal part of the Personnel Development Program for
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FY 1975 through extension of the Program to provide for the development of
training cum assignment plans for functionally homogeneous groups of offi-
cers beginning with grade GS-09.
3. Therefore, the Personnel Development Program for FY 75 will be
divided into two sections. Section I will be concerned with Executive Level
Development plans and the pertinent statistical charts are to be completed
and submitted to the Director of Personnel by 15 November 1974. Section II
will involve the preparation of Developmental Profiles to provide the frame-
work for career development actions below the executive level. Because of
the complexity and the importance of the initial work on formulating these
Profiles, the due date for completion of Section II reports is established
as 30 June 1975.
SECTION I - EXECUTIVE LEVEL DEVELOPMENT (GS-15 - GS-17 and SPS)
1. Section I of the FY 75 Personnel Development Program will require
the same planning and reporting as was covered in the FY 74 PDP with two
additional statistical charts.
a. One new chart will report the number of officers under
consideration for assignment to any of the expected executive level
position vacancies who are not reported on the GS-13 - GS-15 Executive
Level Candidate Roster. They will have been named in the lists iden-
tifying expected vacancies and the candidates for these assignments.
(The lack of this information in FY 74 PDP reports resulted in
distorted comparative statistics.)
b. The second new chart will show the number of Women, Blacks
and other Minorities listed in the Executive Level Candidate Roster.
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2. The list of the officers in grades GS-13 - 15 selected for execu-
tive level development need not be limited to those officers being identified
as candidates for specific assignment to an executive position during the
three-year period. The fact that an individual has been judged to have the
talent and potential for executive level development and that the training
towards that development will begin during the review period is sufficient
for inclusion in the Roster.
3. The FY 74 instructions and the information for the preparation of
the FY 75 Personnel Development Program (Executive Development) remain a valid
handbook of guidelines for preparation of the Section I of the FY 75 PDP and
should be reviewed as background for the current program preparation. The
selection of officers for the Executive Level Candidate Roster should consider
the individual's own interests and aspirations as well as the assessment of
his competence and potential. Training, courses or assignments, should be
selected to supplement each person's experience with the intention of pro-
viding whatever is needed to fully develop his potential. In each case a
time frame or schedule must be established for completion of planned training.
4. Formats for the FY 75 PDP statistical reports and for the identifi-
cation of Executive Level Vacancies and Assignment Candidates and the Executive
Level Candidate Roster are being distributed. The name list charts will be
completed and retained by each Career Service. They will be the basis for
discussions with the Director when he makes his annual review of the indi-
vidual Executive Level Development Programs with the Heads of the Career
Services.
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SECTION II - DEVELOPMENTAL PROFILES
1. The second part of the FY 75 PDP is concerned with the design of
Developmental Profiles for professional and technical personnel in grades
GS-09 and above. A Developmental Profile can be viewed as a flow chart of
either short or long range developmental plans and opportunities which is
designed for a functionally homogeneous group of officers at progressively
higher levels of functional responsibility. The purpose of the Profile is to
provide guidelines for the decisions affecting the career development of
members of an identified group, and to provide a frame of reference for ap-
praising their readiness for the varying stages of development. The Profiles
identify those training courses and types of assignments which are generally
pertinent for consideration in planning the development of the talents and
abilities of individuals within the concept of the profession and/or discipline
of the group. Profiles should also identify any relationships which exist
among the various disciplines or tracks so the individuals concerned can see
the patterns of career planning and the available options.
2, Care must be taken to insure the training and assignments are valid
for the purpose of the Profile and that it will contribute to the professional
and personal growth of the employees concerned. A basic intent should be
to provide the opportunity for continuous professional development while
recognizing that not all personnel within the group for whom the Profile is
designed will wish or be able to take advantage of every aspect of the
available plans. Nevertheless, the Profile should, within the concept of
the identified group, be planned to fully develop quality personnel.
3. A Developmental Profile serves a number of purposes: (a) it
focuses attention on the many ways of developing Agency personnel or of
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providing them the opportunity for development; (b) it formulates in
orderly fashion the requirements considered valid for development within
a particular professional or technical discipline; (c) it improves motiva-
tion and morale by giving the members of a functional group an understanding
of what constitutes progress in their area of development; (d) it provides
assistance to the Career Services in managing the effective development
and utilization of the Agency's manpower resources. This is essential at
this time of reduced personnel ceilings and the loss of many senior and
experienced personnel by retirement.
4. A well designed Profile provides a positive framework for planning
and evaluating training and assignments and is a key element in an effective
career management system. The content of the Developmental Profile should
be designed for use as a check list or point of reference for plans or
options to be considered when reviewing personnel either individually or
as members of a group. Such reviews will insure that required training and/or
developmental assignments are arranged in a timely and orderly fashion. The
Career Services can use the Profiles as guides for evaluating the progress
of officers at established checkpoints in a career and provide the means ...
training or particular assignment ... for appropriate or needed development.
Training should supplement an individual's preparation for a particular
assignment or contribute to his long range career development. The Profiles
will also be useful to supervisors in determining immediate training
programs and schedules.
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5. Most Developmental Profiles will be addressed to the concept of
a single function and include the grade parameters normally associated with
that function. In all cases, function and level of responsibility are the
bases for the qualitative measurement. In some cases the training pre-
scribed in a Profile will be arranged to immediately precede the assignment
for which it is designed. In others, the sequence of training courses will
be arranged over a period of time and lead toward more responsible and
senior assignments. Consultations with representative employees in the
group will provide information essential to the development of specific
aspects of the Profile.
6. A Profile must be flexible and responsive to change. There is no
intent that it be applied rigidly to require each officer in grade or func-
tional group to take identical courses or be assigned to exactly the same
type of position in the same time frame. Not all officers will or should
be expected to progress exactly as the Profile specifies. Dependent on
individual talents and choices, as well as on Agency interests and evaluations,
some officers will progress only to a certain point within the parameters of
a Profile. Others may change disciplines completely or be selected for
executive development in which case they will then follow a program indi-
vidually designed to meet specific needs of the position or positions for
which they are candidates. The fact that an officer is not selected for,
or elects not to follow the whole program outlined in a particular Profile,
should not restrict him from enrollment in courses or developmental activities
which will serve the purpose of maintaining proficiency in his functional
field. In other words, the Developmental Profile should also offer the
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opportunity for maintaining current skills or developing new ones required
to keep pace with changes in the state of the art.
7. The Developmental Profile, then, is a tool to guide career develop-
ment action, for creative use in deciding choices between opportunities
for planned training and experience, and to provide standards for evaluating
levels of growth within a functional area. The Profile is a reminder to
both management and to individual employees of the requirements and oppor-
tunities for development in a positive fashion.
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