PERSONNEL PRACTICES SURVEY - INTERIM REPORT

• Document Type: CREST
• Collection: General CIA Records
• Document Number (FOIA) /ESDN (CREST): CIA-RDP82-00357R000900080022-5
• Release Decision: RIFPUB
• Original Classification: K
• Document Page Count: 5
• Document Creation Date: December 12, 2016
• Document Release Date: May 14, 2002
• Sequence Number: 22
• Publication Date: February 15, 1974
• Content Type: REPORT

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15 February 197+
PERSONNEL PRACTICES SURVEY - INTERIM REPORT
During 1972 the Office of Personnel became acutely aware of the
need for some type of mechanism to keep abreast of the substance and
the effectiveness of the approaches, philosophy and methods of personnel
management applied by the various echelons of managers in the Agency.
The Personnel Practices Survey was developed by the OP/Plans Staff to
fill the vacuum.
The information gleaned through the Survey will be shared with other
managers toward achieving improvements in the quality of personnel adminis-
tration. Guidance, advice and assistance will be provided by the Office
of Personnel where such a need is indicated. Our objective is to complete
the Survey by February 1975 and present a comprehensive report of our
findings to the DCI and other appropriate Agency officials. In the interim,
we are presenting some preliminary findings which are the result of our
pilot survey of five components.
TRAINING
Training is a significant activity in most components. The
manner in which it is handled varies, however, from component to
component and Career Service to Career Service. Some make an effort
to use training as a systematic part of career development--the
employee is told or provided with a list of training he should have.
Some leave training almost entirely to the initiative and desires of
the individual employee. Others view training as a sort of luxury or
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fringe benefit with which to reward deserving employees during slack
periods.
Two components have Training Selection Panels as a means of developing
an intelligent and flexible tie between training and both component
needs and personal career development. One of the panels identifies
training courses which should be part of career development in that
component and makes specific recommendations for training according
to occupational groups. The other panel considers and recommends
candidates for that training which is competitive and leaves other types
of training to the career boards. The third component handles training
strictly on the basis of employee requests. The other two components
have career management boards which consider individual training needs
at the same time that the boards conduct their evaluation and ranking
exercises.
COUNSELING
Our initial Survey findings indicate that the availability of
counseling services--and the focal point for those services--also varies
from component to component. One office provides no counseling except
that done by supervisors. One uses the Personnel Officer as the counselor.
Another has established a Career Development Office, manned by operational
personnel, to assist managers and supervisors with such career development
r! d
responsibilities as establishing career patterns. Two components use
their career management officer/staff to counsel employees regarding
their individual career development plans.
The pilot Survey has revealed only one office which initiates
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counseling sessions with employees on a regularly established basis.
Most managers advocate an "open-door policy" even though they are
aware that employees are reluctant to go to counselors without an
invitation.
MOBILITY
In some components mobility means rotating between Headquarters
and the field. Some view mobility as movement from position to position
within the same office. Others view it as movement between Career
Services or functional specialties. Mobility generally occurs simply
to fill vacancies and it is frequently unplanned. Seldom is it used
for developmental purposes.
Only one of the five offices seemed to be making a conscious
effort to increase the extent to which rotational assignments are used
in the career development process. This office has identified several
positions and designated them as "rotational slots." In addition, this
office has career development personnel working with line managers to
establish career patterns for certain occupational groups.
COMMUNICATION
The communications techniques varied but it was rewarding to find
that most offices did not equate employee communication with publications
per se. They seemed to realize that the function goes far beyond
publications and that channels such as opinion surveys and face-to-face
discussional meetings play a vital role in the communication function.
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One office had an extensive communication program that included
an orientation program, bulletins, newsletters, hotline and briefings.
Another used briefings, surveys, supervisors' status reports and
assignment questionnaires. A third component used briefings, orienta-
tion programs, annual conferences, vacancy notices, attitudinal surveys,
and annual newsletters. A fourth used reassignment questionnaires,
orientation programs, regular counseling sessions, and newsletters.
The last had a very limited program and the use of reassignment question-
naires seemed to be the only noteworthy technique.
SUMMARY
Training is not always the subject of special attention by panels
selecting individuals for assignments, promotion, etc. Little or no
effort is made to ensure that personnel records, including the official
file, clearly indicate the degree to which an individual's participation
in certain training courses strengthened him and improved his qualifications
for additional assignments, increased responsibility, etc.
Much career information that ordinarily would be provided in a Career
Service counseling program either is not given to employees or is relayed
to them by their supervisors, after having been passed down through
command channels. In such instances, career counseling is often fragmentary
and confined to a prospective change, a problem, or some notable aspect of
good or bad performance.
Parochialism still exists in the Agency and opportunity for develop-
ment through rotational assignments remains limited. Career management
officers and supervisors show little initiative in arranging rotational
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assignments. In the rare instance where a manager did seek rotational
assignments for his people, he could not get reciprocal arrangements;
it was a one-way street out.
Communication programs range from very little to extensive but none
of the offices are unaware of the necessity for good communication
between managers and employees. However, there is a need to improve
communication with individuals about those matters which affect them
personally.
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