MANAGEMENT AND COMPENSATION OF MILTIARY AND CIVILIAN FEDERAL WORK FORCES: ISSUES FOR PLANNING

• Document Type: CREST
• Collection: General CIA Records
• Document Number (FOIA) /ESDN (CREST): CIA-RDP86-00024R000300070026-3
• Release Decision: RIPPUB
• Original Classification: S
• Document Page Count: 5
• Document Creation Date: December 16, 2016
• Document Release Date: July 25, 2005
• Sequence Number: 26
• Publication Date: January 2, 1981
• Content Type: STUDY

siuDv BY THE SrAFFGF THE U.S,
General Accounting Office
Management And Compensation of
Military And Civilian Federal
Work Forces: Issues For Planning
Federal personnel costs continue to rise--esti-
mated to reach $125 billion in fiscal year 1981
for civilian, military, and postal personnel--
and t;;e need for more efficient and effective
management of people becomes more pressing.
Effective personnel management is the key to
achieving any agency's mission. Personnel
management must not be viewed as an end in
itself, but as a means to better program man-
agement. A fundamental philosophy of the
Civil Service Reform Act is that all personnel
functions, be tied to achieving the agency's
mission and that managers be held accountable
for their performance and that of their sub-
ordinates in achieving agency goals.
This study identifies current and emerging
issues related to managing and compensating
the Federal work force and represents the per-
spective used in organizing GAO audit efforts
in this area.
FPCD-81-26
JANUARY 2, 1981
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Are?tthe Federal personnel agencies successfully fulfilling
``-/
r new missiondibilii?
s an responstes
How do State and local government personnel management prob
impact on the efficiency and effectiveness of federally fun
programs and what is the appropriate Federal role for impro
How can the Federal Government's system for producing persoi
management and organizational research be improved?
CIVILIAN PERSONNEL MANAGEMENT LINES OF EFFORT
What can be done to better assure the
effective use of work force planning?
The problem
Work force planning is the process by which agencies should
determine the optimum number and mix of personnel needed to accon
lish their missions and (2) identify the volume and type of persc
nel actions needed during the budget or program period to obtain,
develop, and maintain that needed work force. To be effective tl
process must not only be used for internal management and control
but must also be an integral part in preparing and reviewing an
agency's budget. For the work force planning process to be fully
institutionalized it should also be part of the overall human re-
source management system.
Lacking a sound system, the allocation of resources to resp
1.~ .-L_--__-- ----- ---- ? - - - - - -
Further, the accountability of a manager to meet program and non
L
gram objectives (e.g., upward mobility) is uncertain if resources
allocated cannot.be tied directly to the work to be accomplished.
It is also very important to recognize the relationship bet
..
work force planning and organization structure. Without an effec
tive work force planning system, the ramifications of alternative
organizational schemes cannot be accurately assessed.
J Limited work has shown that most civilian agencies do not ha
ly
where sound planning systems are in place, their products frequen
d
o not influence bdt dii S
ugeecsons.ome of the reasons for these
conditions are (1) the lack of central leadership or incentives t
(e.g., work measurement), and (3) centrally imposed disincentives
(e.g., across-the-board personnel cuts, average grade controls, a
bitrary position ceilings).
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We have allocated a significant number of resources to this
line of effort for several reasons. First, effective work force
planning has significant potential for reducing the size and cost of
the Federal work force. Second, work force planning is intimately
tied into other significant issues being addressed in the Federal
personnel management area for which there is high congressional in-
terest. For example, work measurement standards (an integral part
of work force planning) not only form the basis for estimating per-
sonnel requirements but can also provide part of the foundation for
performance appraisals and merit and incentive pay systems. Also,
effective work force planning plays a critical role in assessing
the opportunities for increasing the use of part-time employees and
the opportunity to delegate work to personnel in lower grades.
Issues that need attention
Over the last few years, we have primarily studied military
work force planning, generally focusing on work measurement systems.
We have been able to help move military agencies to better integrate
work force planning into their decisionmaking process, including
budget decisions.
On the basis of our military work we learned that integrating
sound work force planning into the decisionmaking process requires
attacking the problem from a much broader base. We have to demon-
strate the need to improve agency work measurement systems and must
emphasize the importance of integrating this and other elements of
work force planning into the budget process and agencies' other
human resource management systems. We also found that strong leader-
ship is needed to give the process the required impetus and to assure
better follow through, including evaluation and assessment. Further,
there are system disincenti s that, unless removed, will continue
to discourage work force pl .ling development and implementation.
We have assignments in process, that will address the leader-
ship issue, organizational structure ties, impacts of employment
controls on specific personnel planning decisions, the linkage of
work force
planning
systems to the budget process and human resource
management
systems;
problems in methodology, especially work measure-
ment; and
guidance
for determining work force requirements. In this
regard, we
believe
the following questions and issues need further
study:
.1.
What actions are needed to provide strong leadership and
guidance to agencies which use work force planning systems?
2.
What
work
.are
can be done to remove disincentives and barriers to
force planning, and what alternatives to these barriers
available for control and accountability?
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 3. What actions are needed by agencies to institutionalize b.ei
work force planning systems? a p P
te1c
4. What improvements are needed in methodology to simplify theuou
design and implementation of systems and improve their re- ent
liability and use? epo
5. How can agencies better achieve needed organization change
to assure best results at the lowest costs?
How can the Federal Government's systems
for staffing be made more responsive,
efficient, and cost effective?
Major changes in Federal staffing policies and practices have
recently been instituted. The Civil Service Reform Act provided the
basis for restructuring the system by allowing agencies to assume
delegated authority for most staffing operations and encouraging
managerial involvement in the process. Other changes may still be
needed. Both recent and planned improvements emphasize the impor-
tance of employing the best possible people in the shortest period
of time and at the least cost. The four areas that we see needing
attention are recruiting, position classification, examination and
selection, and appointments.
The large number of applicants for the few available Federal
jobs results in great expense for OPM and the agencies and disap-
pointment and frustration for many applicants. In this environment
agencies would normally have to do very little to search for quali-
fied applicants. The Garcia Amendment to the Reform Act, however,
mandated a recruiting program for women and minorities to assure
equal representation which will require agencies to develop a new
recruiting strategy.
Position classification is used to group positions by kind-of
work, level of difficulty, and qualifications required, to insure
equal pay for substantially equal work. As positions become more
specialized, classification becomes more difficult. While personnel
office position classifiers handle the technical aspects, managers
prepare descriptions and design the jobs. A constant problem has
been managers' use of overgrading to reward employees. In addition,
standards must be kept up to date, especially those involving tech-
nology disciplines.
OPM's past examining and selection procedures have not been con-
sidered responsive to agency needs in terms of timeliness and the
quality of those certified to an agency. A recently completed OPM
task force study to improve competitive selection processes is now
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