	OPM and Agencies Are Taking Steps to Improve the Hiring Process

OPM and agencies are continuing to address the problems with the key  parts of the hiring process we identified in our May 2003 report. Significant  issues and actions being taken include the following. Reforming the classification system. Improving job announcements and Web postings. To give support to this effort, OPM has continued to move forward on its  interagency project to modernize federal job vacancy announcements,  including providing guidance to agencies to improve the announcements. As we show in the report we are  issuing today, all 22 of the CHCO Council members responding to our  recent survey indicated that their agencies had made efforts to improve  their job announcements and Web postings. Automating hiring processes. These automated steps would include efforts to recruit  candidates, use of automated tools to assess candidates, automatic referral  of high-quality candidates to selecting officials, and electronic notification  of applicants on their status in the hiring process. We concluded in our May 2003  report that key candidate assessment tools used in the federal hiring  process can be ineffective. Agencies Appear to Be Making Limited Use of New Hiring Flexibilities

Despite agency officials’ past calls for hiring reform, agencies appear to be  making limited use of category rating and direct-hire authority, two new  hiring flexibilities created by Congress in November 2002 and implemented  by OPM in June of last year. 1). The limited use of category rating is somewhat unexpected  given the views of human resources directors we interviewed 2 years ago. The report we are issuing today also includes information about barriers  that the CHCO Council members believed have prevented or hindered their  agencies from using or making greater use of category rating and direct  hire. Frequently cited barriers included   the lack of OPM guidance for using the flexibilities,   the lack of agency policies and procedures for using the flexibilities,   the lack of flexibility in OPM rules and regulations, and   concern about possible inconsistencies in the implementation of the  flexibilities within the department or agency. In conclusion, the federal government is now facing one of the most  transformational changes to the civil service in half a century, which is  reflected in the new personnel systems for DHS and the Department of  Defense and in new hiring flexibilities provided to all agencies. Today’s  challenge is to define the appropriate roles and day-to-day working  relationships for OPM and individual agencies as they collaborate on  developing innovative and more effective hiring systems. Moreover, for  this transformation to be successful and enduring, human capital expertise  within the agencies must be up to the challenge.
Why GAO Did This Study

The executive branch hired nearly 95,000 new employees during fiscal year 2003. Improving the federal hiring process is critical given the increasing number of new hires expected in the next few years. In May 2003, GAO issued a report highlighting several key problems in the federal hiring process. That report concluded that the process needed improvement and included several recommendations to address the problems. Today, GAO is releasing a followup report requested by the subcommittee that discusses (1) the status of recent efforts to help improve the federal hiring process and (2) the extent to which federal agencies are using two new hiring flexibilities--category rating and direct-hire authority. Category rating permits an agency manager to select any job candidate placed in a best-qualified category. Direct-hire authority allows an agency to appoint individuals to positions without adherence to certain competitive examination requirements when there is a severe shortage of qualified candidates or a critical hiring need.

What GAO Found

Congress, the Office of Personnel Management (OPM), and agencies have all taken steps to improve the federal hiring process. In particular, Congress has provided agencies with additional hiring flexibilities, OPM has taken significant steps to modernize job vacancy announcements and develop the government's recruiting Web site, and most agencies are continuing to automate parts of their hiring processes. Nonetheless, problems remain with a job classification process and standards that many view as antiquated, and there is a need for improved tools to assess the qualifications of job candidates. Specifically, the report being released today discusses significant issues and actions being taken to (1) reform the classification system, (2) improve job announcements and Web postings, (3) automate hiring processes, and (4) improve candidate assessment tools. In addition, agencies appear to be making limited use of the two new hiring flexibilities contained in the Homeland Security Act of 2002--category rating and direct-hire authority--that could help agencies in expediting and controlling their hiring processes. GAO surveyed members of the interagency Chief Human Capital Officers Council who reported several barriers to greater use of these new flexibilities. Frequently cited barriers included (1) the lack of OPM guidance for using the flexibilities, (2) the lack of agency policies and procedures for using the flexibilities, (3) the lack of flexibility in OPM rules and regulations, and (4) concern about possible inconsistencies in the implementation of the flexibilities within the department or agency. The federal government is now facing one of the most transformational changes to the civil service in half a century, which is reflected in the new personnel systems for Department of Homeland Security and the Department of Defense and in new hiring flexibilities provided to all agencies. Today's challenge is to define the appropriate roles and day-to-day working relationships for OPM and individual agencies as they collaborate on developing innovative and more effective hiring systems. Moreover, human capital expertise within the agencies must be up to the challenge for this transformation to be successful and enduring.