FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
August 19, 2009
Contact: Samantha Donaldson
202-775-9111
REPORT FINDS SERIOUS LEADERSHIP GAP IN THE SENIOR EXECUTIVE SERVICE, THE FEDERAL GOVERNMENT'S ELITE CADRE OF LEADERS
WASHINGTON – The federal government’s Senior Executive Service (SES), as envisioned 30 years ago by government reformers, has fallen short of its promise and is inadequate to meet today’s challenges, according to a report released today by the Partnership for Public Service and Booz Allen Hamilton.
The report, Unrealized Vision: Reimagining the Senior Executive Service,examines the state of the 7,000-member elite corps of federal leaders and how government develops, recruits, hires, retains, pays and trains its top managers.
“At a time when the public is looking for government to be part of the solution, government must respond with strong and forward-looking executive leadership,” said Max Stier, president and CEO of the Partnership for Public Service. “This will not occur unless the top political leadership makes the people of government a priority and understands the need to invest in their most important asset.”
According to the report, the original vision of the SES was never realized, due largely to the immobility of its members and the large number of positions filled by technical experts rather than executives with leadership and management experience. In addition, the report finds that the 30-year-old plan is inadequate for today’s needs and does not provide a blueprint to build the kind of senior leadership required for the future.
The report also details concerns about the decentralized talent development and recruitment processes, passive recruiting, an exceedingly cumbersome and lengthy hiring system, inadequate leadership training programs and a pay structure that can allow subordinates to earn more than top-level executives. All of these factors, according to thereport, impede the government’s ability to consistently build a high-caliber, government-wide executive organization.
One of the report’s key recommendations is for the U.S. Office of Personnel Management (OPM) to consolidate its various SES program responsibilities into one centralized office and provide coordinated and expanded services. That recommendation was realized this week when OPM Director John Berry announced the establishment of a new office to serve the SES program in order to increase efficiency and better serve agencies across the federal government.
Additional recommendations from the Reimagining the Senior Executive Service report include:
- Creating a sizable new “National SES Corps” of mobile managers who will have rotational assignments;
- Encouraging Congress to de-link its pay from SES pay to help eliminate the growing problem of pay compression;
- Reviewing all existing SES positions to identify and reallocate those that are better suited to Senior Level and Senior Technical positions;
- Establishing a private sector executive exchange program that will allow senior leaders to be temporarily exchanged between the federal government and private sector for developmental purposes;
- Providing more robust talent management services, such as conducting executive searches and developing and maintaining an SES “talent bank” and
- Instituting onboarding programs to help new executives integrate into their jobs, as well as offer ongoing development and training for all senior executives.
The report is based on interviews with key stakeholders, practitioners, policy-makers and academics, and focus groups with members of the SES, federal middle managers and SES recruiting and hiring managers, along with a survey of development and training officials and analysis of available data.
The Partnership for Public Service is a nonpartisan, nonprofit organization that works to revitalize the federal government by inspiring a new generation to serve and by transforming the way government works.
Booz Allen Hamilton has been at the forefront of management consulting for businesses and governments for more than 90 years. Providing consulting services in strategy, operations, organization and change, and information technology, Booz Allen is the one firm that helps clients solve their toughest problems, working by their side to help them achieve their missions. Booz Allen is committed to delivering results that endure.
To download a copy of the Reimagining the Senior Executive Service report, go to www.ourpublicservice.org.
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The Partnership for Public Service is a nonprofit, nonpartisan organization that works to revitalize our federal government by inspiring a new generation to serve and by transforming the way government works.
