OPM says agencies should focus on training new supervisors

Carefully selected first-level managers may well be the plug needed to stop the federal government's human capital drain, according to a study released Monday by the Office of Personnel Management. OPM conducted the study, "Supervisors in the Federal Government: A Wake-Up Call," to determine how federal agencies are selecting and preparing first-level supervisors. At a time when the government is facing waves of retirement among its more experienced management staff, it is "more critical than ever to focus on developing new supervisors," the study said. "When people do not perform well as supervisors, it can cause serious problems for mission accomplishment and workforce morale," the report said. "This study should serve as a wake-up call for agencies to take immediate action to address a serious problem that has the potential to worsen." OPM surveyed federal employees at more than 30 agencies and students enrolled in an "Introduction to Supervision" course at the Agriculture Department's graduate school. Only four of the 30 agencies surveyed have formal leadership development programs, the study found. Agencies need to do a better job of identifying employees with supervisory potential and groom them for positions in management, OPM found. Supervisors are often chosen because of their technical qualifications, with little thought given to their leadership skills. Nearly 49 percent of the students surveyed said they were selected because they were recognized as technical experts. According to the study, agencies often promote supervisors from within, but the criteria used to assess them--experience, education, development and performance--do not address "people" skills. Federal supervisors say they need more help developing these skills in such areas as communication, coaching, performance management and conflict resolution. Supervisors also said they wanted training specifically tailored for their needs and more weight given to their ability to motivate people, the study found. The Bush administration has vowed to eliminate 40,000 middle management jobs over the next five years in an effort to thin out the federal government, making the need to recruit and develop good lower-level managers critical. But while managers have a vested interest in recruiting good supervisors, many of those surveyed by OPM said they hesitated to do so because they were afraid their actions would be viewed as showing favoritism to particular employees. Because agencies have been making little use of OPM's Leadership Competency Model, which helps managers identify attributes needed to be a good leader, OPM is developing a new "whole person" assessment tool to help managers and supervisors recruit leaders. The new assessment will focus on a mix of technical and general skills, including flexibility, teamwork and communication. "This approach, and the associated selection tools, should aid in the competitiveness of the federal government's recruitment efforts," the report said.