On the Spot

Federal agencies are embarking on the most dramatic personnel reforms in decades, and chief human capital officers are on the spot to make them a success. The Defense Department is finalizing regulations governing the shift to a pay-forperformance system. The Homeland Security Department is doing the same, though a judge recently dealt a blow by declaring a set of proposed rules illegal.

This setback hasn't discouraged the Bush administration from pushing other civilian agencies to shed the General Schedule.

CHCOs must win employees' trust and support for the changes. They also must convince skeptical lawmakers to give them the resources necessary to train managers properly on fresh performance evaluation systems. And they must appease union leaders concerned that the reforms signal an attempt to curtail collective bargaining. The tasks require exceptional communication and unwavering attention.

This is expected of executives who also hold broad responsibility for attracting top talent to government service, making the hiring process more efficient, retaining employees, leading emergency preparedness and succession-planning efforts, and anticipating and filling upcoming skills gaps. Some CHCOs carry multiple titles, adding to their duties. Lawmakers have expressed concern that chiefs holding multiple titles might be stretched too thin.

Congress created the Chief Human Capital Officer position as part of the 2002 Homeland Security Act, and required the heads of 24 agencies to select career executives or political appointees to fill it. CHCOs bring much-needed focus and attention to personnel issues, former Office of Personnel Management Director Kay Coles James told a House Government Reform subcommittee in May 2004. "Having a conduit at the very highest levels in these agencies . . . where these issues are being addressed and talked about, is critical," she said.

If CHCOs fail to perform, the consequences will be dire, said Rep. Danny Davis, D-Ill., at that hearing. "The best part of the federal government is the thousands of dedicated men and women who work on behalf of taxpayers each and every day," he said. "All the services Americans rely upon their government to provide, from protecting our homeland to regulating our markets, will be severely threatened unless we improve the way government manages its most important asset-its workers."