Why Do So Many Feds Shun the Senior Executive Service?

Recent surveys by the Partnership for Public Service and Vanderbilt University found that more than 40 percent of high-level government professionals do not aspire to the Senior Executive Service.

With 85 percent of our nation’s 7,000 career senior executives eligible to retire in the next decade, federal agencies need to rethink how they recruit and hire for the SES, according to a new report from the Partnership for Public Service and McKinsey & Company.

Inspired by the 2015 executive order on strengthening the Senior Executive Service, the report—“A Pivotal Moment for the Senior Executive Service”—describes practices to bolster the SES, including ways to simplify cumbersome application and hiring processes to broaden the number and diversity of well-qualified people who apply.

Many federal agencies struggle in these areas; however, a number of agencies are doing well at finding ways to recruit a more diverse, highly-qualified pool of candidates.

Nixing Lengthy Essays

Unlike private-sector companies, most federal agencies require applicants for top jobs to write long essays on their work experience and qualifications just to make it past the first round. These essays typically need to fit a certain federal style that can frustrate or eliminate outside applicants who often are not familiar with what is expected or have to hire an expert to help.  

However, several agencies have eased this burden for applicants. In 2015, the Department of Energy ran a pilot program to test resume-based hiring. It not only spared applicants the essay-writing exercise, but also reduced the time it took to hire senior executives, said Robert Gibbs, chief human capital officer. Hiring time dropped by 95 days—to 174 days from 269 days.

The General Services Administration reduced hiring time while also increasing the number of senior executives from the private sector. In fiscal 2015, more than 18 percent of new executives came from outside government, the second highest percentage in federal government after the Small Business Administration. As of April 2016, GSA’s average time to hire a new executive was 77 days.

Customs and Border Protection has used resume-based hiring the longest, relying on it exclusively since 2010. Michele Burton, CBP’s director of executive services, advises other agencies thinking of switching to go “cold turkey,” rather than transition gradually.

“It will hurt at first, but hang in there,” she said. “That will pass.”

Officials in these agencies initially were concerned that a flood of resumes from unqualified candidates would inundate their human resources offices and it would be more difficult for hiring managers to evaluate leadership skills. They also thought their agency personnel would have to write the narratives the Office of Personnel Management requires and that the OPM’s Qualifications Review Board, which certifies senior executives, would not approve their candidates. However, the agencies worked through the issues that arose and found they were able to hire their preferred candidates.

Creating Opportunities

Many agencies send their GS-13 to GS-15 employees to Candidate Development Programs—a management tool agencies can use to prepare aspiring senior executives to gain the skills they need for those jobs and increase the number of qualified candidates in their SES pipeline.

Other agencies offer these opportunities to a broader range of employees.

The Social Security Administration, for example, runs two 18-month programs for promising employees from the GS-9 level and higher. The Air Force focuses on executive skills using a program that places about 800 employees into GS-13 to GS-15 positions that prioritize leadership development.

Beyond Recruiting

Our new report outlines additional ways agencies could put the SES on sounder footing. These include strengthening the SES culture and boosting its prestige; providing ways for senior executives to network and celebrate accomplishments; improving performance evaluation; and connecting rewards and recognition to achievements.

As the government seeks to attract another generation of senior executives skilled at leading the federal workforce, it is essential to find ways to strengthen the SES and create more interest in joining its ranks. These senior executives help keep our economy stable, our nation secure and our government operating effectively.

Mallory Barg Bulman is the director of research and evaluation at the nonprofit, nonpartisan Partnership for Public Service. Stacey Dietsch is an associate partner at McKinsey & Company.