Hiring reform could reverse attrition of new employees

Federal agencies facing heavy losses of new employees could boost retention through improvements in the hiring process, according to human capital experts.

While overall federal attrition has declined, nearly a quarter of government hires from fiscal 2006 to fiscal 2008 left their jobs within two years, according to a report the nonprofit Partnership for Public Service and consultant firm Booz Allen Hamilton released on Thursday. High attrition of new talent costs agencies significant investments in hiring and training and shrinks the pool of future federal managers, the report found. Observers said hiring reform could help solve the attrition problem, however.

In a May memorandum, President Obama directed federal agencies by Nov. 1 to implement changes in government hiring. For example, agencies must move to a resume-based system; eliminate knowledge, skills and abilities essays; and give hiring managers more responsibility to recruit and interview candidates. The president also directed agencies to fill jobs faster and to update candidates on the status of their applications.

"Some of the things an agency can do to reduce attrition risk are some of the very same things an agency can do to improve its hiring processes," said Ron Sanders, former chief human capital officer at the Office of the Director of National Intelligence and currently a senior executive adviser with Booz Allen Hamilton. For example, improved assessment tools will help agencies identify the best candidates for open positions, which means recent hires will be less likely to leave. Giving applicants realistic job previews, and establishing strong programs to acclimate recent recruits to agencies and their missions, will help early-year retention, he said.

According to Partnership President Max Stier, there is a direct link between hiring the best candidate for a position and attrition of talent. If an agency hires the wrong people, turnover is positive and necessary, but it wastes time and resources, he noted.

"Hiring reform is focused on not only speed to hire," Stier said. "We need to also improve the ability to hire the right people for the job to be filled … recruiting and retention are two sides of the same coin."

In addition, agencies are losing large numbers of mission-critical employees such as nurses and Border Patrol agents, according to the report. For example, attrition for transportation safety personnel reached 29.5 percent in fiscal 2008. Impending retirements also could leave government with a significant knowledge gap, as more than 48 percent of federal workers and 67 percent of supervisors will be eligible to retire by 2015, the report found. Attrition of senior leadership continues to be troubling -- 13 percent of Senior Executive Service members retired between 2008 and 2009.

"It's critical for smart managers to be paying attention not only to how they recruit good talent but how they don't lose people who are critical to the organization," said Stier. "It may be that you're not treating employees in the way you need to be and it may be that you aren't choosing well."

Strong supervisory relationships, fair compensation and meaningful work are factors in employee attrition, the report found. According to data from the 2008 Federal Human Capital Survey, 34.7 percent of employees who were planning to leave their agency said their talents were being used well compared to 67.8 percent of workers planning to keep their jobs. Exit interviews and employee feedback surveys can help agencies determine why workers choose to leave, according to the report.

Attrition isn't all bad; it can open the door for new and fresh talent, the report found.

"Positive attrition, as the report points out, can create space to refresh an organization," said Sanders. "The challenge is in capturing the institutional knowledge of folks who leave, but the refresh process can be very positive in an organization."