OPM gets mixed review at 20-year benchmark

The Office of Personnel Management can be proud of many successes since its inception more than 20 years ago, but the agency still has numerous hurdles to clear in areas such as compensation and staffing, according to the Merit Systems Protection Board. In a new report, "The U.S. Office of Personnel Management in Retrospect: Achievements and Challenges After Two Decades," MSPB reviewed critical human resources issues to determine OMB's level of success since its creation in 1978. According to MSPB, the highlights of OPM's work during the past two decades include shifting recruitment and hiring authority to federal agencies, improving oversight of federal human resource programs and encouraging a more diverse and family-friendly federal workplace. "By the mid 1990s, OPM had delegated the lion's share of responsibility for recruiting and examining new employees to the agencies," the report said. But, OPM still struggles to find the right balance between deregulating and delegating and ensuring that federal agencies adhere to and fairly administer things like job applicant assessments, the report said. Some surveyed federal managers said the quality of candidate assessments has declined because of the increased workload delegated to agencies. Managers also complained that OPM's elimination of the Federal Personnel Manual took away an important personnel tool. OPM eliminated the manual in an effort to reduce excessive guidance. "[OPM] still must find a way for its oversight reviews to address the fact that accountability no longer lies with the personnel office, but also with line managers and supervisors who are exercising delegated authorities," the report said. "OPM needs to show strong leadership in fostering agency programs for self-monitoring." Funding and staffing cuts at OPM also have weakened the agency's ability to tackle the government's long-standing personnel problems, the report said. "If agencies begin to rely on themselves and other consultants more than on OPM, will OPM be able to retain the expertise to remain at the forefront in the federal human resources business?" the report asked. Some of OPM's constituents cited the federal pay gap as an example of a long-standing issue where the agency's leadership has dwindled. Despite an attempt to address the federal pay gap issue by shepherding passage of the 1990 Federal Employees Pay and Comparability Act, OPM has not successfully resolved the issue, the report said. OPM's efforts to reform the pay system were unsuccessful, and a renewed effort may have little to no effect on compensation if OPM doesn't become a leader in developing a performance-oriented pay system, the report said. Overall, the report said, OPM should work harder to balance long-term human resources goals with short-term political goals set by a presidential administration. The agency should also guard its resources more carefully to prevent too much reliance on contractors who provide expertise in recruitment, application processing, test administration and training needs assessment. OPM should also anticipate federal human resources trends and policy needs, MSPB said, adopting governmentwide regulatory changes as needed. To do this, OPM must be included in any and all discussions about human capital management, MSPB said. In a response to the report, OPM Director Kay Coles James said that MSPB's observations and recommendations would be useful in the agency's efforts to improve human capital management.