Panelists suggest reducing reliance on political appointees

The conversion of some political jobs to career positions could help address the federal government's leadership and workforce challenges, three panelists said Wednesday.

At a seminar sponsored by the Performance Institute, a think tank with offices in Arlington, Va., panelists noted that placing more career employees in leadership roles could improve continuity during transitions to new presidential administrations. The seminar was the first in a series to develop recommendations for the 2008 Transitions in Governance report, a project by a coalition of good government groups designed to guide the next presidential administration on management and human capital issues.

"When a leader leaves, the job falls to senior career civil servants anyway," said Vince Taylor, vice president and director for human capital management at the Center for Naval Analysis. "Often, I tend to think that in some cases [career employees] tend do an equal and sometimes a better job. Why not make some of those positions permanent … so that as transition teams come and go, there's some element of continuity."

Additionally, replacing political appointees with career civil servants would give senior-level employees more opportunity for growth and thus greater incentive to stay on the job, Taylor said.

Jeffrey Risinger, chief human capital officer for the Securities and Exchange Commission, noted that top personnel officials in many agencies are political appointees. They should be replaced with career civil servants, he said. "The things we're dealing with and the changes we're trying to manage need focus for much longer than a political appointee is in place," he said.

Panelists pointed to weaknesses in leadership across the federal government, noting that poor leadership often hinders agencies' ability to retain employees. "We have a lot of leaders who became managers because of what they did technically," Risinger said. "The current compensation system [gives] people [incentives] to move into management even when they may not be a good fit for it."

Risinger added that while SEC's new pay and performance management system has had its struggles, it does include a robust program that allows employees to develop career paths based on their competencies and to take alternate routes if management is not right for them.

Additionally, Risinger said, SEC makes a commitment each year by pledging a certain amount of funding to human capital. Managers are then required to keep "ledgers" on every employee, noting how much training the agency has invested in that employee and how much it would cost to lose them, he said.

"Managers don't do work anymore; they lead people who do work," Risinger said. "If we've invested in our employees, then the risk of losing them is a liability. The balance of that -- the ones that we've retained -- is our equity."

Panelists said the government's recruiting challenges, especially as it faces an impending retirement wave, stem from the negative reputation that has developed around public service. Risinger pointed to a commercial that listed the line, "I'm from the government, and I'm here to help," among broken promises.

Chris Myers Asch, one of the architects of a proposal to create a U.S. Public Service Academy, said one of his chief recommendations for the next administration is that the president use his or her role to change the cultural perception of public service.

"We've had presidents since 1976 who run against the government and make it their appeal that the taxpayers aren't getting enough for their money," Asch said. "We need a president who's willing to make the case … that public service is a noble calling and that we need our best and brightest."

Jon Desenberg, consulting director for performance management at the Performance Institute, said the Transitions in Governance report will be issued in February. In addition to the seminars, the report will encompass the results of a survey given to senior executives, members of academia, legislators and federal employees. For more information, visit www.transitionsingov.org.