A Renewed Push for Commonsense Hiring Reform
When not talking about potential government shutdowns, continuing resolutions, or protecting pay and benefits for feds, an issue that regularly comes up in Federal Managers Association (FMA) meetings on Capitol Hill is hiring reform.
Hiring, recruitment, and retention to the federal workforce are often talked about in Washington, D.C. The federal workforce faces a concerning comparison with the private sector in regard to time-to-hire. In Fiscal Year 2018, the average time it took to hire a new employee in the federal government was 98.3 days, which was down from 105.8 days in Fiscal Year 2017. The Office of Personnel Management’s goal across the government is 80 days. And according to the Society for Human Resource Management, the average time-to-fill in the private sector is 36 days. To speed this process, FMA supports commonsense hiring reforms and giving managers other tools to enhance the talent pipeline in the federal workforce.
A great example of this is the Chance to Compete Act (H.R. 159 / S. 59), which reduces unnecessary burdens to job hiring and would make hiring more efficient and effective. Subject matter experts could develop actual job evaluations and assessments to judge skills and abilities, rather than rely on a college degree, which may be unrelated. In the previous session of Congress, the House passed the bill on the suspension calendar and the Senate version made it through the Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs Committee. The bill was never considered by the full Senate in the 117th Congress.
Rep. Virginia Foxx (R-NC) introduced the bill in the House, and that chamber took immediate action on it. In a statement, House Oversight and Accountability Chairman James Comer (R-KY) said, “The private sector already uses such structured interviews, knowledge tests, and writing samples for the hiring process. It is time the federal government does, too. Agencies should be able to hire professionals that can do the work—and there are many ways to build the right kind of professional expertise. H.R. 159 represents one of those rare bipartisan legislative reforms that targets a specific problem, implements tested solutions, and reflects private-sector best practices.” FMA agrees completely with Chairman Comer, and we applauded the House for passing the bill by a resounding vote of 422-2 in January 2023, in one the one of the first weeks of the 118th Congress.
Sen. Kyrsten Sinema (I-AZ) introduced the bill in the Senate, along with Sens. James Lankford (R-OK), Tom Carper (D-DE), and Bill Hagerty (R-TN). FMA shares Chairman Comer’s hope the Senate will consider and pass the bill so it can be signed into law in the 118th Congress.
Specifically, the bill:
• Defines acceptable job assessments used in competitive-service hiring to include skills-based assessments—freeing agencies to focus on candidates who actually can perform on the job.
• Authorizes agencies to use subject-matter experts to administer skills-based assessments—giving a greater voice to agency officials who can best distinguish practical performers from the field of candidates.
• Allows agencies to share their applicant assessments—greatly increasing overall hiring efficiency and raising the likelihood that, once a good candidate proves to one agency they can practically perform, they will indeed be hired by the federal government.
• Institutes “talent teams” in agency human resources offices—ensuring each agency has a key group of staff who specialize in supporting the development of skills-based assessments, improving examinations, and otherwise facilitating the Act’s implementation.
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The views reflected in this column are those of FMA and do not necessarily represent the views of FEDmanager. To learn more about the Federal Managers Association (FMA), visit their website: FedManagers.org.