NAPA Releases Proposed Executive Order to Improve the Federal Workforce

The National Academy of Public Administration (NAPA) has released a proposed executive order titled Modernizing and Reinvigorating the Public Workforce and Restoring Honor in Public Service. The proposal, written by fellows of the Academy, provides guidance that would rebuild trust in the public sector and strengthen the federal workforce. NAPA is an organization that helps government leaders solve their most critical management challenges by providing expert advice to government leaders in building and managing more effective, efficient, equitable, accountable, and transparent organizations. 

The proposal, which highlights the changing dynamic of the United States and the world, reads, “Recent events, such as the COVID-19 pandemic and repeated natural disasters, have shown why having a capable, professional and non-partisan civil service is of critical importance to the future of American democratic government and its ability to deal with the issues and challenges that face our Nation.”

The federal government is currently facing a severe shortage of critical skills. This shortage prevents public servants from responding to crisis in a timely and efficient manner.

The Government Accountability Office (GAO) has released several reports on the skills shortage in the federal government and the need to build a stronger workforce in the next administration. The proposed order also cites the Federal Employee Viewpoint Survey, which shows overall employee dissatisfaction with the functioning of their respective agencies. For instance, less than half of federal workers believe creativity and innovation is rewarded in government and the public sector has great difficulty retaining employees younger than 30 years old, who often move to the private sector.

The purpose of the proposed order, as stated, is to “[advance] the restoration of honor and trust in the public service and our dedicated Federal workforce, [begin] the modernization of Federal workforce practices, and [recognize] and [restore] employees’ procedural rights and protections.”

The first step of the proposed order is to focus on the Office of Personnel Management (OPM). Under the proposed order, the director of OPM would be a designated member of the cabinet and would be tasked with minimizing the number of positions assigned to support and non-mission functions and providing advice to federal agencies without requiring reimbursement from the agencies. OPM would handle all matters related to federal human capital management, including those occupations not covered by Title 5 of the United States Code.

The next step of the proposed order is to reinstate and expand protections for federal employees, including canceling certain executive orders enacted by the Trump Administration.

The third step focuses on flexible pay, job classification, and hiring. This includes reviewing all General Schedule job classification series and reduce the number of job series by not less than 50 percent and significantly expanding the use of streamlined hiring authorities to the extent permitted by law.

The fourth portion relates to managing the federal workforce--specifically, ensuring that whistleblower protections are implemented and reducing the involvement of political appointees in reviews of whistleblower complaints.

Finally, the proposed order recommends a transparent and open strategy when it comes to data collection and analysis. It reads, “The Director of the Office of Personnel Management, in consultation with the Chief Human Capital Officers Council, will establish a working group to identify and implement a comprehensive strategy for data collection and analysis on the federal workforce. That data should be used to advance strategic workforce planning, with a particular focus on identifying the federal government’s most pressing strategic human capital needs.”