1. Performance Institute - July 20, 2001
Recruiting & Retaining Top IT Talent for Your Agency
What is the watchword now?
IT Skills Crisis
In this environment of increasing dependency on computer systems, we are facing a talent shortage.
I will tell you a story about how the Federal CIO Council is dealing with this issue, give you a quick look at the Treasury Dept. picture,then will turn it over to Bob Coleman, so you can hear how the State Department deals with recruitment and retention.
Dagne Fulcher, IT Workforce Improvement
U.S. Department of the Treasury

2. 12% Employment Growth for All Jobs!
IT Job Growth Has Been Strong
177% Employment Growth for Systems Analysts, Computer Engineers and Computer Scientist Jobs
VS.
12% Employment Growth for All Jobs!
(U.S. Department of Commerce)
Let me first paint a picture of the workforce environment. In the US, job growth in the IT field has been terrific. The numbers are telling. 5

3. The Market is Hot Four Fastest Growing Jobs in the U.S. 1998 - 2008
From BLS, we see that the fast growing jobs in the US are Computer Engineer, Computer Support jobs, Systems Analysts, and Data Base Administrators.
(Bureau of Labor Statistics)

4. } America Will Need 1.3 Million New Core IT Workers by 2006
New jobs
3,000
Net replacements
Job }
2,500
1996 base year
Openings
employment
1,134
Due to
2,000
Growth
1,500
(in thousands)
A Dept. of Commerce projection from last year showed that 1.3 million workers would be needed by This may have slowed a bit now because of the economy and the dot.com bust.
244
and
Net
1,000
1,501
Replacements
1,257
500
1996
2006
(U.S. Department of Commerce) 8

5. The Skill Set is Changing
Fewer Unique Custom Applications
More HW/SW Platform Consistency
Allegiance to Technical Specialty vs. Employer
Equals =
Greater Opportunity for Movement
Studies have also shown that IT skills are changing. With the proliferation of COTS software rather than customized, and more standardization, we are seeing people with specific skill sets such as web developer, Peoplesoft/SAP experts,Oracle DBAs and others move to new employers rather than sticking with one company. This is probably less true in the Federal govt. than in private industry.

6. A Challenge to Federal IT Workforce Stability
10000
20000
30000
40000
50000
60000
70000
80000
66,660
34,345
32,315
4,660
1997
2006
New Jobs
Net Replacements
Base Employment
The Federal situation differs significantly from the national picture. We have a very experienced workforce which is nearing retirement age in large numbers. Whereas the bulk of growth in IT jobs nationally is in response to a growing industry, there is a substantial (almost 50%) replacement need for IT workers in the Federal government.
The new job estimate is probably low, so the challenge to find and retain a highly competent workforce may be greater than this chart portrays.
(U.S. Office of Personnel Management)

7. The Treasury Department Workforce Picture 1999
Average IT Employee is 44+
22% of IT Staff and 45% of Top Mgmt. Eligible for Retirement within 5 years
External Hires Down from 2 in 3 to 1 in 8
Turnover Rate = 6 to 9%
Treasury mirrors this national picture with some bureaus having even a more skewed workforce. The stability of our current workforce (6-9% attrition) coupled with overall Federal employment cutbacks has masked the impact of increased difficulty in recruiting and retaining IT professionals.
As you can see in 1999, our...

8. The Treasury Department Workforce Picture 2000
Average Age Increased from 44+ to 45+
IT Workforce Grew 5 Times Faster than the Overall Treasury Workforce (10/98-12/99)
70% of IT Workforce Growth from Employees Over 50
77% of Hires from within the Federal Workforce
And in

9. Meeting the Federal IT Workforce Challenge
Federal CIO Council Established IT Workforce Committee
Federal IT Workforce Challenge Study Initiated
Given the looming staffing shortage, the Federal CIO Council renamed the Education and Training Committee to the IT Workforce Committee to consider recruitment and retention issues in addition to professional developments issues and initiatives. And then the Committee initiated the Federal IT Workforce Challenge study to address a potential shortage of Federal IT workers.

10. Meeting the Federal IT Workforce Challenge
Report Issued July 1999
CIO Council website -
Workforce Documents
Implementation Plan - September 2000
Update - March 2001
The initial Challenge report was issued in July An implementation plan was issued in September 2000, and an update was provided at the Federal Office Systems E xpo Conference in March A year-end summary of progress will be provided this September, and will be distributed at GSA’s IRMCO Conference.
The Challenge Report addresses Workforce Planning and Management, Recruitment and Retention, and Career Development.

11. Enriching the IM/IT Value Chain
The Workforce Challenge: The Federal CIO Council
PLOWING THE FIELD:
Info/outreach campaign to encourage IT careers
IT Career Academy/HS
Federal participation in skills alliances
Federal Cyber Service
SUSTAINING GROWTH:
OPM/CIO partnering…specific pay/occupational standards
HARVEST:
An effective and efficient IT workforce supporting the working mission
FERTILIZING THE FIELD:
CIO University/STAR
Upgrade of IT skills/Best Practices
Knowledge Management
Government Industry Exchange
This very colorful, creative slide was created by Alex Bennet, the Dep. CIO at Navy. It depicts the nature of the workforce challenge and how we are dealing with it. The cycle begins with plowing the field, goes through the various growing cycles and ends with the harvest, which is a highly skilled IT workforce.
SEEDING THE FIELD:
Limited critical need hire authority
Recruitment from non-traditional labor pool
Scholarship/intern program to promising IT students
Pay and Occupational restructuring
FARMING:
Establish continuing workforce planning
Enriching the IM/IT Value Chain

12. Modernizing the Structure of Federal IT Jobs
Description: Create IT job categories that better correspond to private sector jobs by having clearer announcements, competency based recruiting, better measures of hot skills areas, and getting managers involved in recruitment.
Approach: Pilot Study
Status: Underway
Target Date: Summer 2001
There are a number of activities underway to modernize federal IT jobs. OPM has created a new job family which more accurately defines IT jobs by creating specialty titles. A pilot study was initiated in early 2000 to study a competency approach coupled with new recruitment practices.

13. Status: Modernizing the Structure of Federal IT Jobs (cont’d)
Description: Create job classification standards that reward technical proficiency by allowing more non-supervisors to rise in rank, and reward technical talent
Approach: OPM Survey of Agencies
Status: Final Standards Published
Target Date: June 2001
On June 5 of this year, OPM published new job classification standards based on the new specialty titles. These will be used throughout the government.

14. Pay Federal IT Workers Competitive Rates
Description: OPM Special Rate Study – Works within current general schedule structure to research establishing special rate schedules for categories of IT workers.
Approach: Survey of All Federal Agencies
Status: Implemented
Date: January 14, 2001
OPM implemented new special rates for certain IT occupations with increases ranging from 7 to 33% for grades GS Highest increases went to the lowest grades to to allow us to better compete for entry-level talent.

15. Pay Federal IT Workers Competitive Rates (cont’d)
Description: Comparative IT Pay System Study – National Academy of Public Administration (NAPA) will be making recommendations on how the government can best compete for IT talent.
Approach: Non-Partisan Independent Study
Status: Contract Awarded - Work Underway
Target Date: Summer 2001
The Federal CIO Council’s Workforce Committee commissioned a study by NAPA to conduct a study to recommend a specific compensation strategy for the government. The study report will be released at GSA’s IRMCO Conference on September 5.
NAPA has completed a tremendous research effort with an extensive survey of 39 private-sector firms, seven states, and several of America's top universities and prominent nonprofit institutions. This should be a compelling and significant report, watch for it in September.

16. Improve Workforce Planning
Description: Anticipate workforce talent drain and provide tools and techniques for workforce planning
Goal: Provide Model and System for Government-wide use by September 30, 2002
Approach: Development of Workforce Tools for Agencies
Status: SAS Developing Tools for OPM
Target Date: Sept 2002
OPM is working on the development of workforce planning tools.

17. Improve Recruitment Strategies
Description: Encourage use of existing hiring flexibilities, such as:
Recruitment and retention bonuses:
Broaden recruitment efforts to all qualified candidates
Encourage student intern and co-op programs -- partnership with the National Academy Foundation
Promote the CIAO Cyber Service Initiative
Approach: Council Publicity and Encouragement
Status: Ongoing
The Federal CIO Council’s Workforce Committee has worked closely with OPM to assist in the publication of information to agencies on flexibilities currently available in the federal government.
The Committee has started a High School Outreach Team. I am the chair of that team, and we call ourselves HOT-IT. We have sponsored Job Shadow Days, and will be facilitating summer internships for students to establish a pipeline into our career field. The Cyber Service Initiative provides college internships for aspiring IT security professionals. You can check out the website at

18. Focus on Career Development
Promoting upgrading skills through increase use of training technology (E.O )
Promoting “Road Maps” which motivates employees by describing the road to advancement
Supporting STAR and CIO University efforts
IT Executive Exchange Program
Mentoring
The Committee has promoted professional development through various avenues. The Road Map initiative is underway, and should debut by the end of the calendar year. GSA’s STAR (Strategic and Tactical Advocates for Results and CIO University are excellent for developing mid-level managers. The Mentoring Program has debuted on the Council website, and the Executive Exchange Program will be coming.

19. Resources:
GSA:CIO University, STAR Program, 1000 X 2000 Program:
National Defense University’s IRM College:
Council for Excellence in Government: New E-Gov Fellows Program:
OPM’s USA JOBS:
FirstGov - Learning and Jobs:
Department of Commerce website:
This has been a quick overview to let you know about recruitment and retention activities at the macro level- across government. This slide will give you a recap of resources for you to access.
Now we will see how an agency has put together an excellent program for recruitment and retention.