Senator chairs the twohour hearing. Good morning and welcome. Ideas for more effective federal work force. This subcommittee will work to find consensus solutions to recognize challenges that prevent federal agencies employ some of the best and brightest individuals this country has to offer. Federal agencies employ some of the best and brightest individuals this country has to offer. Every day federal Civil Servants protect our communities, keep our airports running safely and smoothly and military running extremely effectively. We are grateful for their diligence. Were interested in their ideas and concerns. The important work of our federal employees is obstructed by a culture that rewards attendance over initiative, one that does not differentiate between poor performers and those who excel. In fact, it is the high performing often complain that under performing count parts harm work place moral and raise concerns that compensation is not appropriately related to performance. For instance, the office of Personnel Management 2016 federal Employee Viewpoint survey found that a mere 22 of employees agreed with this statement. Pay raises depend on how well employees perform their jobs. While the government fails to appropriately compensate employees based on performance managers and Agency Executive face additional challenges. Federal managers are frustrated by complicated and time consuming hiring process, something this committee has talked about often. In 2016 it took an average of 100 days to fill an open position in the federal government. In 2015 it took 90 days. The problem is getting worse. Many highly qualified applicants cannot wait over three months to start work. Managers need employees to start work properly to achieve the agencys mission and managers need to hire appropriately to make sure that we are hiring the right people in the right spot. Whenever there is an ongoing structural problem within the system it is our responsibility and duty to address it. Civil Service Structure as we know it today was created in the 1950s as a result of the hoover commission. The last Time Congress accomplished significant reform was Civil Service reform act of 1978. No successful business operates an Employment Model for the 1950s. No Effective Work place runs on a system last updated in the 1970s. Through authorities granted by congress, the president can implement government wide policies to improve the functioning of the entire federal work force. The president issued a memorandum for heads of executive departments and agencies establishing a hiring freeze until incoming director and office of management and budget recommends a Long Term Plan to reduce the size of the federal governments work force. President trumps hiring freeze is a similar memoranda issued by past president s. In 1977 president carter and 1981 president reagan issued broad hiring freezes. As the chief executive of the federal government President Trump is responding to widespread frustration voiced by the American People with their government but not necessarily with individual employees. Attrition through hiring freeze may not be the optimal solution for creating efficient federal work force. Absence of notable reforms to improve the federal work force, the administration has every right to alter the status quo. Through an executive action. Congress can either watch as the administration deals with the federal work force through executive actions or find consensus and work with the administration, take up the mantle of legislative reform. To do this this subcommittee plans to have a series of hearings to discuss a broad number of topics. Including hiring, training, compensation, performance management, discipline and separation and well invite a wide variety of view points. Todays hearing we start with perspective of federal managers as we look to tackle some of these challenges. It is important to hear from managers and Senior Executives who confront had issues. As experienced managers and executives our witnesses will by able to provide unique perspectives on the difficulties they face when Civil Service as managers. And shine light on bipartisan improvements. We may still see some of the same challenges. I hope my colleagues will join me in this pursuit and i am confident they will. This is a nonpartisan issue. I am interested to work with every stakeholder to ensure congress develops comprehensive reforms to set the federal work force and to continue to protect great employees in our federal work force and to make sure they continue to have good due process. I look forward to discussing with all of our Witnesses Today and i am grateful. I will introduce all of them in just a moment after Ranking Member has her opening remarks. Thank you, mr. Chairman. Thanks to my colleagues. Not always the sexiest of topics, Public Employment but absolutely critical if we are going to do the best that we can for the people of this country. I think while its inevitable we will discuss today the challenges of the hiring process i think it is important to highlight that we are having this discussion against a back drop of the current hiring freeze in the federal government. While the Public Sector cannot do its job when the Public Sector in north dakota cannot do its job the private sector has a more difficult time doing its job. For making sure the food we eat is safe to answering tax law and ensure veterans are cared for to protecting nation from harm federal employees in my state work every day to make my state and the country better. When we fail to fill needed vacancies unnecessarily the only people we are hurting are ourselves. I want to tell a quick story. During the huge boom of Oil Development in north dakota we had a very difficult time recruiting federal workers, engineers into the agencies that help provide permitting. It was so bad, in fact, that the industry offered up resources to hire and to expand the pay of the current federal employees. I think it was eye opening for many of us who for years might say that the federal employees are a drag on the economy to realize that the oil industry in my state could not function without a fully staffed federal blm. So across the board cuts and the shrinking of the overall federal work force are not the answer to making the federal government more efficient or more effective. These cuts will also come at the expense of talent, moral and the mission of our work force. None of which we can afford to lose. Managers play a vital role in the culture of an agency and are responsible for giving employees the tools they need to succeed and thrive in the work place. While todays hearing is not focussed on the hiring freeze, its important to keep in mind how a freeze directly and indirectly impacts the ability of managers and employees to do their job effectively and keep moral high. Im looking forward to examining how we can help managers use the tools that are available to them to more efficiently as well as to make them more efficient as well as how we can improve supervisor training. I will be doing all that i can to protect federal workers. I think it is important that we are in continued communication with the administration regarding how they plan to implement initiatives going forward. We have been at this table before, the two of us, talking about the aging of the federal work force, talking about recruiting the best and brightest americans to a job and a career in Public Service. We have been here talking about what tools we need. These are all great challenges in moving our country forward and making our government responsive to the needs of the people. We cant take a step backward. So mr. Chairman, i am grateful for our attention in this congress to the federal work force. I hope that we will be able to see innovations that will lead to Better Outcomes for Public Employees, for public managers and as a result Better Outcomes for the people of our country. Thank you. Thank you. At this time we will proceed with testimony from our witnesses. Renee johnson is National President for federal management association, an organization she served in various capacities since 2009. She currently is u. S. Navy Customer Engagement branch head in cherry point, North Carolina. Bill valdez is president of the Senior Executive association, a former cochair of the National Science and Technology Council of science policy Interagency Working Group from 2005 to 2014. He retired from federal service as career Senior Executive in 2014 after 20 years of service in the department of energy. Robert coursy is former deputy chief of staff for manpower. Personal and services for the u. S. Air force. Prior to 18 years of civilian service he served 28 years on active duty. He retired from federal service in october of 2016. David cox is the veteran in the group, he has been here before. We appreciate you coming back again. He worked for the department of Veterans Affairs from 1983 to 2006 when he became the secretary treasurer. All four of you, we appreciate very much for you being here. We appreciate all of your written testimony that you have already submitted. It is very thorough and excellent. That will go into the permanent record. It is custom to swear in all witnesses before they testify. Please raise your right hand. Do you swear the testimony you are about to give before this subcommittee will be the truth, the whole truth and nothing but the truth. Let the record reflect the witnesses all answered in the affirmative. We use a timing clock which will be a five minute count down for your testimony time. Turn your microphone on. We will be glad to be able to receive your testimony. Thank you. I appreciate you allowing me to present the views of the federal Managers Association before you today. I am currently employed at Fleet Readiness Center east as Customer Engagement branch head. I am here today on my own time representing my active and retired members and do not speak on behalf of the navy. The mission is to advocate excellence in Public Service so we are honored to appear today to discuss ways to empower managers as we seek a more efficient and effective federal government. In my written testimony i addressed a number of issues related to recruitment, hiring, performance management, termination and other topics. As fmas National President i hear how proud our members are to serve our nation. I am pleased to note there are chapters in Army Ammunition plant in oklahoma providing resources for national security. We also have members insuring americans receive their Social Security checks, collecting taxes to Fund Public Safety measures and protecting the nations food supply, to name just a few of the critical functions provided by federal employees. To begin fma members often describe the current hiring process as too cumbersome. The most recent Defense Authorization bills lends support for direct Hire Authority and fma sees this as pore avenue to allow moring to exdeindict the hiring process. Also seeks to allow for Salary Adjustments to compete for new wage grade hires. The federal government makes significant investments in these employees and often they leave for private sector before they even finish a year of service. Managers should have options to adjust hiring packages to reflect the unique circumstances in their areas. While fma is opposed to the current hiring freeze instituted by the new administration we are more concerned with the potential proposals for hiring in the long term specifically blind attrition policies. All federal agencies should allow to match hiring actions that align with there mandated funding. It supports a system that provides incentives. Departments and agencies must have maximum flexibility as we compete with the private sector to attract the best and brightest work force to answer the call of Public Service. Managers must be able to address both misconduct and poor performance. Currently many managers feel it is easier to keep poor performer and deal with their subpar performance rather than take steps to document and convince the agency of removal. All employees including managers should be held accountable for executing duties and responsibilities. At the same time fma opposes efforts to reduce or eliminate due process for federal employees. First level supervisors and managers need access to adequately funded training programs. Investments must be made to assist managers to recognize problems early and deal with them at the lowest possible level. Fma calls for introduction of legislation that requires agencies to provide supervisors with interactive training on management topics ranging from mentorship, Career Development and conducting accurate perform aps appraisals to to hostile work environments and poor performers. Training should take place within one year of promotion with ongoing training every three years thereafter. Initial and supervisory probationary periods are intended to be an extension of the hiring process. It is a time to evaluate the employee or manager. And determine whether they are suited not just for their current position but for several service in general. Some career fields are so complex that it takes more than one year to properly train an entry level employee. In the 2015 Defense Authorization bill congress extended the probationary period for all employees at the department of defense to two years. Extending the probation period at other federal agencies would benefit the government and employees by allowing supervisors to make decisions based on the employees performance as fully trained employee not just guess how the employee will perform. After the training is complete. I commend subcommittee for holding the hearing early to discuss how to best equip those of us charged with managing the federal workforce and ensure we are equipped to meet the agencys goals. Thank you for affording the federal Managers Association the opportunity to discuss our organizations views. I am eager to answer any questions you may have. Chairman language ford and rafrpgi rafr Ranking Members thank you for the opportunity to testify before the subcommittee today. The Senior Executives association and members are eager to work with you and the new administration to develop Common Sense Solutions to the challenges that we know confront the Civil Service. The 7,200 career Senior Executives play a vital role in implementing positive change in the government utilizing depth of experience and knowledge will be critical as we develop the Common Sense Solutions we all know are required. My written testimony discusses many of those possible solutions. I am ready to provide more information or answer any questions you might have. I would like to focus my remarks on several broad issues that help inform that discussion namely the answer to three questions. First, are federal leaders currently empowered to manage the workforce . What are constraints on empowerment . What are the most Impactful Solutions we should pursue . The answer to the first question is no. There are two root causes for this lack of empowerment. First, the complexity of Workforce Management processes and rules makes it extremely difficult for federal leaders to be sufficiently empowered navigating the maze of hr rules and regulations while focussing on the primary objective of a federal leader, fulfilling the Agency Mission is a difficult task. Second, federal leaders lack the tools they require to effectively manage their workforce when achieving 21st century missions. Corporate america recognizes it needs to know the composition of the workforce, the best places to hire talent and how to use risks reward frameworks to incentivize their work forces. In the federal government the tools that would enable federal leaders to do the same are not available. This leads to the discussion on constraints on empowerment. I would put them into three baskets. The first basket is the complexity of federal Workforce Management. Anyone including federal leaders would be overwhelmed by rules and regulations that are often seemingly contradictory. This is most apparent in the hiring process which forces a leader to make compromises that can result in the best qualified candidates not being chosen. The second basket is the many routes of appeal or form shopping for employees con s