[Federal Register Volume 60, Number 237 (Monday, December 11, 1995)]
[Proposed Rules]
[Pages 63454-63457]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 95-30053]
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Proposed Rules
Federal Register
________________________________________________________________________
This section of the FEDERAL REGISTER contains notices to the public of
the proposed issuance of rules and regulations. The purpose of these
notices is to give interested persons an opportunity to participate in
the rule making prior to the adoption of the final rules.
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Federal Register / Vol. 60, No. 237 / Monday, December 11, 1995 /
Proposed Rules
[[Page 63454]]
OFFICE OF PERSONNEL MANAGEMENT
5 CFR Parts 317 and 412
RIN 3206-AF96
Executive and Management Development
AGENCY: Office of Personnel Management.
ACTION: Proposed regulations.
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SUMMARY: The Office of Personnel Management (OPM) is proposing to amend
part 317 of its regulations governing initial career appointment to the
Senior Executive Service (SES) and Qualifications Review Board
certification. The proposed changes to part 317 would eliminate the 3-
year limitation on the validity of Qualifications Review Board (QRB)
certification for appointment to the Senior Executive Service and
simplify the Executive Resources Board (ERB) certification of
candidates. The Office is also proposing to amend part 412 of its
regulations governing executive and management development. The
coverage will be expanded to include supervisory development. The
revised regulations present broad program criteria on the systematic
development of executives, managers, supervisors, and candidates. They
also establish minimum requirements for formal Senior Executive Service
candidate development programs. The changes proposed promote training
and development activities which foster a corporate perspective of
Government.
DATES: Written comments will be considered if received no later than
February 9, 1996.
ADDRESSES: Send or deliver written comments to the Ms. K. Joyce
Edwards, Assistant Director, Office of Executive Resources, Office of
Personnel Management, Room 6484, 1900 E Street NW., Washington, DC
20415.
FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT:
Constance Maravell, 202-606-1832.
SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: The Office of Personnel Management (OPM)
issued proposed regulations on executive and management development on
March 2, 1993 (58 FR 11988). We received comments from 23 agencies, 9
individuals and the Federal Executive Institute Alumni Association.
Most comments expressed support for including the development of
supervisors along with that of managers and executives. The proposed
regulations were withdrawn on February 11, 1994 (59 FR 6593) to see
which objectives of the regulations could be achieved through
alternative means and so they could be reviewed in the context of the
sunsetting of the Federal Personnel Manual in December 1993.
General
In keeping with the spirit of Executive Order 12861 on
``Elimination on One-Half of Executive Branch Internal Regulations,''
we re-examined the proposed regulations. This has resulted in the
elimination of regulations on needs assessments for the management
profession and for individuals and formal candidate development
programs for supervisors and managers. Proposed requirements in these
areas have been removed, not because we have found such activities to
be ineffective, but because agencies should be free to engage in them
without being required to do so. Well selected developmental
experiences enhance the competence and broaden the perspective of the
managerial workforce. We encourage agencies to undertake these
activities on a systematic basis.
We are also deleting regulations that are covered by statute which
require no further clarification such as OPM's responsibility for the
review of agency programs. We would like to draw agency attention to
two provisions of statute which will not be regulated further. The
first is the use of sabbaticals in general, 5 U.S.C. 3396(c). The
second is, 5 U.S.C. 3396(d), authorizing sabbaticals, training, or
details or other temporary assignments in other agencies, State or
local governments, or the private sector for the continuing training
and development of incumbent career SES members
The earlier proposed regulations also provided for the reactivation
of expired QRB certifications for graduates of formal SES candidate
development programs (CDP). Reactivation was accomplished by a
variation to the regulations in December 1993, which extended
certifications until December 31, 1996. The current proposed
regulations in part 317 would remove the present 3-year time limit on
all QRB certifications. The removal would apply to certifications
issued before the regulations as well as those issued afterwards.
In response to a recommendation from the Executive Resources
Management Group work group on staffing, we propose to simplify
procedural requirements for the ERB certification of SES candidates.
Specifically, when there are less than 10 eligible candidates for an
SES position, an ERB would be permitted to refer all candidates to the
appointing authority without further ranking. The statutory requirement
that ERB's make written recommendations must be observed regardless of
the number of candidates.
What remains in the regulations is a clear set of criteria which
promote a corporate perspective of governance through the systematic
development of candidates for the SES and the continuing development of
supervisors, managers, and executives. Public managers with a corporate
perspective respect and embrace the dynamics of American democracy;
they recognize their fundamental responsibility for balancing change
and continuity. Their values encompass a respect for both diversity and
merit. Their commitment to Government service transcends their agency
mission and individual profession. Executives with a corporate
perspective will play a critical role in the reinvention of Government.
These regulations recognize and give meaning to the findings of
OPM's 1992 Leadership Effectiveness Study. The 10,000 managers who
responded identified 22 generic competencies essential to successful
performance as leaders in any government position. The study found that
effective supervisors, managers and executives have a shared base of
competencies. As individuals move from supervisors to managers and
executives they must acquire additional enhanced competencies. For this
reason, the preparation of supervisors and managers is considered
integral to the development of candidates for the SES.
[[Page 63455]]
The criteria in section 412.103 are designed to enable agencies to
run strong supervisory, managerial and executive development programs
to provide a corporate perspective in the context of their succession
planning systems. This assures that there are enough prepared and
qualified employees as candidates for SES positions. This section
requires agencies to provide initial and continuing training and
development to their management corps. Formal SES candidate development
programs are one option, but not the only one for assuring that
agencies have enough candidates for the SES.
SES Candidate Development Programs (CDP)
If an agency desires graduates of its SES candidate development
program to receive Qualifications Review Board certification, the
program must meet the minimum standards in Sec. 412.104. OPM will
review all programs prior to announcement for the first time under
these regulations regardless of whether they have been approved under
the previous regulations. After the initial announcement, OPM will only
review programs if there is a significant change in the program.
The standards meet statutory requirements and support the National
Performance Review recommendation for promoting a corporate culture in
the SES. During the time the candidates are in the program, they must
attend at least 80 hours of formal interagency training programs; have
developmental assignments totalling 4 months; and have a mentor. If an
agency wishes to deviate from these minimum requirements, it must
obtain an exception from OPM before the candidate starts the program.
OPM believes that even individuals who are well qualified for an
SES appointment can benefit from this minimum training and development.
It is not our intention to grant exceptions to the minimum requirements
based on the fact that the candidate is already well qualified to enter
the SES. OPM does not support the use of the formal SES candidate
development program as a mechanism for ``precertifying'' fully
qualified individuals for the SES.
These standards differ from the existing regulations in the
following ways. Agencies can choose, under the standards, the formal
interagency executive level training experience rather than be limited
to OPM approved programs. An agency may substitute a work experience,
longer than 80 hours, that involves multiple agencies for formal
training; but this substitution does not eliminate the requirement for
a developmental assignment. The length of the developmental work
assignments has been specified to eliminate confusion about what cases
will be presented to the QRB.
One way to promote a corporate perspective in the SES is to
encourage the selection of qualified applicants from outside the
agency. The law, in 5 U.S.C. 3393(a), supports this goal by requiring
at least governmentwide competition for initial appointment to the SES.
While the proposed regulations on recruitment for SES CDP are
consistent with this statutory requirement, they provide flexibility
for those agencies which have demonstrated support for an SES corporate
perspective.
Specifically, the exception from Governmentwide competition in the
current regulations for agencies with 150 or fewer allocated SES
positions for their candidate development programs has been changed in
two ways. First, the exception is available to agencies which can show
OPM that in the 5 years prior to announcing a CDP, at least 15% of the
career SES members appointed come from outside the agency. An agency
may be able to conduct one offering of a CDP under this exception but
not another because the agency does not meet the criterion at that
time. Second, when there has only been agencywide competition for the
CDP, the graduates of these programs are required to compete
Governmentwide for entry to the SES.
The regulations on ``status'' and ``non-status'' SES candidate
development programs currently in subpart E have been rewritten in a
new subpart B to eliminate redundancy. There is no change in the nature
of the programs.
Regulatory Flexibility Act
I certify that these regulations will not have significant economic
impact on a substantial number of small entities because they affect
only Federal employees and agencies.
List of Subjects in 5 CFR Parts 317 and 412
Government employees.
Office of Personnel Management.
James B. King,
Director.
Accordingly, the Office of Personnel Management proposes to amend 5
CFR parts 317 and 412 as follows:
PART 317--EMPLOYMENT IN THE SENIOR EXECUTIVE SERVICE
1. The authority citation for part 317 continues to read as
follows:
Authority: 5 U.S.C. 3392, 3393, 3393a, 3395, 3397, 3593, and
3595.
2. In section 317.501, paragraph (c)(5) is revised to read as
follows:
Sec. 317.501 Recruitment and selection for initial SES career
appointment.
* * * * *
(c) * * *
(5) Provide that the ERB make written recommendations to the
appointing authority on the eligible candidates and identify the best
qualified candidates. If there are less than 10 eligible candidates,
the ERB may refer to the appointing authority all candidates as ``best
qualified.'' Rating sheets may be used to satisfy the written
recommendations requirement for individual candidates, but the ERB must
certify in writing the list of candidates to the appointing authority.
* * * * *
3. In section 317.502, paragraph (c) is revised to read as follows:
Sec. 317.502 Qualifications Review Board certification.
* * * * *
(c) Qualifications Review Board certification of executive
qualifications must be based on demonstrated executive experience;
successful completion of an OPM-approved candidate development program;
or possession of special or unique qualities that indicate a likelihood
of executive success. Any existing time limit on a previously approved
certification is removed.
* * * * *
PART 412--EXECUTIVE, MANAGEMENT, AND SUPERVISORY DEVELOPMENT
3. Part 412 is revised to read as follows:
PART 412--EXECUTIVE, MANAGEMENT, AND SUPERVISORY DEVELOPMENT
Subpart A--General Provisions
Sec.
412.101 Coverage.
412.102 Purpose.
412.103 Criteria for programs for the systematic training and
development of executives, managers, supervisors, and candidates.
412.104 Formal candidate development programs for Senior Executive
Service positions.
Subpart B--Senior Executive Service Status and Nonstatus Candidate
Development Programs
412.201 Purpose.
412.202 ``Status'' programs.
412.203 ``Non-status'' programs.
[[Page 63456]]
Authority: 5 U.S.C. 3397, 4101, et seq.
Subpart A--General Provisions
Sec. 412.101 Coverage.
This subpart applies to all incumbents of or candidates for
supervisory, managerial, and executive positions in the General
Schedule, the Senior Executive Service (SES), or equivalent pay systems
who are also covered by part 410 of this chapter.
Sec. 412.102 Purpose.
(a) This subpart implements for supervisors, managers, and
executives the provisions of chapter 41 of title 5 of the United States
Code related to training and section 3396 of title 5 related to the
criteria for programs of systematic development of candidates for the
SES and the continuing development of SES members.
(b) The subpart identifies a continuum of preparation starting with
supervisory positions and proceeding through management and executive
positions governmentwide. For this reason, the subpart establishes a
comprehensive system that is intended to:
(1) Provide the competencies needed by supervisors, managers, and
executives to perform their current functions at the mastery level of
proficiency; and
(2) Provide learning through development and training in the
context of succession planning and corporate perspective to prepare
individuals for advancement, thus supplying the agency and the
government with an adequate number of well prepared and qualified
candidates to fill supervisory, managerial, and executive positions
governmentwide.
Sec. 412.103 Criteria for programs for the systematic training and
development of executives, managers, supervisors, and candidates.
Each agency must provide for the initial and continuing development
of individuals in executive, managerial, and supervisory positions, and
candidates for those positions. The agency must issue a written policy
to assure that their development programs:
(a) Are designed as part of the agency's strategic plan and foster
a corporate perspective.
(b) Make assignments to training and development consistent with
the merit system principles set forth in 5 U.S.C. 2301(b) (1) and (2).
(c) Provide for:
(1) Initial training as an individual makes critical career
transitions to become a new supervisor, a new manager, or a new
executive consistent with the results of needs assessments;
(2) Continuing learning experiences, both short- and long-term,
throughout an individual's career in order for the individual to
achieve the mastery level of proficiency for his or her current
management level and position; and
(3) Systematic development of candidates for advancement to a
higher management level. Formal candidate development programs leading
to noncompetitive placement eligibility represent one, but not the
only, type of systematic development.
Sec. 412.104 Formal candidate development programs for Senior
Executive Service positions.
Formal SES candidate development programs permit the certification
of the executive qualifications of graduates by a Qualifications Review
Board under the criterion of 5 U.S.C. 3393(c)(2)(B) and selection for
the SES without further competition. The agency must have a written
policy describing how the program will operate. The agency must obtain
OPM approval of the program before it is conducted for the first time
under these regulations and whenever there are substantive changes to
the program. Agency programs must meet the following criteria.
(a) Recruitment. (1) Recruitment for the program is from all groups
of qualified individuals within the civil service, or all groups of
qualified individuals whether or not within the civil service.
(2) Agencies may request an exception to the provision in paragraph
(a)(1) of this section if they can show that during the 5-year period
prior to the announcement of a program they have made at least 15% of
their career SES appointments from sources outside the agency.
Notwithstanding this exception recruitment must be competitive and be
announced at least agencywide. Graduates of these programs who have
been certified by a QRB must then compete Governmentwide for entry to
the SES, but do not have to obtain a second QRB certification before
appointment.
(b) In recruiting, the agency, consistent with the merit system
principles in 5 U.S.C. 2301(b) (1) and (2), takes into consideration
the goal of achieving a diversified workforce.
(c) All candidates are selected through SES merit staffing
procedures. The number selected shall be consistent with the number of
expected vacancies.
(d) Each candidate has an SES development plan covering the period
of the program. The plan is prepared from a competency-based needs
determination. It is approved by the Executive Resources Board.
(e) The minimum program requirements, unless an exception is
obtained in advance of the beginning of the candidate's program, for an
SES development plan are as follows:
(1) There is a formal training experience that addresses the
executive core qualifications and their application to SES positions
governmentwide. The training experience must include interaction with a
wide mix of Federal employees outside the candidate's department or
agency to foster a corporate perspective but may include managers from
the private sector and state and local governments. The nature and
scope of the training must have Governmentwide or multi-agency
applicability. If formal interagency training is used to meet this
requirement, it must total at least 80 hours. If an interagency work
experience is used, it must be of significantly longer duration than 80
hours.
(2) There are developmental assignments that total at least 4
months of full-time service outside the candidate's position of record.
The purpose of the assignments is to broaden the candidate's experience
and/or increase knowledge of the overall functioning of the agency so
that the candidate is prepared for a range of agency positions.
(3) There is a member of the Senior Executive Service as a mentor.
(f) Each candidate's performance in the program is evaluated
periodically, and there is a written policy for discontinuing a
candidate's participation in the program. A candidate can be
discontinued or may withdraw from the program without prejudice to his
or her ability to apply directly for SES positions.
(g) Each candidate has a documented starting and finishing date in
the program.
Subpart B--Senior Executive Service Status and Nonstatus Candidate
Development Programs
Sec. 412.201 Purpose.
Section 3393 of title 5, United States Code, requires that career
appointees to the SES be recruited either from all groups of qualified
individuals within the civil service, or from all groups of qualified
individuals whether or not within the civil service. This subpart sets
forth regulations establishing two types of SES candidate development
programs, ``status'' and ``nonstatus.''
[[Page 63457]]
Sec. 412.202 ``Status'' programs.
Only employees serving under career appointments, or under career-
type appointments as defined in 5 CFR 317.304(a)(2), may participate in
``status'' candidate development programs.
Sec. 412.203 ``Nonstatus'' programs.
(a) Eligibility. Candidates are from outside Government and/or from
among employees serving on other than career or career-type
appointments within the civil service.
(b) Requirements. (1) Candidates must be appointed utilizing the
Schedule B authority authorized by 5 CFR 213.3202(j). The appointment
may not exceed or be extended beyond 3 years.
(2) Assignments must be to a full-time position created for
developmental purposes connected with the SES candidate development
program. Candidates serving under Schedule B appointment may not be
used to fill an agency's regular positions on a continuing basis.
(3) Schedule B appointments must be made in the same manner as
merit staffing requirements prescribed for the SES, except that each
agency shall follow the principle of veteran preference as far as
administratively feasible. Positions filled through this authority are
excluded under 5 CFR 302.101(c)(6) from the appointment procedures of
part 302.
[FR Doc. 95-30053 Filed 12-8-95; 8:45 am]
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