{"id":17983,"date":"2018-11-29T19:18:01","date_gmt":"2018-11-29T19:18:01","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/staging.sightlinemg.com\/federaltimes\/uncategorized\/2018\/11\/29\/a-civil-service-overhaul-isnt-likely-says-official-so-what-is\/"},"modified":"2026-08-08T04:39:24","modified_gmt":"2026-08-08T04:39:24","slug":"a-civil-service-overhaul-isnt-likely-says-official-so-what-is","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/staging.sightlinemg.com\/federaltimes\/management\/2018\/11\/29\/a-civil-service-overhaul-isnt-likely-says-official-so-what-is\/","title":{"rendered":"A civil service overhaul isn\u2019t likely, says official. So, what is?"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Reforming the entirety of the civil service system would be incredibly hard to achieve, according to Peter Warren, associate director of performance and personnel management at the Office of Management and Budget.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">\u201cIt is, for all sorts of reasons, extremely difficult to do,\u201d Warren said at a Nov. 29 Creating Future Forward Government event hosted by FCW. \u201cWe have put forward legislative proposals, we will continue to, but, again, we\u2019re not going to miss the opportunity.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">He explained that the stars would have to perfectly align to allow for the policy and legislative actions necessary to effect complete transformation, and the Trump administration \u201cwould be unwise\u201d to act on the expectation of full reform.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">But that doesn\u2019t mean that the administration can\u2019t find avenues for reforming and improving the federal workforce for the 21st century within current legislation.<\/p>\n\n\n\t<aside class=\"smg-interstitial-link wp-block-smg-interstitial-link\">\n\t\t<a href=\"https:\/\/staging.sightlinemg.com\/federaltimes\/management\/2018\/05\/17\/can-opm-and-fed-unions-agree-on-civil-service-reform\/\" class=\"smg-interstitial-link__inner\">\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<div class=\"smg-interstitial-link__media\">\n\t\t\t\t\t<img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"300\" height=\"201\" src=\"https:\/\/staging.sightlinemg.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/08\/agreementgroup.jpg.jpg?w=300\" class=\"smg-interstitial-link__image wp-post-image\" alt=\"\" \/>\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t<div class=\"smg-interstitial-link__content\">\n\t\t\t\t<span class=\"smg-interstitial-link__kicker\">Related<\/span>\n\t\t\t\t<h3 class=\"smg-interstitial-link__title\">Can OPM and fed unions agree on civil service reform?<\/h3>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<p class=\"smg-interstitial-link__excerpt\">Federal employee unions have opposed most of the Office of Personnel Management&#039;s proposed changes to civil service policies, but a public service organization claims there is common ground.<\/p>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<\/a>\n\t<\/aside>\n\t\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">The Civil Service Reform Act of 1978 established the federal workforce rules and protections that agencies still use today, but the 40-year-old legislation was not designed to accommodate the highly skilled and technically advanced workers of today.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">\u201cThe workplace in general has changed dramatically,\u201d said Warren, explaining that the original CSRA was designed for a clerk-based workforce, whereas today the small number of clerking duties left at federal agencies are often outsourced.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">To adapt, administrations have issued special hiring authorities and workarounds so that agencies can hire for modern needs.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">\u201cIf you look at how government has adapted over that time, it\u2019s actually pretty impressive,\u201d said Sean Morris, federal human capital leader at Deloitte. \u201cSome aspects of what we have is actually working.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">The problem, according to Morris, is not so much that the workforce needs are changing, but that they are happening at such a fast rate.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">\u201cThe change is coming at us so quickly, we don\u2019t have the ability in government to be able to pivot,\u201d said Morris.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">According to Warren, the best solution in lieu of a total civil service overhaul is to use the \u201ctremendous latitude in this area of the law for administrative discretion\u201d to make government hiring more adaptable.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">The Trump administration has already taken advantage of some of this,<a href=\"https:\/\/www.federaltimes.com\/management\/2018\/10\/11\/3-new-opm-initiatives-could-shake-up-the-workforce\/\" target=_blank> issuing direct hiring authorities and an alternative pay and classification system<\/a> for sorely needed positions at federal agencies.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">But agencies still need to be given a better grasp of what the regulations and authorities actually allow them to do in hiring new personnel.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">\u201cEven amongst the experts in this area and the [chief human capital officers] \u2026 there is a very imperfect understanding,\u201d said Warren, explaining that agencies have historically sought out special hiring authorities and then never actually used them, because they didn\u2019t know what was allowed. \u201dPart of it is an abundance of caution.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">The Trump administration is also looking to change federal retirement benefits practices to better attract personnel that only want to spend a couple of years or so in government work before moving on to something else.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">The last time the Office of Personnel Management <a href=\"https:\/\/www.federaltimes.com\/management\/pay-benefits\/2018\/05\/07\/opm-is-out-to-cut-retirement-benefits\/\" target=_blank>attempted to change the retirement benefits structure<\/a>, it was met with strident opposition from federal employee groups.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Those proposals, however, simply sought to eliminate certain benefits without offering alternative systems.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">According to Warren, a defined contribution retirement package that an employee can take with them after leaving government service may be a better alternative.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>The stars would have to perfectly align to overhaul the Civil Service Reform Act, according to an Office of Management and Budget official, but smaller changes are still 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