REPORT OF THE TASK FORCE ON PERSONNEL MANAGEMENT IN CIA

• Document Type: CREST
• Collection: General CIA Records
• Document Number (FOIA) /ESDN (CREST): CIA-RDP80-01826R000300100003-9
• Release Decision: RIPPUB
• Original Classification: S
• Document Page Count: 12
• Document Creation Date: November 17, 2016
• Document Release Date: July 12, 2000
• Sequence Number: 3
• Content Type: MF

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MEMORANDUM FOR:- Executive Committee
SUBJECT-
[x-4lo
Report of the Task Force on Personnel Management in CIA
1. After the Personnel Director gave his report to the Executive Committee
on Wednesday, 27 June, a Task Force was formed under my chairmanship compos
of the Comptroller, the General Counsel and the Inspector General to prepare, as
a matter of urgency, certain proposals which the Agency should consider in the
field of personnel management. This Task Force has held several meetings, with
of the Director's Staff attending as reporter and draftsman.
The following comments and recommendations are hereby submitted to the
Executive Committee.
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2. The Task Force is unanimous in expressing its belief that the Agency
should never again go through a 701 exercise in its present form. We recognize
the need for keeping this regulation on the books at the present time, but strongly
believe that to again engage in a mass reduction in force such as was done in the
DD/P this year would cause irretrievable harm to the Agency. In its stead we are
equally firm in our belief that what the Agency must do is to insure a regular
out-flow of employees who can be retired, be declared surplus, or be selected
f~,r
out either through incompetence or unsuitability. Consequently, we feel 'the most
important thing at this moment is for the Agency to determine exactly how it plans'
to move out the required number of employees each year in order to keep our flow
of promotions and our personnel development program in balance. On-th. other
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lent, -an early retirement program would give the Agency a method of retiring a
number of people with annuities and, in this manner, insure the competent,
dedicated, employee of an honorable retirement and a modest annuity.
Recommendation No. 1: It is recommended that immediately,
in this session of the Congress, the Agency devote considerable
effort to have the Central Intelligence Agency Act of 1949 amended
in order to empower the Director to utilize the provisions of
the Foreign Service Act of 1946.
3. We believe that something should be done immediately to restore morale
in the Agency and give clear indication that the log jam on promotions is broken
once and for all, Therefore, we suggest the immediate creation of some .additional
super grade or executive position slots which would break open promotions right
down the line particularly in the DD/P where it is needed most and give striking
evidence of the sincerity of what we are saying about careers in the CIA.
Recommendation No. 2: It is recommended that there be a study
made of where additional super grade slots can be created, that
the promotion boards reconvene and select the most deserving in
each grade for immediate promotion.
4. All members of this task force have been in responsible executive positions
in the Agency ever since the creation of the career service. We have all been
spectators to the development of what the Agency now calls its Career Service
Program and the creation of the various subordinate career services. We are,
and have been for some years, conscious of the.fact that to the average Agency
employee the Career Service System means very little as it is presently organized
and operated. We also believe that it has served to dissipate the command
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responsibilities of the line executives. We therefore feel that the entire Career
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Service System so-called could be abolished and existing boards and panels
retained as mechanisms for the line officers to carry out their executive
responsibilities.
Recommendation No. 3: It is recommended that a further
study be given to determine whether or not the Career Service
System should be continued in its present form.
5. One of the most important of our proposals is directed primarily toward
restoring a feeling of job security in the Agency and the desire of each employee
to make a career with CIA. There are several steps that can be taken toward
this end, some of which can be accomplished immediately and some of which may
take a little longer. We feel that every supervisor in the .A ency (this would include
(throug branch chid and station'chiefs abroad) should immediately call in each
employee under his direct supervision and explain to him exactly where he stands
and what his future prospects for a career in the Agency may be. It should be made
clear by the supervisor that these discussions are not the beginning of another 701
exercise but to prevent one. The Director of Personnel should not only assist the
supervisors in carrying out the task, but should monitor its completion. While we
do not presume to describe in detail how this should be done, we do believe that there
should be a note for the record on what each employee is told in the event of future nee'
Feeling that there is a sensd\ofrgency in accomplishing this task, we suggest that
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it be completed by not later
Recommendation No. 4: It is recommended that the Director of
Personnel furnish whatever assistance is needed for the supervisors
to carry out this task.
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6. Apart of the unrest that is currently prevalent in the Agency has been
occasioned by the episodes of the U-2 and the Cuban invasion, and more directly
by the 701 exercise. The first two events have been widely discussed in the press
with uninformed speculation to the effect that this probably. meant that CIA would
be broken up and-that many functions would be transferred to other agencies.
Therefore, there is not only a lack of individual job security, but a true uncertainty
as to what the future of the Agency may be.
Recommendation No. 5: It is recommended that a Notice
along the lines of the attached be signed by the Director and
sent to every employee. We feel that this is needed in addition
to the supervisory discussions with the individuals and coming
out at this time will serve to reinforce the supervisor's position.
7. Directly related to this entire problem of job security is the handling
of fitness reports within the Agency. We feel that the reviewing officials take for
granted the ratings given by the supervisors in most cases, and therefore there
should be a discussion between the rating officer and the reviewing official on each
and every fitness report. We note with dismay that the average 701 case has a foldez
filled with fitness reports that place some of them above average and in certain
instances in the superior category. Representatives of other agencies examining
these fitness reports would seriously question why such individuals should be
released. While it is true in most cases that these employees would be far better
than average in any other government department, it is also true 'that the reports
reflect a general Agency tendency to overrate the individual employee. We,
therefore, feel that our system of fitness reports needs more aggressive monitoring
and that we must definitely start to place all individuals A competitive categories.
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As a result of figures presented to the Task Force by the Director of Personnel, we
also feel that the percentages of individuals in the above average and below average
categories are too low as compared to the 90% or better which are in the general
average group.
Recommendation No. 6: We recommend that the Director of
Personnel develop procedures to insure an adequate review of
fitness ratings, to see that a proper balance of ratings is maintained
in the several components.
8. The Task Force recognizes that dome of the current problems come
about through supervisory weakness. We recognize that a large part of this
weakness comes through the desire of the supervisor to be "a good guy" and the
lack of a program by the Personnel Office to properly monitor executive performance
We have carefully prepared.classification studies on each job; these should lend
themselves' to preparing a new and better type of fitness report exclusively for
supervisors.
Recommendation No. 7: It is recommended that the Director
of Personnel be required immediately to present a plan for a
different type of fitness report for supervisors.
9. We note that the Agency has already ranked employees in each job
category by standing, and believe that rather than giving employees a specific
.number rating, the most practical method is to group them in categories; e. g. ,
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outstanding, competent but not spectacular, and in the bottom echelon. We would
suggest that the group which should receive the greatest attention from the
supervisors would be those ranked in the bottom echelon and that all supervisors
should tell these individuals that their work is such that unless it improves they
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might well be faced with separation from the Agency. There is a need to have the
fitness reports changed to provide for a space thereon that can be checked off
to show that the supervisor advised the employee of his relative standing. In
cases where the rating was either high or low, it is the responsibility of the
reviewing official to be absolutely certain that the rating is accurate.
Recommendation No. 8: It is recommended that the Director of
Personnel be charged with insuring that the above is properly
implemented.
10. We should not presume that an early retirement program will completely
solve our problems of keeping our grade structure open. We believe firmly
that never again should the Agency drift into the position of allowing its
supervisors to lean on a 701 program to get rid of employees who literally should
have been seJecteol.out for cause. A full and complete report should be promptly
submitted by the supervisor to the Personnel office when an employee's work
is first observed to be unsatisfactory rather than waiting for the submission of
the periodic fitness report.
Recommendation No. 9: It is- recommended that the Director of
Personnel be given the authority to monitor a program to insure
that individuals whose performances or actions are such that they
are no longer suitable for an Agency career, should be selected
out promptly when this becomes a matter of official record.
11. We believe that the Agency must establish a system in the professional
ranks whereby officers are considered for promotion into the next grade a certain
number of times -
varying with the grades and if they fail to make the promotion
are then selected out. We also believe that this procedure and system should be
well known by all employees so that they are thoroughly aware of what the future
holds for them.
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Recommendation No. 10: It is recommended that the Director
of Personnel establish a formula for selection up or out and
prepare a regulation to this effect.
12. Finally, on the subject of separation of employees, we believe that the
Agency should be more generous in its separation pay for involuntary separation,
noting that in the military service up through the rank of captain an officer who is
not promoted and requested to leave gets a year's separation pay.
Recommendation No. 11: Itis recommended that the Director A Uv/
of Personnel establish larger separation allowances for separation
involuntarily without cause.
13. We feel that the Agency has a responsibility for the outplacement of some
of its more deserving surplus employees, particularly those surplus employees who
have had a lengthy career in the Clandestine Service. We recognize the fact that
the Clandestine Service Career is not a very merchantable article plus the fact that
both government and private industry are wary of anyone declared surplus. It is
highly unlikely that some of the older surplus employees with a decade or so of
clandestine work would find a job without Agency assistance of some kind.
Recommendation No. 12: It is recommended that the Director-of Personnel
make a study to determine what positive efforts can be taken by the
Agency toward the outplacement of surplus personnel.
14. Turning to the broader area of personnel management within the Agency
and the question of whether our present system of several career services and
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career designations is satisfactory, we believe that in addition to the specialists
who will spend their entire official life in a particular line of work, there should be
those generalists who were from the start of their careers identified as potential
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senior executives, or who during the course of their careers develop potentialities
and thus should move from the specialist into the generalist group. We note that
at the present time the Agency has two large groups which could be considered as
generalists; namely, the Junior Ofticar Trainees and the super grades.
Recommendation No. 13: If it is determined that JOT's will be
identified as generalists, it is recommended that they hold their
generalist designation as long as they are considered to be
candidates for top jobs.
15. In regard to the super grades, this group could well be likened to the
general officer category of the military service. While it is true that many of
them will never leave their own service, it is also true that they provide the cadre
for the Agency's top managerial positions, and should be encouraged and developed
as this body.
Recommendation No. 14: It is recommended that all super grades
be given an Agency designation as generalists.
16. The Director of Personnel in monitoring the super grade program should
report directly to the DCI on matters dealing with promotion and selection out. To
properly handle this in the Director's Office, we feel that there should be a DCI
Personnel Board consisting of the Executive Director and senior representatives of
the DD/P, DD/I, DD/R and DD/S.
Recommendation No. 15: It is recommended that a DCI
Personnel Board be established.
17. In this area of developing generalist, it is obvious that throughout the
middle echelons - the super grades and perhaps the JOT Is - there are many in the
supervisory categories who qualify for a CIA de signat f on. Rather than suggesting
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that all supervisors be transferred to this generalist category, we believe that
careful study should be made to insure that these individuals are qualified, and
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that as a prerequisite to their identification as CIA generalists they be required to
take a mid-career course.
Recommendation No. 16: It is recommended that the Director of
Personnel identify those individuals in the middle echelon managerial
grades who should be considered for CIA generalists.
Recommendation No. 17: It is further'recommended that a
mid-career course be immediately established and presented
for the purpose of selecting the middle echelon supervisors
who should be named CIA generalists.
18. Undoubtedly some of our problems are exacerbated by the fact that a
great deal of knowledge of promotions and reassignments is now spread through
the gossip mill, rather than by any official Agency issuance. While the extent
of time of our deliberations has not been sufficiently great to allow us to come
up with any direct proposal on this subject, we believe that this matter should
be studied.
Recommendation No. 18: We recommend that the Director of
Personnel study the possibilities of some form of periodic
issuances, or posting, of a promotion and reassignment list
so that individuals would receive knowledge of this officially
rather than through the rumor mill.
19. The present system of personnel management in the Agency has tended
to freeze individuals in their own components. Consequently, we. feel that it is
most important that better opportunities be offered for rotation between the major
components. We believe that the JOT's would develop into better officers if they
were required in the early stages of their careers to serve in at least two deputies
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areas before selecting a final career. We recognize that many of them enter the
DD/P service, become fascinated by the clandestine work, and never want to leavO
it. This is good, particularly for the DD/P, but it would be better for the Agency
if many of these officers had some experience for a year or more in the DD/I
or DD/S areas.
Recommendation No. 19: It is recommended that the Director
of Personnel through the vehicle of a Personnel Development
Board mentioned below, and by direct monitoring, insure that
there is adequate rotation of personnel. Further, the Director
of Training should insure that the JOT'S have an opportunity to
serve in more than one major component.
20. One of the major lacks in the Agency's personnel management system is
that all too often careers develop more on the basis of the initiative of the individual
than as a result of Agency management. We recognize that to manage the careers of
all Agency personnel would be an overwhelming task, and accordingly we suggest
that it be started on a modest basis directed toward the development of plans for
generalists.
Recommendation No. 20: It is recommended that a Personnel Development
Board, composed of representatives from the major components in the
Agency, be established to work full-time on the creation of and
implementation oh.plans for generalists.
21. One of the important aspects in developing professionalism in the Agency
has been the training program. We feel that the Agency has one of the finest
training establishments in the United States Government and certainly one of the
finest of any intelligence service in the world. However, all too often the necessity
for the assignment of the better personnel to important vacancies prevents them
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from recurrent training courses. We feel that every officer who is going to advance
to command responsibility should have at the minimum, junior officer training,
mid-career training, and senior officer training plus certain other mandatory
courses. We feel that the only way to make this enforceable is to establish a rule
that after passing a certain age or grade, an officer cannot be promoted or
reassigned unless he has taken the prescribed course and completed it satisfactorily.
Recommendation No. 21: It is recommended that the Agency
immediately establish a system of mandatory training, and
that the Director of Training produce a program'.
22. Although we know that it is probably a common practice to blame the
Personnel Office for the Agency's problems in the personnel field, we are
nevertheless unanimously of the opinion that our Personnel Office needs strengthening.
We would note that if the increased authorities given to the Personnel Office as in
our recommendations are adopted, that office would have to be far more effective
than it is today in order to satisfactorily implement these recommendations. Further,
in thinking about this problem, and analyzing the history of the office since the
creation of the Agency including the origins of the seven Personnel Directors which
we have had in 15 years, we feel that top caliber personnel technicians must be
Recommendation No. 22: It is recommended that steps be
taken immediately to strengthen the Personnel Office.
23. Closely related to the strengthening of the Personnel Office is the necessity
to establish uniform personnel procedures throughout the Agency. There should be
no deviation from standard procedures in the Agency, eiccept in those areas where
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differing technical skills obviously require differing applications. Nevertheless,
we feel most strongly that the present system of each component practically having
unique recruitment, promotion and overtime policies - just to name a few - should
Ceas? and that the Agency should be one organisation.
Recommendation No. 23: It is recommended the Personnel Office
insure that all' components of the Agency be required to adhere to
standard personnel procedures.
24. We all recognize that the Agency's recruitment effort is presently
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suffering from the bad publicity which the Agency has received as a result of
unfortunate episodes. On the other hand, we believe our recruitment can be
greatly improved by making better use of assets readily available in the Agency - ii
eluding a better statement as to what the Agency is about, greater use of our
senior executives, a much broader and more effective college consultants program,
and use of
25. While we do not in any way wish to single out the DD/P area for
particular attention, because we all feel that DD/P has devoted more time and
attention to personnel management, and has done better in most instances for
their employees, we do wish to reiterate the, feeling expressed by the Working
Recommendation No. 24: It is recommended that immediate
steps be taken to strengthen our recruitment program.
25X1A9a Group (Kirkpatrick, that the DD/P have a central support
staff and centralized control in personnel matters.
Recommendation No. 25: It is recommended that the DD/P continue the
trend to centralize and strengthen its personnel management responsibilities,
Lyman B. Kirkpatrick
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