PRELIMINARY REPORT--JUNE 1987

• Document Type: CREST
• Collection: General CIA Records
• Document Number (FOIA) /ESDN (CREST): CIA-RDP88-01192R000100150001-7
• Release Decision: RIPPUB
• Original Classification: U
• Document Page Count: 10
• Document Creation Date: December 27, 2016
• Document Release Date: November 21, 2012
• Sequence Number: 1
• Publication Date: June 25, 1987
• Content Type: REPORT

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Central Intelligence Agency
Human Resource Modernization and
Compensation Task Force
Preliminary Report-June 1987
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C
EXECUTIVE SUMMARY
HUMAN RESOURCES MODERNIZATION & COMPENSATION TASK FORCE
REPORT ON THE
PROPOSED PERSONNEL AND COMPENSATION SYSTEM
FOR THE
CENTRAL INTELLIGENCE AGENCY
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 FOR OFFICIAL USE ONLY
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Human Resource Modernization and
Compensation Task Force
In August 1986, then DCI William J. Casey presented to the Senate Select
Committee on Intelligence (SSCI) CIA's strategy for addressing major personnel
issues during the next decade. This strategy included replacing the General
Schedule (GS) system, rethinking incentives, redesigning the career
development structure to allow for expert and management tracks, and
revitalizing our training and personnel planning program. With these
personnel system improvements, he suggested that the Agency would be better
able to attract and retain the high-caliber career force needed to meet
increasingly difficult and diverse challenges in the years to come.
As a result of the DCI's initiative, the Human Resource Modernization and
Compensation Task Force (HRMCTF) was chartered in November 1986 to develop the
design of an improved personnel and compensation system without adding more
than 2 to 3 percent to the Agency's personal services budget. In so doing,
the Task Force studied some of the most creative and innovative approaches
being used and tested in private industry and in other parts of the Federal
Government. The purpose of this report is to present its preliminary draft
O design to the Directorates for their review and comments. Some features of
the preliminary design would directly affect 'levels of compensation. Others
focus on additional forms of recognition and incentives to ensure that the CIA
remains an attractive place to work. Still, others are aimed at reducing
bureaucratic hurdles so that managers will have more flexibility in organizing
their personnel resources to adapt to changing requirements. Some of these
proposals are entirely new to the traditional Agency culture in the pay and
benefits area. Other proposals will be familiar, representing only a
refinement of what is best about the current system. What is presented here
is a fully integrated system, but its many individual features leave much room
for discussion of other options that may be incorporated in the final design.
Many of the features, particularly those relating to banding and incentive
pay, can be implemented within existing DCI authority. Other features,
particularly those in the benefits area, would require additional authority.
All of the changes, however, would require Office of Management and Budget and
Congressional concurrence.
C
Feedback is-a key ingredient in the process of developing an improved
personnel and compensation system. As stated from the beginning of the
project, it is essential that any new Agency system be developed by and have
the broad support of employees. To accomplish this, the Task Force has
arranged for copies of the full report to be available at the Office and DO
Division level throughout the Agency. Directorates are requested to submit
their responses to the'Task Force by 1 September 1987. In addition,
individual comments and suggestions may be addressed to the Chairman or
members of the Task Force. A revised report that incorporates views of
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individuals and Agency components will be offered for your review once again
before submission to the DCI's Executive Committee (EXCOM) in early December
1987. Implementation of any changes would be phased in over a two-year period.
The key features of the preliminary design follow.:
A key feature of the proposed system is a pay and classification structure
that better relates compensation to performance, is more competitive with the
private sector, and plays a greater role in attracting and retaining high-
caliber people.
Occupationally Defined Bands. The GS system has long shown signs of
strain--witness the numerous "special pay scales" awkwardly
superimposed in order to pay higher rates to certain hard-to-hire
occupations. To facilitate market pricing, the Task Force proposes
the Agency develop occupationally defined pay bands, linked to various
levels of expertise, for example, entry level, journeyman, expert, and
manager. Representatives of 28 occupations that account for 75
percent of the Agency's work force already have met as occupational
panels and have shown the feasibility of such a system, including an
initial cut at the standards that would be used to determine pay and
promotion (movement from band to band).
? Market Pricing. Under the current GS system, occupational market
surveys are conducted to assess Federal pay vis-a-vis the private
sector. These result in governmentwide, across-the-board changes in
the GS pay schedule, without regard to how a given occupation stacks
up against the private sector or how important it is to an
organization. This averaging process often results in pay levels for
specific occupations that are lower than the market commands. The
Task Force proposes that the Agency maintain up-to-date,
occupation-specific pay rates by conducting its own periodic market
salary surveys of that portion of the private sector that is on a par
with CIA and competes for the same types of people. Those Agency
occupations with no private-sector counterpart would be adjusted on
the basis of an internal Agency comparison with occupations that can
be market priced.
? Funding Control. Senior managers in government are saddled with
funding, position ceiling, and promotional headroom constraints. They
often find themselves unable to make personnel adjustments, even when
changes will not require additional funds. The Task Force proposes
that position classification authority be delegated to operating
officials, permitting them to reclassify jobs within defined
occupational pay levels and adjust numbers of personnel in their
components, so long as they stay within predefined funding limits.
? Incentive Pay. Under the GS system, employees and managers tend to
view promotion as the primary means to reward performance. Periodic
"step increases" are associated largely with longevity, while Quality
Step Increases and other cash awards are rare--even for
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superior performers. The Task Force proposes separating the rewards for
above-average performance at the current level from the kinds of rewards
offered for substantially increased responsibility. The proposed system
of broad occupational bands would introduce a pay-for-performance or
'incentive pay system that would permit varying combinations of salary
increases and bonuses to reward varying levels of performance. Under the
proposed system, all employees performing acceptably would receive an
incentive award comparable with the current "step increases," but higher
performing employees--up to 50 percent of the Agency population--could
receive a combination of salary adjustments and bonuses greater than
this. Promotions (movement from one band. to another) would be reserved
for those who have clearly demonstrated the capability to take on the
significantly greater responsibilities of a more senior level.
An essential ingredient in any pay-for-performance system is an active
performance evaluation and career development system. The Task Force proposes
the following basic elements, allowing necessary Directorate flexibility:
Performance Plan. Occupational panels would generate key job
responsibilities and performance expectations for each level of the
band. These would be computerized and available to managers as a
guide when they sit down to customize performance plans for individual
employees. The aim here is to ensure that employees know what is
expected of them and to free supervisors from much of the performance
plan writing so they can concentrate on talking with their employees.
Performance Evaluation. A streamlined PAR system would facilitate
evaluation of both recent performance, to determine incentive pay, and
readiness for promotion.
? Career Development. This segment of the preliminary design proposes
a dual track system to permit advancement as either a manager or a
substantive expert. The design also provides for occupational career
handbooks that would spell out the responsibilities for each level in
an occupation and identify the assignments, experiences, skills, and
training that best prepare an employee for entry into and promotion
within the occupation. These handbooks would be used by employees,
career service panels, and managers.
Training. Employees will have more training available to them.
This training will focus on the specific skills needed by each
occupational grouping to sharpen existing job skills and enhance the
skills needed for career development. In addition, more efficient and
creative ways will be used to get the training to employees at their
job site.
No Federal agency can hope to match the best of the private sector in
total pay and benefits, but the Agency can improve its posture by taking a
more modern approach. The Task Force offers the following examples:
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? Flexible Benefits Program. This system would give employees greater
latitude to direct government money into the particular benefits the
employees need and to use their own pretax dollars to buy enhanced
levels of qualified benefits. This flexibility is increasingly
important as the demographics of the work force change to include more
dual career marriages as well as single workers with and without
children.
Annual Leave. Every year Agency employees forfeit more leave than
employees of.any other Federal agency. The Task Force believes that
the work ethic that often results in large losses of annual leave
benefits should be rewarded and has proposed a variety of improvements
intended to reduce the amount of leave lost. Recommendations include
a proposal to increase annual leave carryover for midlevel managers
and experts who currently account for most of the lost leave; a
provision to allow annual leave to be cashed in or used as collateral
for dependent educational tuition loans; and a proposal to establish
an Agency "sick leave bank" from annual leave that would have been
forfeited to provide additional sick leave for employees faced with
catastrophic illnesses.
? Other Benefits. The Task Force proposes various incentives to help
the Agency maintain and adjust the characteristics of the work force,
for example, to ensure the best midlevel employees can continue to see
opportunities for advancement. Among these proposals are retention
bonuses and early retirement options.
Additional details on these proposed features may be found in the section
of the report called the System Summary. Those desiring even more information
on the new system should.consult the section entitled System Design. Each
provides a greater level of specificity geared to meet the needs of various
readers for information about the new system.
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PROPOSED SYSTEM SIRY
HTM N RESOURCES MODERNIZATION & COMPENSATION TASK FORCE
REPORT ON THE
PROPOSED PERSONNEL AND CIDMPENSATION SYSTEM
CENTRAL INTELLIGENCE AGENCY
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PROPOSED SYSTEM SUMMARY
STAT
CIA faces increasingly difficult and diverse challenges in the years to
come. Ensuring that we will be able to attract and retain the caliber of
personnel we need to meet the challenges of the future is a key objective of
our strategy. Competition with the private sector for certain key occupations
is a significant problem today, and the demographics of the country as the
"baby bust" generation reaches the marketplace ensures us that this problem
will spread to other occupations and that competition will intensify. In view
of the security constraints associated with our mission and the complexity of
our challenges, we must have a personnel and compensation system that allows
us to compete effectively for the employees we need.
The proposed design touches on virtually every aspect of the personnel and
compensation system. Obviously, the design includes features that will improve
compensation. In some of the most marketable occupations, however., CIA can
never match the private sector, and, in fact, employees driven primarily by
money do not work for CIA. The target employee of this design is the employee
who thrives on the unique challenges only CIA can offer. The proposed system
is designed to provide recognition and incentives to this type of employee, to
reinforce a sense of accomplishment, and to make CIA a more attractive place
to work.
The proposed system is also designed to give managers the tools to compete
for the talent they need and give them the flexibility to restructure the work
force to meet changing mission requirements.
Table 1 is a summary of the proposed improvements to the current personnel
and compensation system, which illustrates the features that will enhance
CIA's ability to continue to attract and retain high-caliber employees. It
describes the proposed new system from three vantage points--that of the
employee, the line manager, and the senior manager.
The pay and classification features would affect only General Schedule
(GS), secretarial, and commo-banded employees. Changes recommended in the
performance evaluation, career development, and benefits systems would be
applicable to all.
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