REVIEW AND COMMENTS ON RECOMMENDATIONS CONTAINED IN IG SURVEY OF THE OFFICE OF PERSONNEL

• Document Type: CREST
• Collection: General CIA Records
• Document Number (FOIA) /ESDN (CREST): CIA-RDP82-00357R000300020036-2
• Release Decision: RIPPUB
• Original Classification: U
• Document Page Count: 60
• Document Creation Date: December 12, 2016
• Document Release Date: May 20, 2002
• Sequence Number: 36
• Content Type: REPORT

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Review and. Comments on Recommendations
Contained in IG Survey. of the Office of Personnel
1. .Recommendation No; I (Tab A - Page A-12)
"That the Office of Personnel iriplement a :means by
which the condition of active Official Personnel
Folders can be assessed in terms of the presence
of misfiled or unauthorized documents and the
absence of documents that should be included. If
widespread serious inadequacies are found to exist,
review and correction of all active folders should
be undertaken."
Comment:
The Office of Personnel has long had procedures for continuous
sampling of the Official Personnel Folders to identify the presence of
misfiled or unauthorized documents. On the basis of the statements
and recommendation of the Inspector General, we will develop and
institute additional surveys by inviting an appropriate number of
employees from various components to personally review their own Official
Personnel Folders to determine the presence (and extent) of misfiled or
unauthorized documents and the absence of documents that should be
included in accord with Agency policy. The results of this survey will
be studied to determine the need for a review and correction of all
active Folders. The Office of Personnel Central File Room receives and
files some 112,000 documents in an average year. Under improved pro-
cedures instituted in March 1975 and the addition of two part-time
employees in January 1976, filing backlogs were eliminated. All docu-
ments received in a current week are filed in the OPF prior to the end
of the following week.
2. Recommendation No. 2 (Tab A - Page A-15)
"That the Director of Personnel assume custody and
responsibility for all Official Personnel Records on
contract employees."
Comment:
The Office of Personnel supports this recommendation. We
propose that the IG should recommend to the DCI that he issue instructions
to the Deputy Directors that this program will be implemented. There
are space and manpower problems, however, which must be resolved in
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order to do so. At present there are approximately I lactive contract
employee files for full-time permanent,-
ermanent, part-time an intermittent
employees, requiring 41 cubic feet of storage space. At least twice that
amount of space will be required to accommodate the records which make
up official personnel files. This would include the redesign of the
files with dividers and the inclusion of new material such as PHS forms
and Fitness Reports which will soon be required for all contract employees
in any case. The establishment of these official files and the day to
day maintenance thereafter will require the services of additional file
clerks.
3. Recommendation No. 3 (Tab B - Page B-16)
"That the Director of Personnel, working with the
Director of OJCS, review the priorities for PERSIGN
II in terms of manpower assigned and the physical
arrangements allotted to staffs."
Comment :
We concur with this recommendation. The DDA has recently
established a flAPS Review Committee, made up of representatives from
each of the primary user offices who are meeting to reaffirm the relative
priorities of all of the MAPS related projects to assure adequate OJCS
manpower coverage on first priority tasks. The number of OJCS personnel
reported as "assigned" to PERSIGN tended to create impressions of fuller
coverage than was in fact the case. Other priorities imposed on OJCS
continuously tended to drain manpower resources from PERSIGN and other
related MAPS projects. Maintenance of PERSIGN I, the RCA 501 system
and the PERCON program, the enlargement of the data base to permit inter-
face of I'ERSIGN with CENBAD, CENCO, the PAYROLL system, etc. have all
contributed to the staffing problems. The physical work space of the OP
staff (i.e., A D16) analysts had been very poor in the Headquarte s
location but is much improved in their new location with OJCS STAT
Building but still leaves something to be desired in terms of quie
areas necessary to further design of specifications for the PERSIGN II
system.
4. Recommendation No. 4 (Tab B - Page B-16)
"That the Director of Personnel, working with other
Offices concerned with the MAPS program, review the
elements of PERSIGN II and assign subsidiary priorities
to those which do not represent key elements of personnel
data urgently needed for managerial decisions or for
provisions of personnel services."
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This is a valid recommendation. Priorities, emphasis, statu-
tory requirements and Agency policies have and will. continue to change
as PERSIGN II is developed, requiring continuous updating of the system
to assure its future responsiveness to Agency requirements when fully
implemented. Basically, the elements in PERSIGN II are those appearing
on the Notification of Personnel Action which conform with Civil Service
standards and Payroll system requirements plus a certain amount of
Fitness Report and overseas service data for CIARDS. Some items peculiar
to the Agency were added, such as PRA, development complement and sub-
caategory data, but these are necessary to service reporting requirements
levied by Agency regulation on the Director of Personnel to support
Heads of Career Services and operating components. Questionnaires were
sent to all users of reports several years ago requesting suggestions
for changes and additions. Some of the suggested additions were included
in the design of PERSIL II but most were rejected as being too specialized
or inapplicable to the Agency as a whole; for example, health problems
of wife or children, projected rotational assignments or training, special
work related skills, etc. It, has always been envisioned that.PERSIGN II
would provide the basic personnel data for subsidiary systems which could
be tailored to meet individual Office and Career Service specialized
requirements.
5. Recommendation No. 5 (Tab B - Page B-l6)
"That the Director of Personnel request that the
Director, OJCS obtain his concurrence before under-
taking personnel-related jobs for other organizations
that are likely to impact unfavorably on early com-
pletion of PEISSIGN II."
Commnent :
We concur. There is a mutual understanding that OJCS will not
undertake personnel-related projects without the approval of the
Director of Personnel but this point should be reemphasized because
pressure is building up again for individual manning tables for all of
the Offices in the DDO. Many of the Agency's component managers are not
fully appreciative of the current state of development of the MAPS
systems and the limited resources that OJCS has available to bring up
the primary project (PERSIGN II). Diversion of OJCS resources
immediately creates slippage in progress toward completion of PERSIGN II.
6. Recommendation No. 6 (Tab D - Page D-8)
"That the Director of Personnel find means as soon
as possible of conveying to component managers a more
accurate view of the capabilities and achievements of
RAD's outplacement assistance program."
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We support this recommendation and. will take the following
actions to effect accomplishment
Include appropriate information on the official bulletin
boards under the category "Did You Know.tt
Prepare an article on this subject for the DDA publi-
cation,. "The Exchange."
c. Consider the issuance of a Headquarters Notice.
d. Have C/RAD contact the various Career Services and
offer a briefing to their staffs concerning the
services of RAD.
Insure that OP officials in addressing various groups
include comments regarding outplacement activities.
Recommendation No. 1.0 (Tab H - Page H-9)
"That the Director of Personnel, in collaboration
with the Director of Training, develop a one-week
training course for Office-level managers and their
deputies on CIA Personnel Administration and Manage-
ment and that the Director of Personnel join with
the Inspector General in recommending to the Manage-
ment Committee that all Washington-area Office-level
managers and their deputies be required to attend a
running of this course within a year of its initiation."
Comment:
In our comments relative to the IG's Recommendation No. 7,
we included the proposal that the Office of Personnel establish a
position management and classification orientation program to educate
Agency managers on the objectives and responsibilities of these
managerial elements. In addition to that proposal, we concur with the
intent of Recommendation No. 10 and will explore the matter with the
Director of Training. We propose, however, the following alternative
recommendations:
a. That required attendance at this course be directed
at all current Division and Branch-level managers
and in the future, all newly assigned officers at
these levels within three months of their assignments.
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b. That the Inspector General recommend to the DCI that
he issue implementing instructions. to the Deputy
Directors stressing mandatory attendance at this
course by their appropriate level managers.
c. That pertinent subject material be covered-in a three-
day course rather than a full week-long program.
The Office of Personnel presently has an hour at the IWA, an
hour, plus an evening session shared with EEO and the Office of Security,
at the Midcareer, and two hours at the Management Seminar to cover
certain aspects of the Agency's personnel management system. The time
allotted in these courses is barely sufficient to cover the specific
topic and allows no time to review the functions and the responsibilities
of OP as a whole. We have been discussing within OP the need for a
greater segment of time in these courses to permit a "whole picture"
presentation, and will be taking the matter up with the Director of
Training. We feel that understanding and comprehension-of OP's role
in the Agency's management system is essential for supervisors and
managers at all levels, and believe, in addition to the course for
"Office-level managers," -improvement can be made by expanding the cur-
rent presentations.
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Response to the Inspector General
Survey Report as Related to the Position
Management and Classification Functions
of the Office of Personnel
1. 'Introduction
a. The Agency's position management and classification
function is sufficiently important to warrant a separate response and
specific recommendations by the Office of Personnel.
b. The position management and classification function of
CIA, other Federal agencies and organizations in private industry is
acknowledged by managerial "experts" as one of the most vital and
significant elements of any large and complex organization's personnel
faiction that permits top management of an organization to translate
raw personnel ceiling and manpower budgetary allocations into organi-
zational and graded position structures as a basis for the recruitment,
assignment, retention, and promotion of the workforce to accomplish
the missions of the Agency. Inherent in the position management and
classification program is the need to maintain pay equity for comparable
positions throughout the total organization, reasonable comparability
with similar jobs outside the organization (to assure competitive status
in the recruitment of qualified applicants and the retention of the
onboard workforce), permit Agency control over average grade levels
and preclude unjustifiable upward creep in payroll costs. It is essential
that a centralized control mechanism be maintained overseeing and ful-
filling Agency position management and classification functions so as to
provide the Director with an effective means to carry out his responsi-
bilities in this vital area of Agency management.
c. We believe that the Inspector General team was seriously
limited in terms of the time available to research fully such a techni-
cally complicated professional function and, therefore, based many of
their conclusions on "customer" reactions, some quite valid but many
quite superficial and parochial. Nevertheless, the IG team did explore
the PMCD function and developed a number of conclusions and reconanenda-
tions worthy of consideration and action.
2. Back round
a. One of the dynamic factors central to the evolving scope
and structure of the Federal Compensation System has been the changing
nature of the workforce needed by the Federal Government to perform its
mission. The growing complexity of the Federal mission has led to a
parallel growth in the variety of skills required in the Federal work-
force, as reflected in the great number of distinct occupations and
jobs found today in the Federal Government. It is the task of the
classification and pay system to keep pace with these developments in
order to establish fair and equitable salary distinctions among the
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myriad occupations and jobs in the Federal service. The need to estab-
lish and maintain this apprcpriate internal alignment of pay rates within
the Federal service has been a continuing problem for Congress and the
Executive Branch.
b. Over the years, the Federal compensation system has
developed from a simple, almost ad hoc, process to the current highly
structured and intricate system. According to legislation passed by
Congress in 1795, agency heads could use their own discretion to deter-
mine how many clerks to hire and how much to pay them, provided that
the agencies did not exceed either their appropriations for salaries
or the maximum salaries established by Congress. From 1818 to 1830,
Congress used what came to be called the "Statutory Role" system of
appropriating money for Federal salaries. A specific number of clerks
was allocated to each agency, and a ceiling was placed on salaries paid
to "principal clerks." Such wide discretion on the part of agency heads
to manipulate salaries was the seed of inequity in Federal salaries, not
only among but within agencies. With the growth of Federal service and
proliferation of agencies, Federal employees began voicing concern
about the lack of systematic internal alignment in the Federal service.
For almost a hundred years, Congress recognized the need for some means
of attaining this goal but it was not until the Classification Act of
1923 that Congress established a formal policy of systematic internal
alignment. Such a policy was expressed in that Act as requiring "equal
pay for equal work" for all employees subject to the Act. This policy
was reaffirmed in the Classification Act of 1949 which created the
present General Schedule (GS) system. Although CIA was exempted from
the Classification Act of 1949, the Agency is on record that it would
follow the basic philosophy and principles of the Act.
c. During the past eighteen months there have been voiced
a number of additional concerns regarding the rising costs of Federal
compensation and particular concern over the escalation of position
grade levels. Emphasis toward curbing this escalation is focusing an
increased centralization of responsibility with top Agency management.
In early 1975, President Ford expressed his concern over rising personnel
costs and asked the help of heads of Departments and Agencies in slowing
the upward trend. CIA's support for these efforts was reaffirmed in
May 1975 in a letter from Director William E. Colby to the Director of
(1B in which the Agency's scheduled position management and classifi-
cation surveys were listed as a significant means of insuring maximum
efficiency and economy in the use of personnel. The Civil Service
Commission, in its "Report to the President on Cost Reduction Initiatives
in Personnel Management" in November 1975, listed position management
and classification as one of the areas offering significant cost reduc-
tion opportunities. Additionally, the Comptroller General submitted
a "Report to Congress" in December 1975 expressing in the strongest
terms that the classification of Federal white-collar jobs should be
better controlled. Specifically, the report stated that "Maintaining
the integrity of the classification system is agency management's direct
responsibility. But some manager's attitudes are not conducive to
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making the classification process work: managers have inflated position
descriptions, pressured classifiers to overgrade positions and have
been reluctant to downgrade overgraded.positions," and "because of some
agencies' weak controls and pressures exerted on classification, the
problem warrants considerably more management attention.".. Finally, the
recent institution of a new Senate Oversight Committee on Intelligence
makes it imperative that the Director be supported and protected by a
strong personnel management system assuring maximum effectiveness in the
manpower resources area.
3. General
a. The IG Report identified many of the problems encountered
in the current operation of PMCD's position management and classification
program. As noted in the IG Report, PMCD has recognized these problems
and has been taking a number of corrective measures to improve PMCD
staffing and develop clearer, more precise position standards and
evaluation systems. Unfortunately, the IG Report contained what we
consider to be a number of misconceptions concerning the operations,
methodology, and goals of PMCD's position management and classification
program. The Report relies heavily on Agency component customer reaction
and interpretation of PMCD's program, and it is possible that this
factor led to many of the apparent inconsistencies and misunderstandings
which we find in the Report. The lack of a clear definition of authori-
ties and an appeal and enforcement system identified in the Report are
certainly valid and critical elements relating to the improvement of
performance of the program. However, the recommendations and conclusions
made by the IG in its Report do not fully address the resolution of
these problem areas within the context of job/pay equality.
b. As cited in the I.G Report, there is a fundamental require-
ment to establish and maintain an Agency job/pay equality system, and
PMCD is now the heart of the Agency system which represents to 0MB and
CSC an active, demonstrable effort to enforce CIA's policy of general
conformance to the concepts and principles of the Classification Act of
1949. PMCD performs these functions through a program which includes
a combination of periodic entire component surveys; surveys and reviews
of component partial reorganizations as required; and individual position
reviews requested by components. All of these methods involve similar
elements of evaluation such as comparisons with established CSC and
Agency standards, comparisons with other organizations and.positions
within the Agency, and comparisons with organizations and positions
in other Government agencies and, in some cases, private industry.
Since the Agency is committed to follow the basic philosophy and.prin-
ciples of the Classification Act of 1949, any departure from these
norms would make the Agency vulnerable to external questions. concerning
the validity and equity of its position and pay structure.
c. Although CSC position standards are utilized as an inte";
gral part of the Agency classification system, PMCD has-long recognized
that these standards cannot be applied rigidly in evaluating Agency
positions. The mission of the Agency and the environment-in which it
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operates necessitate the consideration of unique functions in many CIA
positions that are not found in positions elsewhere in Government.
Because of this, PMCD has used the CSC standards only as general guide-
lines in evaluating occupations and positions according to such factors
as the skills, knowledges, and responsibilities incorporated at various
grade levels, and as a basis from which to evaluate the additional
unique functions found in many Agency positions. In addition to these
general guidelines, position audits are conducted to clarify the specific
responsibilities, functions and peculiarities of the positions being
reviewed, as well as the incumbent's involvement in the component's
programs. Position evaluations based on comparisons without detailed
knowledge of the functions, responsibilities, and program involvement
would result in a superficial and unacceptable allocation by title
and pattern.
d. The classification of positions cannot involve merely
the review of the specific position in question without some under-
standing of its relation to other positions within the organization in
which it functions. 1vlany organizations can effectively utilize the
traditional hierarchial structure, while others can more effectively
utilize a less structured or team concept. The type, level, and
fluctuations of workload requirements must be considered to insure
that the position allocations not only meet the principles of proper
job/pay equality, but are also responsive to the needs of the organiza-
tion concerned. Because the methodology of PMCD's position management
and classification program incorporates all of these factors in the
allocation process, it is difficult to understand the IG comment that
"PMCD considers only hierarchial organizational structures, makes
position comparisons by title and grade rather than by specific factors
and responsibilities, and does not consider workloads when recommending
professional-to-clerical ratios." It is precisely the manager's constant
need to restructure his resources and adapt positions to the talents of
available personnel that underlies the basic function of position manage-
ment and classification as performed by PMCD. For these reasons, the
role of PMCD has for several years included not only classifying, or
pricing positions, but also the function of position management which
incorporates considerations of organizational structure and position
relationships.
e. An important part of PMCD's position management and
classification program is the periodic survey program instituted
approximately five years ago. This program was designed to include a
complete organizational and position review of each Agency component
by PMCD once every three years. It was instituted to address many of
the areas in which the IG noted component criticisms and does in fact
provide feedback to component management concerning the overall. structure
and organization of the component. This feedback usually involves com-
ments regarding under-utilized manpower, duplication of work effort,
unclear supervisory channels and other related items. It is provided
with the full recognition that it is the manager's prerogative to accept
or reject the organizational and management related recommendations.
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Such recommendations, however, are based on total component survey
audits in which the employees themselves have provided much of the
information concerning the probe em areas, The conduct of these surveys,
either in terms of evaluating position levels and structures or in
terms of providing feedback to management concerning apparent organiza-
tional anomalies, is entirely within the capabilities of a professionally
trained GS-12 or GS-13 Position Management Officer who functions as a
specialist in evaluating positions and. position structures.
f. Criticisms relating to the delays in obtaining and com-
pleting PMCD reviews are valid in many cases. In terms of workload,
the Position Management Officers in PMCD are presently responsible for
approximately three times the number of positions handled by classifiers
in most other Government organizations. This workload has been further
compounded by the need to allocate considerable time and resources to
develop an Agency variation of the new Federal Factor Evaluation system.
Additionally the unexpected. and extensive revisions of the Federal
guidelines and rules for implementation of the Fair Labor Standards Act
imposed severe workload pressures on the Division. To meet these prob-
lems, PMCD has increased its staffing through the recent assignment of
several trainees and is attempting to retailor its component survey
program to reduce the number of surveys to those in particularly critical
areas.
g. In addition to these suggested areas of possible improve-
ment in the current position management and classification program in
the Agency, the IG Report has validly identified several. fundamental
issues which greatly impact on the effectiveness of the program. The
issues of unclear control authorities, and the need for an effective
formal appeal and enforcement system, have a direct bearing on PMCD's
.effectiveness, and therefore on the Agency's position management and
classification program. However, the IG recommendation that these
issues be resolved by delegating to Deputy Directors the authority to
establish positions and to hear and decide classificatioll appeals would
likely result in a large sacrifice of position/grade equality and overall
program quality. In addition to a loss of equity, experience has shown
that a decentralized system usually requires greater manpower to accom-
plish the same tasks than would a centralized system. Decentralized
classification systems have already been tried in the State Department
and other Governmental organizations with distressing results. The
State Department's experiment with decentralized classification is
particularly worth noting, as summarized in a Department of State
Newsletter (May 73):
"The Department is implementing recommendations that
resulted from a worldwide classification study of all
Foreign Service officer positions.
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This study, which is the outgrowth of Management Reform
Recommendations and work of Task Force 1 in September-
October 1970, has sought to establish a valid position
classification structure for the Foreign Service,
All officer positions, regardless of their location
(U.S. or abroad) and pay plan (FSO, FSR, FSRU, FSSO),
were individually reviewed by a professional staff
of classification analysts to determine their appro-
priate level,
To recount briefly the reasons for this study, it
will be recalled that from June 1962 until February
1971 position classification authority was delegated
to major organizations of the Department,
A general escalation of grade/class levels took
place during this period. This is attributable to
several causes, primarily (a) pressures by manager
ment within the bureaus, (b) in some cases, the
inexperience of the personnel technician responsible
for position classification, (c) a tendency to pro-
ject future programs or shifts in program emphasis
which later failed to materialize, and/or (d) the
competition between the bureaus to obtain and retain
the best qualified officers which sometimes involved
placing artificially higher grades on positions to
induce an officer to take an assignment,"
"The following illustrates the overall changes
resulting from this study:
FSO - 1 and 2 Reduced by 23%
FSO - 3 Reduced by 6%"
To insure that the Agency is not subject to such criticism, the principle
of equal pay for equal work must be assured. Such equity must be main-
tained not only within individual components, but also within the
Agency as a whole with an additional relationship to Government-wide
pay patterns. Unfortunately, experiments with decentralized classifi-
cation have demonstrated that managers are much too close to their
programs and their personnel to maintain an objective approach to
classification. The results generally have been the creation of dis-
parities and a massive escalation in grade levels followed by a return
to a centralized classification system in those cases where position
classification systems were subsequently audited by an authoritative
and objective body- The damage is not easily or quickly corrected,
however. Nevertheless, there is indeed a critical need for more direct
participation and substantive contributions by operating component
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representatives, clearly defined authorities, and the institution of a
definitive appeal and enforcement system in the Agency. Although it
has been stated that appeal mechanisms outside the Directorate involved
would be unworkable because of the lack of subject expertise of the
appeal body, such a system under the Executive Director was successful
in the 1960's and similar mechanisms are broadly and satisfactorily
applied in other areas of our society such as those involving judges
and arbitrators where the prime requirement is the weighing of the
presentations of opposing substantive experts, There is no reason to
believe that it could not again work in Agency classification.
4. pecific_Response to IG Introductory Remarks Concerning
PM{'D _ (Tab -6)-
a.' Page G-3, para 4d.
"PMCD's contributions toward establishing and
monitoring job/pay equity are relatively ineffec-
tive at grades GS-14 and above . . . its down-
grading recommendations sometimes restrict future
headroom but have little effect in the sense of
causing transfers or demotions of incumbents.
As one senior manager puts it, the outcome
depends on how well the Office 'snows' PMCD"
Comment:
Concern for establishing appropriate and equitable
position grade levels must be a joint responsibility of component managers
and PMCD. It is not PMCD's intent to cause a demotion nor require the
transfer of incumbents when positions are downgraded. The flexibility
of the Agency's staffing system (flexible positions, PRA's etc.) could
easily preclude such results in any event. The PMCD objective is to
properly grade each position; in terms of managing the Agency's
resources, there is reason to expect that managers should have the same
objective. The phrase "how well the Office 'snows' PMCD" implies that
managers do not want positions properly graded.
b. Page G-4, para S.
". it is important to note that upward grade
creep in CIA is not significantly different from
that experienced in most other Federal agencies."
Comment:
A more dramatic and costly increase in the position grade
pattern of the Agency has not been experienced only as a result of con-
tinuous and positive monitoring by the Office of Personnel whereby
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unjustifiable increases in position grades have not been authorized.
In recent months, the President, the Director of. 0MB and the Comptroller
General of the United States have expressed. concern over the need for
Agency top management to institute measures to reduce the escalation
of manpower costs and can be expected to take direct action if the
upward grade creep is not contained. Some time ago the Secretary of
the Navy decentralized authority to Navy and Marine commands for position
classification of civilian positions at the grade GS-15_level, In
July 1975, Navy withdrew this delegation of authority because of the
unjustified continual increase in the n miter of positions graded at the
GS-15 level. In 1973, the Department of State discontinued its decen-
tralized classification system when internal audits confirmed massive
escalation in the number of FSO-1 and FSO-2 positions. From June 74 to
June 75, the Agency's position average grade increased from 10,53 to
10.58, an increase of 1/20 of a grade point. Using the current base
salary figures for grades GS-10 and GS-11, this increase represents a
potential annual salary cost of over $1,000,000. In terms of a full
grade point increase, the additional annual cost in terms of current
salary levels would escalate to more than $20,000,000,
c, Pages G-5 through G-7, paras 6, 7 and 9.
"Agency managers . . . allege that PMCD personnel
do not understand Agency functions and positions,
much less their importance and uniqueness, and
insist on using Civil Service standards of position
classification which many think are not applicable
to the Agency."
"CIA follows the Civil Service wage and grade struc-
ture, but the dynamic nature of the Agency's unique
role has resulted in management innovations which
are not typical of the Civil Service tradition,"
"In reviewing a number of PMCD surveys, we find
some validity to the frequently voiced assertion
that PMCD bases its judgment too closely on Civil
Service precepts . . . It goes to some lengths to
correlate CIA positions (which are frequently
unique to CIA) with positions elsewhere in the
Government, e.g.,'an NSA journeyman computer pro,
grarruner is a GS-12; therefore, a CIA programmer,
who may in actuality work with a much more complex
system and set of problems, should be comparably
graded. We find many examples where PMCD used
comparisons which we judge to be invalid, e.g.,
we do not think a DCD contact officer should be
compared with a DDO case officer to establish
grade equity.."
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25X9
Comment:
While we recognize the need to continuously strive to
improve our knowledge and understanding, we do not agree with the
allegation that PMCD does not understand Agency functions and positions.
Regardless of the classifier's level of experience or the extent of
prior knowledge of a component, he can call upon the knowledge and
experience of a number of other PMCD officers who have previously sur-
veyed the component, and he also has at his disposal.a wealth of pre-
viously acquired mission and function data together with specific
position information which is maintained by PMCD relative to the particu-
lar component. There is little chance that the PMCD officer, in con-
ducting a complete component survey, will not have a clear understanding
of the component's mission and functions.
PMCD does not rely on CSC standards for allocating positions.
Although PMCD utilizes CSC standards and external comparisons as applicable,
grade allocations in general are made on the basis of comparisons with
other positions within the CIA. If, in fact, PMCD evaluated positions
strictly by CSC standards, many of the Agency's positions would be found
to be overgraded by one to three grades. By the same token, it is
doubtful that GAO auditors would accept the view that standards which
apply to nearly 2 million civil employees have little or no application
to I employees in CIA. While there are positions and functions
in the Agency which are unique to the Federal structure, the uniqueness
is not all-encompassing of all positions and functions.
The Office of Personnel recognizes the value and need
for greater substantive participation by representatives for the operating
components in the position classification function and strongly recom-
mends formal representation, both as rotating members of the PMCD team
organization and within the component under classification survey. The
validity of judgments in position grade adjudication actions can only be
enhanced by such direct participation.
d. Page G-7, para 8.
"There is an inherent incompatibility between PMCD's
preoccupation with fixed, unchanging positions and
managers' preoccupations with adjusting positions
to fit changing people."
Comment:
The inherent nature of the PMCD function precludes pre-
occupation with fixed, unchanging positions. Indeed, one of the primary
objectives in conducting position management and classification surveys
is that of determining whether position duties and responsibilities have
changed and making any necessary adjustments in the position grades (upward
or downward) to maintain grade equity within the Agency.
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e. Page G-8, para 10.
"We feel. there is some confusion in PMCD as to its
appropriate role, i.e., whether to ensure job/pay
equity or to control the rise in average grade and
the like."
25X1A
?25X1A
25X1A
Comment:
The primary orientation of PMCD in its classification
role is to objectively evaluate positions so as to establish proper
position/grade structures and levels throughout the Agency. The Agency's_
average position grade limitations, like authorized ceiling, is a
reality externally imposed by OMB and must be considered in the classi-
fication process. We do not feel that job/pay equity and control of
average grade are contradictory concepts.
f. Page G-1.0, para 14.
Prior to the initiation of the OIG survey,
1 a retired employee, was given a
contract to conduct a study of PMCD and to make
recommendations designed to improve position
management and classification in CIA. The
Inspection Team found Is study. of
considerable value in its own deliberations."
Comment:
Prior to the recent Inspector General survey, the Agency's
position management and classification function, historically a cen-
tralized responsibility and authority of the Director of Personnel, had
been the subject of an extensive and in-depth study (Report of Survey by
dated September 1975). The primary purpose of this study
was to determine the feasibility of some decentralization of responsi-
bility and authority for these important and essential functions to the
Deputy Directors. The IG's statement as presented could lead to the
ression that the conclusions and recommendations contained in the
I I' paralleled those put forward by the Inspector General.
Nothing could be further from fact. Entirely opposite conclusions on
centralization were reached in the two surveys.
g. Pages G-11 and G-12, para 17.
"We suggest that the [PMCD] permanent staff be
given periodic personnel officer rotational
assignments to other Agency components (perhaps
two or three during a career) to obtain a dif-
ferent perspective and to gain more experience
with the problems of other components."
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Approximately 70% of the current PMCD staff has served
in other Agency components for one or more tours and more than one-
third have served tours overseas. The Office of Personnel (as stated
before) strongly recornnends augmentation of the regular PMCD staff by
rotations of substantive career officers form each of the Directorates.
h. Pages G-12 and G-13, paras 18 and 19,
"Some managers argue for decentralized position
management and classification. They suggest that
professional job classifiers be assigned to Director-
ates, or even to large components, and that job
classification be done wholly within such units,
They feel that existing constraints on numbers of
positions, senior slots and average grade are ade-
quate to prevent empire building and that, within
these constraints, they are best able to decide
how to organize their components and assign grade
values to positions."
"Such a decentralized system is in effect at the
Energy Research and Development Administration (ERDA)
and it reportedly works effectively. However ERDA
uses a standardized system for evaluating its
relatively homogeneous positions and managers have
been trained in and are involved in the application
of this system, thus ensuring a certain amount of
job/pay equity within ERDA. From this and other
examples, it appears that a decentralized system can
work satisfactorily in some organizations if system-
atic position standards have been developed and
managers understand those standards and are willing
to devote time to their application."
As noted earlier, the results of decentralization in other
agencies have ranged from unsatisfactory to disastrous in terms of main-
taining agency-wide grade equity and controlling grade escalation. With
reference to ERDA, it is correct that their classification system is
decentralized and utilizes a Benchmark/Factor Evaluation and Standards
program in their position classification process, ERDA's system was
last revised in 1958, does not include benchmarks for all occupations
and is considered by their management to need updating, At this time
Benchmark/Factor Evaluation and Standards systems are valuable in
facilitating the classification process and assure participation by
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substantive component officials in their formulation and application.
The system by itself, however, by no means assures job/pay equity
within an agency at large and requires a formal oversight mechanism to
monitor its proper application in all elements of an organization.
ERDA does not have such an oversight control element and no certainty
that internal grade equity prevails. Although supervisors classify
their own positions, there is no formalized manager training in.
classification. ERDA is currently planning to develop a five-day
course for supervisors which will be administered by a training team
visiting the field offices. The effectiveness of the ERDA system in
terms of job/pay equity for comparable positions within the organization
is questionable. We do not share the IG's view that "From this and other-
examples, it appears that a decentralized system can work satisfactorily."
We are not cognizant of the "other examples" that they are referring
to. We do agree, however, that the establishment of valid standards and
management participation are necessary.
i. Pages G-13 and G-14, paras 20 and 21
"The Civil Service Commission is developing a
position classification methodology called the
Factor Ranking/Benchmark System . . . Those who
are familiar with the system are enthusiastic over
its potential and cite as its advantages that it
is easy to understand (and) . . . is a more accurate
way to grade positions . . . PMCD has established a
separate Branch to develop this system for Agency
use."
"The Inspection Team was impressed with the potential
of this system and urges the early development and
use of an Agency version to improve both position
classification and communication on that subject
between PMCD and components,"
Comment:
As noted, PMCD has already realigned its organization
and staff assignments to develop the Federal Factor Ranking/Benchmark
System for application within the Agency. The Civil Service Commission
is charged with developing the primary guidance for this Government-
wide system through the Job Evaluation Policy Act of 1970. In this
statute it is stated that "Title II - Statement of Policy, Sec 201:
It is the sense of Congress that -
"(1) the executive branch shall, in the interest
of equity, efficiency, and good administration, operate under a coordi-
nated job evaluation and ranking system for all civilian positions, to
the greatest extent practicable;
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"(2) the system shall be designed so as to utilize
such methods of job evaluation and ranking as are appropriate for use in
the executive branch, taking into account the various occupational cate-
gories of positions therein; and
"(3) the United States Civil Service Commission shall
be authorized to exercise general supervision and control over such a.
system. 11
We support the IG's views that our efforts on this
system be continued.
Page G-14, page 14.
"Although most authority in CIA is delegated to the
Deputy Directors who supervise. the four semi-
autonomous Directorates, the Agency must operate
as a single organization in its relations with the
rest of Government, including its conformance with
manning and staffing rules and restrictions. These
require that job/pay equity be maintained and
monitored- throughout the Agency, not just within
tfie Diretorates . . . We question, however, whether
the Director of Personnel needs to retain authenti-
cation control. of official Staffing Complements."
The "authentication control" of the Director of Personnel
is synonymous with final approving authority for an action. The
monitoring function to assure that job/pay equity is maintained through-
out the Agency would require some form of final "authentication"
authority if it is to be meaningful.
k. Page G-17, Para 25.
We also question the infallibility of PMCD's
judgment. This is not intended as criticism of
PMCD or its personnel. They are not and cannot be
specialists in all the organizations or position
fields they are analyzing; therefore, they will
make errors in judgment and their decisions should
be subject to review and; if necessary, reversal."
Comment:
PMCD has never claimed infallibility in its judgments.
They are, however, professionally accountable in terms of developing
the best possible data on which they render judgments. More participation
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and input by knowledgeable substantive officials is essential and
necessary in the position adjudication effort. A formal appeal mecha-
nism for. final review and decision of unresolved. disagreements should
be installed.
1. Pages G-18 through G-21, paras 27, 29 and 31.
"The main problem with the Director of Personnel/
DDA appeal route lies in the number and complexities
of the disputes. Effective and equitable resolution
of them all would require amounts of job knowledge,
position classification knowledge and study time
that are simply not available to those with the high
level of authority and respect needed to impose an
undesired solution on a Deputy Director. Creation
of an appeal authority outside the four Directorates
. . . would face the same set of problems."
"We conclude that there are only two solutions
available. The present system, lacking real enforce-
ment authority, can be continued and probably be
improved . . . but . . .most of the fundamental pro-
blems would remain.. The other choice is . to
make the Deputy Directors the appeal and decision.
authority, while preserving the Director of Personnel's
capability and responsibility for monitoring their
actions."
"No proof can be offered that the outcome of the
shift in authority described above will be good,
bad or indifferent. We are pursuaded, however,
that the risks of serious degradation are not
great . . . and return to the present system
should be possible if we are proven wrong."
Comment:
In the course of any given year,.several hundreds of
positions are surveyed and adjudicated without serious disagreement
between PMCD and. the operating officials concerned. There are nonethe-
less, some honest differences of opinion which cannot easily be resolved.
Many such "issues" originate from the operating manager's view that
PMCD is intruding in his area of authority and has no "right" to render
opinions let alone judgments on these matters. These managers are
strong advocates of decentralization of classification authority to
their. jurisdiction..
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The IG maintains that "creation of an appeal authority
outside the four Directorates" would not resolve the inherent problems,
and concludes that "there are only two solutions available." It is
worth noting that the Executive Director in the 1960's acted as just
such an outside appeal authority and decided on solutions to any problems
with great success. In any case, the Office of Personnel believes a
"third" alternative must be established that will assure maximum
objectivity for the Agency's position management and classification
function; provide for more extensive substantive office participation
in arriving at judgments, and finally, provide a formal and impartial
appeal mechanism to resolve differences.
Organizations that have experimented with decentralization
of the position classification function have experienced serious problems
as regards deteriorating job/pay equity and grade escalation. A return
to the present system does not easily or quickly correct the damage done.
m. Pages G-21 and G-22, paras 32, 34, and 35.
"Headquarters 7 January 1972, 25X1
established the Position Survey Program with the
aim of scheduling and conducting position and
manpower utilization surveys in all components
with the objective of achieving complete coverage
of the Agency each three years. PMCD is charged
with conducting the Position Survey Program."
"Most component managers are extremely critical
of the PMCD periodic survey program, however.."
"One often-mentioned problem is that PMCD's man-
ning and priority system does not permit an early
response to a request for a reorganization-
generated survey, or rapid accomplishment of the
survey after it starts."
Commlent :
The criticism cited by the IG are valid in terms of
early response or rapid accomplishment of the surveys after they have
been started. PMCD staffing authorization simply has been inadequate
in terms of the scope of requirements imposed. Additional allowances
have been reallocated within the Office of Personnel's limited ceiling
to permit additional staffing in PMCD. Augmentation from the Directorate
would further assist to remedy this and other concerns.
n. Pages G-24 and G-25, para 38a.
"Unresolved differences with PMCD periodic survey
findings are sometimes never formally settled . . .
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Therefore, we believe the expenditure of three-six
months of conlhonent and PMCD efforts at three year
intervals for periodic position surveys to be
excessive when compared with the specific end
results achieved."
"We believe that static organizations should be
subject to . . . reviews . . . but at intervals
considerably longer than three years."
25X1A
It is true that unresolved differences are sometimes
never settled. Here again, a formal appeals mechanism would eliminate
unresolved differences. Nevertheless, in almost every survey the large
majority of existing grade allocations are reaffirmed by PMCD. This,
to a considerable degree, insures that position grade equity is being
maintained throughout the Agency. We agree, however, that certain
organizations need not be surveyed as frequently as others.
5. Specific Response to IG Conclusions (Tab G, Pages G-26
through G-30)
The conclusions (Conclusions G-1 through G-7) are incorporated
in the IG's Recommendations Nos. 7, 8 and 9. Our comments will be
addressed to the recommendations.
Recommendation No. 7 (Tab G - Page G-30)
"That the DCI delegate to the Deputy Directors
authority to authenticate staffing complements,
requiring them to consider PMCD recommendations
on position grades before effecting changes and
to exercise this authority within their alloca-
tions of staff manpower ceilings, senior slots
and average grade."
In their survey of the PMCD function, the Inspection Team
reached a conclusion that only two viable solutions are available -
reaffirmation of the current system (with continued effort to improve
effectiveness) - an option which they reject as lacking real enforcement
authority, and the option contained in this specific recommendation that
the authority to approve position structures and grade levels be
delegated to the Deputy Directors within only the constraints of their
manpower ceilings, senior slots and average grade. It is worth noting
that after an extensive and in-depth study of
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25X1A the PMCD role and function, arrived at quite different. conclusions
and recommendations. See attached copy of the summary of this report
submitted by in September 1975.'- Attachment #1)
We believe that reaffirmation of the present'system, as
currently constituted - even with some improvement - is not the solution
in meeting the needs of the Agency in today's environment but we also
foresee different but comparable problems were the Agency to adopt the
IG's preferred option cited in their Recommendation No. 7. We have
strong convictions that the needs and best interests of the Agency at
large would be best served in a third alternative approach and propose
the following recommendations:
a. That the Director of Personnel continue to retain
responsibility for conducting the position management
and classification function and basic authentication
authority for staffing complements.
b. That the Deputy-Directors and Heads of Independent
Offices, or a designated senior officer within their
components, meet with and jointly review and discuss
with the Director of Personnel any unresolved differences
pertinent to PMCD findings and/or recommendations prior
to final authentication of those portions of the staffing
complements involved.
c. That any unresolved differences between a Deputy Director
or Head of Independent-Office and the Director of Personnel
be fully documented and referred by the Director of
Personnel, together with all pertinent documents, to the
Deputy Director of Central Intelligence for final decision.
d. .That the regular staff of PMCD be augmented with the
rotation of an officer, grade GS-13/14 level, selected
by each of the four Deputy Directors and a representative-
from the DCI Group, for a two-year tour with PMCD to
participate in position management and classification
surveys of components within his parent Directorate.
e. That the Director of Personnel establish an Agency
position management and classification orientation
program to educate management at all levels as to the
objectives and responsibilities of this essential
element of personnel management. (NOTE: This is in
addition to our concurrence relative to the IG's
Recommendation No. 10.)
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7. Recommendation No. 8 (Tab G - Page G-31)
"That the Director of Personnel monitor Directorate
and DCI Area adherence to their allocations and to
job/pay equity and recommend appropriate DCI action
in cases where he cannot resolve differences with
the Deputy Director concerned."
Comment:
We agree that the Director of Personnel retain monitoring
responsibility but in the context of the alternative recommendations we
have made in our response to Recommendation No. 7.
8. Recommendation-N-6-.'.9 (Tab G - Page G-31)
"That the Director of Personnel revise PMCD procedures,
position surveys, scheduling, and manpower as indicated
in Conclusions G-3 through G-7 above."
a. Conclusion G-3:
In the area of position grade evaluations, PMCD should:
(a) Develop and maintain standards for position
evaluation use.
(b) Participate in and advise on all position
evaluation use.
(c) Insure that unresolved differences with component
managers over position evaluations are brought
to the responsible Deputy Directors for decision.
(d) Inform the Director of Personnel in cases when,
in the opinion of PMCD, decisions made by Deputy
Directors conflict significantly with equal pay
for equal work principles or established pay
policies, e.g., pay scales for senior secretaries.
Comment:
Conclusions (a), (b) and (d) are consistent with current
responsibilities of PMCD. As regards G-3(c), the recommendations pro-
posed by the Director of Personnel in response to the IG's Recommendation
No. 7 would insure that the Deputy Directors had the opportunity to
discuss unresolved differences directly with the Director of Personnel
and the institution of formal appeal to the DDCI for final decisions
if necessary.
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b. Conclusion G-4:
With regard to staffing complements, PMCD, in collabora-
tion with other Office of Personnel components, should:
(a) Establish staffing complement formats.
(b) Compile, produce and disseminate staffing
complements authenticated by the Deputy Directors
and produce and disseminate related management
information reports.
(c) Report to the Deputy Director concerned and to
the Director of Personnel any non-trivial con-
tinuing instances when the totals of a
Directorate's staffing complements exceed that
Directorate's allocations of manning, senior
slots or average grade.
Coimlent
These conclusions essentially reflect current responsibility
and procedures with the exception that staffing complements are not
authenticated nor implemented without the prior approval of the
component concerned.
PMCD's responsiblity for conducting periodic position
surveys should be modified. In this area:
(a) PMCD should conduct periodic position surveys
in components that have received little attention
in conjunction with reorganizations for a period
of about five years.
(b) The Director of Personnel should initiate special
PMCD position surveys in other cases where he
has reason to believe that position classifications
need revision.
(c) Neither periodic nor special position surveys
should be allowed to interfere with prompt and
rapid service or reorganization or other more
immediate needs for PMCD assistance.
(d) During all surveys, PMCD should restrict its recom-
mendations regarding the organization and management
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of component personnel to cases where organization
or management is the dominant consideration in
evaluating position grades.
(e) PMCD should be permitted on its own'initiative
to audit positions in any component in order to
obtain data needed to establish, maintain or
improve position evaluation standards.
We agree with conclusions (b), (c) and (e). As regards con-
clusion (a), retention of the current three year survey cycle is pre-
ferred over a .five year cycle in terms of more timely recognition of the
need for adjustments to the position structures, etc. The continuing press
of ad hoc and priority special surveys and the need to address other
priorities with a limited number of staffers in PMCD may temporarily
require adaptation of the five year cycle as proposed by the IG.. We are
not in agreement with concluson (d). In their surveys, PMCD's observa-
tions and recommendations relative to the organization and management
within a component are directed at manpower resource considerations such
as effective utilization of personnel, skill mix, duplication of work
effort, clarification of supervisory channels, internal communications,
and the like. This information is provided to component managers as
"feedback" for his consideration in carrying out his managerial responsi-
bilities. Feedback from the majority of managers of surveyed components
last year indicated affirmative attitudes toward the usefulness of this
type of information.
PMCD should accelerate the development and trial imple-
mentation of improved position evaluation standards and methods similar
to the Factor/Benchmark system now being developed by CSC for Government-
wide implementation by 1980. Full CSC development of its system should
not be a prerequisite to development and trial implementation of an
Agency version.
Comment:
We are in full agreement with this conclusion.
e. Conclusion G-7:
The Director of Personnel should review and alter the
organization of and manpower authorized for PMCD as necessary to meet
its revised mission.
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(a) It is important to note that PMCD manning must
permit prompt and rapid service of component
needs.
(b) A program of rotating office of Personnel people
with experience as component support officers
through 3-5 year PMCD tours, and of rotating
PMCD professionals through component support
officer tours, would provide a valuable experi-
ence base.
(c) Rotating personnel from other Agency components
through PINED tours would contribute more specific
component knowledge and would be useful if the
tours can be long enough for the rotating personnel
to develop and use job classification expertise.
We agree that PMCD manning must permit prompt and rapid
service. With respect to the rotation of Office of Personnel people in
and out of PMCD, this practice is already being followed to some extent.
The rotation of officers from other Agency components is strongly
supported by the Office of Personnel.
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TAB
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24, September 1975
811.31,1 :ANDIJM FOR: 1)i.rcector of Personnel
SU}TEL' Survey c,[-- Position 1'?kanagemc:nt and CompenSat-i on
livisioll, OP
in keeping with our understanding, submitted tinder separate
cover is my report of ,r,rvey of P~zk:D. As discussed with you and
your Deputy, and as noted briefly to the DD/A, the study outline
initially Provide-C, was i.lsed as a guide in the Survey. Certain
suggested areas of "exp"loration" in that outline were not purseed
because in light of the currency of docllmentati_on in Pa,'~CD5 5acluding
studies of the Civil : ervice (or~n_ission in some of which :f) Par- quite actively, such "exploration" would have been, _R s1
my opiidoji y nC?71prOC11 :l -LUE' or Cduplicative.
The report will have to speak for itself, but there are one or
two general poi _r?_s 1 woui d 1.ile to make here. First, in Pf"K.`) I
believe you have a c ed i n system in the Office of Communications , .is
neither nec.essa:~y' nor` desirable. However, if for any reason imalnat,e-?
meat wuuld still wish to co-insider decentralization, it is recommended
that no action to dc c cnLraali ze any of PAMCD's functions be undertaken
at this time. There are at least two reasons for this recommendation..
First of all, the I- 'wality of PiNCD's mission and responsibilities is
neither understood nor accepted by the line managers to whom such
decentralization would have to be effected and hence the need to get
the basis for a centralized system clearly established before any
thought can be given to any delegation of classification or other
PMT f-unction or au ithorit-y. . Second, the position documentation and
mutually understood _job standards essential to any management system,
especially one that is decentralized, simply do not exist to the degree
necessary and rirust be developed to put the current centralized program
on the desired firm footing. Only after these deficiencies are cor-
rected could or should any consideration be given to decentralization
because only then cou-id a valid deteirnination be made as to what
function or functions of PMCD might be decentralized and to what level
and with what constraints.
G. Administration of Supcrgradc and SPS Positions:
To meet the need for better administration of supergrade
and SPS positions, it is recommended that:
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1. A joint, concerted effort be made by the Office of
Personnel and the "operators" to develop more realistic job descriptions
for supergrade and SIG positions.
2. P,1%Jf:D using a combination of both the upcoming factor-
ranking/benchmark system und factor analysis criteria of the Executive
Evaluation Systom developc d earlier (by a management consultwit firm
under contract -co the Civil Service Commission) as part of the Federal.
Executive Program, i nde r Laike to construct a more objective method for
the creation of standares for the evaluation of supergrade and SPS
positions.
3. To help ensure a greater uniformity in the development
and application of these processes, the Director of Personnel consider
making one classifier:- in I'MCD responsible for these and related phases
of the administs-at.i_osi of sul)erg,rade and SPS positions. 'T'his officer
would, in effect, become the Office of Personnel specialist on super-
gra.de/SPS problems, z~:;.etfic.r they be problems of promotion, ceiling,
r_.
standards, pose ::i oa evalunt ion, the utilization of positions or person--
riel, or any rega..ilar, anwuAl or other reviews of manpower resource
management as they _d. ac Led on these executive levels.
A In rf i~ni zing the requirement for irivolvcm :rit: of the
Director in neat ers of s td-ert a ad.o and SPS personnel, and in the absence
of the Executive Director-Comptroller, the Director delegate To the
DDCI, or such other senior o i i cer he might choose, responsibility for
final decision makin auLhority on actions relating to such si=pergra.de/
SPS personnel and/or positions. It might also be noted that such a
delegation might properly go to the Director for Management 11 the
Rockefeller Commission's proposal for the establishment of th.it posi-
tion is approved and iaamlc'.mented.
5. Looking to the future when hopefully the current
salary "freeze" will be lifted, and recognizing the significant salary
levels which would then be applied to supergrade and SPS posit-ions,
consideration be given to the establishment of upper/lower "salary
limits" as opposed to "CS grades" for executive level positions. (A
not entirely new idea.) Such a system, which ;night put a more realistic
"value" on positions and provide a greater flexibility in "executive"
level assignments is described in more detail in the body of this
report. If found feasible "in principle," it might be initiated on a
trial basis with respect to overseas stations.
Obviously these rccoiinendations, if approved, will require the
effort and cooperation of a host of individuals and components through-
out the Agency; but whether or not they are approved or others and
better ones substituted for them, it must be made absolutely clear to
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all, that the rcxluire>ax~nt to manage manpower resources Is a real fact
of life in Government today more real than even. before - and all
must do their part to see that Agency management is as good as, or
better than, the rest of Government.
One last note - but a most important one. Let me aclu owledge,
will thanks to you b r their detail, the able and unstinting efforts
of F- I in this study. I'll take the blame
for any shortfalls - xui. credit for any contribution this study -lakes
to better management of manpower resources is due in no smal-j. part
to the hard work and proiessionalismn of these fine officers.
i.tts.
u/s/c
STATINTL
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 2 December '1Q75
STATINTL
STATINTL
ISTATINTL
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Office of Personnel Comments on
f,eport of Survey of PMCD
(September 1975)
has developed a professional and thorough report
of survey of I'MC[3. He has focused on the primary aspects and issues of
this function. We con side. r his findings to he objective and laical.
Our comments, t.hereforc, are directed at the recommendations contained
in Tab F "Specific 1indings - Conclusions - Recommendations."
1. General Comment
2. Specific Cor:im nts
Reco,rc iendatior+ f;1
That the cyclic "i.Ir vev program, which is a main contributor
to PMM1CD's heavy wartio,:d arc ui' questionable value in the minds of many,
be reexamined with a view tcwi;rd its elimination in favor of a ' mainten ince
program, or i t.s r::dur; t i on in frequency and scope.
Recor;rirend that, any '.I personnel savings" resulting be ch;, nne l ed
into standards progeam activities.
Comment: As noted by in his "findings," Pi CD is
faced with a cent inuou sly ii,-avy workload wnich requires continuous adjust-
nrents in priori ti?'s to n.er,t requirements. "Less effective" activities
are di'f'ficult to identify in that the array of requirements handed by I'i1CD
are of almost equal iiiyorl.ance. The cyclical survey program, a: hoc
special surveys and position classification requests, reviews of appeals
to classification judq,iierits, statutory compensation changes, requests for
non-standard work schedules and I-LSA implementation impose an extremely
heavy load on a 1 iini teal vcorki nq staff. The cyclical survey pro;;ram i;rip asses
the heaviest load on PLL1CD but is the essential core program for the ful i it f--
rrent of the Director of Personnel's Agency position management, efuctive
manpower utilization, position classification and component personnel
management evaluation re s l>ons i bi l i ty. The cyclical survey pr orram assures
regular scheduled audit ci the validity and appropriateness of component
organizational structures and functions vis-a-vis their missions and
functions, the co;iirn:_rnd structure and authorities, manpower utilization
and validation of position distribution and their grades. A "maintenance"
program is also necessary (i . e. , between scheduled surveys) in order to
effect changes that require current attention. Prior to adoption of the
cyclical program it was not unusual for some components to go for 5-8
years without a complete overview survey. Position management classification
and manpower utilization problems can grow to serious proportions in such
situations and are extremely difficult to correct. While it is true that
some past surveys have been of marginal value from a "results standpoint,
the increasing number of requests for surveys from various components
as well as the tone of feedback regarding our efforts sugdicsts that the
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I'MCD survey is hec.omi nq one of the Agency's best management tools. More-
over, current survey inputs will be absolutely essential for standards
and benchmark development, monitoring compliance with FLSA, and other
position management activity.
The answer, of course, is to maintain both a quality standards
program and a survey proclrar? without sacrificing one for the other.
To do this would probably require an increase in PMCD's staff to 25-30.
If an increase in staff is not possible, then the number of surveys
must be reduced (wd i thout eliminating the cyclic program) ill favor of
greater effort on stand- rds and benchmark development.
That as rn,;n,y es possible of PMCD's current staff be assigned
to a "crash" standards development program.
Recommend that coincidental with, or at the conclusion of,
this program the tandar?ds- branch be reestablished.
Cor??nrent: We agree that it carefully planned standards e fort is
necessary to clearly define evaluation criteria which is understandable to,
and accepted by, mantgc.?i3n :. In fact, 11I11CD had already begun this effort.
prior? to the survey of 'Mt D. (1ow,aever, a quality product will roc quire a
substantial manor??aer c(;~,im [nierrt over a long period of time, and several
internal ass -igene~iLs within PMCD have already been made for this purpose.
Recommendation ri3
That PM CD con(inrre its work leading to the adoption of the
principles of the new (Jvil Serv-ice Commission's Factor--Ranking/f3enchmarrrk
System which will provide rr desired "uniform" base that can he readily
understood by operator arid cit,ssil'ier alike. Further recommend in the
interest of ensuring greater operator participation that the modular
evaluation tecluii'lue used se. successfully by PMCD in certain Office of
Communications per:?>itions ~nnd which would seem to have similar L pplication
in places such as Div P, D(XI, ISS in CRS/DDI, scientific positions in DDSsT
and finance positions in D(:2A) be used as extensively as possible.
Comment: We agree that PMCD should continue its work leading to tie
installation of the "Feotor Ranking/ enchmark" methodology. The modular
system (which uses work examples rather than basic job factors that are
the real basis for position cvlaluation) can be used in certain activities
such as OC but would not be pertinent in most situations. We believe,
therefore, that our objective, insofar as possible, should be the development
of only one system for application on an Agency-wide basis.
Recoia,?endation ;td
Recommend (in addition to DCI Policy Statement on subject of
Position Managcrrrent) that (1) a position classification training program
be developed for the purpose of "educating" component personnel officers
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and operating officials involved in classification activities. (Such a
program isn't in:orporaLou in existing supervisory/management training
courses.) (2) Publish a position Management "flyer" for line managers.
Comment: 1\crree with conclusion. PMCD presently offers two sessions
per year of their training program for OP careerists. This is about all
PM'MCD can handle with present staff and workload. One hour presentations
should be incorporated in OTR courses such as the Mid-Career, Pasic
Supervision and the Mwnagarr'ent Seminar. The present briefing paper
provided component heilds pr for to scheduled surveys should be reviewed for
possible improver,ent.
In the obsenr:e of an Executive Director--Comptroller or the
delegation of fin=al classification authority to a senior officer of
t.l,e Director's choice, a formal appeal policy and procedural mechanism
be established. This flch.r,ism should provide for appeal by the operator,
position incurnbent, ar;~i then such is necessary to maintain ecuity by
F'MCD.
Conlnent: A c,lke;o' delegation of position classification authority
(all grade levels) should be made by the DCI to the Director of Personnel.
Recommendation ?S
That general controls he adopted to stop grade creep and the
increase in supergradc pos>i ti ons a nd people.
Comment: An increase in average position grade is not unusual in any
organization that has experienced sizeable reductions in overall ceiling
over a period of a relatively few years. Nonetheless, grade creep is costly
and usually requires strict control measures if it is to be halted. The
Agency's supergrade allowances are allocated by 0MB and must he justified
for retention and/or increase to 0tr1B. We can expect close scrutiny by 0;113
of our supergrade ceiling in the near future.
Reconiniendation ir7
That control of average grade and of position management be mon-itered
by DCI review in a manner similar to the APP on the people management side.
Comment: We agree that more emphasis should be placed on operating
component managerial responsibilities as regards their role -in more effective
position ranagement and position grade control. However, from a practical
standpoint, any specific proposals regarding a monitoring function must
necessarily relate to the extent of changes in authorities, policies, and
procedures which result t'rcin the total recommendations in this report. Initial
at least, we believe that the recommendations regarding D/Pers responsibilities
as given elsewhere in the report will provide for any monitoring necessary.
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Recommendation '_
Amend the Req:iulation, to include position structure in the gross
personnel ceilings at the time of allocations. Presently a Comptroller functic
(from a staff standpoint) the combination would be a joint Director of
Personnel (PMCD) and Comptroller responsibility to the DC1 with D/Pers
responsible for review, anci monitoring.
Comment: We disagree. By including position and grade structure
in the gross personnel ceilings at the time of allocations unnecessary delays
would be created. In "allotting" the numbers of positions at each grade
level (GS-15, lr, 1.3, etc.) a ceiling at each level would thereby be
established which componc pits could cite as a basis for maintaining the
number of positions "'authorized" at each level. New ceiling allocations
(including super(jrade allor?;ances) should flow from a review and justifi-
cation of the activity and the development of a basic organization and
position structure.
Recornniendation '9
Define the position rianagement function at the Agency level
and place it upon the Director of Personnel as the other part of the
position evaluation function. The objective would be to assure that
the entire AgerlC uncle rstor11 that position management and clasp if ieation
are staff f and co:oordi n: tin-1 functions of the Director of Personnel .
Comment: We agree that the delegations of authority -(:o the
Director of Personnel and 1114ID's charter as regards position m nagement
and position ,.evalirati(n and classification should be more succinctly
spelled out in the re,'?ulations. At the present time these responsibilities'.
are expressed in and a Headquarters
Notice.
Recommendation .1O
Examine ,,he ro [1pet:i i:vie promotion policy and the CSGA. Perhaps
with the reduced cor+rple:rient and the average grade of incumbent approaching
the position average t;racie, the CSGA should be based on position require-
ments not on established positions and the actual advancement of an
approved candidate for promotion, particularly at upper and supergrade
levels should await the opening up of a position at the appropriate grade.
Comment: The Career Service competitive evaluation, ranking and
promotion system is based on the "rank-in-the-man" principle of evaluation
and promotability of individuals in competition with other individuals in
the competitive "group." The CSGA is an integral element of this competitive
system and must be based on the actual graded position structure (i.e.,
not on position requirements). However, the question as to whether this
approach is valid today should perhaps be studied.
4
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Recommendation #11
Develop a more sophisticated basis to evaluate supergrade
positions. The format and fact or analysis developed by the Civil
Service Commission under that portion of the Coordinated Job Evaluation
Plan applicable to the Executive Evaluation System (EES) would appear to
provide an excellent base under which PMCD and "Agency executives" could
build the necessary documentation for better supergrade position evaluation.
A copy of the EES "factors" is attached.
Comment: We agree, although the Executive Evaluation System (EES)
is not necessarily the-answer. It is possible that an extension of the
basic Factor-Ranking/nenciunark System currently under review for evaluating
GS-1 through GS-15 positions might then be the most appropriate basis for
evaluating supergrade positions.
Recommendation 012
Establish a periodic review and report by the Director of
Personnel to the DCI on the management and utilization of supergrade
positions as they become vacant.
Comment: See comments to Recommendation #16.
Recommendation 13
In the case of impasse between the Director of Personnel and
the. Directorates on the classification of supergrade positions - impasse
formerly resolved by the Ex Dir-Compt, the DDCI, or other designee of the
DCI:, would make the decision. This appeal channel is suggested not only
to remove the Deputies and/or their Associate Deputies from the awkward
position of ruling on their own supergrade structure, but also to reinforce
the Director's immediate responsibility for decisions relative to supergrade,
positions and personnel.
Comment-: See comments to Recommendation #16
Recommendation #14
The Director of Personnel should report to the Deputy Director
concerned at the cowplotion of two years of a SG PRA assignment and
seek instructions on ending the PRA. The same procedure should be
followed with respect to the reverse situation, namely the non-supergrade
individual blocking a supergrade slot.
Comment: See comments to Recommendation #16.
Recommendation #15
Quite apart from other reporting, the Director of Personnel
should report once a year to the DCI on the number of supergrade personnel
PRA'd, and the number of non-SG personnel occupying SG positions. Report
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to be by major directorate, to show length of time of assignment and the
Director of Personnel's recommendation for resolving "problem assignments''
which have extended beyond a reasonable period.
Comment: See comments to Recommendation #16.
STATINTL
STATINTL
STATINTL
STATINTL
Recolnmendatinn #t16
The new responsibilities of the D/Pers should be reflected in
amendments to[ Management of SG Personnel as cross referenced in
Suggested revisions are attached.
Comment: Tho Office of Personnel with the collaboration of the
Office of the Corptro!ler is preparing a paper on the management of
supergrade positions and allowances which addresses these points.
Recommendation 417
Rework0 Personnel Administration to reflect the change
of focus from service to control on personnel planning and control.
Include the Director of Personnel responsibilities for positim management.,
average grade control in this general statement of policies. The policy
followed should he one of centralized planning and control of positions, bat
with people mona:iement, including assignment, promotion, utilization
decentralized as at present subject to D/Pers review.
Comment: We agroe tha as well as other related regu-
lations should he thoroughly reviewed and reworked, in relation to such
changes in authoritieq and responsibilities as result from the recommenda-
tions contained in this report.
STATINTL Recommendation 418
A~ -ova -i and review, including periodic surveys as provided for
in I of position structure and the classification of positions
should remain a responsibility of the Director of Personnel through PMCD/OP.
Comment: We agree.
Recommendation #19
Good organization communication is based on confidence and is largely
an aspect of leadership, to he achieved in part in the case of position
management by the formal steps, announcement of intention, and regulatory
and other policy/procedural amendments as discussed elsewhere in this report.
Technical aids to good communication Would include the develop-
ment, with operator participation, the promulgation of position standards,
the inclusion of position management and classification in the training
curriculum for supervisory and management training, the publication of a
flyer, such as the Navy Dept's, on position management. [A "first-cut"
draft of such a pamphlet based on the Navy "flyer" is included in this
report.]
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Make grade and posit-ion management an evaluation factor in
the performance evoluat.ion of every line supervisor, branch chief,
division chief, 0ifice Iliad, Career Service Head. Make all levels of
supervisors which originate or propose official statements of duties and
responsibilities rander.st'_ind that they are certifying what is in effect
a pay-roll document; and that E'hile the Director of Personnel through
PMICD, OP has the staff and coordinating responsibility, final rr sponsibilitY
rests with line nionagesnent.
Comment: No ci i ?;agreement.
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TAB
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Review and Comments of the Narrative
Conclusions Contained in the IG Survey
of the Office of Personnel
1. Reference: Office of Personnel
(IG Report Summary - Page 119 para 1)
"The Office of Personnel is one of the Agency's
largest organizations though only about two-thirds
of its careerists work in the central office
itself."
Comment:
Office of Personnel is 0 in size. The Office of Personnel ranks
sixth in size of the eight Offices within the DDA and fifth among the
ten Sub-Career Services of the DDA Career Service.
2. Reference: Outplacement
(IG Report Summary - Page 15, para 27)
"Outplacement is a key element among those-services
designed to reduce the uncertainties, income inter-
ruptions, and other financial and emotional dis-
turbances associated with leaving Agency employment.
It is useful as a service for retirees, but could
have greater value as a means of encouraging and
expediting the departure of those employees who are
no longer needed by the Agency because of manning
reductions, less than complete suitability for
available positions, irreparable stagnation in
place, or combinations of these factors."
Comment:
We cannot agree that outplacement as such would or could
serve much of a role in encouraging and expediting the departure of
employees no longer needed by the Agency. We suspect there is little
in the way of a substitute for management making strong decisive
decisions and telling surplus or unneeded personnel that they are
not carrying their share or that their particular skills are no longer
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required. Persons so alerted will then get busy on what outplacement
has to offer. It must be remembered that outplacement's success depends,
to a great degree, on the economy and the external job market. There is
certainly no assurance that a healthful climate in this area would
always coincide with planned reductions.
3. Reference: Outplacement
(IC Report Summary - Page 16, para. 29)
"We found disturbing remarks by Office of Personnel
officials suggesting that the function of outplacement
might be the first effort cut if Office resources are
curtailed further."
Comment.
The remarks of the Office of Personnel officials were not
intended to reflect a lack of support or interest in the outplacement
activity but rather an acceptance of the facts of life. The Office
of Personnel has a number of statutory functions it must provide, and if
further reductions in resources are required, would have to consider for
elimination those that are nice to have but are not mandatory. The IG
and the Agency can be assured that as long as we can continue this
function, we will do so in a manner that will insure its meaningful use.
4. Reference: Recruitment and Applicant Processing
(IG Report Summary - Page 17, para. 33)
"All personnel, both in the field and at Headquarters,
who are involved in recruitment and applicant processing,
were keenly aware of the inordinate amount of time that
it takes for an applicant to enter on duty. Some of
this time is irreducible; some, however, is of questionable
necessity. We believe that requirements for field admini-
stration of the Professional Aptitude Test Battery (PATB)
is a principal cause of processing delays."
We believe that the requirement for field administration of the
.Professional Aptitude Test Battery (PATB) is only a contributing cause to
processing delays.
5. Reference: Applicant Files
(Tab A - Page A-4, para. 7)
"The permanent retention of a very large number of
applicant files is within the letter but not the
implications of CIA's stated file retention practice.
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. . . The Inspector General will bring the risks
of adverse publicity inherent in the ISG/DDO
retention of applicant files to the attention of
the DDO and request a more specific examination
of the current usefulness of the practice. The
Inspector General's recommendation concerning
continuation or termination of the practice will
be made after consideration of the DDO response."
25X1A
Based on the review by the IG, the DDO has agreed that applicant
files need no longer be sent to ISG. SPD is working with ISG to purge
records not conforming with the two-year retention schedule under System 30.
(Files and records over two years old will be destroyed as soon as the
moratorium is lifted.) As of now, applicant files on candidates not
accepted for employment are being retained in CARB for two months and sent
directly to the Records Center for two years. At the end of two years,
the files and all records pertaining to them will be destroyed.
7. Reference: Agency Personnel Actions
(Tab B - Page B-5, para. 9)
"However, Chief, TRB faces a rather continual problem
of monitoring errors."
Comment:
Chief, TRB was referring to a recent pattern of inaccuracies
in researching data required in the preparation of transcripts within
her Branch and a relatively high pattern of errors in the Personnel.
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Actions prepared and submitted by Agency components to TRB for inputting
to the computer, Actions to remedy these problem areas-cited by the
Inspectors had been initiated prior to the IG interview, Specifically,
a reassignment of an employee was effected with the replacement officer
correcting the "transcript'-' problem. A.reduction In errors in component-
initiated personnel actions is being realized by conducting retraining
sessions for the responsible individuals,
8. Reference: Agency Personnel Actions
(Tab B r Page G-6, para 10)
"The TRB Staff consists almost entirely of low-graded
clerks, some of whom are cast-offs from other offices."'
Comment:
We consider this observation by the IG to be inappropriate and
inaccurate in the use of the term "'cast-offs from other offices," TRB
augments its limited permanent personnel staff by utilizing personnel
from other components of the Agency who are temporarily detailed to the
Office of Personnel while awaiting further assignment or other action.
9. Reference: Qualification Files
(Tab B - Pages B-8 and B-9, para 16)
The (Qualifications) file is maintained in accordance
with criteria established by the Civil Service Com-
mission,"
We wish to correct a minor misconception that the Agency's
Qualification File system is maintained in accordance with the criteria
established by the Civil Service Commission. The CSC guidelines pertain
to a system not applicable to our Agency. The Agency's Qualification
File system was developed to meet internal Agency needs and requirements.
10. Reference: Computer Program Development
Tab t - age B 2_T, para 37)
"Nevertheless, there is still much misunderstanding.
of what APP is all about and the publicity given it
has been inadequate to the need, Moreover, the
Office of Personnel has contributed to poor accep-
tance of the report through inadequacies in its
early presentations of the plan to senior manage-
ment,, with excessively complicated preparation
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guidelines, belated modifications of instructions
and failures to provide adequate briefing to the
middle and lower-level line managers. who must
fill in the forms."
We agree that there is a need for a broader and deeper under-
standing of the APP and its place in the "new approaches" to Agency
personnel management as instituted by Mr. Colby in FY-1973. Mr. Colby
launched the APP at the Management Committee level and clearly hoped for
active support and utilization of the APP as a meaningful personnel manage-_
ment mechanism. Not all senior managers have shared Mr. Colby's enthusiasm
for the APP but nonetheless complied with the reporting requirements. By
and large, the Directorate APP's have been prepared by Administrative and
Personnel Officers assigned to the operating components and not the middle
and lower-level line managers. In advance of sending out the final.
FY 1976 APP formats, however, all Administrative and Personnel Officers
who actually fill out the report were invited to a briefing at the
Headquarters Building, three hours of the meeting being allotted for a
discussion and review of the entire format and for instruction on-com-
pletion of the report. At that meeting all attendees were advised that
members of the OP Review Staff would be available to meet with Career
Service or Subgroup personnel separately to further explain the philosophy
and techniques of the APP. In light of some complaints of directions
being insufficient in FY 1975, the instructions for the FY 1976 APP were
spelled out in greater detail than in prior years. Subsequently only the
DDI and DDA Career Services requested meetings of their representatives
with the OP Review Staff for further discussion and guidance.
The Review Staff is presently working with representatives at
the Directorate level in an effort to modify the substantive content,
simplify the format of the APP for the coming Fiscal Year, and improve
the instructions on the use and preparation of the reports.
11. Reference: Computer Program Development
(Tab B - Page B-22, para 39)
"We found the detailed analysis done on the current
APP for the Director unnecessarily prolix and com-
plicated."
Comment:
At no time did Director Colby, who had requested the detailed
analysis, comment nor indicate that he thought it was "unnecessarily
prolix and complicated." Indeed, the analysis followed the instructions
and wishes he personally communicated to the Director-of Personnel.
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12. Reference: Computer Program Development
(Tab B - Page B-22, para. 39)
"Moreover, we perceive a view of line management,
in our discussions with Chief, Review Staff, that
is not conducive to solving the communication
problem -- namely, her view that line managers are
unnecesarily sloppy, lack logic, and indifference,
all of which works against the program's success."
Comment:
Apparently the Investigator misunderstood the Chief, Review
Staff's comments. The individuals referred to were not the line managers
but the staff personnel (in some cases clerical level) who prepared the
data on the APP submissions. A review of the APP's as initially submitted
revealed an extensive number of obvious errors and omissions that required
research and correction by the Review Staff prior to submission of the
reports to the DCI.
13. Reference: Computer Program Development
(Tab B - Page B-22, para. 39)
"We think a more positive approach to the communications
problems would come from a recognition that line
managers are often overworked and beset with a plethora
of current deadlines. They are best prepared for
innovation if it is made quite clear how it will help
make their activity become more effective (and easier
to manage)."
The Report expressed concern for the line manager being unduly
involved in complicated and detailed OP-oriented projects that he or she
could not identify as being relevant to their situation. This would
indeed be a concern if that were intended to be a part of APP. The APP,
however, is not designed to function that way. At best the line manager
will have physical input to only one-third of the report, granted that
the input should be based on analysis of the other two-thirds. The
statistical work for that analysis, if not the analysis itself, should
have been done by the personnel or administrative staff before reaching
the line manager. It is even probable that "line managers" below the
Office and Division Head level would not have input to the APP at all.
In many instances the new goal input can be made by senior Personnel or
Administrative Officers under the close direction and review of their
respective Office or Division Head or Deputy Director.
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The goals and trends Set forth in the APP are Office and
Di.yi$ion goals,.and trends, and Should be approved or amended as they
support ,or conflict with Career Service goals and directions, The APP
is not intended to be.a working document that would help the line manager
solve his daily working problems, It is not designed to solve day by day
problems except as they relate to the broad picture of personnel manage-
ment, The APP is a yearly planning paper which, if followed, assures
adequate and properly distributed headroom for promotion; a well-planned
mix of clerical, technical and professional employees; continued and proper
use of rotational assignments; a minimum number of PRAs; adequate training,
etc. Granted there are communication problems associated with the APP,
and we see the primary lines that require strengthening as follows:
a. Deputy Directors with Sub-Career Service Group
and Office Heads. ..
b. Deputy Directors with their Directorate-level Chiefs
of Personnel and Administrative Officers.
c. Sub-Career Service Group and Office Heads with their
senior Personnel and Administrative Officers.
d. Sub-Career Service Group and Office Heads with their
mid and lower-level managers.
The Office of Personnel also must strive to increase better understanding
of the APP through expanding our communications with the Deputy Directors,
Sub-Career Service Groups and Office Heads and senior Personnel Officers.
The IG Report is correct in stating that the APP and to a
lesser degree the PDP have not been fully accepted in the Agency, In
discussing these topics with Agency personnel,members of the Review Staff
find three major causes for the complaints;
a. Misunderstanding the purpose of the report by viewing
it as a requirement for data to be used by the Office
of Personnel.
b, Understanding the intent and purposes of the report
but failing to get Office and Career Service input
or interest in the reports,
c. Receiving no feedback below the Deputy Director level
regarding submissions.
A central theme in many complaints is the complexity of the APP.
We note, however, the IG investigators do not find the APP as complicated
as many make it out to be. Other complaints or problems have arisen
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from failure to relate data on one chart to the substance of another,
failure to copy numbers correctly, and failure in simple arithmetic. We
believe a better comprehension of the intent and purpose of the report,
i.e., advance personnel planning and evaluation of goals, would relieve
some of the tension created by the resistance to the reporting require-
ment. To help build acceptance of the system, we continually review
the format and content of the APP with a view to restructuring for
simplicity of reporting. For FY 77 the computer reports which provide
the past year data have been redesigned to match more closely the chart
for formatting in the report.
We fully agree that continued communication on the purposes of
the APP and PDP is needed and hope that better understanding and compre
hension will stimulate better receptivity and action. While the guidances
for the APP each year have stressed the importance of feedback by the
Career Services of their analysis of their own APP's to their Sub-
groups, there has been little evidence that this has been done.
It is pertinent to note the APP analysis on an Agency-wide
basis has lead to a number of personnel management improvements, or
attempts to improve, but unfortunately without attribution to APP data
base - perhaps another lack of communication in that the action officers
don't relate the two activities or sets of facts.
14. Reference: Internal Placement and Movement
(Tab C - Pages C-5 and C-7, paras 9 and 11)
"During 1975 fewer than 120 employees sought out or
were referred to PPB for job counselling. PPB suc-
ceeded in placing only about 10% of these problem
cases, an unsurprising outcome considering that PPB
amounted to a court of last resort after efforts by
the component and Directorate failed to solve the
problem."
"A more ambitious program by PPB would tend to inter-
fere with management's responsibility; be more costly
to operate and become overburdened by employees
curious about opportunities elsewhere but not to the
extent that they would be likely to transfer. We
believe, therefore, that the prime responsibility
and action must remain with management, including the
Career Services, and that the Office of Personnel
activity is about as it should be. This does not mean
that the problem does not remain a serious one. It
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only indicates that there is relatively little
the Office of Personnel can do about it beyond
the efforts, especially by the Career Committee,
now being pursued."
25X1A
25X1A
Comment:
The IG's recognition of the limits on how much SPD can do in
the reassignment of personnel is appreciated, but we hope to improve on
our record. The new careers occupational handbook under the aegis of
the Careers Committee should facilitate the work, as will, we hope a
new publication titled "Employees Available for Reassignment." This
notice, the opposite of the Vacancy Notice, will advertise the qualifi-
cations of those personnel interested in a new assignment. It will be
distributed to all offices to insure that individuals' qualifications
are not overlooked.
15. Reference: Outplacement
(Tab D - Page D-6, para I la)
"The capabilities of the counselors to find job
possibilities outside the Washington area is very
limited at present, according to C/RAD.. We believe
this might be improved by making more use of our
many office-level associations with research and
consulting firms represented by OER, OSI and ORD."
I Iwere utilized for some time to augment the outplacement pro-
gram. is use was terminated based on experience that confirmed
incompatability between the primary purposes of representational contacts
and the outplacement function. However tempting in theory the IG's
proposal may be, practical experience dictates that representation
contacts not be utilized for outplacement assistance.
16. Reference: Recruitment and Applicant Processing
(Tab E - Pages E-1 and E-2, para 2)
"The recruiters seemed knowledgeable enough about
the Agency in generalities, but there.is no question
that recruiters without reasonably extensive experience
elsewhere in the Agency are limited to their ability
to convey the flavor of Agency employment to some
applicants. We found evidence of this during our field
"sits We would suggest that all new recruiters
I ossess somewhat more Agency
experience.
The use of Agency component representational
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We agree with the comment that new recruiters 25X1
hould possess somewhat more Agency experience. For some time our
pan has been that new recruiters would come from inside the Agency
unless peculiar circumstances should dictate to the contrary. Certainly
a recruiter from outside the Agency should be the exception, not the
rule. Our intention, now being implemented, is to rotate Personnel
Officers into recruitment assignments of approximately five years duration.
17. Reference: Recruitment and Applicant Processing
(Tab E - Page E-2, para 2)
"It is also suggested that during their slack season,
usually the suimners, present recruiters be
assigned to and work with t He components
tor w nc ey recruit. It is felt that this would give
them a better appreciation for the needs of the components
than, for instance, attending or monitoring courses at
Headquarters."
25X1
This suggestion presents somewhat of a problem,.for under
present operating procedures there is no particular "slack season." While
it is true that during the summer the academic recruiting schedule is
reduced, recently new emphasis has been placed on using this period for
the development of non-academic sources. Furthermore, field recruiters
work against requirements for all elements of the Agency rather than
just a few components. Given the short duration of time that would
be available, such training/work assignments would necessarily be super-
ficial, devolving into a familiarization experience rather than an
in-depth learning one.
18. Reference: Recruitment and Applicant Processing
(Tab E - Pages E-4 and E-5, paras 6, 7 and 8)
" . . . the inspection concluded that the Staff
Personnel Division is doing everything possible at
Headquarters to get applicant cases into the hands
of the custom rs as quickly as possible. Much of
the criticism about the amount.of time that it
takes to process an application was-centered
around the administration of the PATB . and
the time that it takes a customer to decide
whether or not to put a case in process."
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"We question whether the value of early admini-
stration of the PATB is sufficient in most cases,
to justify the loss of good applicants probably
generated by the delay entailed, ,-, Offices might
find that administration and prompt evaluation of
the test during an applicant's. Headquarters visit
would satisfy their need. Decisions on this matter
must be reserved to the Operating Components who
best understand their personnel needs and the
reasons for particular selection criteria. We
believe they should be fully aware of the costs of
present PATB practices in terms of lost applicants,
extra recruiting efforts, and simply the dollar
expended for administering the test in many
localities, however. We suggest that this subject
be included in the course for component managers
"Another major cause of delay is the time taken by
components to reach decisions about putting applicants
in process. . . We"suggest . , , that statistics and
horrible examples be assembled and presented to managers
at the course mentioned above in the hope of increasing
their awareness of the problem,"
While the IG's statement that SPD is doing everything at
Headquarters to get applicant cases into the hands of the customers as
quickly as possible is appreciated, we recognize a need to continue in
our efforts to make the system work better. For example, although many
offices are doing a better job of making their recruitment guides more
specific, we need to get all offices to do this.
Preliminary statistics show that we are moving towards reducing
.the decision-making time from 60 to 50 days. However, we will not meet
this MBO objective unless we can somehow get the CT Program to review
files faster. We would hope that the IG will assist this effort when they
review OTR. We have recently established a new system for the review of
Hispanic-American applicants. If successful, we might be able to adapt
the system to the review of files of Black applicants - the other area
besides CTP which takes far too long. Our list of delinquent files
remains too long, We have decided to be more aggressive in retrieving
these files and will do so at higher levels, Delinquent files means
delinquent correspondence, In addition to retrieving files, we are
tightening up on our procedures to see that applicants receive corre-
spondence about every 30 days, We agree with the IG comments concerning
PATB Part I. as we have long advocated the abolition of the Part I testing
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in the field, PATE Part I and U. should only be taken at Headquarters
and only by those'applicants in whom operating components have a sincere
interest, The PATE xesults..should be used as a final "go no decision
similar to the results obtained from the medical and security evaluations,
Coming at the'last of the processing, this would certainly speed up the
processing.. Since the IG report, the DDOhas informed the Director of
Personnel that PATE Part I will not be administered in the field for CT
candidates.
19, Reference: Recruitment and Applicant Processing
(`Tab E - Page E-6 and E-7, para 9)
"Our investigations from the Office of Personnel
perspective supported the view that the CTP recruit-
ment program indeed looks like a 'passive overskill"
(sic). The Office of Personnel activities are
governed in many cases by personnel requirements
specified by other components, however, and the pro-
gram as a whole is managed by OTR. Therefore, this
matter will be further reviewed during an OIG survey
of OTR scheduled to start within two or three months.
Recommendations for corrective action, if still
indicated, will be included in the report of that
survey,"
Comment :
We would be most interested in the conclusion drawn by the IG
Inspection Team which is scheduled to do an OTR survey in the near future,
In the meantime, we will continue to provide as precise guidelines as we
can to our field recruiters on the profile of a prospective CT applicant.
The closer we can get to the mark, the fewer applicant cases need be sub-
mitted.
20. Reference: Recruitment and Applicant Processing
(Tab E - Page E-7, para 10)
"Shortages of clerical personnel were often cited by
customers as reason for dissatisfaction with Office
of Personnel recruiting efforts. Our examination of
these efforts failed to suggest any dramatic new
means of increasing the flow of new clerical
employees."
Corrmient
The history of the Agency shows that we never seem to have the
proper number of clericals in process. We studied this for several
months and believe that we now have fine-tuned our requirements.
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Recruiters now understand that. clerical applicant input must be maintained
on a steady, year :round basis and that we cannot rely on June high school
graduates to.Aeet our requirements. on a year-round basis.' In order to
keep our clerical ;requirements filled, it nay be necessary. to exceed our
clerical ceiling in the su mer months"using the difference between our
processional=on-duty strength and ceiling to absorb clerical overages.
21, Reference: Customer Perceptions of Agency Personnel
Policy Development
(Tab H - Page H-i,para 2)
"Initiatives in personnel management are often taken
in CIA by people other than the Director of Personnel,
An outstanding example are those inspired by the then
DCI that led, through recommendations of a Personnel
Advisory Study Group (PASG) report, to an effort
still underway called ''New Approaches'to Personnel
Management.''
The Personnel Approaches Study Group (PASG) was the result of
a suggestion made by the Director of Personnel to prevent a fragmented
approach to changing the personnel management system in the Agency,
The Office of Personnel was already involved in a low.-key study to make
some needed changes. The backing of top management, especially Mr, Colby,
resulted in a much more comprehensive revamping than would have been
possible otherwise,
During late 1972 and early 1973 the Office of Personnel was
actively involved in reviewing current personnel management policies
and procedures in the Agency. Staff proposals were written on fitness
reports, employee mobility, executive development, counseling, etc.
Mr. Colby, then Executive Director-Comptroller, was sounded out on some
of these proposals and was most encouraging in his support. He made it
clear that he had a personal interest in personnel management and would
be receptive to other proposals on needed changes.
About the same time, others were taking a look at some of the
same problems and submitting reports to the Director:
MAG, "Career Services: Need for Change: (7 May 73)
TG_ " ervices" (Apr 73)
1 "Personnel Management in CIA"
r
On 1 June 1973 the CIA Management Committee'met and spent almost the entire
meeting discussing personnel management issues raised by these papers,
The Director of Personnel advised the Committee that the points raised
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should not be considered independently. of other aspects of personnel
aanagement and.that he should.be allpwed to. develop an integrated approach,
The Co,innittee,agreed and directed the Director ref Personnel to set up a
study group to make specific recommendations'on changes in.the personnel
management system,
Each Deputy Director appointed a representative to the study
group and it became known as the Personnel Approaches Study Group (PASG),
The Office of Personnel/Plans Staff provided the staff support for the
PASG Report and has continued to work with the Directorates in implementing
the new approaches.
22. Reference: Customer Perceptions of Agency Personnel
Policy Development
(Tab H - Page H-4, para 7)
"(The Careers Committee will meet periodically) . . .
to assign study projects. The first such are directed
at realizing the PASG objective of more inter-Directorate
transfers as well as.providing better job counselling
and career guidance."
Comment:
The Careers Committee was established for the primary purpose
of serving as a mechanism to facilitate the exchange of information among
Career Services. Career Service Heads were not given to understand that
the Committee would be working on career patterns that would involve
inter-Directorate personnel movements. It can be said that the Committee
intends to promote greater willingness among Agency managers to consider
and recognize the transferrability of skills between more occupational
groups than is the case at the moment. The Committee through this
approach of studying and analyzing the facts of movements of personnel
between occupational groups expects to broaden the career prospects for
those able employees caught by lack of growth opportunity in their own
component. Developmental Profiles prepared as part of a PDP requirement
serve as reference and point of discussion in searching out and addressing
various career management issues. Likewise, the role and responsibilities
of Agency career counselors will be an area of focus for the Committee.
No doubt one of the unannounced objectives of the Committee is to do
what it can to minimize the bias which currently impedes intra-Agency
personnel movements of talented and valuable employees.
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