The memo calls for removing the essay-style questions in the application process because of the lengthiness they present. It also called for increased involvement in the hiring process itself by managers.
In the memo Obama said, âTo deliver the quality services and results the American people expect and deserve, the federal government must recruit and hire highly qualified employees, and public services should be a career of choice for the most talented Americans.â
âYet the complexity and inefficiency of todayâs federal hiring process deters many highly qualified individuals from seeking and obtaining jobs in the federal government,â he said.
This reform has been called a âhistoric opportunityâ by Marilee Fitzgerald, the Pentagonâs acting deputy undersecretary of defense for civilian personnel policy, for its ability to finally get rid of the out-of-date system.
Currently the bureaucratic red-tape may limit talent because applicants may be deterred. This is first hiring reform act since the Civil Service Reform Act of 1978 and will prompt widespread changes.
It is about time for hiring reform. The Federal Government should adopt best hiring practices found in the private sector. Procedures that add time and little value should be eliminated. Applicants should not have to cut and paste resumes to fit an individual agency’s electronic hiring policies. The Federal Government should look at EACH step in the hiring process and eliminate all those that really add no value. As a federal manager myself, I would gladly do my own hiring without “ANY” help from personnel.