Human Resources | Hire the Best Talent

The Administration has emphasized reforming the hiring process so agencies can recruit the most talented applicants to serve the American people. We have streamlined the end-to-end hiring process (from the first action by a manager to initiate the hiring process to the moment the new employee starts work) to create a positive experience for applicants, managers, and human resources specialists. We have also simplified the application process to make it less cumbersome for applicants. We are working hard to improve the selection process so that managers consistently have the best choice among applicants. Finally, we are helping veterans and people with disabilities to join the Federal workplace and are promoting an inclusive environment which encourages high performance.

Applicant Satisfaction with the Application Process

Applicant satisfaction with the application process is about more than the speed of hiring. It also depends on how cumbersome and long the application is, whether the application questions appear relevant, and how well applicants are kept aware of their status during the process. To learn more about these factors, the Chief Human Capital Officers developed a survey that asks applicants to assess their satisfaction with the application process on a 1-10 point scale, with 10 representing the highest level of satisfaction. The results of this survey are shown here by agency for those that received a minimum of 30 responses in a given quarter. The applicant satisfaction survey is now being sent to a randomly selected 50 percent sample of USAJOBS applicants who complete and submit their application. This is an increase from a randomly selected 5 percent sample size in previous quarters. As a consequence, agencies should see a significant increase in the number of applicant survey responses received.

Manager Satisfaction with Applicants

While speeding and easing the application process is critical, a well-functioning hiring process needs to find the best match for open positions in the Federal Government. To assess the quality of that match, the Chief Human Capital Officers also developed a survey to ask Federal managers how satisfied they are with the applicants referred to fill an opening. The Chief Human Capital Officers’ Managers’ Satisfaction Survey asks managers’ to rate on a 1-10 point scale (with 10 representing the highest level of satisfaction) their perception of workforce planning, interaction with and level of support from Human Resources, their involvement with reviewing applications, interviewing applicants and selecting final candidates, applicant quality, and their knowledge and use of hiring flexibilities. The chart presented here applies to agencies with a minimum of 30 responses in a given quarter and shows average manager satisfaction with referred applicants .

Time to Hire

The Administration’s objective is to create an efficient hiring process. As part of this objective, Federal agencies are working to reduce the time it takes to hire new employees. In 2009, 24 cabinet-level departments and independent agencies mapped their hiring processes and estimated the average days to hire from the time the hiring manager validates the need for the position to the time of entry on duty (EOD). These departments and agencies began reporting the average length of their hiring processes (time to hire) in December 2009. At that time, the average time to hire was approximately 122 days (calculated as an un-weighted average, meaning the volume of hires for each agency was not weighted). In 2010, OPM assisted agencies with the implementation of President Obama’s Hiring Reform Initiative. Agencies succeeded in reducing time to hire and, in 2010, reached an un-weighted average of 105 days -- a reduction of almost 15 percent in less than a year.

Agencies demonstrated varying capacity to maintain strong data systems and calculate time to hire consistently. As a result, a working group of the Chief Human Capital Officers Council partnered with the U.S. Office of Personnel Management to develop consistent guidelines for calculating time to hire results. OPM used these guidelines to validate agency calculations and to help agencies better examine their processes and metrics. Based on this work, OPM will use a weighted average (an agency with a greater number of hires is weighted more heavily than an agency with fewer hires) to more accurately calculate time to hire across the Government. Based on these two calculations, the 2011 un-weighted time to hire average is 109 days and the weighted time to hire average is 93 days. While the un-weighted average of 109 is higher than the 2010 un-weighted average of 105, the increase in time to hire actually reflects greater consistency and accuracy in the reporting from prior years. Through OPM’s and the CHCOC’s improved guidance, agencies have achieved better integrity and validation of the data reported. The weighted time to hire calculation will be used exclusively in 2012. The improved guidance can be viewed here.

Hiring Reform Progress

Agencies are making progress in implementing the hiring reforms announced in May 2010. One part of hiring reform was to simplify job postings and the application process. The goal is to increase the percentage of job postings (also known as job opportunity announcements) that are concise; are written in plain language as opposed to bureaucratic jargon; require only uploading of resumes and cover letters; do not require specialized questionnaires or essays (also referred to as KSAs); and are using category rating as their primary vehicle for recruiting larger pools of highly qualified applicants from which managers can select. The chart here shows the progress over the past year for each of these improvements, compared to the baseline in 2009.

Building an Inclusive Workplace

Government agencies are continuing to recruit people of all backgrounds and create an inclusive environment. Agencies are promoting policies and practices to ensure that all segments of society, including people with disabilities and veterans, have an opportunity for employment and advancement. Of all the new hires made in FY2010, 26 percent were veterans and 7 percent have a disability.

Agency Breakdown

Agency Breakdown
Department	No. of Days to Hire for FY2011	Applicant Satisfaction (1 to 10)	Manager Satisfaction (1 to 10)	% of Employees that are Veterans in Q3 FY2011	% of New Hires that are Veterans in Q1-Q3 FY2011	% of Employees with Disabilities in Q3 FY2011	% of New Hires with Disabilities in Q1-Q3 FY2011
Department of Agriculture	108	7.8	8.0	10.5	7.6	7.5	8.2
Department of Commerce	88	7.7	7.8	11.8	12.8	5.4	7.3
Department of the Interior	120	7.8	7.8	15.2	13.1	7.6	10.6
Department of Justice	125	8.2	7.8	23.1	24.4	3.6	5.3
Department of Labor	89	7.6	7.8	18.4	24.6	7.1	8.4
Department of State	113	7.5	7.7	17.8	16.3	5.1	3.2
Department of The Treasury	126	8.1	7.7	11.3	8.0	8.8	10.3
Office of Personnel Management	109	N/A	8.2	23.9	41.5	7.1	11.8
Social Security Administration	87	8.5	8.3	10.9	18.9	8.4	13.7
Nuclear Regulatory Commission	160	7.6	*	20.4	18.5	6.9	*
Department of Veterans Affairs	91	7.9	7.4	29.3	34.6	10.9	13.5
General Services Administration	89	8.1	*	22.0	26.4	5.7	9.1
National Science Foundation	98	N/A	*	6.0	3.2	8.4	*
Environmental Protection Agency	156	N/A	8.8	8.1	9.7	6.7	5.0
Department of Transportation	125	7.6	7.9	35.8	32.4	6.7	8.5
Department of Homeland Security	164	8.4	8.2	26.5	19.6	4.3	6.9
U.S. Agency for International Development	89	N/A	*	7.3	8.5	4.4	5.6
Small Business Administration	132	8.0	*	15.0	19.7	6.8	12.1
Department of Health and Human Services	80	8.0	7.4	6.4	5.9	6.4	9.1
National Aeronautics and Space Administration	93	8.5	8.3	11.9	12.4	6.0	6.8
Department of Housing and Urban Development	133	N/A	4.8	13.5	11.6	8.0	8.0
Department of Energy	102	7.2	8.2	20.9	19.6	6.8	4.9
Department of Education	51	7.3	*	8.8	9.9	6.6	5.1
Department of Defense	84	8.1	7.3	44.7	48.7	7.2	5.6

These data are from the OPM EHRI-SDM. Individual Departments may have additional, updated data for their respective agencies. * Insufficient response or small number of hires

Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC) does not currently have an agency page on Performance.gov. For more information about NRC, please click here.

Performance.gov

Hire the Best Talent

Featured Story

Learn More

Agency Breakdown