Agency Snapshot: 
Department of Veterans Affairs

The Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) has a workforce of approximately 314,802 employees and hired 25,826 employees in the third quarter of Fiscal Year 2011. Led by Mr. John Sepúlveda, Assistant Secretary for Human Resources and Administration (HR&A), VA has launched a portfolio of programs in support of ADVANCE, an HR&A initiative to invest in people development, workforce engagement, and talent management for the delivery of high-quality health care, benefits and other services to Veterans and their families. ADVANCE goals are to improve the recruitment, hiring, and retention of VA employees; invest in people development (e.g., leadership training); support and develop the capabilities of VA Senior Executive Service Corps; and build a broad set of human resources capabilities to attract and sustain an inspired, world class workforce dedicated to serving our Nation’s Veterans and their families. The VA has been at the forefront of implementing Federal Hiring Reform in an effort to reduce the time and expense of hiring and streamlining the process for candidates while ensuring involvement by Federal hiring managers. To learn more about the Department of Veterans Affairs, please visit www.va.gov.   

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 applicant awareness of their status during the process. To learn more about these factors, the Chief Human Capital Officers developed an applicant survey that asks applicants to assess the application process on a 1-10 point scale. The results of this survey for applicants, by agency, are shown here only for agencies with a minimum of 30 responses in a given quarter. As of the end of Q2 FY11, 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 their number of applicant responses.

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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 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 about the managers’ experience on a 1-10 point scale of 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 shows the average manager satisfaction based on applicants being referred with the skills to perform the job by agency, only for those agencies with a minimum of 30 responses in a given quarter.

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Time to Hire

 

From FY10 to FY11, VA implemented a number of initiatives to meet hiring reform goals and improve the speed and quality of the hiring process.  During FY10 to FY11, VA Time-to-Hire increased slightly from an average of 90 days to an average of 91 days.  
 
We attribute this small increase (1 day) to the standardization of an automated web-based system across a diverse and growing VA workforce. The standardization of the automated system increased the training demands for the HR community, required multiple system enhancements, and called for attention to new data collection procedures. VA has now fully implemented and standardized USA Staffing in all Human Resources Offices, Delegated Examining Units, and staff offices. To improve the speed and quality of hiring, VA has also implemented additional staffing initiatives, including:
 
• Creating standardized automated questionnaires (assessments) for use in the initial stages of the hiring process
• Ensuring that all announcements on USAJOBS are in compliance with hiring reform measures
• Utilizing VA’s HR Academy to provide continuous USA Staffing basic user training 
• Standardizing position descriptions and developing more than 150 occupational assessments.
• The VA is focusing on data extensively to ensure accountability at all levels. The monthly VA Speed of Hiring report allows us to provide data that is more accurate and representative of the hiring process.  
 
These hiring improvements that VA implemented during FY11 and FY12 should significantly improve the quality and speed of hiring at VA in the years to come.
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Building an Inclusive Workplace

Agencies are continuing to work to recruit people of all backgrounds and create an inclusive environment. Agencies are promoting policies and practices to ensure all segments of society, including people with disabilities and veterans, have an opportunity for employment and advancement. The table here shows information on the agency workforce as well as new hires in the third quarter of FY11.
No. of Employees in Q3 FY11No. of New Hires in Q3 FY11% of Employees that are Veterans in Q3 FY11% of New Hires that are Veterans in Q1-Q3 FY11% of Employees with Disabilities in Q3 FY11% of New Hires with Disabilities in Q1-Q3 FY11
314,80225,82629.334.610.913.5
These data are from the OPM EHRI-SDM. Individual Departments may have additional, updated data for their respective agencies.