The Senior Executive Service (SES) lead America’s workforce. As the keystone of the Civil Service Reform Act of 1978, the SES was established to “…ensure that the executive management of the Government of the United States is responsive to the needs, policies, and goals of the Nation and otherwise is of the highest quality.” These leaders possess well-honed executive skills and share a broad perspective on government and a public service commitment that is grounded in the Constitution.

Members of the SES serve in the key positions just below the top Presidential appointees. SES members are the major link between these appointees and the rest of the Federal workforce. They operate and oversee nearly every government activity in approximately 75 Federal agencies.

The U.S. Office of Personnel Management (OPM) manages the overall Federal executive personnel program, providing the day-to-day oversight and assistance to agencies as they develop, select, and manage their Federal executives.

https:// www.opm.gov/policy-data-oversight/senior-executive-service/

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Background

The SES was established by the Civil Service Reform Act (CSRA) of 1978 and became

effective in July 1979. CSRA envisioned a senior executive corps with solid executive

expertise, public service values, and a broad perspective of Government.

CSRA established the SES as a distinct personnel system that applies the same executive

qualifications requirements to all of its members. The system was designed to provide

greater authority to agencies to manage their executive resources, including the flexibility

for selecting and developing Federal executives within a framework that preserves the

larger corporate interests of Government.

Key Goals of the SES

 Improve the executive management of the Government

 Select and develop a cadre of highly competent senior executives with leadership

and managerial expertise

 Hold executives accountable for individual and organizational performance

Coverage

The SES covers managerial, supervisory, and policy positions classified above GS-15.

The law excludes certain —

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 agencies and agency components, such as independent Government corporations

and intelligence agencies; and

 positions, such as Foreign Service and Administrative Law Judge positions.

Structure of the SES

There are two types of positions and four types of appointments in the SES.

Positions

 General Positions: may be filled by any of the appointment types–career,

noncareer, limited term, or limited emergency appointee.

 Career Reserved Positions: must always be filled by a career appointee to ensure

the impartiality, or the public's confidence in the impartiality, of the Government.

Appointments

 Career Appointments: may be made to either type of position–General or Career

Reserved. Incumbents are selected using the agency merit staffing process and

must have their executive core qualifications (ECQs) approved by a

Qualifications Review Board (QRB) convened by OPM.

 Noncareer Appointments: may be made only to General positions. Noncareer

appointments are approved by OPM on a case-by-case basis and the appointment

authority reverts to OPM when the noncareer appointee leaves the position.

 Limited Term Appointments: may be made for up to 3 years, are nonrenewable

and must be to an SES General position only, which will expire because of the

nature of the work (e.g., a special project).

 Limited Emergency Appointments: are also nonrenewable appointments, may be

for up to 18 months, and must be to an SES General position only established to

meet a bona-fide, unanticipated, urgent need.

https:// www.opm.gov/policy-data-oversight/senior-executive-service/reference-materials/guidesesservices.pdf

Presidential and Other Appointments of SES Career Members

Retention of SES Benefits

An SES career appointee may elect to continue certain SES benefits if there is no break in

service between the SES career appointment and the Presidential or other covered

appointment AND —

 The appointment is by the President, with Senate confirmation (PAS), to a civil

service position in the Executive branch outside the SES, at a rate of basic pay at

or equivalent to the rate for Executive Schedule V or higher.

OR

 The appointment is to a non-SES position that is covered by the Executive

Schedule, or the rate of basic pay for which is fixed by statute at a rate equal to

one of the levels of the Executive Schedule. (This does not have to be a

Presidential appointment.)

SES Benefits

The executive may elect to retain some, all, or none of these SES benefits–basic pay,

performance awards, rank awards, severance pay, leave, and retirement coverage. The

appointing agency is responsible for advising executives of their election opportunity.

The election decision must be in writing. The executive may change his/her election only

once in a 12-month period.

Reinstatement in the SES

An SES career member who receives a Presidential appointment (with or without Senate

confirmation) is entitled to be reinstated to the SES after the Presidential appointment

ends if —

 the Presidential appointment was to a civil service position outside the SES;

 there was no break in service between the career SES appointment and the

Presidential appointment; and

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 the executive leaves the Presidential appointment for reasons other than

misconduct, neglect of duty, or malfeasance.

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https:// federalnewsradio.com/management/2015/03/24-feds-get-to-work-with-obama-on-fixing-the-ses/

The White House has named two dozen federal employees to a group that will advise President Barack Obama on possible changes to the Senior Executive Service.

Obama joined the group at its meeting Thursday where they discussed ongoing pilot projects at the departments of Homeland Security, Health and Human Services, Commerce, Energy and the Social Security Administration, according to a message to SES members from Office of Personnel Management Director Katherine Archuleta and Beth Cobert, the Deputy Director for Management at the Office of Management and Budget.

The pilots will be evaluated this summer, with an eye toward replicating any successes throughout the government.

More broadly, the White House has asked the advisory group for ideas on improving the way the government recruits, hires, develops and retains SES members.

It is not an easy task. The Senior Executive Service has faced pressure from many corners.

Congress has sought to fire members more swiftly because of recent scandals, most notably at the Veterans Affairs Department over mistreatment of patients and the slow scheduling of appointments.

There is also a demographic shift that threatens the service. Many members are just a couple years shy of retirement. A recent Federal News Radio survey found few mid-level federal employees aspired to join the SES. Many said the rewards did not compensate for the long work hours, increased responsibility and scrutiny from political leaders. A separate governmentwide survey recently showed federal employees were losing confidence in their senior leaders, although it did not further explain who those “senior leaders” are.

The 24 federal employees on the advisory group come from a mix of large and small agencies. They include lawyers, administrators, human resources experts and even one ambassador — Wanda Nesbitt, a career minister at the State Department. The White House said it aimed for a diverse mix of employees, both SES members and those who aspired to be in the SES. (View the full list below.)

President Obama announced the formation of the advisory group in December. It was the first time in his presidency that he addressed the SES corps. He also announced a new development program for aspiring senior executives that will begin this fall. Later this month, agencies will have the chance to comment on a draft guide outlining the program, according to Archuleta and Cobert.

At the December meeting, Obama also promised to launch a new customer-service awards program. The White House published Thursday more detailed guidance. Up to 750 federal employees could win the awards each year.

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Noha Gaber, Acting Director, Office of Internal Communications, Environmental Protection Agency

John Gill, Chief Human Capital Officer and Deputy Assistant Secretary for the Office of Human Resources, Department of Health and Human Services

Rosemary Hart, Senior Attorney, Department of Justice

Hector Hernandez, Assistant Special Agent in Charge, Special Operations Branch, Secret Service

John James Jr., Executive Director, Missile Defense Agency, Department of Defense

Michael Johnston, Director, Business Integration Office, Department of the Interior

Arleas Upton Kea, Director, Division of Administration, Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation

Alice Maroni, Acting Director, Pension Benefit Guaranty Corporation

David Monroe, Director, Office of Fiscal Projections, Department of the Treasury

Ambassador Wanda Nesbitt, Career Minister, Department of State

Susan Pascocello, Deputy General Counsel, Agency for International Development

Patsy Reeves, Executive Director, Air Force Life Cycle Management Center, Department of Defense

Gabriel Sanchez, Innovation and Operational Efficiency Program Manager, Census Bureau

Andre Sayles, Principal Deputy Director, Office of Economic Impact and Diversity, Department of Energy

Dr. Reginald Wells, Deputy Commissioner for the Office of Human Resources, Chief Human Capital Officer and Chief Diversity Officer, U.S. Social Security Administration

>>743229

>Gabriel Sanchez

http:// newsok.com/article/3448091

FORT WORTH, Texas — The anti-government sentiment that sparked the tea party movement is brewing a backlash of sorts against the coming census by people who say it asks too many questions and intrudes on their privacy.

Such census resisters say the Constitution only empowers the Census Bureau to count the number of people in a household. They say that’s the only inquiry they’ll respond to when the 10-question census forms are mailed to 130 million households.

Gabriel Sanchez, the Dallas-based regional census director, says the claim is wrong.

"The truth is, when the Founding Fathers wrote the Constitution, they gave Congress the power to determine how the census is conducted. The U.S. Supreme Court has again and again upheld how the Census Bureau conducts the census,” Sanchez said.

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social>>743229

>Noha Gaber,

https:// federalnewsradio.com/hiring-retention/2015/02/epa-aims-to-please-employees-with-short-term-projects/

EPA aims to please employees with short-term projects

It’s not that Janet Weiner doesn’t like her job. But one role can’t fulfill all career ambitions. As an attorney-adviser at the Environmental Protection Agency’s Office of Chemical Safety and Pollution Prevention, Weiner worried that her litigation skills were becoming rusty.

For that reason, she jumped at the chance to join the agency’s suspension and debarment team, albeit for just one day a week. Every Thursday for a year, she works as a debarment counsel.

In the past, this type of opportunity would have required Weiner to take a break from her regular job for a rotational assignment. But this project, offered through the EPA’s fast-growing Skills Marketplace, is meant to be done on the side. While she has more work than before, Weiner views it as an investment in her career.

The Skills Marketplace resembles a dating website in that it pairs employees interested in expanding their skills through short-term projects with managers in need of extra hands. While Weiner chooses to work with the suspension and debarment team in its office so that she can bounce ideas off of the experienced litigators, the projects are designed to be done virtually.

EPA began working three years ago with its labor unions on the concept for the marketplace. At the time, the agency suffered under declining budgets and a hiring freeze. Employees felt stuck in their jobs, said Deputy Chief of Staff John Reeder.

“We wanted to create a more nimble workforce. Employees could try new things, have a little more freedom to move around the agency, get experience, meet new people and develop their skills,” he said. “At the same time, [the Skills Marketplace] provides the agency the benefit of additional resources on priority work that needed to be done.”

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http:// www.thegovlab.org/static/files/smarterstate/epa.pdf

Janet Weiner, an attorney advisor with the Ofce of Chemical Safety and Pollution

Prevention had been looking for an opportunity to refresh her litigation skills, so she

negotiated a one-year agreement to work on a project as a debarment counsellor in an

ofce that needed to fill a gap.

Janet learned the diferences in how the ofces handled even seemingly mundane tasks

and that perspective opened the door to new thinking and ideas.

Wing Yeung, a program analyst with the Ofce of Solid Waste and Emergency Response,

said she was looking for a challenging project diferent from her daily routine. She signed

up to use her statistical and analytical skills on a social media project. The experience she

gained from the project led to an ofer to work on a new project. As a result, her resume

now showcases diverse applications of a core skill set.

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dig help requested.

“We did communicate generally that they shouldn’t be projects that are nice to do, or are someone’s favorite hobbies,” he said. “They should be projects that need to be done to accomplish the mission of the organization.”

A frequent user of Facebook and Twitter in her personal life, Wing Yeung jumped at the opportunity to help the agency’s social media team analyze its data when she saw the project posted on the Marketplace’s Web portal. After the project ended, she applied for a detail assignment in another communications office. She believes she would not have had that opportunity without the Skills Marketplace assignment on her resume.

Program Analyst Wing Yeung is pursuing a certificate in social media after completing a related project through EPA’s Skills Marketplace. (EPA)

Now back at her home base, as a program analyst in the Office of Solid Waste and Emergency Response, Yeung is working on a certificate in social media. She has helped spread the word about the Marketplace to other employees.

“I’d recommend it to people who want to develop their skills or just step outside their comfort zone and be adventurous,” she said.

Reeder hopes the EPA will become known, both inside and outside the agency, for giving employees the type of career-changing experience that Yeung has had, starting with its Skills Marketplace.

“I want it to be so institutionalized that it’s viewed as a real positive on resumes to have this experience and show you’ve worked in different parts of the agency and know people across the agency, making you a more effective leader,” he said. “Success also would be other agencies adopting similar ideas, because they see that it’s working here at EPA and they want to copy and emulate what we have.”

Obama weaponized the EPA, EPA allowed employees to use citizens data for illegal purposes.

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