{"id":29350,"date":"2021-08-30T00:00:00","date_gmt":"2021-08-30T04:00:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/ourpublicservice.org\/leadership-and-stewardship\/"},"modified":"2024-09-22T13:52:50","modified_gmt":"2024-09-22T17:52:50","slug":"leadership-and-stewardship","status":"publish","type":"page","link":"https:\/\/ourpublicservice.org\/our-solutions\/roadmap-for-renewing-our-federal-government\/leadership-and-stewardship\/","title":{"rendered":"Leadership and Stewardship"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

Roadmap for Renewing Our Federal Government<\/h1>\n\n\n\n
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Roadmap Home<\/a><\/div>\n\n\n\n
Leadership and Stewardship<\/a><\/div>\n\n\n\n
Workforce<\/a><\/div>\n\n\n\n
Innovation and Tech<\/a><\/div>\n\n\n\n
Collaboration<\/a><\/div>\n<\/div>\n\n\n\n

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Leadership and Stewardship<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

THE CHALLENGE<\/strong><\/strong><\/h6>\n\n\n\n
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The federal government is facing a leadership crisis. Political appointees serve for a short period of time with little incentive to invest in the long-term health of the institutions they lead. There are too many political appointees and many positions undergo frequent turnover or have lengthy periods of vacancy. Political appointees are often unprepared for the unique responsibilities of public sector leadership and how to work with stakeholders across government, including Congress. Leadership development opportunities for career executives are scattered, if they exist at all, and seldom imbued with the values of stewardship and public trust. Succession planning is given short shrift, and career executives and political leaders do not reflect the diversity of the workforce.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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The president can make 4,000 political appointments, more than in any other democracy, and that includes 1,200 requiring Senate confirmation.<\/p>\n<\/div>\r\n\t<\/div>\r\n\t

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Today it takes\u00a0<\/span><\/span>twice as long<\/span><\/span><\/a>\u00a0for the Senate to confirm a nominee (<\/span><\/span>11<\/span>7\u00a0<\/span>days<\/span><\/span>) as it did during the Reagan administration (56 days), often resulting in lengthy vacancies in key leadership positions.\u00a0<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n<\/div>\r\n\t<\/div>\r\n\t

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According to the\u00a0<\/span><\/span>Survey on the Future of Government Service<\/span><\/span><\/a>,\u00a0<\/span><\/span>36%<\/span><\/span>\u00a0of respondents believe leadership is held accountable for recruiting top talent.<\/span><\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<\/div>\r\n\t<\/div>\r\n\t

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As of March 2021, people of color represent\u00a0<\/span><\/span>46.7%<\/span><\/span>\u00a0of all full-time, entry-level (GS 1-9) employees but only 33.1% of senior-level positions (GS 13-15) and just 22.7% of all career Senior Executive Service members.<\/span><\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<\/div>\r\n\t<\/div>\r\n\t

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The 2020\u00a0<\/span><\/span>Best Places to Work in the Federal Government\u00ae<\/span><\/span><\/a>\u00a0government-wide score for <\/span>effective<\/span>\u00a0leadership stands at just\u00a0<\/span><\/span>64.2<\/span><\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/span>out of 100. Supervisors drew a rating of 78.0 out of 100, but senior leaders came in considerably lower at 57.8 out of 100.<\/span><\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<\/div>\r\n\t<\/div>\r\n<\/div>\r\n\n\n\n

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RECOMMENDATIONS FOR CONGRESS<\/strong><\/h6>\n\n\n\n
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Expand All Recommendations<\/p>\n\n\n

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Establish\u202fa standard for leadership development and performance across government.\u202f <\/div>\r\n\t\t\t
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Good leaders get the best out of employees and make organizations more effective. Legislating leadership development and performance objectives for career and political leaders based on four key competencies from the Partnership\u2019s <\/span><\/span>Public Service Leadership Model<\/span><\/span><\/a>\u2014becoming self-aware, engaging others, leading <\/span>change <\/span>and achieving results\u2014will result in a more effective government and better outcomes.\u202f<\/span><\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n\t\t<\/div>\r\n\t<\/div>\r\n\t

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Reduce the number of political appointees and those subject to Senate confirmation, and find ways to make the confirmation process faster and more transparent.<\/div>\r\n\t\t\t
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The sheer number of political appointees and the complexity of the appointment process make it difficult for a new president to get a full team in place quickly. A smaller corps of politically appointed officials, supported by career professionals, will promote professional expertise, stability and accountability.<\/p>\n\t\t<\/div>\r\n\t<\/div>\r\n\t

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Encourage, enable\u202fand highlight innovation, experimentation and learning across government.<\/div>\r\n\t\t\t
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Many agencies changed how they operated in response to the pandemic, revealing new and more efficient ways to work and to serve the public. Congress can play a critical role in encouraging this forward-thinking culture shift\u202fby asking inspectors general or the Government Accountability Office to highlight areas of success and innovation, giving agency leaders room to pilot new ideas, holding hearings on what works and providing resources so\u202fnew ideas can take root.<\/p>\n\t\t<\/div>\r\n\t<\/div>\r\n<\/div>\r\n\r\n