Online Confusion Prompts OPM to Restart Executive Search Process

By Stephen Barr
Tuesday, April 15, 2008

Mix a little electronic confusion with good intentions and here's what you get -- a federal program put on hold.

That, more or less, is what happened to an Office of Personnel Management program that grooms talented federal employees to become government executives. The case illustrates the pitfalls of online processing of applicants and what it can mean for the government's commitment to administer elite programs fairly.

The OPM began operating the Senior Executive Service Federal Candidate Development Program, or Fed CDP, in 2004 to augment leadership training programs run by most large agencies.

Although the program is small -- the last class had 12 members -- the OPM hopes to turn it into a premier training ground for executives across government, especially for agencies that anticipate losing a significant number of career executives to retirement in coming years.

But the effort to put together the program's 2009 class hit a bump in late January, when a large number of applicants did not click the submit button on their applications or partially completed their application.

The OPM had announced it would take applications through Jan. 22 or until 500 applications were received. When Jan. 22 rolled around, 154 applications had been completed and submitted, far short of what the agency wanted.

Looking at the program's database, officials saw that 130 people had completed their applications but not hit the submit button, and an additional 100 had started an application but not finished it.

In the spirit of trying to expand the number of applicants, the OPM sent an e-mail encouraging the 230 to complete or submit their material.

Then, OPM officials began having second thoughts about sending out the e-mail reminder. After all, 154 people had followed the instructions without extra assistance.

On April 7, Linda M. Springer, OPM director, issued a statement announcing that the processing of applications had been stopped "because we now believe irregularities may have occurred [that] could have compromised the overall fairness of the process."

In an interview last week, Kay T. Ely, an associate director at OPM, said officials hope to restart the program in May, complete the selection of class members by August and start classes in September, with graduation in September 2009.

"We have sent back notification to everybody involved in the application process to let them know that we have had to stop this process and we plan to re-announce in May. Even those that applied in the past will have to apply again," Ely said.

After the e-mail went out, OPM officials began debating whether it raised questions of fairness and was in keeping with civil service principles, which call for evenhanded treatment of job applicants and employees. Officials concluded "it is just better to go back and start fresh," Ely said.

Although 154 people clicked on the submit button to send in their applications, Ely said officials will conduct a review to "see how well that submit button was highlighted" and whether other issues affected submission of applications.

Federal Offices to Stay Open This Week

Federal offices throughout the Washington area will be open for regular operations this week, even though the visit of Pope Benedict XVI could cause major traffic backups and disrupt subway and bus commutes.

The OPM made the announcement yesterday afternoon in response to numerous inquiries from federal employees and others about the government's operating status.

But federal offices near Nationals Park will adjust their operations on Thursday, when the pope is scheduled to celebrate a morning Mass at the baseball stadium. The Mass is expected to snarl traffic for thousands of drivers entering Washington from Southern Maryland and Prince George's County.

The Transportation Department, two to three blocks from the baseball stadium, has decided to use Thursday for a large-scale test of its telecommuting program and is encouraging managers to assign work that employees can do at home. "It will test infrastructure for a massive login and work exercise," said Brian Turmail, the department's spokesman.

Employees who cannot work from home will be given leeway on when they arrive and depart, Turmail said. About 6,000 employees work in two buildings along M Street SE.

The Navy Yard, also near the baseball park, will open at 5 a.m. for Thursday's workday instead of 6:30 a.m., the usual time, a spokeswoman said. Supervisors have been encouraged to permit employees to work at home and to adjust work schedules where possible. Many Navy Yard employees, however, cannot access their computer systems from home because of security reasons.

Stephen Barr's e-mail address isbarrs@washpost.com.