An Exit Interview, From the Top

· The retirement of baby boomers:

"We believe that it continues to be a serious issue. . . . So what are we doing? Obviously, you do things at the front end as well as at the retention end. We're doing more in the way of reaching out to schools and recruiting. . . . We've done things that will speed up the hiring process. We're testing various things that will cut down on the paperwork and the time it takes to process. . . . We have now three times the number of applications per job announcement on USAJobs ( http://www.usajobs.gov), which is the main online portal to getting federal jobs."

· The federal hiring process:

"I think it's improved in some cases, but I wouldn't say significantly. We have a project going right now that's looking end-to-end at the entire hiring process to see what the standard should be and what the best practice agencies are doing . . . .We're also testing pilots . . . cutting down and eliminating a lot of paperwork that has to be filled out by the applicant and then reviewed by the agency.

Another pilot . . . let's develop a common job description that can be used for all the agencies [for common positions, such as accountants]. . . . If someone applies they don't have to answer five sets of questions to be considered for an accountant position at five different agencies."

· Her disappointments:

"We were hopeful we could have seen the passage of the re-employed annuitant legislation that would have allowed annuitants from federal positions the ability to come back and serve their country again without having to, in effect, have an offset between the salary for their new work against their pension for their former work, which is just unfair. . . . That's probably the biggest one."

· Problems implementing pay for performance:

What made it difficult for the administration was that the fact we started with two very, very large agencies, with DoD and then DHS (Department of Defense and Department of Homeland Security), as opposed to starting with some smaller agencies . . . and building from there. . . .

On the other hand I think D0D has done a good job. . . . DHS was more of a challenge . . . it was just coming together. So it would have been extraordinary for them to have been able to implement pay for performance while they were dealing with other organizational issues. . . . I do believe it's the right thing to do. We have to be careful to separate evaluation of execution issues versus execution of pay for performance as a practice."

· The General Schedule classification system:

"I think the GS system is obsolete. And it's time for a new system that includes pay for performance."

· On politicization of the federal workplace, as the Justice Department inspector general found in certain cases:

"Those types of things are clear violations. . . . they're wrong. I'm not going to comment on that particular case, but there are some very clear bright-line rules about what is right or what is wrong when it comes to hiring and promotions. . . . OPM stands behind those rules 1,000 percent."

Joe Davidson can be reached atfederaldiary@washpost.com.