Leveraging OPM’s Hiring Flexibilities

by Will Kilburn
Monster Government Solutions

These days, Federal Human Capital managers have many more tools to work with than they used to when it comes to finding, hiring and retaining the right people. But there’s a downside to that bigger toolbox: Confusion. Should you spend your limited budget on retention bonuses for tried-and-true workers, or on recruitment bonuses for new talent? How do you select the best from a new generation of college students? And how do you find the needles in that haystack of 400 resumes you received for one opening?

Such questions were at the heart of the most recent Monster Government Solutions Breakfast Seminar, “Leveraging OPM's Hiring Flexibilities,” held March 18th in Washington, D.C. and led by Mary Lou Lindholm of Lindholm & Associates along with Suzy Barker of the Department of Labor.

“We talked about the ones that exist out there now, and how they can be used effectively to achieve the best results,” said Lindholm, the former Associate Director for Employment at the US Office of Personnel Management, in a post-seminar interview. “Not only in terms of what they are and how they work best, but also about barriers that agencies have experienced in trying to actually use them.”

The key to leveraging those flexibilities, continued Lindholm, is self-assessment.

“You really need to step back as an agency, both the management and the HR staff, and look at what’s your culture, what are you trying to achieve, and come up with a plan,” she explained. “Part of that should a cost analysis: If you pay someone a recruitment bonus, is that going to help you recruit the best candidates more than some other flexibility? Same way for retention: If you pay a retention allowance, is that going to be more effective than some of these other flexibilities? A key to success is providing the guidance on how to assess the various options and deciding what works best for your particular needs.”

Also in need of guidance, said Lindholm, are managers who must make potentially unpopular decisions.

“The tendency for some managers is to look for the easy way out, and [say] ‘Gee, I don’t have to make those hard choices, and therefore won’t have to answer questions from other employees about why I gave John Doe a retention allowance, and not the rest of my staff,’” she said. “The ones who are willing to make the hard choices, though, are concerned just from a budget standpoint. Resources are tight for many managers. The would love to pay a recruitment bonus, but they don’t have that kind of money, so they need some guidance on other flexibilities that wouldn’t cost as much.”

And then, said Lindholm, applying those flexibilities to that dreaded stack of resumes.

“You have to look at other ways on how to sift through all those hundreds and thousands of applications that you now get, and make those distinctions about who are going to be your best candidates,” she said. “Whereas before, when a vacancy announcement was issued, it was not sent across the world. Thus, you were lucky if you received 20 applications. So it was much easier in terms of assessing 20 candidates and deciding who are the best applicants. Now the online recruiting and staffing systems are great, and they’ve really done wonders to improve the processes. But today’s environment requires different thought and assessment processes.”

For information on the next Monster Government Solutions Breakfast Seminar, “The Power of An Agency Talent Brand,” click here.