Quote of the week

“The complexity of the challenges facing our federal government today places new demands on members of the Senior Executive Service (SES).”

— Report: Building the Leadership Bench

Editor’s Corner

There is no doubt that the challenges faced by governments are putting pressure on senior executives. A recent survey of members of the executive cadre in the federal government suggests that the challenge of change is having an impact on health and wellbeing.

A recent report by McKinsey and the Partnership for Public Service looks at the management of the executive cadre, known as the Senior Executive Service (SES), in the U.S. federal government. And a main finding is that talent management of the executive cadre needs to happen at an enterprise-wide level.

The report states that “(m)ost agencies have components of a talent pipeline, but those are often not integrated into a cohesive talent strategy” with the result that most recruitment occurs within their own ranks.

The risk with this approach is that each agency creates its own talent pipeline, thus cutting back on opportunities for cross-fertilization of skills and talent. It calls on the Office of Management and Budget to manage the task of creating and leading an SES talent management pipeline across the U.S. government.

Many will remember the Leadership Network that was set up for the federal government during La Releve to promote system-wide talent management of the senior ranks of the public service. That office has long since closed.

Today, ADMs in the federal government are talent managed by a committee of deputy heads. Regarding the rest of the executive cadre, the Office of the Chief Human Resources Officer has created an Executive Talent Management Framework. The Office notes that it is a “guide for planning and implementing executive talent management processes within individual organizations” and adds that executive talent management is an individual responsibility since it is the it is “executives themselves who are responsible for their own career development.”