People are an organization’s most valuable and, frequently, its most expensive asset. Their capabilities and character influence the organization’s culture, affecting its ability to carry out its missions. They are the source of an organization’s knowledge and its leadership. Ultimately, people are the force that determines the will of the organization and its ability to change.
David Walker, Comptroller General of the United States, 2002
David Walker’s observation about the importance of people was made during his testimony before the Volcker Commission about the importance of public service reform. He could have, as easily, been describing the contribution of people to national security reform.
From the very beginning, PNSR has recognized the essential contribution of the thousands of individuals, at every level of government, who make up the national security system, both now and in the future. If we are to attract and retain the very best talent for our nation’s national security system, there must be a human capital system that that allows national security system leaders to attract, retain, reward and motivate the very best talent in the nation to work on national security issues.
This means that that the national security interagency human capital system must be fully aligned with national security missions and overarching national security strategic goals and objectives. Only through systemic reform will personnel incentives, leader development, personnel preparation, and organizational culture be aligned with the strategic objectives outlined in the US National Security Strategy.
Successfully executing the national security strategy and mission requires capabilities (such as knowledge work, judgment, leadership) that can only be supplied by well qualified people. We refer to the people who do the work of an organization as “human capital” because their knowledge, skills and abilities constitute an asset that generates value. Organizations must deliberately manage their human capital to achieve their strategic objectives. Managing human capital involves acquiring, using, developing, motivating and rewarding workers.
PNSR’s November 2008 report
Forging a New Shield underscored “the inadequacy of the current individual and agency-centric framework for human capital laws, regulations, policies, programs, and procedures. Until that framework is readjusted to encompass the national security community’s collaboration across agency boundaries, it will be difficult, if not impossible, to establish a commonality of culture and shared mission, vision, values, and interests that are essential in the security environment of the twenty-first century” (p. 290).
The current national security system and its associated human capital policies, programs, procedures, and incentives are unable to:
- Generate the required human capital with the requisite competencies to assure a continuing supply of well-qualified national security personnel.
- Assign the right people, with the right competencies, at the right time to execute interagency tasks successfully.
- Overcome the historic dominance of several strong department and agency cultures within the national security system.
- Ensure that political and career officials pay sufficient attention to building the human resource capacity needed to achieve interagency missions and priorities, especially when those might conflict with the missions and priorities of individual departments and agencies.
In the context of national security reform, it is necessary to align human capital management with national security strategic objectives. To do so we need to reform existing laws, policies, programs, processes and practices that impede strategic human capital management. More specifically, the benefits and/or changes to be realized by achieving this goal include:
- Developing a National Security Strategic Human Capital Plan, to identify and secure the human capital capabilities necessary to achieve national security objectives;
- Creating a National Security Professional Corps, to create a cadre of national security professionals specifically trained for interagency assignments;
- Increasing civilian personnel authorizations and appropriations, based on workforce analysis and phased in over time, to establish a personnel “float” that will enable critical interagency training and ongoing professional education and encourage interagency assignments;
- Providing flexibilities in personnel regulations to allow and encourage improvements in recruitment, retention, assignment, incentives, training and education based on workforce analysis and planning, competency analysis, and mission-critical occupation analysis; and
- Authorizing, funding and establishing an executive office to support development and execution of the above reforms and provide continuing policy determinations and oversight for interagency national security human capital programs.
The Human Capital team’s efforts in this regard will be considered successful when the US Government and its national security mission partners:
- Are able to identify appropriate capabilities and solutions that enable the National Security System to generate the required human capital;
- Foster an interagency functionality and culture through collaborative initiatives; and
- Establish sustainable structures with authority to manage and oversee the operation of the System.
In pursuing these goals, the Human Capital team will work with national security related departments and agencies, Congress and legislative committees, as well as other key stakeholders in the reform process including national security nonprofit organizations, unions, associations, and advocacy groups.
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