FROM THE DIRECTOR OF


ACQUISITION CAREER MANAGEMENT C R A IG A. SP I S A K


SPEEDING UP HIRING


DACM Of fice, CHRA join forces to stand up the Army Acquisition Workforce Recruitment and Sustainment Center of Excellence.


I


t’s no big secret that the government lags behind its industry counterparts in establishing unique, creative and highly effi- cient hiring practices. Granted, the government’s methods entail a higher degree of challenges when one considers its


myriad rules, regulations and policies. But that doesn’t mean we can’t be creative in becoming one of the government’s “employ- ers of choice.” In the past, the Army had a systemic problem in that we took an average of more than 130 days to hire a qualified civilian. In some cases, the delay prevented agencies from select- ing the most-qualified employees, which consequently impacted Army readiness.


My impetus, as the Director of Acquisition Career Management (DACM), to address this problem was driven by a June 5, 2018, memo from Mark T. Esper, then secretary of the Army and now the secretary of defense. Te memo directed that his “number one priority regarding Army Civilian employees is reducing civil- ian time-to-hire to below 60 days.”


SPEEDING THE PROCESS In implementing this directive, several factors would uniquely test our ability to develop an innovative solution for such a compli- cated problem. First, we had to ensure that the solution would be predicated on finding the right kinds of talent for the acquisition community and complement the strategic imperative of continu- ing to provide lethal capabilities to the warfighter. And second, we had to devise a human capital plan that would incorporate the myriad hiring policies, authorities and special programs that had


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been afforded to the acquisition community through supportive legislation. Only by appreciating this level of complexity were my team and I able to proceed with a viable solution.


However, our success would not have been possible without first establishing a viable partnership with a peer organization vested in achieving the same goal. In October 2016, the U.S. Army Acquisition Support Center established a pilot program with the Army’s Civilian Human Resources Agency to explore the benefits of streamlining the hiring process and leveraging expedited hiring authorities granted by Congress in the National Defense Autho- rization Acts for the fiscal years 2016 to 2018. After 12 months of evaluating the program, we determined the pilot a success. It effectively reduced our hiring time for qualifying candidates from 104 to 76 days.


With this milestone, our stakeholders decided to strive for the program’s full operational capability. In August 2019, we created a subordinate division, the Army Acquisition Workforce Recruit- ment and Sustainment Center of Excellence. It continuously collaborates with key Army partners and other DOD stakehold- ers on the best organizational practices to continue implementing this initiative as painlessly as possible. Essential aspects of this program include standardized information and training on the nuances of hiring civilians for acquisition positions, leveraging hiring authorities, and ensuring that participants fully under- stand the Defense Acquisition Workforce Improvement Act (DAWIA).


Army AL&T Magazine Winter 2020


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