A Merit System for the 21st Century

John Berry, Director of the U.S. Office of Personnel Management (OPM), spent time at the Maxwell School of Syracuse University in Syracuse, NY, where he delivered a policy address titled "A Merit System for the 21st Century?" on Monday, November 2, 2009, in the Maxwell Auditorium. Berry, is responsible for recruiting, hiring, and setting benefits policies for 1.9 million Federal civilian employees. He has made a major commitment to reinvigorating the civil service to meet the challenges facing the Federal workforce in the 21st century. More than 3,000 civilian employees in the Syracuse area work for 21 Federal agencies, including the Departments of Veterans' Affairs, Defense, Homeland Security, Agriculture, and Treasury, as well as the Social Security and General Services Administrations. In his talk, Berry discussed -- for the first time -- what merit means in the context of a modern workforce. He also addresses how to increase flexibility and fairness in human resource policies; how the Federal government can motivate good performance and deal with bad performance; and how the Federal government can educate, train, and develop workers over the course of their careers.