Washington, D.C. - During a speech before hundreds of federal human resources (HR) experts attending the International Public Management Association for Human Resources (IPMA-HR) Federal Section Conference, U.S. Office of Personnel Management (OPM) Director Linda M. Springer addressed the importance of creating a federal workforce that is flexible and has the knowledge needed to meet the many challenges faced by the federal government.

"We need to be thinking about the future," said Springer. "However, we must remember that what we are talking about is not in the abstract...we are in the 21^st Century, and HR - ‘people' - experts should be asking who are the current and future federal workforces, what will they want, and how must we prepare?"

The conference, entitled "Building a 21st Century Federal Workforce," focused on the interests of human resources - people - professionals, and it offered perspective on strategic human resources management and how it might rise to meet the challenges and opportunities of the future.

Our mission is to ensure the Federal Government has an effective civilian workforce. OPM supports U.S. agencies with personnel services and policy leadership including staffing tools, guidance on labor-management relations and programs to improve work force performance.