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News Release
Monday, July 12, 2004
Tel: 202-606-2402
OPM Director Kay Coles James Announces Newest Training Initiative for Federal Human Resources Professionals
James seeks to further improve federal hiring process by broadening training for federal human resources professionals via the World Wide Web
Washington, D.C. - In her latest move to support agencies' efforts as they improve their hiring processes, U.S. Office of Personnel Management (OPM) Director Kay Coles James is announcing the availability of a new web-based initiative for training human resources professionals on available hiring flexibilities.
"As we continue streamlining the federal hiring process, while both adhering to Merit System Principles and meeting legal requirements, it is imperative that OPM honor its responsibility to do everything we can to educate human resources professionals on all the hiring flexibilities that are available," stated James. "The flexibilities are in place for their benefit, to help them meet their staffing needs and goals. Most importantly, both OPM and the agency teams are committed to creating a process that better serves the American public, especially those who wish to serve their country."
The latest initiative will be available through OPM's GoLearn website, www.golearn.gov, and will contain job aids and other educational materials.
"This is OPM's latest approach to make hiring flexibility training easily available to human resources specialists governmentwide," James stated. "To make real, measured progress, agencies must begin to take the knowledge and the tools we are offering and put them to use."
The new initiative is the latest addition to OPM's hiring flexibility educational strategy. OPM continues to offer its onsite training summits, which were designed to familiarize federal hiring managers on available hiring flexibilities including Direct Hire Authority, for agencies having either critical hiring needs or the need to fill positions for which few qualified candidates exist. Appointing authorities for veterans and students and category rating as an alternative examining method also were discussed.
Due to the high demand and full capacity at OPM's June hiring summit at which 230 Chief Human Capital Officers and human resources professionals were trained, James has called for an additional training session on August 3.
The U.S. Office of Personnel Management (OPM) is the leader in workforce management for the federal government. Our agency builds, strengthens, and serves a federal workforce of 2.2 million employees with programs like hiring assistance, healthcare and insurance, retirement benefits, and much more. We provide agencies with policies, guidance, and best practices for supporting federal workers, so they can best serve the American people.