Washington, D.C. - U.S. Office of Personnel Management Director Kay Coles James convened a recent meeting of the Chief Human Capital Officers (CHCO) Council on the progress being made in a number of areas directly related to the needs of today's federal workforce.

"The Chief Human Capital Officers Council continues to realize significant progress in the strategic management of human capital, a key element of President George W. Bush's Management Agenda," said James. "By tackling critical human resources challenges, such as those involving technology and the streamlining of HR functions across government, the members of the CHCO Council are offering meaningful contributions to the dialogue on the future of America's civil service."

Specific agenda items included discussions of Information Technology Special Pay Rates and the Human Resources (HR) Line of Business.

During the overview of HR Line of Business, Norman Enger, OPM's Director for e-Gov Initiatives, provided an overview of the initiative. OPM and OMB chaired a 22 agency task force that developed a business plan and architecture to implement information technology (IT) solutions which will improve the government wide strategic management of human capital. This plan was developed after the task force reviewed over 40 responses to a Request for Information that sought innovative solutions to address specific human capital business improvements. It was determined that, over time, the majority of core functions within HR can be folded into a framework of clearly defined solutions. These solutions will enable the Federal government to standardize HR business functions and processes as well as the systems that support them. The HR Line of Business will enable a shift in emphasis within agencies from administrative processing to customer service and strategic planning.

Guest speaker John W. Boudreau, Ph.D, Professor and Research Director at the University of Southern California's Marshall School of Business and Center for Effective Organizations, also addressed the CHCOs, explaining the critical importance of people, intellectual property and talent to organizational strategic success.

Other speakers during the meeting included OPM's Dr. Ronald Sanders, Associate Director for OPM's Strategic Human Resources Policy Office, and the Department of Energy's Chief Human Capital Officer Claudia Cross.

"This past year, the Council has been driving reform on some of the federal government's toughest human resources management issues," said James. "While we are seeing a ‘cultural shift' in thinking and doing, nothing happens overnight. I look forward to the Council's continued work to craft a federal team that can meet any opportunity it is presented with."

The CHCO Council meets on a regular basis to explore and coordinate activities related to the modernization of human resources systems, including advising on areas where legislation affecting human resources operations and organizations is needed.