This document summarizes the challenges the US federal government faces in hiring employees. It discusses the complexity of rules around programs like Pathways and veterans' preference that are meant to help with hiring but have become difficult to understand and apply properly. It also notes the long timelines required to hire someone through the federal process. Representatives from different agencies expressed frustration with these issues at a conference on rethinking government hiring strategies.

1. HELD BA
14 government executive january/february 2015
Why the government struggles
so much with job one: hiring.
By Kellie Lunney
Illustrations by Will Mullery

2. CK

3. A
mid fruit-filled martini glasses
—sans alcohol—a group of gov-
ernment workers gathered
aroundseveraltablesinNovem-
ber in an elegant Washington
hotel and discussed federal hiring with
gusto.DominatingthetalkwasthePath-
ways program and veterans’ preference,
two authorities the government can tap
to hire more millennials and veterans
into the civil service. Neither hiring
mechanism is new. But both consumed
the energy at the “Rethinking People
Strategies in Government” conference
sponsored by FedInsider and the George
Washington University.
One table included employees from
various agencies: the General Servic-
es Administration, the Navy and the
departments of Health and Human
Services and Housing and Urban Devel-
opment. One participant described the
Pathways program as “horrible.” As for
veterans’ preference, there was praise
for its intent, but frustration over how
it’sappliedandspeculationoverwhether
it sometimes results in poor hires or
favoritism. It was a surprisingly candid
breakfast conversation about subjects
that quickly can become politically sen-
sitive, especially when it’s about who is
getting which jobs. But it wasn’t until
the Q&A after a keynote speech by Ann
Marie Habershaw, chief of staff and
external affairs director at the Office of
Personnel Management, that the dis-
cussion revealed some larger truths
about the challenges of federal hiring.
Ken Sosne, a divisional director and
hiring manager with HHS’ Administra-
tion for Children and Families, posed
this question to Habershaw in front of
the room:
This exchange encapsulates the hir-
ing challenges the federal government
faces: Highly complex regulations, con-
fusion over how to apply the rules to
hire the most talented applicants while
also preserving fairness and diversity,
disconnect among the major players,
and head-scratching over how to fix it.
At the root is this question: If the fed-
eral government can’t figure out how
to hire the right people and be a model
workforce for the rest of the country,
then how is it supposed to effectively
deliver goods and services, protect
America, and solve our most pressing
policy problems? When you think about
it that way, federal hiring suddenly
becomes a lot more interesting.
KNOTWORKING
“We are drilling down in agencies to
find the knots in the hiring process,
and to untie them,” said OPM Director
Katherine Archuleta in a May 2014
speech to federal employees.
It turns out there are a lot of knots.
USAJobs, the government’s online
warehouse of job vacancies, is still diffi-
cult to navigate and lacks sophisticated
search capabilities to help applicants
find positions that meet their interests
and qualifications. Recruiting and hir-
ing tools, including veterans’ preference,
Pathways, and the prestigious Presiden-
tial Management Fellows program, are
innovative. But they’ve become encased
in layers of complicated rules that most
hiring managers and even some HR
staff don’t understand or use properly.
Job descriptions typically exceed 1,500
words,andmanyofthemarebarelycom-
prehensible, at least to the uninitiated.
Agencies are supposed to get new hires
onboard within 80 days, but for some
jobs, it can take several months.
HELD BACK
“The Pathways program, the way it is
structured right now is actually not very
helpful, because you are pushing the vet-
erans’ preference issues, but we’re not
getting the pool of candidates that we
need.ThequestionIhadwas,howdoyou
findthebalancebetweenwhatI—Imean,
vetsareveryvaluable,thereisnoquestion
aboutit—butwhatIseeisamyopicviewof
saying‘justvetsonly’becausethat’swhat
we’re getting. How do we find the
right balance so we can bypass vets
and get the pool? I’m looking at the
public pool, and I want to favor vets,
but I’m getting bomb disposal techs
on financial [job candidate lists], and
that’sarealproblem.”
Habershaw responded:
“You know, Pathways is a tough
one because it’s a new program that
was made because of challenges
with the previous [program]. One
of the things I’ve been trying to
focus on is more the public notice
issue, to really kind of give agen-
cies more flexibility in how they
recruit for Pathways. The veterans’
preference is a different challenge.
I don’t know why you are getting
explosives experts for financial posi-
tions. I don’t know that I can solve that
question but what I found is that there
is a real misunderstanding about how to
use and apply veterans’ preference,
and that’s what we are hearing from
people, and it’s figuring out how we
clear up those issues. That is defi-
nitely a challenge.”
Then Tania Allen, the veterans’
employment program manager
at the Environmental Protection
Agency, spoke up to respond to
Sosne’s question:
“When I consult with our hir-
ing managers and they have issues
like that, if you don’t have a strong
vacancy announcement, if you don’t
view your HR specialist as a consul-
tant prior to posting the vacancy
announcements, then you are going
to get people who are not qualified for
your job. The veterans that are quali-
fying for the positions are qualifying
based on the questions in the vacancy
announcement. If you have a strong
vacancy announcement that is address-
ing the specific skills that you’re seeking
to fill that position, then you’ll only get
those that are qualified. If they happen
to be veterans, then they happen to be
veterans, but they’re going to be the
most qualified people.”
16 government executive january/february 2015
They are almost
sourcing a unicorn...
their expecations
are too high.
liz joyce, ceb
I’mgettingbomb
disposaltechson
financial[jobcandidate
lists]andthat’sa
realproblem.
ken sosne, hhs

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5. FEATURE SLUG
In fact, all three of those issues—
USAJobs applications, special hiring
authorities and the length of the hiring
process—were cited as the most signifi-
cant impediments to hiring by federal
employees who responded last fall to a
survey conducted by Government Busi-
ness Council, the research arm of Gov-
ernment Executive Media Group.
Some things have improved since
OPM launched a major hiring reform
effort in 2010: better and more frequent
communication between job applicants
and agencies, more targeted outreach
to specific groups such as millennials
and veterans, the elimination of lengthy
knowledge, skills and abilities essays
in favor of a resume-based application
process. The government also chucked
the “rule of three” (though technically
it remains on the books) in the compet-
itive civil service, under which hiring
managers made their selections from a
list of the top three candidates and eligi-
ble vets received an extra 5 to 10 points.
Replacing it was the “category rating”
system, aimed at increasing the number
of qualified candidates that supervisors
can choose from, while also preserving
veterans’ preference.
Jeffrey Neal, a former chief human
capital officer at the Homeland Security
Department and the Defense Logistics
Agency, frequently writes about federal
hiring. This is how Neal, now founder
of ChiefHRO.com and senior vice presi-
dent of ICF International, explained
category rating in an Oct. 16 piece for
Federal News Radio:
“With category rating, applicants
are placed in two or more groups. Appli-
cants who are eligible for veteran pref-
erence are listed ahead of individuals
who are not preference eligibles. With
the exception of scientific and profes-
sional positions at GS-9 of the General
Schedule (equivalent or higher), qual-
ified preference-eligibles who have a
compensable service-connected dis-
ability of 10 percent or are listed in
the highest quality category. Selecting
officials may select any applicant in the
highest quality category.”
That’soneofthemoresuccinctexpla-
nations of category rating out there,
and it still makes your head hurt. And
to make matters even more compli-
cated, category rating is used in com-
petitive hiring, which is just one way the
governmentcanhirepeople.There’sthe
excepted service, which covers certain
As the federal agency that sets gov-
ernmentwide HR policy and oversees
everything from hiring to retiring, OPM
has a challenging mission. Hiring tra-
ditionally has been viewed as a “back
office” function, though that attitude is
changing.Federalhiringreformbeganin
earnest under Archuleta’s predecessor,
John Berry, now the U.S. ambassador to
Australia.ButOPMstillstrugglestoplay
its role effectively, partly because it his-
torically has lacked clout and authority
within the executive branch.
OPM and Archuleta know govern-
ment has to do a better job of branding
and pitching itself—on social media and
oncollegecampuses—toengageayounger
audience.TheagencyalsoknowsthatHR
staffthroughoutgovernmentarestymied
by ever-dwindling resources, arcane
rulesandcomplexhiringprocesses.OPM
officials understand the need to make
the hiring process simpler and faster, but
that goal has to be balanced against the
virtues of fairness and inclusion, not to
mention the priorities of the administra-
tioninpower.
“The talent in that agency is stagger-
ing, and their ability to work with other
agenciesisunsurpassed,”Lachancesays.
But those other agencies, starting with
the leadership, have to make a commit-
ment to human resources, both the sys-
temandthepeople,saystheformerOPM
director. “OPM can’t impose that kind of
culture on other departments. They can
sendoutguidelines,helppasslegislation,
but they can’t enforce a culture.”
Kim Holden, OPM’s deputy asso-
ciate director for recruitment
and hiring, says the agency
continues to provide regu-
lar in-person and online
training and resources to
hiring managers and HR
professionalsonarangeof
topics.InJuly,OPMbegan
collecting data and feed-
back from nearly a dozen
focus groups, includ-
ing students, seniors,
current federal employees
and veterans, on how to
improve USAJobs. That
research will form the
basis for the next version
of the hiring portal, and it
could be a massive make-
over. The agency wants
to “address root causes
rather than fix the symp-
occupations requiring specialized skills,
such as lawyers. Jobs in the excepted
service, unlike those in the competi-
tive service, don’t have to be posted on
USAJobs and are not open to every-
one. Then there’s direct hire authority
for certain jobs that agencies must fill
quickly due to a shortage of workers
with critical skills—think nurses and
employees in information technology.
And there’s the Veterans’ Recruitment
Appointment, which allows agencies to
hire eligible vets for certain jobs with-
out competition. That falls under the
umbrella of “veterans’ preference” but
is actually separate from the veterans’
preference scoring system used in com-
petitive hiring. Finally, the Pathways
program includes three tracks: current
students,recentgraduatesandPresiden-
tial Management Fellows. Participants
are classified under Schedule D within
the excepted service, and each Pathways
program honors veterans’ preference.
That’s just a sampling of how appli-
cants can get their foot in the door. And
just because flexibilities exist doesn’t
mean they are easy to understand or
apply properly.
To be fair, the federal government is
the largest employer in the world, with
roughly 2 million civilian employees
all over the globe. It’s unreasonable to
expect a seamless HR operation at this
scale. The merit principles it embodies
are noble but cumbersome. A private
sector manager can throw 30 job appli-
cations in the trash without even look-
ing at them. Anyone who does that in
the federal government risks
serious legal trouble.
The reality is that
today’s federal hiring
process breeds fear in HR
staffandhiringmanagers,
distrust among federal
employees who perceive
the process is rigged, and
frustrationineveryone.
“In many ways, it’s the
most important thing the
government does,” says
Janice Lachance, OPM
director during the Clin-
ton administration. “The
government is not making
widgets. This is a knowl-
edge-basedworkforce.The
government’seffectiveness
is dependent on the people
whoaredoingthework.”
HELD BACK

6. january/february 2015 government executive 19
toms,andwhatpeopletypicallycomplain
about,”Holdensays.
Neal says OPM has an “incredible
amountofresponsibility”overseeingHR
policy and writing regulations, in addi-
tion to its roles in the security clearance
process and administering the Federal
EmployeesHealthBenefitsProgram.But
the agency could do more, especially in
areas where HR policy is not enshrined
in existing statute. “What is law is not
very much,” Neal says.
The GBC survey asked respon-
dents involved in the hiring process
at their agencies to rate the support
received from their own HR staff and
OPM during the hiring process. On a
scale of 1 to 5, with 5 being the highest
score, respondents on average gave both
groups low marks: 2.9 for their agency’s
HR operation, and 2.0 for OPM. Even if
OPM is making a solid effort, something
isn’t translating.
MOVINGINLOCKSTEP
The relationship between OPM and
federal HR staff across government is
an important one. Perhaps even more
vital, however, is the one inside an
agency between HR specialists and
hiring managers.
“Hiring managers should be in lock-
step with HR,” says Liz Joyce, a senior
director in the government
human capital practice at CEB
and a former federal employee
withexperienceinhiring.When
HR and program supervisors
work closely throughout the
hiring process, communicat-
ing at every stage, it increases
the likelihood that the system
works the way it should: fairly,
as expeditiously as possible,
and yielding the most quali-
fied candidates for the job. The
key to that is doing much of the
work up front, creating the right
job description or “recruitment
package”thatistargetedbutnot
overly prescriptive, and broad
without being so generic that you’ve
got, say, explosives experts applying for
financial analyst positions.
“What we’ve seen across managers,
and I was guilty of this as well, they are
almost sourcing a unicorn,” Joyce says.
Sourcing is HR-speak for proactively
seeking out qualified candidates for cur-
rent or future positions. “They could
be looking at too technical or special-
ized of a skill set, or they are looking for
gram office was slightly off,” says
Brooks,whohasmore than twodecades
of experience in federal HR at several
agencies, including the departments
of Commerce, Energy and Homeland
Security. So HUD developed a database
to track hiring and identify bottle-
necks. For instance, HR staff and hir-
ing managers expressed concern that
the security clearance process, which
also involves OPM and the FBI, could
derail the timeline for getting people
onboard. But they worked through
those issues ahead of time, Brooks says,
by ensuring the office dealing with that
part of the hiring process had enough
staff to handle the influx of new people
and documentation.
“I would say that there was a lot
of visibility throughout the process,”
Brooks says. “Everybody knew if the HR
specialists were having trouble doing
qualifications, or if the managers were
stumbling a little bit getting interviews
done, and other people would come in
and help.”
HUD also did outreach to different
communities, including veterans, and
used various hiring mechanisms avail-
able to attract and hire a diverse group
of people. Brooks said they hired Peace
Corps volunteers and Presidential
Management Fellows—the latter being
a priority of then-HUD Secretary Shaun
Donovan. To Brooks, the fact that the
too many competencies or experiences
creating this kind of applicant that
we can’t actually find.” Joyce says HR
should help program managers articu-
late which competencies matter most.
In CEB’s research of public and private
sector organizations, it found that “a lot
of qualified candidates were screened
out because of the manager’s technical
expertise requirements. So people who
could be good fits don’t end up even get-
ting on the most qualified lists for man-
agers to look for because their
expectations are too high.”
Towanda Brooks, deputy
chief human capital officer at
HUD, led a major hiring blitz
last year at the department.
HUD hired 1,036 people in
fiscal 2014, a combination of
internal and external candi-
dates through competitive
and noncompetitive hiring,
from more than 120,000 job
applications. The department
did 35 percent of its hiring in
September alone. Communi-
cation, transparency and stra-
tegic planning from the begin-
ning helped HUD accomplish
its goal, Brooks says. She
and Michael Anderson, the
department’s chief human
capital officer, briefed senior agency
leaders from across HUD every week
on the hiring initiative. Brooks, in turn,
held weekly meetings with HR special-
ists and hiring managers—the people on
theground—toseewhatwasworkingand
what wasn’t.
“That was one of the things that,
early on in the process, really helped,
because a lot of times the data between
the human capital office and the pro-
Hiring used to be a
rote process...There’s
more ownership in the
agency to get it done.
towanda brooks, hud
HELD BACKwillisbretz

7. FEATURE SLUG
22 government executive january/february 2015
hiringinitiativehaddifferentstakehold-
ers and was a priority for the depart-
ment’s leadership helped elevate it to a
level where lots of people had a vested
interest in its success.
“For me, hiring used to be a rote pro-
cess,” Brooks says. “It was looked at as,
HRwas responsible for everything.”But
overtimeandwithhiringreform,itfeels
more like a human capital initiative and
that hiring is the agency’s function, she
says. “There’s more ownership in the
agency to get it done.”
QUESTIONSOFFAIRNESS
The Obama administration has
made it clear it wants the fed-
eral government to effectively
recruit the next generation
of employees and hire more
veterans to create a diverse,
model workforce that can
tackle the challenges of the
modern era.
In theory, this makes
sense—from a business stand-
point as well as a public service
one.Butaswithsomanythings
in government, it becomes
complicated in practice. Fed-
eral employees must carry
out an administration’s pri-
orities with a limited amount
of resources in a specific time
frame while adhering to lots of
rules and laws.
Pathways, for example,
grew out of the old Federal
Career Intern Program, which
was scrapped in 2010 after the
Merit Systems Protection Board
found it violated veterans’ preference
laws. Two preference-eligible vets
claimed the FCIP did not allow them
to compete fairly for government jobs.
So the government created Pathways,
which requires a public notification
process for jobs so that any student or
recent graduate is aware of opportuni-
ties throughout government. Under
the old system, agencies could work
with universities and colleges they had
partnerships with to select students.
But now, the process is more transpar-
ent and open to more people: single
mothers who go back to school for their
degrees, or veterans taking advantage
of the G.I. Bill, for example. The number
of applications has spiked as a result—as
has confusion about what agencies can
and cannot do when it comes to hiring
through Pathways.
officialintheiragencyknowinglyviolated
veterans’ preference laws, and 6.5 per-
cent “inappropriately favored a veteran.”
Those were perceptions, not actual find-
ingsofmisconduct.
Neal says it’s true that a certain
amount of favoritism for vets is built into
the system. A veteran with a disability
whoisqualifiedforajob,butnotasquali-
fiedasanonveteran,islikelytogetthejob
becauseofpreferenceregulations.Butas
acountrywe’vedecidedthatwearegoing
to allow for that, and “people need to just
deal with it,” Neal says.
“Hiring a qualified person who might
be a compensably disabled veteran over
a more qualified person who may not be
a veteran at all is a public policy deci-
sion. Congress has backed that decision.
The president has backed that decision.
Every president in recent memory has
backed that decision. Most people who
don’t want to go get shot at them-
selves back that decision until
they apply for a job and then they
say,‘WhydidFredgetpreference
over me?’ ”
Neal advises agencies to
actively recruit highly quali-
fied veterans for jobs where they
anticipate a lot of interest from
vets. “Then you don’t have to
worry about having a lesser-
qualified veteran because
you’ve got highly qualified vet-
erans on your list.”
The notion of favoritism,
real or imagined, tends to crop
up over internal promotions and lateral
movementswithinthegovernmentmore
than with new hires, says CEB’s Joyce.
“The infrastructure is in place to
make sure everyone is competitive, but
if it comes down to, there is a person that
the hiring manager wants to hire and
they are qualified for the position and
they are not blocked by somebody else—
like a veteran—they can make that selec-
tion as long as they are on the best quali-
fied list,” Joyce says. People might think
that’sunfair,butit’sperfectlylegitimate,
aslongastheprocessisn’tbeingmanipu-
lated or “cooked” as Neal calls it, with a
certain person in mind.
There have been instances where hir-
ing managers have “gamed the system”
and drafted position descriptions to
fit a particular person, and it’s hard for
HR professionals to catch it, Joyce says.
“But as HR is more involved in the pro-
cess, and hiring managers work with HR
more, that would resolve itself.”
Good government groups are trying
to educate agencies, universities and stu-
dents about Pathways and dispel some
misconceptions about it, ranging from
whentoapplyvets’preferencetowhether
agencies can target specific academic
institutions. “The recruitment and hir-
ing system, both for pre-career and for
midcareer employees, is seriously limp-
ing and federal internship programs are
just plain broken,” Shelley Metzenbaum,
president of one such group, the Volcker
Alliance,toldtheSenateHomelandSecu-
rity and Governmental Affairs Commit-
teeinMarch2014.
OPM plans to do more train-
ingonPathwaysoverthecourse
of 2015, Holden says. “Overall,
all the agencies want this to be
a successful program.”
But even after intern and
student programs have been
opened to a wider applicant
pool, a large percentage of fed-
eral employees and applicants
think the current hiring process favors
certain candidates, or is somehow
rigged. For instance, 68 percent of GBC
survey respondents said veterans’ pref-
erence sometimes prevents the best
candidate from getting the job, while 25
percent disagreed.
Vets’ preference in federal hiring, in
some form, has been around since the
19th
century, but it has evolved into a
complicated patchwork of laws and hir-
ing authorities for vets and their spouses.
“Therearesomanyfactorsabouttheper-
son applying, the position for which he
or she is applying, the authorities being
used, and the agency in which the posi-
tions exist, that the system is beyond
unwieldy,” MSPB wrote in an August
2014 report on veterans’ preference laws.
That study surveyed federal employees,
findingthat4.5percentofworkerssaidan
GBC survey respondents who say
veterans’ preference sometimes
prevents the best candidate from
getting the job
68%
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9. In your opinion, which is the right approach to serving
veterans in government?
Hirethebestpeoplequalified
toserveveterans,regardless
oftheirstatus
Hireasmanyveterans
aspossible
Don’tknow
60%
42
20
11
Federal employees moving within government
Applicants trying to enter the government from the private sector
Applications through USAJobs are just a formality
Hiring managers seeking to discover unknown applicants
In your opinion, for which of the following groups is USAJobs helpful? MULTIPLE RESPONSES ALLOWED
Length of the hiring process
Special hiring authorities
Difficult USAJobs application process
Competition with the private sector
Slow turnover rate among employees
Best candidates may not be willing to relocate
Shortage of qualified candidates
Idonotbelievethereareanysignificantimpedimentstohiringinthefederalgovernment
In your opinion, which of the following are the most significant impediments to hiring
qualified candidates in the federal government? RESPONDENTS COULD CHOOSE UP TO THREE
63%
43
41
26
20
17
13
2
Itcantakeseveralmonthstofillavacancy
in government, by which time many can-
didates lose interest or find employment
elsewhere. Respondents cite “cronyism”
and “the good old boys club” as impedi-
mentstohiringthebestcandidates,along
with federal rules that give preference to
certaingroups,suchasveterans.
Fewer than half of respondents think
USAJobs is useful to people trying to
enterthecivilservice.Forpeoplealready
ingovernment,however,itcanbehelpful
in making their next career move.
Respondents overwhelmingly
favor hiring the best qualified
people when it comes to serving
veterans. Among the DOD sam-
ple, the rate is 76 percent; among
veterans it is 66 percent.
Allrespondents
Veterans
DOD
Veterans’ preference sometimes prevents the best
candidate from getting the job.
68%
While 68 percent of respon-
dentssayveterans’preference
sometimes prevents hiring
themostqualifiedcandidates,
fewer veterans and Defense
Department respondents felt
that way—40 percent and
64 percent respectively.
Strongly agree
Agree
Disagree
Strongly disagree
Don’t know
33
35
17
8
7
35
29
22
7
7
16
24
31
17
12
RESEARCH
24 government executive january/february 2015
THEPEOPLE
Havingtherightpeoplewiththe
rightskillsisfundamentaltoevery
agency’smission.Butjustas
importantistheabilitytoremove
thoseindividualswhodon’tworkout.
74
14
12

10. Federal termination procedures discourage the
firing of poor performers.
There are too many steps in the firing process
Fear of legal repercussions
Fear of being accused of discrimination
Fear of workplace violence
Fear of personal or online defamation
Fear of harming the department/agency’s reputation
Fear of lowering morale in the department/agency
Give the employee fewer responsibilities
Continued performance check-ins
Transfer the employee to another organization
No action is taken
Rescind employee privileges (i.e., telework)
Fire the employee
74%
67
64
13
11
11
7
When supervisors in your work unit are faced with a poor performer who
cannot or will not improve after counseling, which of the following steps
are typically taken? MULTIPLE RESPONSES ALLOWED
37%
28
27
21
20
11
In your opinion, which of the following prevent the firing of poor performers?
MULTIPLE RESPONSES ALLOWED
Managers are much more likely to pawn bad employees off on
another organization and lower their expectations than they
are to fire one—essentially, they’re willing to make life harder
for good employees to avoid the hassle and unpleasantness of
holding poor performers accountable.
Nearlytwo-thirdsoffedsworryaboutlegalrepercussionsorbeing
accused of discrimination if they fire someone. While 13 percent
fear workplace violence, only 3 percent of respondents who over-
see at least one person had ever refrained from firing someone
becausetheyfeared fortheirsafety.
month/month 2014 government executive 25
Methodology:GovernmentBusinessCouncilsentanemailsurveyNov.4toarandomsampleofGovernmentExecutive,NextgovandDefenseOne
printandonlinesubscribersandreceivedcompleteresponsesfrom464federalemployeesfrom30agencies;25percentareDefenseDepartment
employees;55percentareGS/GM-13orabove;29percentsaytheyqualifyforveterans’preference;and55percentsaytheyhavesomeinputin
thehiringprocess.Themarginoferroris+/-4.55ata95percentconfidencelevel.
RESEARCH
All respondentsA whopping 78 percent of
employeessaytheprocessfor
letting someone go is so cum-
bersome it discourages firing
bad apples.
Strongly agree
Agree
Disagree
Strongly disagree
Don’t know
43
35
11
4
7
We want the bad
employees who are
gaming the system...
within the federal
government to find
somewhere else
to work.
jeff miller, r-fla.
In November, Government Business Council, Government Executive
Media Group’s research arm, surveyed 464 federal employees to
learn how they perceive these vital functions. The results suggest
employees are deeply frustrated with the personnel system,
especially when it comes to firing poor performers—nearly 80
percent say termination procedures deter managers from booting
failing employees.
PROBLEM
78%