Strategic Human Capital Management and Workforce Planning

HumRRO's Strategic Human Capital Management (SHCM) staff worked with the U.S. Office of Personnel Management's Human Capital Leadership program to develop a process for evaluating Federal agencies' strategic human capital and workforce plans. SHCM staff reviewed agencies' plans and developed feedback to be provided to agencies for improving their future plans. SHCM staff conducted a study to help the Department of Defense identify human capital management systems it might use to fill its mission critical need for foreign language and cultural competencies.

This study involved conducting focus group and interview sessions with foreign language specialists, regional area specialists, DoD's main competitors in recruiting language and regional area experts (e.g., World Bank, FBI, United Nations), foreign language training specialists, and foreign language scholars. SHCM staff also conducted a review of the literature on language training and development and a review of ompensation and incentive levels for foreign language experts. The data gathered from the focus group and interview sessions provided SHCM staff with detailed information on issues related to recruitment, language and regional area training, career development, language maintenance and compensation.

SHCM staff have worked with the Department of the Treasury to assess the impact of retirement rates and determine staffing needs and worked with the former Immigration and Naturalization Service (INS) to assess separation and turnover patterns in mission-critical occupations to support those agencies' human capital management and workforce planning efforts. SHCM staff have worked with the Smithsonian institution to develop a five-year human capital management plan. HumRRO conducted research projects for the U.S. Army to assess the relationship between officers' individual characteristics, career intentions and work satisfaction to actual career decisions and retention patterns. HumRRO staff designed, administered and analyzed a web-based instrument to measure current and future competency needs and competency gaps for all occupational groups at the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration. SHCM staff assisted the Veterans Benefits Administration (VBA) to restructure and align its human resources function.

This work involved developing a set of roles, responsibilities, and structures for the human resource function that would both improve HR functioning and align HR efforts to VBA's business strategy. The project involved a best practices study for HR functions in both public and private organizations. SHCM staff interviewed managers and employees throughout the organization to gather data relating to the current effectiveness of the organization's human resource practices and structure and the congruence of these factors with current human resource needs in the organization, as well as their potential utility in the context of expected future challenges that the organization is facing. In addition, SHCM staff helped to develop recommendations to assist the organization in modifying its HR structure and functions to meet these ends.