ML17156A834
| ML17156A834 | |
| Person / Time | |
|---|---|
| Issue date: | 06/20/2017 |
| From: | Kristine Svinicki NRC/Chairman |
| To: | Rusco F US Government Accountability Office (GAO) |
| D. Silberfeld/OCHCO | |
| Shared Package | |
| ML17118A265 | List: |
| References | |
| CORR-17-0050, LTR-17-0177-1 -OCHCO | |
| Download: ML17156A834 (3) | |
Text
UNITED STATES NUCLEAR REGULATORY COMMISSION WASHINGTON, D.C. 20555-0001 Mr. Frank Rusco, Director Natural Resources and Environment U.S. Government Accountability Office 441 G Street, NW Washington, DC 20226
Dear Mr. Rusco:
June 20, 2017 On behalf of the U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC), I am writing to provide the NRC's response to the U.S. Government Accountability Office (GAO) recommendations in GA0-17-233, "Strategic Human Capital Management: NRC Could Better Manage the Size and Composition of Its Workforce by Further Incorporating Leading Practices" dated April 27, 2017.
As stated in the agency's comments in Appendix II of the report, the NRC agrees overall with the report and findings. In January 2017, the NRC formed a working group to develop a plan for a comprehensive, integrated, and systematic Strategic Workforce Planning (SWP) process. In April 2017, the working group submitted proposed enhancements to the SWP process to better integrate the agency's workload projection, skills identification, human capital management, individual development and workforce management activities. The NRC recognizes that further enhancements in SWP will help to ensure that the agency has the people with the right skills and knowledge in the right places at the right time to accomplish the agency's mission.
The three GAO recommendations and the NRC response to each are below:
GAO Recommendation 1: Set agency wide goals, which could be ranges, for overall workforce size and skills composition that extend beyond the 2 year budget cycle.
NRC Response: The NRC agrees with this recommendation and will implement a new activity to project workload over a 5-year time period. The resulting workload projections will be used to identify core staff positions needed to perform the work. This effort will facilitate setting agency goals for FTE and appropriate agency size beyond the current 2 year budget cycle and will support the agency's effort to enhance its human capital practices.
GAO Recommendation 2: Establish a systematic, comprehensive approach for tracking employee ski.lls information, either through the system developed through the competency modeling pilot *program or some other system.
NRC Response: The NRC agrees with this recommendation. The NRC will develop and deploy a standard agency-wide system to track core staff positions and their related skills. Skills and competencies for each of the core positions will be identified and catalogued, allowing employees and supervisors to search for specific competencies needed to support work throughout the agency.
GAO Recommendation 3: Consistently train managers and supervisors in strategic human capital management and assessing employee skillsets.
NRC Response: The NRC agrees with this recommendation. The NRC developed a Supervisor Development Program (SOP) SharePoint site, which centrally houses information pertinent to management activities and required training. NRC will provide information on the agency's SWP process as it evolves via this site. Additionally, NRC will incorporate the SWP process and concepts into existing management training that will be both delivered in-person as well as available on-line.
The NRC will continue its focus on strategic human capital management as a key objective in attracting, developing, and maintaining a highly skilled workforce that can adapt to workload changes and effectively carry out the agency's mission. The NRC appreciates the opportunity to comment and to identify the agency actions that are being taken to address the recommendations in the GAO report.
Should you have any questions, please contact Mr. John Jolicoeur, at (301) 415-1642 or via email at John.Jolicoeur@nrc.gov.
Sincerely, Kristine L. Svinicki
Identical letter sent to:
Mr. Frank Rusco, Director Natural Resources and Environment U.S. Government Accountability Office 441 G Street, NW Washington, DC 20226 The Honorable John Barrasso Chairman, Committee on Environment and Public Works United States Senate Washington, DC 20510 cc: Senator Thomas R. Carper The Honorable Greg Walden Chairman, Committee on Energy and Commerce United States House of Representatives Washington, DC 20515 cc: Representative Frank Pallone, Jr.
The Honorable Mike Simpson Chairman, Subcommittee on Energy and Water Development Committee on Appropriations United States House of Representatives Washington, DC 20515 cc: Representative Marcy Kaptur The Honorable Lamar Alexander Chairman, Subcommittee on Energy and Water Development Committee on Appropriations United States Senate Washington, DC 20510 cc: Senator Dianne Feinstein The Honorable Jason Chaffetz Chairman, Committee on Oversight and Government Reform United States House of Representatives Washington, DC 20515 cc: Representative Elijah Cummings The Honorable Ron Johnson Chairman, Committee on Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs United States Senate Washington, DC 20510 cc: Senator Claire McCaskill