ML20248H706

Informs Commission of Staff Actions to Develop Methodology for Assessing Availability of Technical Skills at NRC

ML20248H706
Person / Time
Issue date:	05/28/1998
From:	Callan L NRC OFFICE OF THE EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR FOR OPERATIONS (EDO)
To:
References
SECY-98-122, SECY-98-122-01, SECY-98-122-1, SECY-98-122-R, NUDOCS 9806080223
Download: ML20248H706 (12)

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POLICY ISSUE May 28.1993 SECY-98-122 ERE: The Commissioners i

FROM L. Joseph Callan Executive Director for Operations

SUBJECT:

ASSESSMENT OF TECHNICAL SKILLS AVAILABILITY PURPOSE:

To inform the Commission of staff actions to develop a methodology for assessing the availability of technical skills at the NRC.

BACKGROUND:

As part of Phase 11 of the Strategic Assessment and Rebaselining initiative, the Steering Committee forwarded to the Commission a direction-setting issue paper: Staffing and Core Capabilities (DSI-18). DSI-18 concentrated on five key areas which would apply to the management of human resources within the Agency. These areas are: (1) projecting skills requirements and availability; (2) staffing mission and programs; (3) training and developing staff; (4) attracting and retaining staff; and (5) managing staff imbalances. The Commission requested the staff to prepare a preliminary action plan for projecting and maintaining skills requirements, availability, and staffing, to be finalized after the strategic plan is formulated and receives Commission approval. On May 30,1997, the staff provided a preliminary plan (SECY-97-112).

On June 6,1997, the Commission approved a related effort, SECY-97-075, Methodology and Criteria for Evaluating Core Research Capabilities, and directed that a similar process be

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f 2 extended to NRR, AEOD, and NMSS. On October 2,1997, the Commission approved the preliminay human resources action plan presented in SECY-97-112, with substantial l comments. Among other things, the SRM requested the staff to provide a methodology for l identifying core capabilities in coordination with related agency activities and schedules.

The SRM also asked the EDO, CFO, and CIO to review the need for carrying out all of the tasks included in SECY-97-112 and to determine whether a simpler approach would be feasible. The response of the EDO, CFO, and CIO was provided to the Commission on March 4,1998 (SECY-98-037).

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On May 6,1998, the staff provided the Commission SECY-98-102, Core Capabilities, which described a methodology for determining that a capability is core and for selecting a core i competency source. SECY-98-102 also provided an integrated plan and schedule for I identifying core capability requirements and acquiring and maintaining the core competencies to respond to them. Development of a skills assessment methodology, the next step in the plan and schedule, is the subject of this paper.

3 DISCUSSION:

The staff has developed a methodology for conducting a technical skills assessment. The I

approach is based on the development of a technical skills survey instrument that can be used l across the agency as a means for gathering data about the availability of staff to perform various technical activities (e.g., inspection, licensing) in areas specific to the NRC (e.g., operating reactors, medical isotopes). The survey also gathers data about the availability within the staff l of certain technical disciplines of particular interest to the t'RC.

The survey instrument has been developed by a working group from the Office of Human Resources (HR), the Office of Nuclear Reactor Regulation (NRR), the Office of Nuclear Materials Safety and Safeguards (NMSS), the Office of Nuclear Regulatory Research (RES),

and the Office for Analysis and Evaluation of Operational Data (AEOD). It will be initially tested

[ by small groups from the four technical offices to determine whether it is a useful instrument for capturing information about the availability of staff to perform core technical functions. The methodology to be used and sample survey instrument are discussed in more detailin Attachment 1.

Included in the initial implementation of the methodology will be an assessment of the staffs .

ability to record and manage the data collected with information technology currently available in f HR. The survey results will be obtained electronically and converted into a database that will interface with human resource information developed through the new PayPers system by l means of existing client-server technology. The PeopleSoft software that NRC will purchase in  ;

order to implement SURFIRE has a skills assessment module that NRC will consider implementing after the core modules needed for STARFIRE have been implemented. This step would improve the staffs ability to maintain and manage skills information.

The overall plan and schedule for the core capabilities initiative and a figure depicting the j process are also attached (Attachment 2).

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RESOURCE CONSIDERATIONS:

Implementation of this methodology has been coordinated with the respective program offices and will be accomplished within existing in-house staff resources.

COORDINATION This paper has been coordinated with the Chief Information Officer.

L. Joseph Callan Exkutive Director for Operations Attachments:

1. Methodology for Assessing the Availability of Technical Skills

2. Core Capabilities implementation Plan and Schedule DISTRIBUTION:

Commissioners OGC OCAA OIG OPA OCA CIO CFO EDO REGIONS SECY l

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Attachment 1 Methodology for Assessing the Availability of Technical Skills introduction A methodology for assessing the availability of technical skills at the NRC has been developed as part of an integrated process for identifying core capability requirements and acquiring and maintaining the core competencies to respond to them. The first two steps are described below, and a complete implementation schedule is also provided in Attachment 2.

Step 1: Identify the key technical activities and application areas and selected specialized technical disciplines to develop survey instrument A Technical Skills Assessment Working Group convened in May to develop a survey instrument that could be used across the agency as a means for gathering data about the availability of staff to perform technical activities. SECY-98-037 proposed testing a skills assessment methodology in selected areas in NMSS, RES, AEOD, and NRR. Representatives from these organizations met with HR staff to develop a matrix of agency activity Fqd applications areas that could be used by staff in their organizational units to self-assess their experience. The staff has also included a survey of the availability of specific technical disciplines identified in SECY-97-075, Methodology and Criteria for Evaluating Core Capabilities. When combined with other pertinent human resources information already captured by HR (educational degree fields, occupational series, job history), the collected information could be used by agency managers to determine what staff can do as well as what they know. The survey developed by the working group follows this discussion of the methodology.

Steo 2: Implement survey in selected areas in AEOD, NMSS, NRR, and RES The Technical Skills survey will be e-mailed to 17 criticality specialists in the Division of Fuel Cycle Safety and Safeguards, the Spent Fuel Project Office, and the Division of Waste Management, NMSS; the Digital Instrumentation and Control Team (6 staff members), Division of Systems Technology, RES; 8 Operations Officers in the incident Response Division, AEOD; and the Civil Engineering and Geosciences Branch, Division of Engineering, NRR ( 18 staff members).

Staff members will complete the survey, and e-mail it to their supervisors for review and comments. Supervisors will e-mail completed survey to HR. Surveys will be scanned into a database.

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O Attachment 2 Core Capabilities implementation Plan and Schedule The curre'nt schedule for integrated implementation of core capability initiatives is as follows:

Phase 1 - Skills Availability Assessment May 1998 Develop methodology, including templates for gathering, synthesizing, storing, and retrieving skills data.

June 1998 Initialimplementation of methodology in selected areas in AEOD, NMSS, NRR, and RES, July 1998 Assess the validity and utility of collected skills data.

August,1998 Evaluate and, as appropriate, revise methodology.

September 1998 Establish schedule for full assessment of agency technical skills.

September 1998 Incorporate skills assessment activity in FY 1999 operating plans.

Phase 2 - Core Capability Requirements identification May 1998 Develop and issue methodology, including criteria for determining that a capability is core, and for selecting a core competency source (e.g., DOE lab, university, other contractor, in-house staff).

September 1998 On basis of updated strategic, performance, and budget planning guidance, identify technical competency requirements over budget planning period, and longer-range horizon as feasible.

determine which competencies are core.

determine competency source (lab, contractor, in-house staff).

incorporate results in budget and operating plans.

October 1998 Advise the Commission of progress and outcomes of Phases I and ll.

Phase 3 - Development and implementation of Strateaies to Remedy Comoetency Gaps October 1998 Identify gaps between available in-house skills and core in-house competency requirements December 1998 incorporate approaches formulated for addressing competency and ongoing gaps in updates of Program and Organization Operating Plans l

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