The Office of Legacy Management (LM) needs skilled and engaged staff to accomplish our mission and

carry out our responsibilities to the American people. This (HCMP or Plan)

shows how we intend to recruit, hire, train, develop, and retain such employees.

Our differs from previous versions not only in enhanced

visual appeal (including photos of LM staff and sites) but also in showing direct links between our

objectives, strategies, and activities and the human capital issues most important to President Obama’s

Administration, the Department, and our own management and staff.

We thank the LM Management Team and other staff who contributed to and commented on this plan. We

all know that for the LM HCMP to succeed we must continually evaluate our progress and adjust our plan

accordingly. Whether we will need to revise our hiring processes to more efficiently bring the right talent

onboard, or conceive workforce and knowledge management plans that appropriately anticipate future

needs, we are committed to the spirit of this plan and will hold ourselves accountable for making it happen.

Sincerely,

Human Capital Management Plan

2011–2015 LM Human Capital Management Plan

Every 2 years, the Office of Personnel Management (OPM) conducts a survey to assess human capital

programs and employees’ viewpoints regarding those programs. We take the results of this survey so

seriously that we have organized our objectives and strategies according to OPM’s categories.

Tom Pauling

Director, Office of Site Operations

Barbara McNeal Lloyd

Director, Office of Business Operations

David W. Geiser

Director, Office of Legacy Management

Patricia Poole-Shirriel

Team Leader, Human Resources and Administrative Team
Letter to the Reader . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . i

. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1

A. LM Mission, Vision, Goals and Objectives, and Core Values . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1

B. Results from the 2010 OPM Survey . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3

. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4

. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 8

A. Recruit, Develop, and Retain a Best-in-Class Workforce . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 8

B. Promote a Performance-Based Culture . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 10

C. Develop Strong Leaders Throughout LM . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 13

D. Promote Employee Development . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 15

E. Collect and Leverage Mission-Critical Knowledge . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 16

Matrix of Performance Measures and Milestones

by Objective and Date . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 17

Alignment of LM Human Capital Management

Objectives with U.S. Department of Energy (DOE)

Human Capital Goals and Activities. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 21

I. Introduction to LM and this Plan

II. LM Human Capital Management Plan 2011–2015:

Where We Are, Where We Need to Be, How to Get There

III. LM’s Human Capital Objectives and Planned Actions

Appendices

Appendix A

Appendix B
A. LM Mission, Vision, Goals and Objectives, and Core Values

DOE established LM on December 15, 2003, with the mission to fulfill the Department’s post-closure responsibilities

and ensure the associated future protection of human health and the environment. The vision, goals and objectives,

and core values below, taken from LM’s (

), are repeated here to explain the range and depth of knowledge, skills, and abilities

LM’s people must collectively possess to accomplish this mission.

The Department’s legacy workforce, communities, and the environment are well protected and served.

Consistent and effective long-term surveillance and maintenance protects people and the environment.

The public has easy access to relevant records and information.

Because we work together, stakeholders and state, tribal, and local governments trust us.

The Department’s former contractor workforce receives mandated benefits on time.

Land is available for optimal use.

Communities are treated fairly and have meaningful involvement.

Comply with environmental laws and regulations.

Reduce health risks and long-term surveillance and

maintenance costs.

Partner with other Federal programs to learn how to make

environmental remedies better and last longer.

Oversee DOE implementation of Executive Order 12898,

.

2011–2020 Strategic Plan

Federal Actions to Address Environmental Justice in Minority

Populations and Low-Income Populations

An organization’s vision is not about itself; rather, it describes the imagined possible future state that would result

from full accomplishment of its mission. It’s the portrait of our envisioned success:

Goal 1 – Protect human health and the environment.























Goal 2 – Preserve, protect, and share records

and information.







Meet public expectations for outreach activities.

Protect records and make them accessible.

Protect and ensure access to information.

Mission

Vision

Goals and Objectives

http://www.lm.doe.gov/linkfiles/Strategic_Plan/

2011-2020_Strategic_Plan.aspx
Goal 3 – Meet commitments to the contractor workforce.

Goal 4 Optimize the use of land and assets.

Goal 5 – Sustain management excellence.































Safeguard contractor pension plans.

Fund contractor health and life insurance.

Optimize public use of Federal lands and properties.

Transfer excess government property.

Improve domestic uranium mining and milling operations.

Renew LM’s designation as a high performing organization (HPO).

Implement LM’s (HCMP).

Operate in a sustainable manner and reduce LM’s carbon footprint.

To accomplish our mission and achieve our vision, LM must rely on the capabilities and dedication of its staff.

To this end, the LM HCMP establishes the framework of programs and practices that will guide us in meeting

the needs of our workforce. This plan includes strategies and actions that will enable us to improve the way

we attract, hire, develop, retain, empower, and improve the lives of our workforce now and in the future. The

HCMP is all about our people—what they can do to more effectively achieve our mission and what we can do

to more effectively grow and develop them—and it is reflective of and supported by the LM core values:

– People are our most important resource. We respect and use our experience and skills and

appreciate our diversity.

– We are fiscally responsible and actively pursue best business practices.

– We protect our human and material resources and promote safe work practices within our offices

and at our sites.

– We take full advantage of our virtual organization’s strengths and share information

freely across all levels of the organization.

– We encourage leadership and teamwork at all levels of the organization. We

value active participation and demonstrate respect for each other.

– We openly communicate with all our customers in a timely manner and actively seek

opportunities to improve our services.

– We consult with our communities to make informed decisions that comply

with environmental laws, regulations, and agreements; support environmental justice; and demonstrate

respect for the environment.

–

Human Capital Management Plan

People

Business Excellence

Safety

Communication

Leadership and Teamwork

Customer Focus

Environmental Stewardship

Core Values
Results Summary

Areas for Improvement

Notable Trends

In 2010, the average LM response to the Federal Employee Viewpoint Survey questions was 7 percent higher

(more favorable) than the DOE average. In addition, LM employees gave the organization scores that were

10 percent (or more) higher than the DOE average on nearly 40 percent of the 78 questions. This tells us that

relative to the Department as a whole, LM employees are satisfied and believe the organization is a good

place to work. However, LM employees ranked the organization below the DOE average on 18 percent of

the questions (14 of 78). Based on these questions we have identified four primary areas for improvement.

Those areas are summarized below and specific actions are included in this Plan.

1. Over the next 5 years we must improve our ability to recruit employees with the right skills.

Employees report that their workload is not reasonable, therefore we intend to work diligently to

recruit more employees, with the right skills.

2. We need to improve manager and employee understanding of the current Performance

Management System.

3. We need to do a better job of sharing knowledge and cooperating to get work done.

4. LM needs to focus more on diversity initiatives of all kinds; LM lags slightly behind DOE in terms of

managers, supervisors, and team leads working well with employees of different backgrounds.

LM employees showed an increase in job satisfaction by 10 percent since 2006. Leaders are consistently

rated higher today than in 2006 in five categories: communication and employee feedback, supporting

employee development, generating employee respect and high levels of motivation, linking pay to

performance, and implementing policies and programs that promote diversity. Overall, 73 percent of

LM employees reported that their immediate supervisor or team lead was doing a good job compared

to 60 percent in 2008 and 60 percent in 2006. We are proud of our accomplishments in these areas.
In February 2007, the Office of Management and Budget (OMB) designated LM as a High Performing

Organization (HPO). We are proud of the work we have done to earn that distinction and are determined

to maintain this standard for ourselves and our customers. In order to maintain this standard, we will need

more human capital. More sites have been remediated since 2007, increasing LM’s scope, and we expect

even more new scope over the next 5 years.

This section of the plan therefore examines where we are today, and where we need to be, in terms of the

following: organizational structure, staffing levels, grade structure, technical capability, workforce planning,

diversity, and geography.

LM’s structure, designed to focus on the four program goals and the fifth goal of management excellence, has

worked, and we intend to keep it essentially the same for the next 5 years. In preparation for the future, we

did make two organizational adjustments in fiscal year (FY) 2011. With the increase in the number of sites and

the significant differences between managing Uranium Mill Tailings Radiation Control Act (UMTRCA) sites;

Comprehensive Environmental Response, Compensation, and Liability Act (CERCLA) sites; and Resource

Conservation and Recovery Act (RCRA) sites; we decided to split the single Environment Team into two, with

LM-20.1 devoted to UMTRCA and LM-20.2 to CERCLA and RCRA. We also changed the name of the Property

Reuse Team to the Asset Management Team to better reflect its responsibilities.

Organizational Structure
Staffing Levels

Grade Structure

Technical Capability

Although our mission will stay essentially the same over the

next 5 years, the increase in scope will require more staff.

We expect to be responsible for significant workload increases,

including both ongoing and new activities in the following areas:

33 more sites – from 87 to 120 (5 full-time equivalent (FTE)

by FY 2015).

Start of operations at a new mercury storage facility in

FY 2013 (1 FTE employee by FY 2013).

Responsibility for records and information management of

the Yucca Mountain Transition Project (2 FTE employees by

FY 2012).

Improve the nation’s ability to mine and mill uranium in an

environmentally sustainable manner (0.5 FTE employee

by FY 2012).

Under the original HPO designation, LM Federal staffing was authorized at 58, falling to 57 in 2009 with the

transfer of labor relations and labor standards functions to the Office of General Counsel. We have asked for a

total of 60 Federal staff in FY 2012, including two to manage the work and

one to support the growth in site responsibility through 2012. We anticipate needing five to seven additional

staff over the next 5 years as the workload increases. A specific staffing plan will be proposed with our HPO

renewal in late FY 2011.

LM is required, as part of our OMB designation as an HPO, to report quarterly on the organization’s average

grade level. Unlike organizations created from competitive sourcing proposals, LM is authorized to change

grade levels on individual positions as long as the average is GS-13 or below. Over the next 5 years, LM

will reduce the grade level for most positions. LM will also introduce more and wider

career ladders to those positions that have experienced excessive turnover or been difficult to fill. Through

these steps, we will sustain our requirement for an average grade level of GS-13 and increase our ability to

train and retain employees for a longer period of time.

The LM mission requires a broad range of education, training, and technical skills on the part of our Federal

employees. We need general engineers, physical scientists, geologists, actuaries, certified realty officers,

information technology specialists, property management specialists, and records experts. We have a wide

range of skills for a relatively small organization.

Most of our added workload over the next 5 years, the result of an increase in site management responsibility

as new sites are transferred to us, will require more site managers, engineers, and physical scientists, as well

as property specialists and public outreach and communications experts.









employees

Yucca Mountain Transition Project

nonsupervisory GS-15
Federal Outsourcing

Workforce Planning

With government agencies facing loss of personnel to retirement, shrinking budgets, and a refocus of

funding in the face of unprecedented financial issues, LM will continue to use outsourcing as a means to

reduce and control operating costs and bring in specialized expertise. Specifically, LM pays for Federal

support from other parts of DOE (i.e., legal, human resources, procurement) and from other Federal agencies

(i.e., General Services Administration, U.S. Army Corps of Engineers) for realty support.

Workforce planning is key to LM’s continual development of its leadership and employee capabilities. In

pursuit of this goal, we focus particularly on performance management, career and professional development,

knowledge management, and communication. We encourage our employees to take charge of their own

careers and provide them the support they need to achieve their goals.

Given the reality that 43 percent of our current workforce is or will be retirement eligible within the next

5 years, we are thinking about and planning for unanticipated as well as anticipated departures to prepare

to effectively handle current workload as well as increases in scope.

Diversity

Diversity is an LM strength. Since standing up in December 2003, LM has hired from a wide variety of Federal

agencies and the private sector, bringing new ideas and broader experience to LM. We have also hired from

colleges and universities through the DOE intern program, which has allowed a knowledge transfer between

the departing workforce and recent hires.
LM and DOE Diversity 2011

American

Indian or

Alaska Native

Asian or

Pacific

Islander

Black, Not

of Hispanic

Origin

Hispanic White, Not

of Hispanic

Origin

0%

5%

10%

15%

20%

25%

30%

35%

40%

45%

50%

LM Male

DOE Male

LM Female

DOE Female

Location Number of LM Staff

Grand Junction, CO 18

Fernald and Mound, OH 1

Westminster, CO 8

60

Morgantown, WV 11

Las Vegas, NV 2

Washington, DC 20

Total

In terms of gender and race, the LM Federal workforce exceeds the Department averages for both women

and minorities except Asian women and Native Americans. Our 10-person management team includes four

women and three African Americans. The lack of Native Americans is of concern because a lot of our site

work, particularly in the West, involves Native American Tribes. LM will continue to evaluate the diversity

of our Federal staff relative to DOE and to the U.S. population as a whole.

Geography

LM has primary offices in Washington, DC; Morgantown, West Virginia; Westminster, Colorado; and Grand

Junction, Colorado; and satellite offices in Las Vegas, Nevada, and Fernald and Mound, Ohio. The satellite

offices allow direct oversight of our more costly projects and also make us more easily accessible to our most

active stakeholders. Over the next few years the number of satellite offices will decline, allowing us to transfer

the Federal employees in Las Vegas and Mound to other locations.
The remainder of this document explains how we plan to achieve our human capital objectives. It is important

to note that our plan is in alignment with the DOE HCMP (refer to Appendix B), the Office of Personnel

Management (OPM) Human Capital goals, and the goals articulated by the Obama Administration. Over

the next 5 years, we will execute this plan, hold ourselves accountable for results, continually measure

our performance against defined metrics, and adjust our actions along the way as needed.

Access to the right people, with the right skills, at the right time is essential to the successful achievement

of an organization’s mission.

Objective 1 aligns with the OPM Human Capital goals to “Hire the Best” and “Respect the Workforce” and

with the Obama Administration’s directive to “Improve the Federal Hiring Process,” “Improve Personnel

Analytics,” “Restore the Balance Between Work Done by Federal Employees and Work Done by Contractors,”

and with the put forth by the DOE Under Secretary. Here are our plans for achieving

this objective.

As noted earlier, 43 percent of our current workforce is or will be eligible to retire within the next 5 years.

Strategic workforce planning is thus not merely important but urgent, especially in the face of significant

increases in program scope.

Define and describe “key positions” that directly

support LM strategy.

Identify employees eligible to retire in the next

5 years and determine future LM needs in alignment

with the LM .

Identify key positions, skills, certification

requirements, or LM-distinct knowledge that

will be hard to replace, and our current bench

strength or external sourcing potential for replacing

key positions when they become vacant.

Develop a vacancy strategy for each key position

(e.g., train current LM employees, consider sources

for external candidates, etc.).

A. Objective 1: Recruit, develop, and retain a best-in-class workforce.

Hiring Reform Plan

2011–2020 Strategic Plan

Key Actions









Strategy 1 – Develop and implement a workforce plan that identifies current, and

plans for future, mission-critical positions in LM.
Strategy 2 Increase efficiency of hiring and onboarding processes and make new

employees glad to be here.

Strategy 3 – Implement retention strategies to maintain a high-quality workforce.

–

The ability to attract, hire, and bring onboard new LM employees efficiently is essential to the continued

growth of our organization. Over the past 5 years, our number of vacancies has increased from 2 in 2006 to

9 in 2009 and 12 in 2010. These vacancies are often hard to fill because the positions require specialized skills

which are sometimes difficult to find. To that end, we must be innovative in our sourcing of candidates and

efficient and deliberate in the steps we take to attract, hire, and welcome them to our LM team.

Define and communicate hiring roles and

responsibilities.

Improve the interview process to ensure that

we assess candidates’ managerial, leadership,

and competency-based skills as well as their

technical expertise.

Train our management on best-practice

recruiting and interviewing techniques

(e.g., behavior-based interviewing).

Identify new sources to find candidates for

traditionally hard-to-fill positions that require

specialized expertise.

Define, communicate, and improve our

onboarding process to make sure all new

employees get the same important and

useful information.

Since LM was established in 2003, we have invested significant resources to hire, train, and develop our

employees. With an average turnover rate of 14 percent (7 employees per year) since 2006, due only partially

to retirements, we must act to retain our best staff longer.

Key Actions











Key Actions









Analyze our teams and locations to see where retention has been a particular issue over the past 5 years.

Determine why retention problems exist in certain areas but not in others.

Implement an exit interview process and make any possible changes based on lessons learned.

Devise and implement targeted strategies to improve retention.
Measures of Success







Workload analysis and workforce planning have been completed and LM staffing decisions are made

according to the analysis and planning.

Roles and responsibilities in the hiring and onboarding processes have been defined, communicated, and

implemented across LM to promote more effective hiring.

Retention strategies are in place to retain more employees in mission-critical positions.

B. Objective 2: Promote a performance-based culture.

LM’s stakeholders, and most importantly the public we serve, are demanding greater accountability from

our programs. This means that we need a commitment from the entire LM organization to work together to

achieve our goals and agreement to hold our staff and ourselves accountable when expectations are not met.

Objective 2 is key to our continued success and aligns with the OPM Human Capital goals to “Respect the

Workforce,” “Expect the Best,” and “Honor Service,” as well as the Obama Administration’s call to “Improve

Personnel Analytics.” Here are our plans for achieving this objective.

To truly establish a performance-based culture in LM, we need two-way open and transparent communication

from the top levels, including assuring our staff that leadership is listening to them and engaging them in the

process of organizational change. An inspired and empowered staff is easier to manage, more productive, and

eager to make the necessary changes to improve our program operations. When our employees know that we

count on them to achieve desired results and that we hold ourselves to the same standard, they will be more

likely to hold themselves accountable.

Define “performance-based culture” in the context of

LM’s strategy.

Incorporate performance-based accountability

mechanisms into performance evaluations, including

measures of success aligned with LM’s overall strategy.

Create formal interactive training programs on

performance-based culture and deliver

to all LM employees.

Schedule training on delivering effective performance

feedback for all members of our Management Team.

Key Actions









Strategy 1 – Design and implement communication methods and tools to inform and

educate staff on working in a performance-based culture.
Strategy 2 – Implement methods and tools to effectively manage employees

in a virtual organization.

Strategy 3 – Review existing programs and develop new programs to celebrate

employee successes.

LM is a virtual environment with 60 authorized FTEs across 7 locations. Although a significant number of

the LM staff is currently located in Washington, DC, almost two-thirds of our workforce comprises other LM

employees in six different sites across the country. We are committed, though physically separated by distance

and time zones, to use modern technology to let us work as a seamless unit to deliver on our objectives and

achieve our mission.

Design communication opportunities and methods to ensure consistent experiences across LM

regardless of location.

Review existing tools and resources used to manage and work in a virtual environment to determine

effectiveness and identify areas for improvement (e.g., webinars, instant messaging, etc.).

Train LM managers and teams on how to manage and work in a virtual environment.

For teams that are geographically dispersed, give members the tools, resources, and training to work

in a virtual environment.

Key Actions









Rewarding employees through monetary and nonmonetary awards and recognition is critical to staff

motivation and commitment to the organization and its mission. Our program includes both monetary

awards (On-the-Spot, Performance, and Special Act awards) and nonmonetary awards (pins and plaques

based on length of service and paid time off). We are not sure the existing programs are enough to keep our

staff engaged, so we will evaluate our current programs and revise as necessary.

Meet with staff to understand what types of recognition, rewards, and awards motivate them.

Research successful awards and recognition programs in other DOE organizations

and other Federal agencies.

Identify and design formal and informal programs to recognize, reward, and thank our people for jobs

well done, including drafting program parameters and requirements.

Align our awards and recognition programs to performance goals and accountability expectations.

Find ways to spread the word about recipients of awards and recognition across LM and DOE.

Key Actions









Strategy 4 – Foster demographic diversity and diversity of perspective

throughout LM.

A recent analysis of LM’s diversity statistics shows we have maintained fairly steady diversity statistics over

the past 4 years. Although this is positive, we have some work to do to promote greater diversity in specific

LM geographic locations.

Compared with the rest of DOE, LM is slightly more diverse in terms of race for Black (both male and female)

and Hispanic (male) categories and slightly less diverse in the categories of Asian or Pacific Islander (female).

Although maintaining a demographically diverse workforce in terms of age, gender, and national origin is

essential and mandated in Federal agencies, diversity of perspective—employee work history, experience,

education, and interests—is equally important. As we continue to grow and build a strong performance-based

LM culture, we must be mindful of promoting an environment where diversity of all kinds is a factor in our

hiring, employee development, retention, and other programs.

Promote awareness of cultural differences through special DOE events and training.

Make diversity of background and perspective a consideration in all aspects of recruiting, hiring, and

retention, including increasing demographic diversity in team and geographic locations, where needed.

Ensure our diversity champion continues to promote activities for staff to learn about the unique interests,

hobbies, and backgrounds of their LM colleagues, e.g., through employee of the month write-ups.

Staff and leadership performance plans are measurably linked to LM objectives.

Communication systems enhance ongoing feedback between staff and leadership to continually

strengthen our culture and promote a consistently positive experience across LM, including the virtual

working environment.

Our awards and recognition program links to employee performance goals.

Diversity analysis identifies underrepresentation and describes outreach efforts to promote increased

representation in necessary areas and sites.

Key Actions

Measures of Success













C. Objective 3: Develop strong leaders

throughout LM.

LM’s Management Team, the three Directors and seven Team

Leaders responsible for managing our operations and staff, must

be strong and knowledgeable leaders. Leadership does not stop

there—the characteristics of a good leader must exist in all levels

of our organization.

Objective 3, which is critical for LM to maximize the potential of its

workforce, aligns with the OPM Human Capital goals to “Respect

the Workforce” and “Expect the Best” and with the Administration’s

plans to “Improve Federal Manager and Employee Training.” Here are our plans for achieving this objective.

Although identifying the necessary knowledge, skills, and abilities of a successful Management Team is

essential, it is equally important to know and increase the Team’s current leadership strengths and to discover

and fix any weaknesses. A leadership competency model is the starting point for identifying, evaluating, and

ultimately building strong leadership and leadership potential.

Develop an LM leadership competency model to identify what we want in our leaders and why those

competencies are so important.

Assess our leadership competencies.

Incorporate leadership competencies into leadership development programs through training, coaching,

and performance management.

Focus on closing gaps in the necessary leadership areas by linking existing programs for leadership and

staff-level training and coaching to the leadership competency model.

Key Actions









Strategy 1 – Develop and implement a leadership competency model.
Strategy 2 – Evaluate and promote leadership development programs designed to

maximize leadership potential.

LM’s strong leadership and staff-level coaching program helps team members build the skills they need.

To date, 8 of our Management Team members have participated in the Leadership Coaching program and

12 staff members have participated in the LM Individual Contributor coaching program. Three managers have

attended the Federal Executive Institute (FEI) leadership program, and LM intends to send a manager each

year. In addition, all LM managers are required to attend the DOE Supervisory Essentials Strategies for

Success training, which focuses on a manager’s role related to preventing

waste, fraud, and abuse; labor relations; creating a safe and secure working environment; discipline; and

performance management. While this course covers some of the basics a new manager needs to know, we

need to identify and implement leadership development programs with a competency-based curriculum.

Review existing leadership development programs attended by LM employees to determine success and

impact (e.g., Supervisory Essentials Strategies for Success, FEI program, and coaching program).

Benchmark leadership development programs within DOE, other Federal agencies, or external providers

and choose the ones that align best with needed LM leadership competencies.

Include minimum mandatory leadership development program participation requirements in our

performance plans.

Key Actions











Measures of Success

A robust leadership competency model, containing all necessary and sufficient attributes, has become a

routine part of hiring and leadership development. The model is built into our interview guide, coaching

programs, and leadership training and performance management programs.

A process exists to assess leadership competencies in our leadership development programs and an

assessment has been completed to identify gaps of our current leaders and in current programs.

equal employment opportunity;
D. Objective 4: Promote employee development.

When fully staffed, LM has approximately 50 staff-level (i.e., nonmanagement) employees occupying

positions such as physical scientists, program analysts, engineers, administrative professionals,

and other positions key to fulfilling our program and operational goals. LM needs, but lacks, a standardized,

consistent approach to developing and growing this staff. We know that to build and maintain a

top-notch workforce requires continual focus on motivating and developing each person’s unique and

specialized talents.

Objective 4 aligns with the OPM Human Capital goals to “Respect the Workforce” and “Expect the Best”

and with the Administration’s plans to “Improve Federal Manager and Employee Training.” Here are our

plans for achieving this objective.

One of the key factors in building a successful, skillful, and experienced workforce is shared accountability

for development, where employees take charge of their own careers and use available resources and tools

to identify their development objectives and associated training needs. For its part, management must

support staff by giving constructive performance feedback and regularly participating in career

development discussions. It is also critical that our employees are trained and up-to-speed on Departmentwide and LM-specific information technology systems that are used in carrying out or supporting their

job responsibilities.

Key Actions

Measure of Success















Participate in the DOE-wide Training Needs Assessment to identify formal training available to close

competency gaps.

Identify certification requirements necessary to support achievement of desired skill levels linked to the

needs of LM and the individual.

Publish a list of developmental opportunities and make it accessible to our staff, showing how

developmental opportunities link to LM’s objectives.

Attend management training on employee development.

Conduct annual career development discussions with staff to confirm career interests and plans through

the use of an Individual Development Plan (IDP).

Train employees as necessary on Department-wide and

LM-specific technologies used by LM staff (e.g., Learning

Management System, Quick Hire, CHRIS, etc.)

We have a policy, shared by employees and our

managers, of joint accountability for development,

including the use of IDPs and regular discussions

between employees and their managers on career

development planning.

Strategy 1 – Develop and staff programs to build high-quality talent within LM.
E. Objective 5: Collect and leverage mission-critical knowledge.

With so many retirement-eligible staff, it is critical that we establish programs and processes to maintain and

preserve mission-critical LM knowledge. LM uses tools such as a shared computer drive and the LM Intranet

(with plans shortly to launch Powerpedia) to store documents and deliverables. Some teams have documented

Standard Operating Procedures (SOPs), but overall we lack a consistent approach to knowledge management.

Objective 5 is of immediate importance to LM and aligns with the OPM Human Capital goal to “Expect the

Best” in terms of giving our employees the knowledge-management tools needed for continuity of operations

as key people retire or otherwise leave LM, and with the Administration’s goal to “Improve Federal Manager

and Employee Training.” Here are our plans for achieving this objective.

Of today’s 24 employees eligible to retire over the next 5 years, 62.5 percent have been with LM from its start

in December 2003. Because critical information and data about LM’s past operations could be lost as these

people depart, knowledge management must be paramount in our HCMP.

Identify and train backups for all key positions and impending retirees and develop a plan to

cross-train them (e.g., shadowing, one-on-one training, rotational assignments, PowerPedia).

Identify or develop key work products, templates, and processes for all key positions.

Set up a knowledge-sharing portal where templates, SOPs, LM , organizational

briefings, and other documents can be posted for others to access and review as necessary, and define

mandatory requirements for maintaining a document repository.

Hold ongoing informal cross-training sessions within Teams and across LM as appropriate.

A published LM knowledge-management process is in place to execute backup and cross-training plans

and define employee usage of knowledge-management tools to maintain mission-critical knowledge,

SOPs, templates, and other essential documents

Key Actions

Measure of Success











2011-2020 Strategic Plan

.

Strategy 1 – Define, develop, and implement a process to protect and maintain

LM mission-critical knowledge.
Develop and

implement a

workforce plan that

identifies current,

and plans for future,

mission-critical

positions in LM.

Increase efficiency of

hiring and onboarding

processes and make

new employees glad

to be here.

Implement retention

strategies to maintain

a high-quality

workforce.

Workload analysis and

workforce planning have

been completed and LM

staffing decisions are

made according to the

analysis and planning.

Roles and responsibilities

in the hiring and

onboarding processes

have been defined,

communicated, and

implemented across

to promote more

effective hiring.

LM

Retention strategies are

in place to retain more

employees in missioncritical positions.

Workload analysis presented to management that documents the

impact of new sites on the staffing and workload requirements.

FY 2011

Implement recommendations and staffing strategy based on

workload analysis.

FY 2011–FY 2015

Hiring decisions and recruiting strategies are made according to the

workforce planning recommendations (e.g., positions will be

advertised at the identified level, position descriptions will be drafted

according to the documented skill, certification, requirements, etc.).

FY 2012 FY 2015 –

Workforce planning for “key” positions (including retirees) within

the organization has been completed.

FY 2011

Roles and responsibilities in the hiring process have been identified,

documented, and communicated to the LM Management Team and

other responsible parties.

FY 2011

Roles and responsibilities in the LM onboarding process have been

identified and documented.

FY 2011

LM has identified, developed, and implemented solutions to any

retention issues discovered.

FY 2011 FY 2015 –

The LM Management Team is being held accountable for following

the hiring process and utilizing required forms and guidelines.

FY 2012

Roles and responsibilities in the LM onboarding process have been

communicated to the LM Management Team and other responsible

parties and the LM Management Team is being held accountable for

following the on-boarding process and utilizing required

documentation and support material.

FY 2012

LM has identified and created training on best practice

recruiting and interviewing techniques and made it available to the

LM Management Team.

FY 2011

LM has analyzed sourcing possibilities for positions with

hard-to-find and specialized expertise and implemented new

strategies as necessary.

FY 2011

LM has analyzed turnover and retention and documented the

reasons for high turnover where it exists.

FY 2011 Y 2015 –F

LM has identified teams, locations, and groups where there may

have been high turnover over the past 5 years.

FY 2011 FY 2015 –

Strategies Performance Measures Milestone Date

LM has designed and implemented an exit interview questionnaire

with questions focusing on understanding why the employee is

leaving LM.

FY 2011
Design and implement

communication

methods and tools to

inform and educate

staff on working in a

performance-based

culture.

Implement methods

and tools to

effectively manage

employees in a virtual

organization.

Review existing

programs and develop

new programs to

celebrate employee

successes.

Staff and leadership

performance plans are

measurably linked to LM

objectives.

Communication systems

enhance ongoing

feedback between staff

and leadership to

continually strengthen our

culture and promote a

consistently positive

experience across LM,

including the virtual

working environment.

Communication systems

enhance ongoing

feedback between staff

and leadership to

continually strengthen our

culture and promote a

consistently positive

experience across LM,

including the virtual

working environment.

An awards and

recognition program

linked to employee

performance goals.

LM organizational goals continue to be documented and

communicated to LM staff and management.

LM staff and management are required to link individual

performance goals to LM Office goals.

LM has identified, reviewed, and assessed effectiveness of existing

internal communications methods, including communication within

a virtual environment.

LM has recommended methods to improve and enhance internal

communication within LM, including communication within a virtual

environment.

LM has reviewed existing virtual team and management tools

conducted focus groups and surveys of staff, reviewed usage

metrics, etc.), and assessed effectiveness (and reasons for

ineffectiveness where applicable).

(e.g.,

LM has researched and recommended new virtual team and

management tools for use within LM.

LM has provided training on use of virtual team and management

tools and tips on how to work and manage in a virtual environment

where necessary.

LM has implemented informal reward and recognition methods

across LM.

LM has conducted focus groups with staff to determine reward,

award, and recognition motivation factors.

LM has reviewed current award, reward, and recognition programs

to determine if current programs are aligned with employee

motivation factors, as well as performance goals, accountability

expectations, and LM values, and where gaps exist.

LM has researched successful

programs at other agencies to determine programs that align with

LM employee motivation factors, performance goals, and LM values.

award, reward, and recognition

LM has identified and recommended new formal

programs to the LM Management Team.

award, reward,

and recognition

LM management has approved the design and implementation

of new award, reward, and recognition programs and LM staff

and management have been informed of and trained on the

new program.

FY 2011–FY 2015

FY 2011–FY 2015

FY 2011–FY 2015

FY 2011 FY 2015 –

FY 2011–FY 2015

FY 2011–FY 2015

FY 2011–FY 2015

FY 2011–FY 2015

FY 2012

FY 2012 FY 2015 –

FY 2012 FY 2015 –

FY 2012–FY 2015

FY 2012–FY 2015

Strategies Performance Measures Milestone Date
Foster demographic

diversity and diversity

of perspective

throughout LM.

Diversity analysis

identifies

underrepresentation and

describes outreach

efforts to promote

increased representation

in necessary areas.

LM has up to date diversity statistics for all LM departments,

programs, locations, positions, grade ( level, etc., and has analyzed

statistics to determine where underrepresentation issues exist.

GS)

FY 2011–FY 2015

LM has analyzed results of outreach efforts to determine

effectiveness.

FY 2012 FY 2015 –

Develop and

implement a

leadership

competency model.

Evaluate and

promote leadership

development

programs designed

to maximize

leadership potential.

A robust leadership

competency model,

containing all necessary

and sufficient attributes,

has become a routine

part of hiring and

leadership development.

The model is built into

our interview guide,

coaching programs, and

leadership training and

performance

management programs.

A process exists to

assess leadership

competencies in our

leadership development

programs and an

assessment has been

completed to identify

gaps in our current

leadership and in

current programs.

LM has identified, developed, and implemented outreach efforts to

promote increased representation in necessary areas.

FY 2011 FY 2015 –

LM diversity champion has identified potential diversity awareness

types of programs and events that may be interesting to staff.

FY 2011 FY 2015 –

LM diversity champion has designed an annual calendar of internal

diversity programs and events that have been published on the LM

Intranet and communicated via other applicable methods.

FY 2011 FY 2015 –

LM diversity champion educates LM staff and management on

relevant diversity-related external special events and conferences.

FY 2011 FY 2015 –

LM conducts regular feedback sessions with LM leaders to assess

whether current leadership development programs are the right

ones for LM leaders in terms of competencies covered, leadership

skills gained, etc.

FY 2012 FY 2015 –

Management has identified leadership competency gaps in

leadership teams and identified strategies (e.g., training, leadership

development programs, coaching, etc.) to close gaps.

FY 2012 FY 2013 –

LM has incorporated leadership competencies as part of the

assessment criteria in the hiring process (e.g., behavior-based

interview questions).

FY 2012 FY 2013 –

LM has identified leadership competencies most important for

leadership positions within LM and conducted a competency

assessment of LM leadership relative to the leadership

competencies identified for LM.

FY 2012

LM has reviewed existing leadership development programs

and incorporated leadership competencies into the programs

as necessary.

FY 2013 F– Y 2015

Strategies Performance Measures Milestone Date

Strategies Performance Measures Milestone Date
Develop and staff

programs to build

high-quality talent

within LM.

A policy is shared

by employees and our

managers, of joint

accountability for

development, including

the use of IDPs and

regular discussions

between employees and

their managers on career

development planning.

LM has drafted and implemented an employee development policy

highlighting the importance of shared accountability.

FY 2012

LM has conducted staff training on the importance of taking charge

of one’s own career, the link between individual development and

the success of LM, and how the IDP can be used as a development

tool to achieve individual success.

FY 2012–FY 2013

LM has developed and implemented management training on the

LM employee development process, the importance of employee

development within LM, how to help employees identify

appropriate development opportunities, and how to have employee

development conversations and provide effective feedback, etc.

FY 2012–FY 2013

The LM Management Team is held accountable in their own

performance evaluations for having employee development

discussions on at least an annual basis.

FY 2014

Define, develop, and

implement a process

protect and

LM

mission-critical

knowledge.

to

maintain

Published LM knowledgemanagement process is

in place to execute

backup and crosstraining plans and

employee usage of

knowledge-management

tools to maintain

mission-critical

knowledge, SOPs,

templates, and other

essential documents.

LM teams have drafted requisite SOPs for all key processes within

the team and posted them to the LM knowledge-sharing portal.

FY 2011–FY 2014

LM has researched and implemented a knowledge-management tool

to store and share mission-critical information.

FY 2012–FY 2013

LM Team Leads have identified backups for key positions and

developed and implemented a cross-training plan to ensure

knowledge transfer.

FY 2012–FY 2015

LM has drafted a knowledge-management and sharing policy,

provided training on the program, and implemented it across LM.

FY 2012–FY 2013

LM Team Leads have identified key work products, templates, and

processes within their teams and posted them on the knowledgesharing portal according to the LM policy.

FY 2013

LM has identified opportunities for cross-training between teams

and has implemented a process to cross-train where appropriate.

FY 2012–FY 2014

Strategies Performance Measures Milestone Date

Strategies Performance Measures Milestone Date
DOE HC Goals/Activities

Goal 4 – Improve the coordination and oversight of corporate marketing, recruitment, and

intern programs.

Goal 1 – Improve Hiring Process throughout DOE.

Goal 4 – Improve the coordination and oversight of corporate marketing, recruitment, and

intern programs.

Goal 7 – Focus on partnership development, customer outreach, and metrics to improve

human capital performance and customer service.

Goal 3 – Provide timely and effective policies, policy guidance, and accountability oversight.





























Develop, integrate, and target effective recruitment strategies to:

– Hire and maintain mission-critical occupations.

Develop standard PDs and publish in an online library.

Hiring managers select interview panels, preschedule interview times, and develop

interview questions before receiving applicant referral certificates.

Better educate managers and program staff on hiring processes and flexibilities (online

training course).

Institutionalize workforce and position management preplanning.

Improve hiring manager’s knowledge on how to conduct an effective interview.

Provide hiring managers training on effective and efficient ways to recruit and hire.

Hold managers and supervisors accountable for efficient and effective hiring by

incorporating it into their performance plan.

Integrate all recruiting websites with the Department.

Enhance oversight of corporate recruitment and intern programs.

Establish procedures for the Pathways Program and implement new hiring authorities.

Launch, maintain, and improve innovative recruitment strategies.

Achieve the highest possible quality of new hires as measured by at least a 70 percent

satisfaction rate on survey data such as the manager satisfaction survey and the post 90-day

satisfaction survey for new hires and at least an 80 percent retention rate for new career and

career conditional hires over a three-year period.

Complete review of retention, recruiting, relocation, and student loan repayment incentives.

LM Strategies

Develop and implement a workforce plan

that identifies current, and plans for

future, mission-critical positions in LM.

Increase efficiency of hiring and

onboarding processes and make new

employees glad to be here.

Implement retention strategies to

maintain a high-quality workforce.
DOE HC Goals/Activities

Goal 6 – Corporately promote and measurably improve knowledge sharing, professional

development, and learning.





Provide a corporate approach for using competencies.

– Implement a competency-centric approach to learning and development that

facilitates the selection, development, training, and management of a highly skilled,

productive, and diverse workforce.

Establish a Department-wide, standard process for the identification,

development, and use of competencies through a Departmental Competency

Management Program.

Establish developmental occupational career paths that will map relative training and

development to occupational competencies. Key deliverables include:

Develop the DOE methodology for defining competencies and define the

competencies.

Provide the automated competency assessment system.

Coordinate its activity across human resource functions to ensure continuity

and alignment.

–

–

–

–

LM Strategies

Develop and implement a leadership

competency model.

DOE HC Goals/Activities

Goal 4 – Improve the coordination and oversight of corporate marketing, recruitment, and

intern programs.

Develop, integrate, and target effective recruitment strategies to:

– Increase participation rates of underrepresented groups.

Promote diversity.

Enhance employment of veterans and people with disabilities.

–

–

LM Strategies

Foster demographic diversity and diversity

of perspective throughout LM.
DOE HC Goals/Activities

Goal 2 – Improve human resource information technology systems.

Goal 6 – Corporately promote and measurably improve knowledge sharing, professional

development, and learning.

Provide the Department with an Integrated Training Management (ITM) capability that

integrates subprocesses currently being done manually and independent of one another.

These subprocesses include: competency gap analysis, IDPs, organizational training

needs assessments (TNA), organizational training plan development, and the corporate

annual training summary report. To accomplish this activity, the Department will do

the following:

– Compare the current DOE Learning Management System (LMS) to other market

alternatives and best practices to determine the best approach for providing ITM

to DOE.

Execute projects to integrate the competency management process with the

IDP process, improve the IDP and catalog tools within the LMS, and integrate

the IDP and TNA processes.

Implement a course evaluation tool and improved reporting and

analytics capabilities.

– Provide learning and development programs that meet individual and organizational

needs through the SES Career Development Program and other career development

programs and supporting programs, such as mentoring.

– Improve and integrate the planning and implementation of individual learning and

strategic organizational workforce development through annual targeted increases

of IDPs and annual training plans.

LM Strategies

Develop and staff programs to build

high-quality talent within LM.

DOE HC Goals/Activities

Goal 6 – Corporately promote and measurably improve knowledge sharing, professional

development, and learning.

Corporately improve knowledge sharing, professional development, and learning.

Support knowledge sharing and professional development through providing

collaborative technologies.

LM Strategies

Define, develop, and implement a process

to protect and maintain LM missioncritical knowledge.