And we in government reap huge savings in personnel costs. I know that many of you are using technology to achieve your own savings in many other areas. Another reason for increased productivity is better leadership. Last week I attended the first graduating class of FEMA's new Leadership Excellence Program, which consists of seven one-week seminars, each focusing on leadership competencies that OPM developed, based on a survey of more than ten thousand government executives and supervisors. We'll be seeing more creative leadership training all across government in the months ahead and I believe it will make a difference.
Privatization can be an effective and innovative downsizing tool.
This was the first time a federal agency had used an Employee Stock Ownership Plan, or ESOP, to help employees move from the public to the private sector. The new company has been in business since last July, is doing very well, and we think will be a model for other privatizations as downsizing continues. The government of the future must hire the right people, with the right skills, quickly, easily and fairly. To that end, OPM has delegated hiring to the agencies. They are free to carry out their own hiring or to hire us to do it for them.