‘‘(2) Engaging and motivating employees. 
‘‘(3) Training and developing employees and 
preparing those employees for future leadership roles 
within the Department. 
‘‘(4) Holding each employee of the Department 
that is a manager accountable for addressing issues 
relating to performance, in particular issues relating 
to the performance of employees that report to the 
manager. 
‘‘(c) DEFINITION
OF POLITICAL APPOINTEE.—In 
this section, the term ‘political appointee’ means an em-
ployee of the Department who holds— 
‘‘(1) a position which has been excepted from 
the competitive service by reason of its confidential, 
policy-determining, policy-making, or policy-advo-
cating character; or 
‘‘(2) a position in the Senior Executive Service 
as a noncareer appointee (as such term is defined in 
section 3132(a) of title 5).’’. 
(b) CLERICAL AMENDMENT.—The table of sections 
at the beginning of chapter 7 of such title is amended by 
inserting after the item relating to section 717 the fol-
lowing new item: 
‘‘719. Annual performance plan for political appointees.’’. 
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SEC. 5. MODIFICATION TO VETERANS PREFERENCE. 
(a) 
ACTIVE
DUTY
REQUIREMENT.—Section 
2108(1)(B) and (D) of title 5, United States Code, are 
amended by striking ‘‘consecutive’’ in each instance it ap-
pears and inserting ‘‘cumulative’’. 
(b) EXPANSION OF ELIGIBILITY OF RETIRED VET-
ERANS.—Section 2108(4) of title 5, United States Code, 
is amended to read as follows: 
‘‘(4) ‘preference eligible’ includes a retired 
member of the armed forces; and’’. 
SEC. 6. REEMPLOYMENT OF FORMER EMPLOYEES. 
(a) IN GENERAL.—The Secretary of Veterans Affairs 
may noncompetitively appoint a qualified former employee 
to any position within the competitive service or any ex-
cepted service position under chapter 74 of title 38, United 
States Code, at the Department of Veterans Affairs that 
is one grade higher than the grade of the position at the 
Department most recently occupied by the employee. 
(b) LIMITATION.—The Secretary may not appoint a 
qualified former employee to a position that is more than 
one grade (or equivalent) higher than the position at the 
Department most recently occupied by the employee. 
(c) DEFINITION
OF
QUALIFIED
FORMER
EM-
PLOYEE.—For purposes of this section, the term ‘‘quali-
fied former employee’’ means any individual who— 
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(1) formerly occupied any position at the De-
partment of Veterans Affairs within two years before 
applying for reemployment at the Department; 
(2) voluntarily left such position, or was subject 
to a reduction in force, and had a satisfactory per-
formance record while occupying such position; and 
(3) since leaving such position has maintained 
licensing requirements, related to the position, if 
any, and gained skill, knowledge, or other factors re-
lated to the position. 
SEC. 7. RECRUITING DATABASE. 
(a) ESTABLISHMENT.—The Secretary of Veterans 
Affairs shall establish a single database that lists each va-
cant position in the Department of Veterans Affairs that 
the Secretary determines is critical to the mission of the 
Department, difficult to fill, or both. 
(b) QUALIFIED APPLICANT.—If the Secretary deter-
mines that an applicant for a vacant position listed in the 
database established under subsection (a) is qualified for 
such position but does not select the applicant for such 
position, the Secretary, at the election of the applicant, 
shall consider the applicant for other similar vacant posi-
tions listed in the database for which the applicant is 
qualified. 
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(c) PROLONGED VACANCIES.—If the Secretary does 
not fill a vacant position listed in the database established 
under subsection (a) after a period determined appro-
priate by the Secretary, the Secretary— 
(1) shall ensure that applicants described in 
subsection (b) are considered for such position; and 
(2) shall use the database established under 
subsection (a) to assist in filling such position. 
(d) REPORT.—Not later than one year after the date 
of the enactment of this Act, the Secretary shall submit 
to Congress a report on the use and efficacy of the data-
base established under subsection (a). 
SEC. 8. HUMAN RESOURCES ACADEMY. 
(a) IN GENERAL.—The Secretary of Veterans Affairs 
shall provide to human resources professionals of the Vet-
erans Health Administration of the Department of Vet-
erans Affairs training on how to best recruit and retain 
employees of the Veterans Health Administration, includ-
ing with respect to any recruitment and retention matters 
that are unique to the Veterans Health Administration 
pursuant to chapter 74 of title 38, United States Code, 
or other provisions of law. The Secretary shall provide 
such training in a manner that the Secretary determines 
appropriate in light of budget, travel, and other con-
straints. 
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(b) AMOUNT OF TRAINING.—The Secretary shall en-
sure that each human resources professional of the Vet-
erans Health Administration receives the training de-
scribed in subsection (a)— 
(1) as soon as practicable after being hired by 
the Secretary as a human resource professional; and 
(2) annually thereafter. 
(c) CERTIFICATION.—The Secretary shall require 
that each human resources professional of the Veterans 
Health Administration, upon the completion of the train-
ing described in subsection (a), certifies that the profes-
sional received the training and understands the informa-
tion provided by the training. 
(d) ANNUAL REPORT.—The Secretary shall submit 
to the Committees on Veterans’ Affairs of the House of 
Representatives and the Senate an annual report on the 
training described in subsection (a), including the cost of 
providing such training and the number of human re-
sources professionals who received such training during 
the year covered by the report. 
SEC. 9. PROMOTIONAL OPPORTUNITIES FOR TECHNICAL 
EXPERTS. 
Not later than one year after the date of the enact-
ment of this Act, the Secretary of Veterans Affairs shall 
establish a promotional track system for employees of the 
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Department of Veterans Affairs that the Secretary deter-
mines are technical experts pursuant to regulations pre-
scribed by the Secretary for purposes of carrying out this 
section. Such system shall— 
(1) provide any such employee the opportunity 
to advance within the Department without being re-
quired to transition to a management position; and 
(2) for purposes of achieving career advance-
ment— 
(A) provide for the establishment of new 
positions within the Department; and 
(B) notwithstanding any other provision of 
law, provide for increases in pay for any such 
employee. 
SEC. 10. COMPTROLLER GENERAL STUDY ON SUCCESSION 
PLANNING. 
(a) STUDY.—The Comptroller General of the United 
States shall conduct a study on each of the following: 
(1) The succession planning at each medical fa-
cility of the Department of Veterans Affairs. 
(2) The succession planning at the Veterans 
Benefits Administration and the National Cemetery 
Administration of the Department. 
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(b) ELEMENTS.—The study under subsection (a) 
shall include, for each entity studied under the study, the 
following: 
(1) A determination of the mission-critical posi-
tions within the entity and the vacancy risk of such 
positions. 
(2) An analysis of the future needs for mission- 
critical positions and gaps within the existing talent 
pool of the entity. 
(3) A description of strategies to close skill 
gaps through the use of training for existing staff, 
targeted recruitment, and hiring. 
(4) A plan to regularly evaluate progress of 
staff and update existing succession plans using 
clear and measurable metrics and benchmarks. 
(5) A demonstration of the capacity of the enti-
ty to execute succession plans with successful succes-
sion management strategies. 
(6) Any other matters the Comptroller General 
determines appropriate. 
(c) REPORT.—Not later than one year after the date 
of the enactment of this Act, the Comptroller General shall 
submit to the Committees on Veterans’ Affairs of the 
House of Representatives and the Senate a report con-
taining each study conducted under subsection (a). 
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SEC. 11. INFORMATION ON HIRING EFFECTIVENESS. 
(a) IN GENERAL.—The Secretary of Veterans Affairs 
shall measure and collect information on indicators of hir-
ing effectiveness as follows: 
(1) With respect to recruiting and hiring— 
(A) the ability to reach and recruit well- 
qualified talent from diverse talent pools, in-
cluding sources of candidates for mission-crit-
ical occupations; 
(B) the use and impact of special hiring 
authorities and flexibilities to recruit most 
qualified applicants, including the use of stu-
dent internships as a talent pool for permanent 
hires; 
(C) the use and impact of special hiring 
authorities and flexibilities to recruit diverse 
candidates, including veteran, minority and dis-
abled candidates; 
(D) the use and impact of special hiring 
authorities and flexibilities to recruit candidates 
for mission-critical occupations and occupations 
with shortages; 
(E) the age, educational level, and source 
of applicants; 
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(F) the length of time between the date on 
which a position is advertised and the date on 
which a first offer of employment is made; 
(G) the length of time between the date on 
which a first offer of employment for a position 
is made and the date on which a new hire 
starts in that position; 
(H) the number of internal and external 
applicants for positions; and 
(I) the number of offers accepted com-
pared to the number of offers made for perma-
nent positions. 
(2) With respect to the hiring authority— 
(A) the satisfaction of the hiring authority 
with— 
(i) the quality of new hires; 
(ii) the match between the skills of 
newly hired individuals and the needs of 
the Department; 
(iii) the hiring process and hiring out-
comes after the first year of the employ-
ment of a new hire; and 
(iv) the length of time that elapses to 
fill a position and for a new hire to begin 
working in a new position; and 
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(B) mission-critical deficiencies filled by 
new hires and the connection between mission- 
critical deficiencies and annual agency perform-
ance. 
(3) Satisfaction of employment applicants with 
the hiring process, including with respect to the clar-
ity of job announcement, reasons for withdrawal of 
applications, user-friendliness of the application 
process, communication regarding status of applica-
tion, and timeliness of hiring decision. 
(4) With respect to a newly hired employee— 
(A) the satisfaction of the employee with 
the hiring process as described in paragraph 
(3); 
(B) the satisfaction with the process of 
joining and becoming oriented with the Depart-
ment, including with respect to the timeliness of 
such process after the hiring decision, the ori-
entation process, and being provided with time-
ly and useful new employee information and as-
sistance after the hire is made but before the 
new hire starts in that position and after the 
new hire has begun; 
(C) attrition and reasons for leaving; 
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(D) investment in training and develop-
ment for the employee during the first year of 
employment; and 
(E) significant barriers to the effective re-
cruitment, selection, joining and becoming ori-
ented with the Department, and retention of 
employees. 
(b) DISAGGREGATION OF DATA.—To the extent prac-
ticable and in a manner which protects personally identifi-
able information of applicants and employees, the Sec-
retary shall collect and report data collected under sub-
section (a) disaggregated by facility or Veterans Inte-
grated Service Network. 
(c) REPORTS.— 
(1) IN GENERAL.—On an annual basis, the Sec-
retary shall submit to the Committees on Veterans’ 
Affairs of the House of Representatives and the Sen-
ate a report of the information collected under sub-
section (a). 
(2) AVAILABILITY OF RECRUITING AND HIRING 
INFORMATION.—On an annual basis, the Secretary 
shall make publicly available the information col-
lected under subsection (a) in a consistent and ma-
chine-readable format to allow for a comparison of 
hiring effectiveness and experience by Veterans Inte-
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grated Service Network or comparable public or pri-
vate sector organization. 
SEC. 12. EMPLOYMENT OF STUDENTS AND RECENT GRAD-
UATES. 
(a) IN GENERAL.—The Secretary of Veterans Affairs 
shall prescribe regulations to allow for excepted service ap-
pointments of students and recent graduates leading to 
conversion to career or career conditional employment of 
a student or recent graduate of a qualifying educational 
institution, as defined by the Department. 
(b) APPLICABILITY.—The conversion authority de-
scribed in subsection (a) shall be applicable to individuals 
in good standing who— 
(1) are employed in a qualifying internship or 
fellowship program at the Department; 
(2) are employed in the Department in a volun-
teer capacity and performing substantive duties com-
parable to those of individuals in internship or fel-
lowship programs and meet the required number of 
hours for conversion; or 
(3) are employed in the Department under a 
contract or agreement with an external nonprofit or-
ganization and performing substantive duties com-
parable to those of individuals in internship or fel-
lowship programs. 
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