CIOs support better pay, rewards for fed IT pros

The federal Chief Information Officers Council formally endorsed Feb. 19 a study by the National Academy of Public Administration that recommends wholesale changes in the way the government pays, rewards and recruits information technology professionals.

A CIO Council statement about the survey said: "We support and concur in NAPA's conclusions that federal IT salaries need to take into account current market conditions and evolving IT disciplines. We also concur that meeting organizational and personal performance objectives should play a greater role in individual compensation determination. NAPA appropriately stated that work/life balance is critical to attracting new and younger workers. The council encourages its member agencies to do a better job of marketing in this area and also encourages them to develop better and more targeted career development programs for IT professionals."

The study, published in September 2001, was commissioned by the federal CIO Council and the Administrative Office of the U.S. Courts. NAPA is an independent organization chartered by Congress.

NAPA studied IT personnel systems and practices in the public and private sectors, and confirmed many disparities between the two that make it difficult to recruit and retain government IT workers.

NAPA confirmed a pay gap between the public and private sectors. Within the federal government, it found an inflexible recruitment system, a lack of investment in training and an outdated personnel classification system.

Ira Hobbs, co-chair of the CIO Council's committee on Workforce & Human Capital for IT, said he hopes many of NAPA's recommendations to fix the system will be included in legislation now in development.

"The upcoming legislative session is critical," said Hobbs, acting CIO of the Agriculture Department. "We are confident ... planned legislation will include tenets of the NAPA study."

NAPA's recommendations include creating:

*A market-based, pay-for-performance compensation system;

*Flexible salary ranges for recruitment and retention purposes, with differentials, adjustments and increases based on what an individual brings to the organization or a mission-critical project;

*A faster, enhanced recruitment and hiring process that includes promotion of each agency's mission and values;

*A benefits program that is competitive with the private sector at all levels.

The staff of Rep. Tom Davis, R-Va., is contemplating a bill that would encompass many of recommendations of NAPA report, said Fred Thompson, a member of the CIO Council's work-force committee.

Davis, chairman of the House Government Reform subcommittee on technology and procurement policy, last year introduced the Digital Tech Corps Act of 2001, which would establish an exchange program between the federal government and the private sector to develop expertise in IT management. Sen. George Voinovich, R-Ohio, introduced a companion bill in the Senate this month.

Until legislative changes can be made, the council wants to encourage agencies to adopt some reforms NAPA has recommended on a small scale, said Thompson, an assistant director at the Treasury Department's CIO office.

Hobbs and Thompson encouraged both public- and private-sector workers to read the NAPA report and comment on it via e-mail. A link to the study is provided on the CIO Council's Web site, www.cio.gov.