Professionalization of Government Service: Developing Better Senior Civilian Leaders
Abstract
Department of Defense (DoD) planners have emphasized a Total Force approach in order to satisfy the increasing scope, variety, and complexity of the current operational environment. Under this approach, civilian and military leaders must be leveraged to reflect common strategic goals. Despite myriad initiatives to improve the development of the workforce, the civilian component is not trained or developed to be fully effective in key leadership positions. If the DoD is to effectively employ Total Force concepts and leverage all available human resources to fill key leadership positions, an initiative must be taken to professionalize the civilian workforce. Within this paper, my overall objective is to illustrate that the government workforce, which was originally structured to administer repetitive tasks, is not fully professionalized and does not fully embrace the concept of leadership development. The DoD must create a culture where leadership development is thrust upon the most junior civilian employees and maintained throughout ones career. To do this, the Department must be amenable to adopting a fundamentally different civilian force development strategy. The DoD should seek to professionalize the civilian workforce and reform its management systems to allow greater flexibility and afford early developmental opportunities for civilian employees. This change would improve the overall quality of the work force and lead to a larger pool of qualified civilian candidates to fill key leadership positions within the Department.
Document Details
- Document Type
- Technical Report
- Publication Date
- Feb 13, 2014
- Accession Number
- AD1019196
Entities
People
- Bryan Moss
Organizations
- Air War College