| A Transforming Commissioned Corps: Developing a New Billet System | |
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Submitted by LT Kate Migliaccio, USPHS
Public Affairs Specialist for the Office of Public Health and Science |
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The Commissioned Corps of the U.S. Public Health Service (Corps) Transformation efforts have resulted in some remarkable accomplishments. This past year, the Corps Transformation Team, with the support of the Office of the Surgeon General, launched the Officer Profile (OP) Initiative in March and the Direct Access human resource system in June. In November, the Corps will begin using the Billet Collection System. This system will help the Corps move one step closer to a billet-based force management system similar to the other uniformed services.
Tremendous effort has been expended by the Corps, Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) Operating Divisions/Staff Divisions (OPDIVs/STAFFDIVs)/non-HHS organizations to which Corps officers are assigned, and the professional categories, to bring us to where we are today. We are now realizing the fruits of those labors, begun in 2003, to transform the various systems that are utilized for Corps operations and force management into one centralized information management system. One of the first areas to be revised will be the Corps’ billet system. The current billet system does not allow the Corps to effectively monitor vacancies and identify the best officers for the best positions, monitor skills shortages, or recruit to meet its mission. The new revised system will allow the Corps to change these shortcomings to a better defined model to include: clarity and specificity of responsibilities; objectively graded billets; real-time vacancy monitoring; transparency of positions held by Corps officers; and enhanced tools for career development via a billet system that contains attributes to reflect position needs. Additionally, it will provide HHS OPDIVs/STAFFDIVs/non-HHS organizations with real-time identification of officers for positions and electronic referral of qualified candidates. The billet transformation process will create unique billets for all non-flag positions in the Corps, more than 6,200 billets, with the ability to link each billet to the OP collection tool. New billets will be tracked and managed within Direct Access. The short-term and long-term goals of the billet transformation are, respectively, to create unique, position-specific billets for all positions currently occupied by Corps officers and to develop unique, position-specific billets for all positions that could possibly be held by Corps officers. Overhaul of the Corps billet system is a monumental task that will be achieved in a logical step-wise fashion. The plan to create position-specific billets begins with you, the officer, to initiate your own billet. Starting next month, the process will be implemented in phases encompassing two or more professional categories totaling 1,000 to 1,700 officers at a time. Multidisciplinary billets will be the last type of billets to be addressed in this implementation schedule. Each non-flag officer will receive an e-mail stating that it is his/her turn to initiate the creation of his/her billet description. Each officer will select one of the standard billet templates which most closely matches the duties and responsibilities of his/her current position, followed by the officer’s addition of position-specific information to the billet. After this is completed, each officer will insert his/her supervisor’s e-mail address into the system and an e-mail will be generated and sent to the officer’s supervisor with instructions. The draft billets will then be reviewed and potentially edited by supervisors, reviewing officials, Commissioned Corps Liaisons, and professional category representatives. The final product will be reviewed and approved by the Office of Commissioned Corps Operations. The entire billet creation process will not be completed until mid calendar year 2010. And, the newly created billets, from the process initiated in calendar year 2009, will not be made official until later in 2010. Two versions of an officer tutorial (video and text) are accessible through the Commissioned Corps Management Information System (CCMIS) Web site (http://dcp.psc.gov/Billets_Tutorial.aspx) to guide officers and through this process. Supervisor and reviewing official tutorials will be available in the very near future at the same Web site. The video version of the tutorial takes less than 15 minutes to complete. All officers are urged to take the time to review the tutorials and have their reviewers do the same. For more information on the transformed billet system, please access the Billet System page at http://www.usphs.gov/transformation/billet.aspx The Corps is counting on every officer to participate in this critical effort to upgrade the Corps billet system. A transformed billet system will enhance the careers of individual officers, improve OPDIV/STAFFDIV/non-HHS organization capabilities to effectively and efficiently fill positions, and dramatically improve overall force management of the Corps. We are looking to Corps officers as the catalyst to jump-start the process. For more information on the OP initiative, please access http://usphs.gov/transformation/op_faq.aspx and for Direct Access, please access http://usphs.gov/transformation/infoTech.aspx |
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