Training/Technical Assistance in Info Tech to Feds

Provide Training and Technical Assistance in Information Technology to
Federal Employees

People Helping People Cope with Technology

Every year, increasing numbers of federal workers are expected to use
information technology (IT) skills and knowledge in performing their
jobs. However, many members of the federal workforce lack sufficient
training and background to use new technologies effectively, and many
managers fail to realize the importance of IT training. Compared with
private industry, the federal government invests few dollars and little
time in IT training and retraining.[1] Without this investment, the
federal workforce is unable to keep pace with the rapid changes in
technology and improved methods of customer service. Federal agencies
rely on information technology and are increasingly dependent on the
skills and capabilities of their workforce to enhance productivity and
ensure quality service to the American public. Yet they provide
insufficient incentives to their workforce to seek IT education and
training as well as insufficient opportunities to obtain training--even
when it is desired and necessary--and do not generally incorporate IT
training in their strategic mission planning.

The cost of insufficient or no training in information technology is
significant. In a worst-case scenario, people do not use their computers
at all, and the organization's investment in hardware and software is
wasted. In a less extreme circumstance, every time a user relies on a
formal support function rather than performing IT work on his or her
own, the organization pays at least $25 in overhead and salaried time.
Every time a user asks a coworker for help, it costs from $15 to
$100.[2]

Need for Change

Modest changes could improve the knowledge and skills of the federal
workforce. Skills enhancement efforts at all levels of the federal
workforce are crucial, because IT is a fundamental enabler of
organizational change. IT awareness must also be improved at all levels
of the federal workforce to encourage and support continuing reinvention
efforts.

Senior managers have not developed the kind of experience and expertise
in IT that they have in finance, human resources, and accounting.[3] At
a minimum, they need a basic knowledge of how to ensure the development
and use of management information systems and other technological
resources that meet their agency's needs.[4] Recently, the Office of
Personnel Management (OPM) began working with a task force of senior
executives to refine Senior Executive Service (SES) qualifications to
better match the competencies and skills identified in the recent update
of the SES Management Excellence Framework.[5] There is a need to
address IT competency in this effort, as well as ensure that it is made
a part of the SES recertification program.  Including IT competency in
the SES recertification program will emphasize IT as an integral part
of the continuous and comprehensive learning organization. In order to
provide basic knowledge, an IT course should provide insight on how to
integrate technology into the workplace, include development strategies
for using new technology to manage and improve program effectiveness,
and explain the impact of technological changes on the organization.

The General Accounting Office recommends that an agency's senior
official for information resources management (IRM) play a leading role
in defining and preparing the agency's technology plan, and then ensure
that the ongoing and proposed systems development projects fall
logically within this plan. Federal IRM leaders need to be highly
competent individuals with the appropriate background and capabilities
to administer IRM programs and manage IRM resources.

The federal government lacks a mechanism that would allow an end user to
receive on-the-spot assistance with simple IT questions regarding
hardware configuration, new technologies, application software packages,
and information resources needed to perform various program and
administrative responsibilities.  Throughout the workforce there are
individuals who have both the expertise and desire to assist colleagues
in solving such problems. There is a need for a support system that can
be institutionalized as a network of individuals with specific skill
sets available to help colleagues via electronic (e.g., bulletin boards,
e-mail, on-line databases, etc.) or personal interaction. These
individuals can function as on-line pals to provide agencies with help-
desk functions where none presently exist and to diffuse innovation.

The federal government spends billions of dollars each year in IT
contracts and acquisitions. A majority of the contracts and acquisitions
do not include training provisions in the initial design stages; as a
result this places a tremendous burden on the overall agency training
budget.

Cross References to Other NPR Accompanying Reports Reinventing Human
Resource Management, HRM06: Clearly Define the Objective of Training as
the Improvement of Individual and Organizational Performance; Make
Training More Market- Driven.

Endnotes

1. Kendrick, James E., "IT Management Focus Must Extend Beyond Tip of
the Iceberg: In Perspective: How Government Information Technology
Management Can Improve Cost-Effective Performance," Federal Computer
Week (September. 21, 1992), p. 17.

2. Masie, Elliot, and Rebekah Wolman, The Computer Training Handbook:
How to Teach People to Use Computers (Raquette, NY:  National Training &
Computers Project, 1989), p. 12.

3. Keen, Peter G.W., Shaping the Future: Business Design through
Information Technology (Boston: Harvard Business School Press, 1991), p.
9.

4. U.S. General Accounting Office, Information Management and Technology
Division, "Meeting the Government's Technology Challenge: Results of a
GAO Symposium," February 1990, pp. 5-6.

5. Roehmer, Susan, Office of Executive and Management Policy Human
Resources Development Group, Office of Personnel Management, "Senior
Executive Service Executive/Managerial Qualifications," FPM Letter 920,
Washington, D.C., Exhibit 5-A.