The Office of Personnel Management has spent the past eight years expanding its hiring initiatives, background investigation processes, customer service and cybersecurity tools, and workplace flexibilities, all in an effort to build a model 21st century workforce, said the agency in a Jan. 5 exit memo.

OPM’s accomplishments during the Obama administration have focused on modernization, diversity-focused opportunities, rights protections, excellence acknowledgement, skill development, and establishing a road map to further enhancements and civil service reforms.

Upholding merit system principles and embracing policies of equality and inclusion, OPM looks to move forward on ways to reduce the hiring time for students, recent graduates and proven leaders from all segments of society to fill critical skills gaps, calling on Congress to support a coordinated and strategic vision.

Fluidity-focused legislature, user-friendly job and feedback portals (such as USAJobs.gov and UnlockTalent.gov) plus human resources training campaigns can allow a faster exchange of talent from and to the private sector, bringing much-needed innovation. And data-driven employee engagement, performance and benefits tools further the groundwork established to attract entrepreneurs, executives and innovators to strengthen increasingly critical digital infrastructure.

OPM conducts up to 95 percent of federal background investigations, and efforts such as the National Background Investigations Bureau will allow more continuous evaluations and partner-initiated vetting to strengthen and improve the process for both decision-makers and a well-qualified workforce.

Continuing IT upgrades have established a pattern of more secure, efficient systems for everything from human capital management to health benefits to retirement services.

"There is much more to be done. But I am confident that by modernizing our tools, technology and processes, and embracing new ways to think and make decisions, we are capable of meeting the challenge and building an even greater workforce now and in the future," OPM acting Director Beth Cobert said in the release.

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