The administration will take steps to boost recruitment, develop top talent and craft new ideas for reforming senior leadership, President Obama announced Dec.9.

He said at a conference convened for senior leaders that while the Senior Executive Service consists of top talent, agencies must do more to ensure a strong and vibrant workforce for future generations.

"We've got to work harder to make sure the government works. We have to constantly ask ourselves, how can we serve Americans better. How can we yank this government into the 21st century and make it smarter and faster and more responsive?" Obama said at the conference.

He said new initiatives aimed at senior leaders will help spur innovation and good ideas, while strengthening the senior executive service.

The new initiatives include the White House Leadership Development Program for Future Senior Career Executives. Under this program, top federal employees will participate in a series of rotations and assignments across government, and bring those experiences back to their home agencies.

Office of Personnel Management Director Katherine Archuleta and Beth Cobert, deputy director of the Office of Management and Budget, wrote in a blog post Dec. 9 that the new program is a step toward fulfilling the initial promise of the SES, where managers gain a wide array of experiences by working in other agencies, according to a joint blog post by Office of Personnel.

"These emerging leaders will play a key role in addressing critical management challenges facing the federal government and delivering lasting results," they wrote.

The first cohort of senior leaders will start in 2015, according to the administration.

The administration is also creating an advisory group on Senior Executive Service reform, which will be made up of senior leaders and technical professionals and will provide advice on the current and future state of senior leadership.

The group will play a key role in improving the way the federal government recruits, hires, develops, and retains top senior career leaders, Cobert and Archuleta wrote in the blog post.

The advisory group will also provide ways to improve how agencies recruit, hire and develop top senior career leaders, as well as come up with accountability mechanisms for senior leaders and help improve performance, Cobert and Archuleta wrote.

"The breadth of experience from this group will ultimately help ensure the best practices across agencies are used to inform future reforms," they wrote in the blog post.

The White House is also creating a new award, called the Customer Service Awards program, which will recognize and reward service and professionalism by individual federal employees, according to the administration

There will be no prize money, but it will be used to highlight outstanding customer service initiatives and improvements and help replicate those improvements across government.

Each agency will give out their own awards, and the president will give out a limited number of awards, according to the administration.

Max Stier, the president and CEO of the Partnership for Public Service, praised President Obama's latest efforts to strengthen the SES and support the federal workforce. He said the new initiatives will help senior leaders work across government to help solve pressing issues.

"This innovative new program will bring needed expertise to many complex, pressing national issues, give current and emerging leaders a broader, enterprise-wide outlook and provide them with invaluable experiences to help improve government effectiveness in future assignments," said Stier.

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