A new report has found that experienced supervisors are far less likely to receive instruction on topics mandated in federal code compared to what new supervisors are taught in their training programs.

While 89 percent of new federal supervisors receive training in the four management areas required by the Code of Federal Regulations, only 63 percent of experienced supervisors receive that same training in their programs, according to results of the Office of Personnel Management’s Federal Supervisory Training Program Survey released May 21, 2018.

The Code of Federal Regulations requires that employees appointed to supervisory roles be trained in how to:

  • Mentor employees
  • Improve employee performance and productivity
  • Conduct employee performance appraisals
  • Assist employees with unacceptable performance

Established supervisors must receive training on the same topics every three years, according to the code.

However, experienced federal supervisors were less likely to receive that training, as well as additional reinforcement on OPM’s Federal Supervisory and Managerial Frameworks.

And those aspiring to join the ranks of government supervisory roles received even less training and coaching than recently promoted or already established supervisors, the survey found.

“While the federal government requires supervisory training, the development, implementation and evaluation of these types of training programs have been left to the discretion of the individual agencies. Agencies have the flexibility to implement learning and development requirements and recommendations, in consideration of mission needs and funding availability. As a result, there is inconsistent delivery and availability of supervisory training across agencies,” Mark Reinhold, associate director for employee services at OPM, wrote in a memo on the survey results.

The survey was undertaken as a result of Government Accountability Office findings from February 2015 that identified a longstanding issue of federal leadership needing better training to conduct employee management and address poor performance.

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Based on the survey results, OPM recommended that agencies orient their training programs to aid in employees’ carrier progressions from aspiring leaders through experienced supervisory positions. In addition, OPM recommended that agencies develop better evaluation strategies for their training programs to assess whether they accomplish the agencies stated management goals.

About Jessie Bur

Jessie Bur covers federal IT and management.

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