t first glance,
working for the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s Food Safety and Inspection Service
may not be that compelling an option for a newly minted veterinarian.
Taking a job at a slaughterhouse to assess the health of cattle
destined for America’s kitchen tables and restaurants sometimes requires relocating
to remote locations. Work conditions are nowhere near as comfortable as those of
a suburban pet clinic.
But working at the agency also has a lot to offer as its mission
evolves from conducting technical inspections to a broader public health mandate
that includes food defense and security.
"Knowing that you can contribute to the safety of the consumer
and public health in our country is a wonderful mission," says Dan Burkard, director
of HR policy for the inspection service. "People want to make a difference."
Getting that message across four years ago was difficult due
to HR delays and inefficiencies. The shortcomings prevented the agency from keeping
positions filled at 6,000 locations.
Vacancies produce major ripple effects because each meat-,
poultry- and egg-processing plant requires USDA personnel to be on hand for it to
operate.
Competing against the private sector and other parts of the
federal government for risk assessment and microbiology professionals as well as
veterinarians and food inspectors required an overhaul of the agency’s HR function.
The recruitment process has been transformed since 2004. The
agency improved its ability to find and attract talent by tapping its own staff
to make the sale. Now 100 employees have been trained to serve as recruiters in
addition to their regular jobs.
They visit more than 50 colleges and universities annually,
providing a detailed and more passionate illustration of the duties of an inspector
or support scientist than an HR recruiter could. The initiative also multiplies
the effect of headquarters HR.
"It saves us time and money," Burkard says.
The initiative lowered the amount of time that an opening
goes unfilled. The agency has shaved more than five days off of its average hiring
time over the past five years.
One group that has been given more hiring clout is veterinarians.
To combat a dearth of applicants for this mission-critical job and to prepare for
projected retirement increases, veterinarians can now hire new talent directly.
Not only can they bypass the normal bureaucratic process,
they have new recruiting weapons to battle the private sector. The agency raised
the entry-level salary for veterinarians and instituted a hiring incentive equal
to 25 percent of base salary per year over four years for positions in hard-to-fill
locations.
The vet shortage has narrowed by 50 percent. In two of the
past four years, the agency has hired 100 vets each year, which represents a historic
high.
Other agency initiatives include increasing the use of telework
and flexible work schedules, linking employee performance to the agency’s mission
and allowing high-level managers more autonomy to manage and classify jobs.
It’s all part of an effort to give each employee a role in
HR activities. "The entire agency has a stake in human capital management," Burkard
says.
For overhauling its HR system to fulfill an evolving mission
and compete with the private sector for talent, the USDA Food Safety and Inspection
Service is the winner of the 2008 Optimas Award for Managing Change.
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 Headquartered
in Washington, the U.S. Department of Agriculture Food Safety
and Inspection Service has a workforce of more than 9,000 employees,
including more than 7,500 inspection personnel stationed in
approximately 6,000 federally inspected meat-, poultry- and
egg-production plants.
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The U.S.
Department of Agriculture Food Safety and Inspection Service
is the public health agency in the Department of Agriculture. Its
veterinarians and consumer safety and food inspectors are
responsible for ensuring that the nation's commercial supply of
meat, poultry and egg products are safe, wholesome and correctly
labeled and packaged.
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= Member Only
