The Homeland Security Department has abandoned a technology platform that the agency hoped would simplify and accelerate its recruiting and hiring activities.
Jeffrey Neal, chief human capital officer at DHS, told Wired Workplace on Monday that the tool, called TalentLink, was not working for the department. "The problem wasn't with the underlying software company," he said. "The company made a good product, but it was a product that wasn't designed for the federal hiring process. We had to build so many workarounds into the process that it wasn't saving the kind of time that we wanted it to save."
The system was supposed to help DHS automate ranking and rating processes, standardize vacancy announcements using plain language and facilitate better communication with applicants. It also was designed to eliminate the knowledge, skills and abilities questions traditionally found on federal applications, allowing candidates to submit just a resume.
Every component within DHS is still using an automated process using one of two programs -- a Monster product called QuickHire or the Office of Personnel Management's USA Staffing platform, Neal said.
Still, Neal emphasized technology is not a cure-all for the government's hiring reform efforts, noting such systems often have been designed to make the jobs of human resources leaders easier, when the real goal should be involving hiring managers more in the process. The hiring manager needs to take part in defining what their requirements are and what kind of talent they need, he said, rather than simply relying on HR to use technology to speedily come up with a list of the top candidates.
"We have grown so reliant on technology for the hiring process in the government that it's actually hampered our ability to get the right candidates," Neal said. "So we are rethinking our use of technology for the hiring process and looking at how we can do it in a way that gets the hiring manager involved in the process and keeps them involved all the way through to the end."
COMMENTS
Give credit to Neal for seeing through the facade of automation that would would require as much attention from HR Specialists to rank and rate applicants as they do now. Way too many CHCOs have failed to take a stand on the use of automated processes because they failed to understanding the actual application and rating process. Instead, they focused on the end-product, the desired results which have required adding FTEs including the development of whole teams dedicated to working with contractors and their automated applications. At the Bureau of Reclamation, an agency within the Interior 30% disabled veterans, persons with disabiities and all other noncompetitive appointment eligibles are required to go through the auto-mazing process, respond to KSAs online etc. As one quadraplegic told me he had to to spend almost $500 to have someone fill in his paperwork and KSAs through this online program. As a result, selecting officials rarely if ever see a noncompetitive list of eligibles. While blue-collar Reclamation officials have figured out how to get salmon through the use of fish ladders at the dams operated by Reclamation, higher graded white collar HR Specialists at Reclamation have yet to figure out why there are so few disabled veterans and disabled non veterans being appointed. These are the unintended barriers or friendly-fire taking its toll on otherwise interested and available disabled applicants in the name of efficiency...
FedHRXpert 08/12/10 01:49 pm ET
As noted the use of technology should not be to make HR's job easier as it has in most agencies today with disastrous results and effects and in dire need of an efficient processing program like the shared services provided by our federal payment centers. I say process because this is what the staffing process has been allowed to become - a one size fits all process. The manner in which HR Specialists recruit is most troublesome which has created a firestorm government wide. The hiring managers are already involved. They write the p.d., know the job, know the essential KSAs, etc. Problem is today's HR Specialists keep pointing the finger at hiring officials instead of "working" for their pay. That's right, HR Specialists need to work for their well-paying positions and STOP performing like the processors that they are. They are always looking for the quick fix, the easy way out but have failed to learn how to assist hiring officials which begins way before a vacancy becomes a vacancy...
FedHRXpert 08/11/10 10:33 pm ET
So, Jeffrey Neal is on record in stating that Taleo talent technology is not suitable for the federal hiring process?
He said "The problem wasn't with the underlying software company," he said. "The company made a good product, but it was a product that wasn't designed for the federal hiring process."
William 08/10/10 02:34 pm ET