Managing the Government’s Executive Talent

For the next administration, the management of the federal workforce—including executives—will be a critical factor in the president’s success. The president’s political appointees will work with members of the career Senior Executive Service (SES) to direct the work of agencies and departments.

To accelerate the achievement of the president’s priorities and reduce the risk of operational failures, campaign transition teams and the next White House must make the management of executive talent a priority.

Part I of this whitepaper presents insights and options for effectively managing executive talent that stem from the roundtable discussion with senior current and former government leaders. The focus is on key areas the next administration should pay attention to in order to accelerate the stand-up of the administration and the achievement of presidential priorities.

In Part II, the whitepaper authors offer a framework for the next administration to manage and harness the talent of top political and career executives in order to accelerate the achievement of presidential priorities. They highlight four key actions that should be undertaken by the next Administration if it wants to get off to a quick start in implementing its agenda

The goal of these recommendations and this whitepaper is to spur additional discussion about the importance of focusing on executive talent during transition planning and in the earliest days of the next administration.

Listen to our podcast with the authors of this report.

Read the article about this whitepaper in Federal Times.

Listen to an audio interview with Executive Director Dan Chenok on Federal News Radio.

Read the article on the whitepaper in GovExec.

Learn more about our Management Roadmap for the Next Administration, which includes highlights of our transition roundtables, blogs on transition topics, and reports that include recommendations and next steps.