EPA-190-B-10-001
FY 2011-2015 EPA Strategic Plan
Cross-Cutting Fundamental Strategy: Strengthening EPA's Workforce and Capabilities
Continuously improve EPA's internal management, encourage innovation and creativity in all
aspects of our work, and ensure that EPA is an excellent workplace that attracts and retains a
topnotch, diverse workforce, positioned to meet and address the environmental challenges of
the 21st century.
Achieving positive environmental and human health outcomes through cleaner and safer air, water, and
land, and through protection of our natural resources is the focal point of all our work at EPA. This
compelling mission attracts workers eager to make a difference and drives employees across the
Agency to work together. EPA fully supports the Administration's efforts to reform the federal
government's hiring system to ensure highly qualified individuals are available to strengthen EPA's
workforce. EPA believes these reforms will improve the Agency's ability to protect human health and
the environment more effectively and efficiently.
EPA is a complex organization. This is both an asset and a challenge. To achieve its mission, EPA is
continuously building and nurturing a skilled workforce, finding new ways to use the power of
information, working together through enhanced communication, and demanding transparency and
accountability at all levels. With innovative and creative management and a talented, diverse, and
highly motivated workforce, EPA will be positioned to meet head-on the complex environmental
challenges of the present and future.
To achieve this goal, EPA will:
1. Recruit, develop, and retain a diverse and creative workforce, equipped with the technical skill and
knowledge needed to accomplish the Agency's mission and to meet evolving environmental
challenges.
2. Cultivate a workplace that values a high quality work life, provides employee-friendly policies and
facilities, and invests in the information infrastructure, technology, and security essential to support
a mobile workforce.
3. Practice outstanding resource stewardship to ensure that all Agency programs operate with fiscal
responsibility and management integrity, are efficiently and consistently delivered nationwide, and
demonstrate results.
4. Take advantage of existing and emerging tools to improve and enhance communication,
transparency, and accountability.
5. Integrate energy efficiency and environmental considerations into our work practices as core
components of Agency business models and operations.
6. Improve the effectiveness and efficiency of the Agency's acquisition function by strengthening
requirements development, contract management, and internal review practices; maximizing the
use of competition in contracting, reducing high-risk contracts; improving how contracts are
structured; building the skills of the acquisition workforce; and improving management of the EPA
acquisition workforce.
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FY 2011 Action Plan: Strengthening EPA's Workforce and Capabilities
This Action Plan lists the specific actions that EPA will carry out in FY2011 to achieve the goals of the
Strategy for Strengthening EPA's Workforce and Capabilities as described in the FY 2011-2015 EPA
Strategic Plan. Annual Action Plans will be developed for each year of the Strategic Plan.
1. Reform EPA's hiring process to make it easier for applicants to apply for jobs, increase the pool of
qualified candidates, and reduce hiring time. New hires report increased satisfaction with the hiring
process, and EPA hiring officials report increased satisfaction with the quality and number of
candidates referred for consideration (Supports Principle 1).
• Convene cross-Agency taskforce to provide advice regarding performance of EPA's Human
Resources Shared Service Centers (by November 2010).
• Complete standardized recruitment packages for 10 occupations for customer use (by
December 2010).
2. Attract a diverse pool of applicants for EPA jobs, including increased representation from minority,
veteran, women, and disabled populations (Supports Principle 1).
• Launch the Diversity Dashboard, an internal database capable of providing snapshots of EPA
employment data (by December 2010).
• Conduct training for hiring officials in all EPA regions and program offices on targeted outreach
strategies and the use of social media tools to attract qualified, diverse applicants (by March
2011).
3. Enhance the capability of telework-eligible EPA employees to work remotely and increase the
number of EPA employees who telework and/or the number of hours teleworked by 10 percent
(Supports Principle 2).
• Use results from the EPA Telework Study (includes regional approaches, best practices, and
technology options) to inform the EPA policy approach to telework (by December 2010).
• Train 100 percent of managers and supervisors in the training course, "Telework: A Manager's
Perspective" (by March 2011).
• Launch the enhanced Employee Portal to support employee remote access to specific EPA
applications and systems. Track usage to build baseline data for measuring usage rates in
future years (by April 2011).
4. Improve the on-boarding experience for new hires, expand opportunities for management and staff
for ongoing development, and foster increased collaboration as One EPA (Supports Principles 1
and 2).
• Identify and implement on-boarding "best practices," including integration of technologies such
as social networking. Achieve improved employee satisfaction scores on the FY 2011 federal
Employee Viewpoint Survey (EVS).
• Investigate and prepare options for expanding the Leadership Development and Professional
Rotational Program to include potential rotations/details to employees in the "professional-
technical" career track (by March 2011).
5. Practice outstanding resource stewardship and ensure maximum use of Agency funds by reducing
unliquidated obligations in expired grants and contracts. Reduce unliquidated obligations in expired
grants by 15 percent and in expired contracts by 20 percent by the end of FY 2011 (Supports
Principle 3).
• Review 100 percent of unliquidated obligations recorded on or before March 31, 2011 by June
30, 2011 or per EPA guidance.
6. Utilize existing and emerging tools to support the President's focus on Open Government and
provide a way for the diverse community of scientists, researchers, and professionals to connect,
communicate, and share ideas (Supports Principle 4).
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• Launch EPA's internal professional networking and collaboration site for EPA employees (by
September 2011).
7. Increase use of Green Conferencing and Green Meeting practices (Supports Principle 5).
• Measure the use of video conference equipment to establish an FY 2011 baseline against which
to track future usage (by September 2011).
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