U.S. Department of Transportation
Federal Highway Administration
1200 New Jersey Avenue, SE
Washington, DC 20590
202-366-4000
This Directive was canceled January 6, 2005.
Order |
Subject |
Personnel Management Manual: Part I, Chapter 3: Assignment and Utilization of Employees, Section 7: Technical Career Tracks Program |
Classification Code |
Date |
|
M3000.1B |
November 16, 2000 |
|
Par.
|
- What is the purpose
of this section?
- What is the FHWA
policy on technical career tracks?
- What is the technical
career track staffing process?
- Which disciplines
and technical positions are covered by technical career tracks?
|
- What is the purpose of this section? This section establishes the
Federal Highway Administration (FHWA) Technical Career Tracks Program. Technical
career track positions require specific high-level technical and professional
competencies that are at least at, and usually above, the full performance
level.
- What is the FHWA policy on technical career tracks? The FHWA policy
is to establish technical career tracks at the grade 13, 14, and 15 levels
for certain disciplines where the development of a high level of technical
or specialized program expertise is critical for the accomplishment of the
agency's mission. The purpose of these technical career tracks is to focus
efforts on developing needed technical expertise and to support improved career
advancement opportunities within the technical disciplines. Nothing in this
policy supersedes management's right and responsibility to determine the assignment
of duties and who is promoted. All positions in the technical career tracks
will be properly classified in accordance with the Office of Personnel Management's
classification standards. Initially, the technical career track staffing process
will apply to promotions and other intake actions into grade 14 and 15 positions
within the technical career tracks. (It will not apply to reassignments from
one position to another within the technical career track.) This process will
be expanded to include grade 13 positions at a later date.
- What is the technical career track staffing process?
- Overview. The core elements of the technical career track staffing
process are:
(1) |
Rigorous
threshold standards for entering each grade level in the technical
career track; |
(2) |
Peer/expert
review of each candidate through a peer review panel process, and
further evaluation of professional and outreach skills by a panel
of management officials; |
(3) |
A collaborative
management process both for determining needs and making selections;
and |
(4) |
Use of existing
staffing processes, each enhanced by peer/expert review. |
- Using the staffing process. Staffing actions using the technical
career track staffing process are taken to fill actual vacancies or to
promote in place a technical career track employee performing at such
a level as to meet the criteria for the next higher grade. This process
is summarized in the following chart.
Fig.
1. Technical Career Track Staffing Process
|
External
Hire
|
Vacancy
Announcement
(Merit
Promotion)
|
Promotion
in Place
(Reclassification)
|
- Management discussion.
- Grade level criteria (in place).
- KSA's.
- Delegated Examining Unit staffing process.
- Rating Guide.
- Peer/expert review panel.
- Management panel.
- Certificate.
- Management discussion.
- Selection.
|
- Management discussion.
- Grade level criteria (in place).
- KSA's.
- Vacancy announcement.
- Rating Guide.
- Peer/expert review panel.
- Management panel.
- Certificate.
- Management discussion.
- Selection.
|
- Management discussion.
- Grade level criteria (in place).
- KSA's (or equivalent guidelines).
- Career track announcement.
- Panel guidance (comparable to rating guide).
- Peer/expert review panel.
- Management panel.
- Certificate(s).
- Management discussion.
- Decision(s) on whether to promote.
|
- Filling Vacancies. Vacancies within the technical career
tracks may be filled through the use of a merit promotion vacancy announcement,
in accordance with the FHWA Merit Promotion Plan outlined in Chapter 3,
Section 1, with the following modifications:
(1) |
Two-step panel
process, including a peer/expert review panel and a management panel,
will serve in lieu of a promotion panel for advertised positions (regardless
of the number of applicants, or whether a panel would normally be
required under merit promotion procedures). The panel process will
determine whether candidates meet the evaluation criteria established
for the technical career track in that discipline, and will only certify
those candidates meeting the criteria for selection, in alphabetical
order. |
(2) |
The KSA's and
rating guide for the position advertised will be derived directly
from the grade level and competency criteria that has been identified
and published as part of the technical career tracks, along with any
other specific requirements of the position. |
(3) |
An employee
selected for a position with known promotion potential must subsequently
be evaluated by a peer/expert review panel and a management panel
at the time promotion to the higher grade level is considered. The
employee may be promoted to the higher grade only if found to meet
the criteria for that position and grade. |
- Consideration for Promotion in Place
(1) |
Reclassification
using the "impact of person on the job" concept is used
as the basis for promotions within the career track, provided that
the employee continues to perform the same type of duties in the same
job. The use of non-competitive promotion resulting from job reclassification
(reconstitution) is appropriate for advancement within the technical
career track because of the highly technical nature of the covered
disciplines and the need for national and international leadership
in these areas within the FHWA. These are areas where extraordinary
performance and/or independence on the part of the individual can
clearly shape and change the nature of the job being performed and
take that work to a higher level. It is the agency's intent to encourage
and support this type of job-changing effort, initiative, and self-development. |
(2) |
The peer/expert
review panel and the management panel provide expert advice to the
human resources specialist on the grade level of performance, based
on the impact of the person on the job, against the pre-established
grade level and competency criteria. The panel process will certify
whether the employee meets the criteria for the higher level within
the technical career track. |
(3) |
The promotion
in place process may be initiated as needed on an ad hoc basis to
evaluate individual employee(s), or it may be initiated on a global,
periodic basis (perhaps every 1 or 2 years) to cover all promotion
in place opportunities in one or more entire disciplines. Whichever
method is used, there will be a two-step process for evaluating employees,
as described in the next paragraph. |
(4) |
As part of the
evaluation, the peer/expert review panel will first evaluate the candidate(s)
for promotion in place for their technical and program skills and
their professional skills dealing with leadership within the technical
discipline. Those candidates found to meet the higher-grade criteria
from a technical and program standpoint are referred to the management
panel, which evaluates the outreach skills of those candidates, with
particular emphasis on customer service, communications skills, self-initiative,
and the ability of the candidates to market their skills. The management
panel completes the determination of whether these candidates meet
the professional skills criteria, and thus fully meet the grade-level
criteria at the higher grade. During this process, either panel and/or
the human resources specialist may conduct further in-depth review,
including contacting both internal and external sources within the
discipline, or conducting fact-finding with the employee and supervisor
as part of the panel deliberations. The human resources specialist
will fulfill the regulatory requirements in making the classification
determination for the position. |
- Career Track Announcement
(1) |
When a promotion
in place (reclassification action) has been proposed for panel consideration,
there will normally be an opportunity provided to others in that discipline
to have their credentials reviewed by the panel process to determine
whether they meet the criteria for the next grade level. Employees
are encouraged to discuss their credentials with their supervisors
for informal feedback. This opportunity will normally be provided
by a career track announcement, which is a notice informing employees
within a technical discipline that a peer/expert review panel and
a management panel will be convened to evaluate the credentials of
one or more candidates for promotion in place. The career track announcement
will offer other technical career track employees the opportunity
to submit their own credentials to the panel process for review for
possible promotion in place. The Career Track Announcement will also
be used when management decides to announce all promotion in place
opportunities in a given discipline on a periodic basis. Detailed
information on how an employee may apply is listed in the career track
announcement. |
(2) |
Employees who
are certified by both panels as meeting the criteria for the higher
grade will be promoted, subject to the approval of the Executive Director
at the GS-14 and GS-15 levels. If an employee who is certified by
the peer/expert review panel as meeting the technical and program
criteria for the next higher level is not found to meet the outreach
and professional skills criteria by the management panel, that peer
panel certification will remain valid for 1 year. Promotion may subsequently
be approved within that 1-year period without further peer/expert
panel review, provided the outreach and professional skills criteria
and all other requirements are met. |
(3) |
For employees
not meeting the criteria for the higher level at either step in the
panel process, the appropriate panel will provide feedback on the
areas in which further attainments or development are needed. |
- Management Collaboration
(1) |
When the head
of an organizational unit has a vacancy or a proposed promotion
in place, he or she may want to consult with
and consider the viewpoints of the Directors of Field Services
and the Core Business Unit (CBU) Program Manager or Service Business
Unit (SBU) Director with program responsibility for the discipline.
In addition, the head of the organizational
unit may want to consult with the Director of Research, Development
& Technology (RD&T) for any positions that are similar in
responsibilities to RD&T positions. |
(2) |
The success
of the operation of technical career tracks and a balanced staffing
pattern for these positions depends on collegial working relationships
among the Directors of Field Services, the Resource
Center Managers, and the CBU Program Managers and SBU Directors.
In maintaining these collegial working relationships, selecting officials
need to have a broader perspective than the needs of their particular
organization. |
(3) |
The concurrence
of the Executive Director is required for all selections and promotions
at the grade 14 and 15 levels. |
- Peer/Expert Review Panel. A peer/expert review panel will be used
to evaluate candidates, and is required for all promotions and selections
at the GS-14 and GS-15 levels within the technical career track.
(1) |
The peer/expert
review panel ensures that rigorous requirements for technical expertise
are met. Candidates must fully meet criteria specific to the discipline
and grade level. In particular, the peer/expert review panel evaluates
the candidates for their technical and program skills and technical
leadership within the discipline. |
(2) |
Peer/expert
review panels will consist of one or more
technical experts within the technical discipline having full knowledge
of the technical requirements of the positions under consideration.
The peer/expert review panels should reflect the diversity of the
work force to the extent possible. Panel members should be at least
the same grade level as, and preferably a higher grade than, the highest
grade level of the positions under consideration. Panel membership
will rotate among a cadre of experts throughout the agency who are
identified for their technical expertise and trained in the process.
Composition of a particular peer/expert review panel will be agreed
upon by the heads of the organizational units
of the positions to be filled and the CBU Program Manager or SBU Director
for the technical discipline, in consultation with the human resources
specialist. For grade 14 and 15 positions that require national and
international involvement, panels may also include experts with a
national/international perspective from outside the FHWA. |
(3) |
The
size and composition of the peer/expert review panel may vary. The
size of the panel is a function of the number of applicants and other
circumstances related to filling the position. For Career Track Announcements
and vacancy announcements with a significant number of applicants,
the panel will normally consist of 3 technical experts within the
discipline in question. For vacancies where there is a very small
number of applicants, an urgent need to expedite the process, or other
unusual requirements, the panel may consist of as few as one subject
matter expert. |
- Management Panel. A management panel will also be used to evaluate
candidates, and is required for all promotions and selections at the GS-14
and GS-15 levels within the technical career track. Candidates who pass
the review by the peer/expert panel will be referred to the management panel.
(1) |
The management
panel evaluates the outreach skills of the candidates, with particular
emphasis on customer service, communications skills, self-initiative,
and the ability of the candidates to market their skills. This panel
will also address the issue of the full utilization of the technical
expert at the current location of the candidate as part of its determination
of outreach skills. This review completes the evaluation of the professional
skills criteria. |
(2) |
Management panels
consist of some or all of the following
management officials or their designees (at or above the grade level
of the highest level position to be filled): the four Directors
of Field Services, the CBU Program Manager or SBU Director
with program responsibility for the technical discipline in question,
and where appropriate when the discipline is significantly represented
in their organizations, the Director of Research, Development &
Technology and the Program Manager for Federal Lands Highways. |
(3) |
The
size and composition of the management panel may vary. The size of
the panel is a function of the number of applicants and other circumstances
related to filling the position. For Career Track Announcements and
vacancy announcements with a significant number of applicants, the
panel will normally consist of 3 or more heads of organizational units
or their designees representing the major organizations where the
discipline in question is found. For vacancies where there is a very
small number of applicants, an urgent need to expedite the process,
or other unusual requirements, the panel may consist of as few as
one management official. |
- Opportunity for Promotion. Within the technical track, there is
no commitment to or guarantee of promotion, but there is a commitment to
the opportunity to develop professionally to the extent permitted by resources
and the mission requirements of the organization. Establishment of these
positions in the Resource Centers implies management support for these positions
operating at the national or international level, if incumbents can develop
and operate at those levels, and resources are available. It is expected
to be very difficult and rigorous to achieve those levels. Opportunities
exist at the higher levels, but they depend upon both the individual initiative
and self-development of the employee, and upon organizational and external
circumstances making work assignments at those levels possible.
- Which disciplines and technical positions are covered by technical career
tracks?
- Disciplines Covered by Technical Career Tracks. Technical career
tracks are established in certain disciplines identified as providing
critical technical and program expertise and other disciplines identified
by top agency leadership. These disciplines are: Air Quality, Civil Rights,
Environment, Finance, Geometric Design, Geotechnical, Hydraulics, ITS,
Logistics, Materials, Pavements, Planning, Right-of-Way, Safety, and Structures.
Other disciplines may be added or deleted at the discretion of the Management
Council. The Directors of Field Services,
the appropriate CBU Program Manager or SBU Director, and where appropriate,
the RD&T Director (in conjunction with these other individuals when
the positions are similar to RD&T positions), make the recommendation
to the Management Council on adding or deleting a technical discipline.
- Technical Career Tracks Positions. Technical career tracks will
include, as appropriate, technical specialist positions at grades 13 through
15 in covered disciplines in Resource Centers, Division Offices, Federal
Lands Divisions, and Headquarters Offices. It will be the responsibility
of the heads of the organizational units to recommend which positions
within the technical career track disciplines are sufficiently technical
or highly specialized to warrant being covered by the technical career
track staTechnical Career Tracks Positions. Technical career tracks will
include, as appropriate, technical specialist positions at grades 13 through
15 in covered disciplines in Resource Centers, Division Offices, Federal
Lands Divisions, and Headquarters Offices. It will be the responsibility
of the heads of the organizational units to recommend which positions
within the technical career track disciplines are sufficiently technical
or highly specialized to warrant being covered by the technical career
track staTechnical Career Tracks Positions. Technical career tracks will
include, as appropriate, technical specialist positions at grades 13 through
15 in covered discipline from the technical career track staffing process.
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