Third, once an agency identifies the critical skills and competencies
that its future workforce must posses, it can develop strategies
tailored to address gaps in the number, skills and competencies, and
deployment of the workforce and the alignment of human capital
approaches that enable and sustain the contributions of all critical
skills and competencies needed for the future. Strategies include the
programs, policies, and practices that will enable an agency to
recruit, develop, and retain the critical staff needed to achieve
program goals. In short, developing such strategies creates a road map
for an agency to use to move from the current to the future workforce
needed to achieve program goals. When considering strategies, it is
important for agencies to consider the full range of flexibilities
available under current authorities, as well as flexibilities that
might need additional legislation before they can be adopted. In
addition, agencies need to understand the strengths and weaknesses of
their current human capital program and how the program can
successfully use such flexibilities. For example, during its fiscal
year 2001 preparation of fiscal year 2003 budget proposals, the
Department of Labor (DOL) developed strategies for increasing the
number of Master of Business Administration (MBA) graduates at the
department. Its strategy, which was successfully included in its fiscal
year 2003 budget, called for using recruitment bonuses and student loan
repayments to recruit individuals with business degrees and a training
program to acquaint those hired with the department. DOL has recently
started training a second class of 17 MBA Fellows, in addition to the
13 enrolled in February 2003.