Specifically, early in fiscal year 2002, the Secretary of Labor
determined that, to transform itself into a more business-like
organization, the department needed to (1) recruit individuals who
possessed extensive business skills in order to develop such critical
competencies as marketing, quantitative analysis, and strategic
thinking and (2) train these individuals in the intricacies of
operating the department’s many worker protection, compensation, and
employment programs. After considering several human capital
approaches for doing this, such as expanding recruiting efforts at
universities to attract more business graduates and rotating
individuals with business skills from other agencies to short
assignments in the department, DOL officials decided to develop a
program that combined aspects of both types of programs.