We’re happy to introduce our new blog series, in which we will profile new programs to enhance the professional development of the Army civilian workforce.
The Army civilian corps makes up almost a quarter of the total Army force, encompassing approximately 300,000 professionals serving in almost 500 unique job series both in the United States and around the world.
To enhance how the Army hires, trains, develops, and sustains this strategically important workforce, the Army created the Civilian Workforce Transformation (CWT) Program.
CWT EFFORTS:
There are a variety of ways for an Army Civilian to develop professionally.
The Army is designing initiatives to grow and enhance Army Civilians through improving the supervisor/employee relationship, accepting applications for a select amount of Civilians to attend military academies, providing e-learning, building a mentoring culture, creating developmental assignments, and many other avenues.
The Army requires a select portion of its Civilian workforce to:
• Enterprise Leaders: Provide senior level leadership capability of Army organizations and programs by contributing through their broad-based organizational knowledge and experience and ability to lead large complex organizations.
• Functional Leader/Managers: Provide a leadership and management capability for Command and Staff programs and people by contributing through their breadth of occupational/organizational knowledge and ability to collaborate with other functional leaders to deliver integrated products. • Technical Experts: Provide day-to-day capability/productivity and fuel future innovation by contributing through their depth of occupation-specific specialized knowledge.
RESOURCES:
So far, the CWT program has seen a lot of progress.
To date the program has aligned all civilian employees into 31 career programs categories to achieve better capabilities; created greater opportunities for career education, training and technical development; improved career tracking; and reduced the time it takes to bring new hires onboard.
While the Army is in the midst of developing many new initiatives, below are some current resources to help develop Army civilians.
Civilian Education System:
• Civilian Education System: The Civilian Education System (CES) is the foundation of the Army’s leader development program for all Army Civilians, providing progressive and sequential education courses throughout their careers. CES is centrally funded for most permanent Army Civilians, including but not limited to general schedule, non-appropriated fund, local national and wage grade employees.
CES leadership courses, or designated equivalent courses, are required for all Army Civilians. Employees should include attendance at the CES course for which they are eligible in their Individual Development Plans.
Employees are eligible to attend the CES course that is targeted at their grade level. GS-01 through GS-09 employees are eligible to attend the CES Basic Course; GS-10 through GS-12 employees are eligible to attend the CES Intermediate Course; and GS-13 through GS-15 employees are eligible to attend the CES Advanced Course. All Army Civilians who were hired after Sept. 30, 2006, are required to take the Foundation Course prior to enrolling in either of the CES courses.
• Senior Enterprise Talent Management (SETM) initiative: Through the SETM program, GS-14 and Gs-15 level civilians are eligible to apply to attend the U.S. Army War College or the Dwight D. Eisenhower School alongside their Soldier counterparts. The SETM program provides a more coordinated management plan to prepare senior civilians to assume duty positions of the greatest responsibility across the department. Attendance at these universities expand knowledge of national security mission, understanding of complex military policy, and the operational challenges faced by senior DoD and Army officials.
• ACTEDS plans: Every Army civilian is assigned to a Career Program (CP) that provides career management, education and training to its designated population.
Employees can identify their career program and read their Career Program’s Army Civilian Training, Education, and Development System (ACTEDS) plan on the Civilian Personnel Online Website. The expected Career Program professional competencies are laid out in the plan.
It also includes training and certifications that are required for each career series and pay grade. Many of the training courses are centrally funded.
• Army Career Tracker: The web-based Army Career Tracker (ACT) is a leadership development tool that integrates training and education into a personalized website. Users can search multiple education and training resources, monitor their career development and receive personalized advice from their leadership.
ACT allows employees to:
• Read the latest news from their career program
• Have their supervisors view their subordinate’s career progression across components
• Track progress within a personalized career map
• Identify upcoming deadlines for training and education
• Set professional goals through an Independent Development Plan
• Allow mentors to view your career goals and offer guidance
Where would you like to grow professionally? What professional development opportunities interest you as an Army Civilian?