2020 - MSP #1: IRS Recruitment, Hiring and Employee Retention

MSP #1: IRS RECRUITMENT, HIRING AND EMPLOYEE RETENTION:

Quality Taxpayer Service and Protection of Taxpayer Rights Are Directly Linked to the IRS’s Need to Improve Its Recruitment, Hiring, and Retention Strategies

TAS Recommendations and IRS Responses

RECOMMENDATION #1-1

Hire additional HR Specialists to meet hiring demand.

IRS RESPONSE TO RECOMMENDATION #1-1: IRS Agrees to Implement TAS Recommendation in Full, Contingent Upon Funding and Hiring Approvals.

The IRS plans to implement this recommendation in full, contingent upon funding and hiring approvals. We have prepared a staffing plan to hire 200+ hiring support positions.

COMPLETION DATE: September 2021, contingent on funding approvals

RESPONSIBLE ORGANIZATION: Human Capital Office, Office of HR Operations, Talent Acquisition

TAS RECOMMENDATION #1-2

Restructure internal hiring processes to improve cycle times.

IRS RESPONSE TO RECOMMENDATION #1-2: IRS Agrees to Implement TAS Recommendation in Full.

The IRS has already implemented this recommendation. We restructured the hiring process, more than doubling hiring production and eliminating the hiring request backlog. A key aspect of this success was the adoption of a hiring “workstation” concept, a best practice at other federal agencies, which aligns hiring activities across the three major phases of the hiring process. This model improves transparency, accountability, and efficiency while providing a solid foundation for career development and training of human resources (HR) professionals. A career development program (Career+) was also implemented to assess the proficiency levels of the HR staff and support the development of training plans. This effort resulted in the implementation of an 8-week comprehensive training course for the hiring staff. The IRS implemented the transition to USAStaffing as the new hiring platform to align with technology available and widely used across the federal government, which will increase efficiencies in the hiring process and further improve cycle times.

COMPLETION DATE: April 2019 (completed)

RESPONSIBLE ORGANIZATION: Human Capital Office, Office of HR Operations, Talent Acquisition

TAS RECOMMENDATION #1-3

Renegotiate the hiring process with the NTEU to allow for up to 50 percent of all hiring announcements to be filled externally.

IRS RESPONSE TO RECOMMENDATION #1-3: IRS Agrees to Implement TAS Recomendation in Part.

The IRS is exploring opportunities to make the hiring process more agile through National Agreement negotiations and, while the agency will propose ways to streamline the process, those processes are subject to negotiation with NTEU. The IRS agrees to review opportunities to expand external hiring and has already identified hiring activities as a top priority for fiscal year 2021 negotiations. Negotiations, mediation, and fact-finding are set to end in August 2021. However, if either party requests assistance from the Federal Service Impasses Panel, the process may not end until August 2022.

COMPLETION DATE: Projected negotiations – August 2021

RESPONSIBLE ORGANIZATION: Human Capital Office, Office of HR Operations, Labor and Employee Relations & Negotiations