Washington D.C. – Senator Daniel K. Akaka (D-HI) introduced legislation today to improve accountability and leadership in the federal supervisor ranks by requiring improved management training at all agencies. The Federal Supervisor Training Act of 2009 would require agencies to provide all managers with regular, ongoing training on management skills, prohibited personnel practices, employee rights, and general leadership.
“The performance of our federal employees and managers is essential to the success of our government. We will do well to invest in them through training and professional development,” said Senator Akaka, Chairman of the Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs Subcommittee on Oversight of Government Management, the Federal Workforce, and the District of Columbia.
The Federal Supervisor Training Act has three major training requirements:
- New supervisors must receive training in the initial 12 months on the job, with mandatory retraining every three years on how to work with employees to develop performance expectations and evaluate employees. Current managers will have three years to obtain their initial training.
- Mentoring for new supervisors and training on how to mentor employees.
- Training on the laws governing and the procedures for enforcing whistleblower, collective bargaining, and anti-discrimination rights.
In addition, the bill:
- -sets standards that supervisors should meet in order to manage employees effectively;
- -assesses a manager’s ability to meet those standards; and
- -provides training to improve areas identified in personnel assessments.
Senator Akaka stated, “Given the growing number of federal managers who are eligible to retire, it is increasingly important to train new supervisors to manage effectively. Good leadership begins with strong management training. It is time to ensure that federal managers receive appropriate training to supervise federal employees.”
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