Administrative Management Career Ladders in Field Offices (The chart and Attachment 3 included with the original memo is not available here) In Reply Refer To: June 5, 1995 Mail Stop 442 WATER RESOURCES DIVISION MEMORANDUM NO. 95.38 Subject: Administrative Management Career Ladders in Field Offices The Water Resources Division (WRD) has recognized the need for additional basic skills in administrative personnel to meet the management responsibilities of the organization at the field office level. Increased automation and reengineered processes are allowing us to reduce the size of our administrative staff, particularly in the ranks of clerical and technician-level support. These changes have been accompanied by more complex administrative systems, increased delegations of authority, and a trend toward technical managers delegating more management responsibility to their professional administrators. Thus, the need for staff with increased analytical skills has become evident. With this in mind, a Senior Administrative Officer Task Group with input from the Office of Human Resources, has designed two positions that can provide opportunities for the career development of administrative staff members who clearly demonstrate present or potential professional analytical skills. Attached are four documents to be used in determining the need for an additional administrative specialist in a field office. The first attachment is a summary of basic classification and position management principles and WRD philosophy concerning the proposed positions: Administrative Operations Assistant, GS-303-8, and Administrative Operations Specialist, GS-301-7/9. Before a determination can be made regarding the need to establish one of these new positions, a comprehensive position management review of all required work in the office must be conducted. The second attachment is a matrix of clerical, technician, and specialist work in an administrative section or unit. The matrix should be used as a tool to review an office's administrative support unit. Attachments 3 and 4 are prototype position descriptions. These attachments are not intended to serve as standard position descriptions, but may be used as guides in the development of new position descriptions that reflect specific duties and responsibilities to be carried out in an administrative unit or section. Those positions may also be used as "bridge" positions for employees interested in future opportunities in the GS-341 administrative officer series. For these employees, we suggest the use of the Individual Development Plan, discussed in the Administrative Officer Guide, WRD Memorandum No. 92.27. Questions regarding the potential of this career development tool in a particular office should be addressed to the appropriate Regional Administrative Officer. We believe that these new positions will help WRD meet its ongoing needs for increased professional administrative management support. Catherine L. Hill Assistant Chief Hydrologist for Operations 4 Attachments Distribution: A, B, FO, PO Attachment 1 BASIC CLASSIFICATION CONCEPTS AND WRD PHILOSOPHY This attachment summarizes classification and position management principles along with WRD philosophy concerning the two new administrative positions. Most cyclic classification reviews and special classification studies of WRD administrative offices over the past 20 years have reached the conclusion that only one specialist, the administrative officer, is needed in each office. However, during recent years, some administrative officers have been delegated increasing responsibilities for serving as active members of senior management advisory staffs; for defining and proposing management policy regarding financial, equipment, human, and other resources; and for performing related advisory functions that limit the time needed to carry out analytical and evaluative work. In such cases, the establishment of an additional administrative operations specialist position at the GS-9 level may be justified. Typically, such a position will be filled at the GS-7 level. The primary reason for establishing and filling a second administrative specialist position cannot be based on the need to have a "back-up" or possible future replacement for the administrative officer. The series classification must be based on major, regular, and recurring duties and responsibilities of the proposed position. In some offices, the establishment of a second administrative specialist position has merit in terms of relieving the administrative officer of his/her extensive analytical and evaluative workload. In such cases, the administrative officer may be responsible for time-consuming functions associated with serving as a full member of the senior management staff. This rationale for establishing a second specialist position is appropriate and logical. However, management should first ascertain that the office has sufficient human resources to carry out the major day-to-day administrative technician work in the administrative section. Although the advantage of an additional specialist on the administrative office staff may be evident, the vital and urgent workload requirements may include essentially technician- level work. For example, if the primary responsibility of a proposed administrative specialist position includes maintaining financial accounts, posting information, conducting reconciliations, and consolidating budgetary data, the human resources need of that office is an administrative operations assistant, (GS-303), rather than an administrative specialist, (GS-301). Some administrative specialists provide technical supervision over technician work. Such technical supervisory responsibility in itself does not justify the classification of a position within a two-grade interval administrative specialist series. Series determinations must be based on a comprehensive review of all major duties and responsibilities assigned to a position. If an office has a need for a person to participate actively in performing the full range of administrative work, the classification of such a position as a budget analyst may not capture the full range of required administrative knowledge. In such a case, a broader series allocation, administrative specialist, (GS-301), may be more appropriate. In any event, the proper position classification can be made only after a thorough analysis of position and administrative requirements has been completed. Administrative Operations Specialist Positions, GS-301-7/9 A request to establish a GS-7/9 administrative operations specialist position in an office has merit if the following conditions are met: A vacant position exists. The functions of the proposed position meet the intent of applicable classification requirements and nonsupervisory grade criteria. The proposed duties do not represent duplication of, or conflict with, assignments performed by the administrative officer. Existing office clerical and assistant employees are able to perform virtuall all high-priority day-to-day one-grade interval work delegated to the administrative office. A request to establish a GS-7/9 administrative operations specialist position would not be deemed to have merit solely because a broad range of proposed analytical and evaluative assignments has been projected. Characteristics of Administrative Operations Specialist Work Administrative specialists typically have broader and more dynamic responsibilities. The functions carried out by district specialists include analytical and evaluative work resulting in the improvement of overall organizational efficiency and effectiveness. Administrative specialists apply administrative principles, concepts, theories, and management processes, rather than established procedures, to conduct studies, analyses, and projects that tend to vary with each new assignment. Examples of Administrative Specialist Work Plan and conduct management and program analysis studies and projects to resolve conflicts created by budgetary and human resources limitations,and to recommend alternative solutions and approaches. Perform in-depth rigorous analysis of district budget requests and trends by employing techniques such as cost-budget analysis, program trade-offs and exploring alternative methods of funding. Develop and recommend the adoption of innovative budgetary approaches and procedures to implement new regional policies. Administrative Operations Assistant Positions, GS-303-8 Occasionally, a district administrative office may be able to support a one-grade interval GS-8 administrative operations assistant position that includes administrative technician work in addition to the application of analytical skill to identify actual and potential administrative problem areas, trends, variances, inconsistencies, and deficiency situations; responsibility for the modification of various administrative processing approaches and practices to accommodate district organizational program and priority changes; and the regular and recurring requirement to provide significant advisory services of a "troubleshooting" nature. Such a position could include responsibility for resolving unusual and difficult budgetary and related financial problems that require analysis and evaluation of changing district financial requirements through manipulation of an elaborate financial management system, and documentation that serves as a precedent for other district personnel in the resolution of similar budgetary problems. Characteristics of Administrative Operations Assistant Work Almost all day-to-day work carried out within field offices is described in various one-grade intervals found in the Office of Personnel Management grade criteria. Such series include Budget Clerical and Assistance Series, GS-561; Personnel Clerical and Assistance Series, GS-203; the Purchasing Series, GS-1105. These duties pertain to a full range of services including personnel, purchasing, space and facilities, financial, and related administrative support services. While these assistant/technician duties sometimes require adaptation of existing guidelines to resolve problems and satisfy unique requirements, typically the work is covered by established practices and procedures. Administrative technicians have relatively specific position duties and objectives. They have established assignments that cover one or more administrative areas of work. These positions would direct the daily clerical and technical work carried out in administrative offices by the accounting technician and administrative clerks. Such responsibility is classified appropriately within a one-grade interval administrative technician series. Examples of Administrative Operations Assistant/Technician Work Compile, consolidate, organize, and summarize district budgetary informationin annual budget estimates and in a variety of reports. Based on established procedures, add and maintain new financial accounts; post obligations; conduct difficult reconciliations; and process bills of collection. Advise district supervisors and managers on a full range of established personnelmanagement principles, rules, regulations, policies, and practices. Attachment 2 Matrix of Clerical, Technician, and Specialist Work in Administrative OfficesThe matrix describes administrative functions that are normally carried out in a WRD administrative unit. The matrix will serve as a tool, help plan and manage administrative office workload, and determine employee work distribution and priority requirements for vacant or new positions. The matrix is structured in a manner that reflects increasing levels of responsibility from left to right. For example, within the first administrative specialization listed in the matrix, management advisory functions, the far left block, describes a relatively low-level of advisory services such as providing routine status reports. In comparison, the advisory service covered in the extreme right block of the advisory services category covers responsibility for providing advice and guidance that includes the application of management theory and principles. Individual areas of specialization in the matrix are listed in the order of decreasing levels of responsibility and complexity. For example, management advisory functions typically include a higher level of responsibility than such administrative support functions as records or mail management work, which are located near, or at the bottom of the matrix. In support of a request to establish a second administrative specialist position, administrative offices must prepare and submit to the servicing personnel office a report that includes an outline of responsibilities assigned to each administrative office employee or vacant position, as well as the work to be assigned to the proposed administrative specialist position. The report should be consistent with the matrix format as shown in the following example of administrative specializations and level of work assigned to an administrative office employee. John Smith, Administrative Operations Assistant, GS-303-6 Management Advisory: Prepares routine status reports . Budget: Monitors individual accounts to assure that they have been processed accurately. Funding: Designates funding status and inputs funding data into the AIS; and prepares billing documents. Personnel: Prepares a variety of personnel actions; and reviews the status of limited appointments. Property: Maintains property control records.Records Management: Maintains district documents and financial files. Using the information provided for each of the positions in the administrative unit, the servicing classification/personnel specialist will assist the administrative office to develop a position management analysis and evaluation to assure that the immediate and primary personnel need of the requesting administrative office includes analytical and evaluative specialist functions rather than one-grade interval administrative support work. The personnel specialist and the administrative officer also will use the matrix to discuss the alignment of responsibilities and authorities, and to define problem areas, such as tasks included in the matrix but not assigned to any positions in the administrative office or inefficient overlapping of individual assignments.