Report - Government Executive

EXECUTIVE SUMMARY
The terrorist attacks of September 11, 2001, ushered in an era of fundamental change to the
Intelligence Community (IC), and underscored the urgent need for improvements in the way its
agencies assess and manage their human resources. Studies conducted in the wake of the attacks
conclude that agencies missed or misinterpreted signals pointing to a major terrorist attack, and
that they failed to “connect the dots” linking the actions of the 9/11 terrorists to the plot.
Creating a unified human capital framework that encourages individuals and intelligence
agencies to work together toward a common goal became a cornerstone of the reform efforts. By
implementing a human resources management system that more directly links pay to
performance, the Department of Defense is seeking to improve both individual and
organizational performance through greater cooperation and collaboration that will ultimately
lead to better intelligence products. These products will enable America’s military, security,
and law enforcement personnel to better perform their jobs and thwart attacks.
In this way, at its most fundamental level, the Defense Civilian Intelligence Personnel System
(DCIPS) is intended to help protect the national security interests of the United States. Lee
Hamilton, former Congressman, Chairman of the House Permanent Select committee on
Intelligence, and Vice Chairman of the 9/11 Commission, highlighted for the Academy Panel the
importance of a unified, performance-based IC personnel system to the nation’s ability to defend
against terrorist attacks:
…[T]he necessity of defense against a terrorist attack is urgent… I am a real radical on
personnel systems…[Y]ou need to have incentives to produce preeminent
analysts…When you think about civilian personnel, I hope you are thinking about the
importance of the analyst in driving the actions and direction of the agency.
DCIPS was the result of an effort to develop a unified, performance-based human resources
management system for nine U.S. Department of Defense (DoD) intelligence components,
whose collective mission is to protect the national security of the United States. The system is in
various stages of implementation in each of the components, and is ultimately expected to affect
more than 50,000 employees.
In large part due to perceptions that DCIPS could result in unfair treatment of minorities and
women, the National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA) for Fiscal Year 2010 directed the
Secretary of Defense, the Director of the Office of Personnel Management, and the Director of
National Intelligence (DNI) to designate an independent organization to conduct a review of
DCIPS. In anticipation of the review, NDAA suspended the base-pay setting portions of the
DCIPS’ performance-based compensation system until December 31, 2010; however, it
preserved DoD’s authority to award bonuses, maintain a pay-band structure, and implement the
performance evaluation process under DCIPS.
Selected in January 2010 to conduct the review, the National Academy of Public Administration
(Academy) appointed an expert Panel to assess and make recommendations regarding DCIPS’
design, implementation, and impact.
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