Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy Staffing (2020 Transition)
| Book 2 - Issue Papers
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| Entire 2020 DOE Transition book As of October 2020 |
Energy Efficieny and Renewable Energy Staffing (EERE) and DOE’s Office of the Chief Human Capital Officer (HC) have developed a strategy to increase recruiting and hiring capabilities, allowing EERE to bring on new talent. Over the past three years, EERE’s attrition rate (~10%) has outpaced the hiring rate, resulting in a reduced workforce, totaling 589 at the end of September 2020.
Concern around EERE’s ability to efficiently execute increasing enacted budgets was also raised by Congress, leading to the following language being included in the FY 2020 appropriations report: “The Department is directed to report to the Committees on Appropriations of both Houses of Congress not later than 30 days after enactment of this Act with a plan for reaching a staffing level of 675 to 700 full-time equivalents (FTEs) by the end of fiscal year 2020”.
As a result, EERE developed a staffing plan with the goal of reaching 675 FTEs. The plan identifies a full mapping of positions for each technology and operations office (e.g., Solar, Buildings, Vehicles, etc.), including a plan on how each position will be backfilled upon vacancy. The staffing plan accounts for a total of 715[1] positions, allowing EERE to manage to a minimum of 675 employees on board, at all times (accounting for attrition and time-to-hire, and assuming 35 positions in some stage of the recruitment process at all times). This increase in positions will provide for a more balanced workload across staff and address employee concerns about overload.
Issue(s)
As with many government agencies, it is challenging for EERE to recruit and retain the best staff. The federal hiring process is extensive with more than 100 steps. The average time-to-hire for EERE positions completed in FY 2020 was 158 days from the start of the HC process to the date an employee was on-boarded. The internal approval process for the position was in addition to that timeline .
HC has developed more than 100 standardized position descriptions (PDs) and created continuous open announcements to accelerate the hiring efforts for technical staff in scientific and engineering positions. EERE was one of the first offices within DOE to make use of the government-wide STEM direct hiring authority.
EERE’s staffing plan was recently approved, providing a plan for a total of 715[2] positions across EERE. The plan identifies a full mapping of positions for each technology and operations office, including a plan on how each position will be backfilled upon vacancy. The approval of this plan significantly streamlines the internal approval timeline, as backfill plans for any new vacancies have already been identified and approved. The final approved staffing plan balances grade distribution, supports career pathways and succession planning, and builds technical and project management capacity while ensuring an appropriate level of operational expertise across a variety of disciplines.
Status
ERE leadership is committed to ensuring sufficient staff to execute the mission and is actively working with HC to ensure that program offices are fully staffed. In FY 2020, the office on-boarded 82 new employees, and ended the fiscal year with an onboard count of 589[3] and an estimated FTE level of 561.[4] Table 1 identifies the number of new hires per quarter and illustrates the significant increase in the rate of hiring and onboarding of new staff as the year progressed.
| New External Hires Onboarded- FY2020 | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| Q1 | Q2 | Q3 | Q4 |
| 13 | 15 | 21 | 33 |
EERE currently has 127 positions in the recruitment process, and given the increased rate of hiring, the collaborative efforts of EERE and HC are estimated to reach an onboard count of 675 by third quarter, FY 2021. Table 2 provides a snapshot of the status of each technical office recruitment efforts, highlighting both the current staffing levels (onboard count) and the approved staffing actions for the technical offices. NETL staff that directly support a technical office are shown as part of the office total.
Table 2. Number of current staff (or incumbents) and approved vacancies by (*technical) office
EERE Operations (including the Golden Field Office) has an additional 308 positions, 56 of which are currently in the hiring process. The remaining 25 positions are for General Counsel and Human Capital FTEs who provide services to EERE.
Milestone(s)
There are no specific intermittent milestones to report.
Background
EERE’s previous position target was established at 671, to support an FTE level of 625. The position target assumes EERE’s historical attrition rate of 10% and a six to eight-month estimation of time from a position becoming vacant to on-boarding a backfill for the position. In order to revise the plan in support of maintaining a 675 FTE level, additional positions were allocated with a greater emphasis on addressing workload concerns in the EERE technology offices.
To determine the office-by-office allocation, EERE reviewed the 2019 position targets, the new FY 2020 enacted budget and an assessment of skill gaps. Additionally, in order to account for operational and administrative functions, EERE aimed to maintain a ratio of appropriations to FTEs ($K/FTE) based on the size of the office. For a larger office, the $K/FTE range targeted was $7-8.5M/FTE versus a range of $5-7M/FTE for smaller offices.
See also
Reference
- ↑ The plan includes a total of 648 EERE positions, 44 reimbursable NETL FTEs directly supporting EERE and 25 ‘Other’ positions in Human Capital and General Counsel providing services to EERE.
- ↑ The plan includes a total of 648 EERE positions, 44 reimbursable NETL FTEs directly supporting EERE and 25 ‘Other’ positions in Human Capital and General Counsel providing services to EERE.
- ↑ OBC includes 38 FTEs at NETL, which EERE funds through a reimbursable agreement. A portion of the 40 FTEs are directly billed to EERE payroll and the remainder are indirectly billed, and are not included in EERE’s payroll codes. EERE provides PD funds directly to NETL to cover indirectly funded employees, travel, training and other related expenses, consistent with the reimbursable agreement.
- ↑ Final FTE count for FY 2020 will be calculated when final payroll has been processed. Value shown is an estimate, but final number should be within 1 or 2 FTEs.