Thousands of new political hires will take up agency leadership positions in the months following the upcoming presidential transition, but their training on workforce and hiring practices might take longer than expected.

In a report released by the Merit Systems Protection Board on Sept. 26, nearly 20 percent of federal human resource management officials surveyed said political appointees at their agencies received no comprehensive training on merit system principles.

The MSPB report, based on a 2014 survey of chief human capital officers and federal HR officials, found that only 63 percent of respondents felt that political appointees had “good to excellent” knowledge of merit system principles, and only 72 percent said new supervisors had a good working knowledge of MSPB guidelines.

“With a change of administrations coming, all federal employees — from presidential appointees to front-line employees — should know and respect the merit system principles,” MSPB Chairwoman Susan Tsui Grundmann said in a statement. “This report serves as a guide to help federal agencies and employees learn about, and support, the values that are the foundation of the federal civil service.”

The report found an overall disparity in how well federal employees felt they knew merit system principles and prohibited personnel practices, versus how well human resources personnel thought those guidelines were being implemented.

In a 2013 poll, 74 percent of front-line federal employees and 89 percent of supervisors claimed to have a strong knowledge of merit system principles. However, MPSB surveys on CHCOs and human resources managers showed a less positive perspective of the federal workforce.

“The existence of a discrepancy between the self-ratings of employees and supervisors and the evaluations provided by [human resources management] staff suggests a need for improving education regarding MSPs and PPPs since it is critical for all federal employees to understand the rights and responsibilities inherent in the merit systems,” the report said.

HR personnel told the MSPB that less than half of managers and supervisors had received sufficient training on merit system principles and prohibited personnel practices, and nearly 15 percent received little or no training.

“Therefore, some agencies are currently failing to provide employees with the training that they need to successfully fulfill their responsibilities to uphold the merit system principles,” the report said. “Agencies can accomplish this by providing employees with appropriate training at critical junctures in their careers. At a minimum, employees should receive training upon joining the organization, whether at the entry level or as a high-ranking executive.”

The report found that when it comes to educating new supervisors on MSPB guidelines, only 3 percent were trained within their first week on the job. Most new supervisors (40 percent) received their training one-to-three months into their positions.

“Given the criticality for supervisors to perform their role effectively, training should be provided to new supervisors as promptly as possible, ideally before the supervisor moves into the new role,” the report said.

The report also found that agencies do a better job of upholding some MSPB guidelines than others. When polled, 66 percent of federal employees said their agencies did a good job a preventing discrimination at their workplace, while 63 percent agreed that workers were paid fairly.

However, only 28 percent of feds surveyed said their agencies did not practice favoritism in their workplace, and 24 percent said their agencies handled poor performers effectively.

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