Six Ways to Hit the Ground Running with OPM’s New Merit-Hiring Guidance

The Office of Personnel Management’s latest Merit Hiring Plan and Hiring & Talent Development for SES memos have set a clear—but demanding—course for federal HR shops. Below are six tactics that can help you launch confidently and keep the momentum going.

1. Put the Right Team in Place

Form Tiger Teams. CHCOs still own the outcome, but a Deputy CHCO or Staffing Division Chief can steer a cross-functional surge team that brings HR, security, and program leaders to the same table.
Designate key coordinators.

  • Talent Pool Manager in each major office to track hiring needs across series and grades.

  • Shared Certificate Coordinator to champion certificate exchanges and keep them aligned with agency-wide recruiting strategy.
    Refresh the ERB. Make sure your Executive Resources Board meets OPM’s updated expectations and tap an Executive Services Coordinator to shepherd every SES action from cradle to onboarding.

2. Go All-In on Skills-Based, Merit-Driven Hiring

  • Rewrite each GS and SES announcement to reflect the new guidance.

  • Swap self-reported questionnaires for validated assessments—think USA Hire or rigorous agency-built tests.

  • Level the playing field by limiting resumes to two pages.

3. Double Down on What Already Works

  • Update existing position descriptions instead of starting from scratch.

  • Maximize shared certificates and resume mining in USA Staffing to uncover qualified talent you may already have in the pipeline.

4. Re-engineer Workflows to Hit the 80-Day Target

  • Map your current process and engage security early (interim clearances are your friend if they are an option).

  • For SES hires, look at surge staffing or inter-agency partnerships to keep complex actions on track.

5. Track, Report, and Stay Transparent

  • Monitor the big four: time-to-hire, assessment usage and shared-certificate activity.

  • Even a basic dashboard in your existing system gives leadership visibility and drives accountability.

  • Short on HRIT bandwidth? Explore shared solutions to keep reporting alive.

6. Prepare Your People

  • Offer quick-hit refreshers on job analysis, assessment selection, and structured interviews.

  • Brief hiring managers on their new duties under the memos.

  • Fold the 80-hour leadership-development requirement and ECQ alignment into SES and GS-14/15 pipelines right away.

 

 

Implementing these changes will take focus, creativity, and a lot of cross-office collaboration, especially with projected workforce reductions on the FY 2026 horizon. By aligning teams, tools, and training now, agencies can effectively strive to meet OPM’s timelines.

— Dr. Michelle Sutter
Chair, HR Community of Practice, Senior Executives Association