The board has had difficulty filling vacant positions, and more than half of its are staff nearing retirement eligibility. Image: T. Schneider/Shutterstock.com
By: FEDweek StaffA GAO review of the personnel program at the National Mediation Board—a small agency that facilitates labor relations for railways and airlines—has pointed to issues that are familiar government-wide, including the need for workforce planning.
The NMB is operating under a workforce and succession plan from 2014, lacks procedures for regularly reviewing and updating it, and “has had difficulty filling its many vacant positions, and more than half of NMB’s current staff are eligible for retirement within the next 5 years,” the GAO said in citing yet another common issue.
The board has initiated efforts to update the plan, “but without procedures for keeping it up to date, NMB will not be positioned to effectively manage its workforce needs,” it said.
The GAO also called for greater attention to training, saying for example that some employees “have been assigned essential duties outside of their primary expertise but received little training related to these roles.”
The NMB “also lacks procedures for ensuring its personnel policies are complete and updated. Without such procedures, NMB risks operating without needed policies or being out of compliance with federal regulations,” it said.
GAO said the board agreed with its recommendations.
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