Getting the 'X' Into Senior Executive Service: Thoughts on Generation X and the Future of the SES. Thought Leadership Forum, Washington, DC., April 10, 2007

摘要

Established by the Civil Service Reform Act (CSRA) of 1978 (and effective 1979), the Senior Executive Service (SES) now approaches its 30th anniversary. As initially envisioned, the SES would evolve to become a cadre of senior Federal-sector leaders and managers with a broad corporate view and an ability to lead and manage from the top of any agency. As described in OPMs Biography of an Ideal: A History of the Federal Civil Service, The reform leaders envisioned it (SES) as a high-prestige, high-reward, and somewhat high-risk service. Simultaneously, a large percentage of the American demographic cohort known as Generation X those Americans born roughly between 1964 and 1979 are entering their 30s and early 40s. These children of the 80s stand as the chronological heirs to the Baby Boomers in American organizations. There are currently an estimated 325 Gen Xers in the SES (as compared with well over three times as many SESers age 60 and over). As it nears its 30th year, the SES can and should benefit from some provocative and challenging questions about its future and its next members.