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V. [[underline]]Upward Mobility[[/underline]]

The lack of a Smithsonian Institution-wide progam has been the greatest impediment to an effective Upward Mobility Program, as well as the need for a clear policy with strong top level support to provide adequate resources.  Existing Upward Mobility programs are beset with weaknesses relative to uniformity, policy, and compliance with FPW 713-27.  Participating bureaus and major offices now are aware of these problems and want to do something about them.  In this connection, the Institution is initiating a new comprehensive approach to improve the state of Upward Mobility throughout the Institution in general, and to facilitate the efforts of bureaus and major offices specifically.

Primarily, the impact of the comprehensive approach will be in the areas of planning and program development at the bureau and major office levels, where previous Upward Mobility programs have been designed to maintain autonomy and to meet the peculiarity of the organization, under a decentralized system.  Central coordination, which is essential but has not been included in previous Upward Mobility programming, is another benefit of the comprehensive approach that should remedy many of the problems, especially those associated with organizing the Institution's resources.

The Institution does not identify systematically target jobs and manpower needs.  However, the Institution's efforts in these areas, including career counseling and more coordination between EEO and the Office of Personnel Administration, will be maximized under the new Upward Mobility Plan, which has been designed to:

(1) have operating officials, at the initial planning stage, participate in identifying dead-end jobs, take the lead in restructuring their organizations where appropriate, and contribute information as to the performance potential and motivation of individuals; 

(2) establish a training agreement between the Smithsonian Institution and the Civil Service Commission that ensures merit based selection in accordance with upward mobility criteria, career counseling services for participating and interested employees, close monitoring and systematic evaluation of upward mobility programs and trainees' progress, and individualized development plans for trainees to qualify for target jobs;

(3) require intimate coordination between EEO and Office of Personnel officials in their efforts to improve and expand advancement opportunities for lower-level employees.

Transcription Notes:
Kept misspelling "progam"