Air Force Print News (May 9, 2007): Air Force to test consolidated Personnel Services.

WASHINGTON -- The Air Force Personnel Center and the Air Force Materiel Command are embarking on a test that will allow the Air Force to closely study and review consolidated civilian personnel support services to a large civilian employee population.

For a one-year period, AFPC will provide staffing referral services to Tinker Air Force Base, Okla. and fill its competitive internal and external job vacancies, as part of a larger consolidation of transactional personnel work.

Once the one-year test is complete, the results analyzed against key performance factors, appropriate constituents consulted, and any post-test adjustments made, the Air Force intends to implement the new model at other large civilian centers--unless test results do not match efficiency and productivity expectations.

"These large civilian centers are incredibly important to our Air Force, and we need to get this right," said Gen. T. Michael Moseley, Air Force chief of staff. "That's why we are testing the concept first, consulting the appropriate delegations, and making relevant post-test adjustments before finalizing and implementing it at the other depots."

The Air Force Civilian Personnel Services Delivery model calls for the retention of crucial professional on-site personnel advisory and consultant services to employees, supervisors, and commanders as well as the consolidation of transactional work to a central site, accessible around the clock via the World Wide Web and through robust call center technology.

Consolidating the transactional work and leveraging modern technology represents the state-of-the-art way of doing business that replaces many industrial age labor-intensive processes. The goal is to provide better customer service with 24 hour-a-day, 7 day-a-week accessibility for civilian airmen. The Air Force has successfully transitioned 91 Air Force bases using this approach.

"Air Force people are at the heart of operational readiness, and our civilian workforce has never been a greater factor in meeting the national security strategy," explained Lt. Gen. Roger Brady, deputy chief of staff for personnel. "Each servicemember and employee must be assured that leadership is concerned not only about the mission, but also about the welfare of its most important asset--the people who make the United States Air Force the finest air and space force in the world."