Civilian employees within the Department of Defense (DoD) play a critical role as a part of the DoD’s mission to deter war and protect the security of our nation. A well-managed civilian workforce is indispensable to accomplishing DoD’s mission and goals. The DoD Human Capital Operating Plan (HCOP) lays out the civilian human capital objectives, strategies, and initiatives that are necessary, at the enterprise level, to support execution of the goals and objectives of the 2018 National Defense Strategy (NDS), to include the supplemental National Defense Business Operations Plan (NDBOP).

The Fiscal Year (FY) 2020-2021 HCOP builds on the inaugural FY 2018-2019 HCOP that was published in June, 2018. The objectives and supporting strategies established by this plan were developed in collaboration with the Chief Management Officer (CMO), the Civilian Personnel Policy Council (CPPC), and other senior leaders and subject matter experts within the DoD. Each objective in this plan directly supports one or more of the three major lines of effort established in both the NDS and the NDBOP: 1) Rebuild military readiness as we build a more lethal Joint Force; 2) Strengthen alliances as we attract new partners; and 3) Reform the Department’s business practices for greater performance and affordability. The DoD HCOP also provides a framework that components can use to align their own human capital plans with enterprise and component strategies. The FY 2018-2019 HCOP established several strategic goals, with accompanying initiatives and measures of performance, affecting each stage of the human capital lifecycle. Twenty percent of the initiatives established by that plan have already been achieved, and 96% of the plan’s milestones were completed on time. However, this process taught us that establishing clear and specific criteria for our desired outcomes will allow us to more effectively measure our progress toward individual objectives. The FY 2020-2021 version of the plan incorporates these lessons learned and will be regularly updated.

I am grateful for the support we have received from the Under Secretary of Defense for Personnel and Readiness, the Office of the CMO, the members of the CPPC, and Human Resources professionals across DoD with the development and implementation of this comprehensive civilian human capital planning process. We are ready to work together to ensure our DoD civilians continue to effectively execute the DoD’s vital national security mission.