Balancing Economy and Efficiency (Position Management)

Directors, managers and supervisors must design organizations that use the lowest grades feasible to accomplish the mission; normally provide for career progression; eliminate excessive layers of supervision; and avoid the assignment of employees to position descriptions that do not match the work assigned and performed.

This is the DHRD philosophy on the concepts formerly titled "Position Management".

There are two underlying principles of balancing economy and efficiency:

1. Designing positions that accomplish the mission and motivate the employee.
2. Designing and structuring organizations that are both effective and economical.

Managers should:
· Design positions around skills and mission essential tasks rather than the personal qualifications of an employee.
· Design positions to promote career progression whenever possible; explore all opportunities to re-engineer jobs downward for entry level and upward mobility purposes.
· Ensure that supervisor to employee ratios are consistent with US Department of Agriculture objectives.
· Review organization structures to identify and eliminate positions/organizational elements performing similar functions or duplicate work efforts. Review all vacancies closely for necessity.

Managers should strive to combine homogeneous functions; combine duties at same grade level. Good job design empowers employees through delegation of increased responsibility and authority.

Human Resources Specialists in DHRD are available to provide assistance and guidance to supervisors and managers when requested. DHRD Human Resources Specialists (Classification) are also available to provide assistance and guidance in terms of advising on impact of position classification standards and organizational consistency in classifying positions.