Letter to the editor

In Milt Zall's column "The kiss of death?" [FCW, Sept. 30], he states that he does not understand the "call for greater flexibility in the current system of classifying and paying [federal] workers."

Greater flexibility is needed because, in many cases, the current classification system does not adequately describe the work people perform. Today's environment is less about "jobs" and more about achieving results. Today's employees need to develop skills that are transportable across occupations and between organizations to enhance the efficiency and impact of delivering results to customers.

This cannot happen without more flexibility in the system. This is something that private industry and many forward-thinking organizations (like the federal CIO Council Workforce and Human Capital for IT Committee) have realized for a long time.

John Tindal