OPM updates guidance for HR LOB

The Office of Personnel Management has updated its guidance designed to help agencies prepare to move their human resources management and payroll services to shared-service centers that specialize in providing those operations to numerous customers. Establishing shared services under the Human Resources Line of Business (HR LOB) is designed to improve HR management, efficiency and customer service, and to reduce costs and risks, OPM said in a guidance released Sept. 26. HR LOB is a governmentwide initiative sponsored by the Office of Management and Budget and managed by OPM. The Migration Planning Guidance revises the first version released in December and provides agencies more details for the concept of operations, a task order template and best practices for moving to a shared-service center, OPM said. “Migration decisions are made by the agency and should be based on the state of an agency’s current HR systems and how imminently the agency needs to modernize or replace the system,” OPM said. When they migrate, agencies will have to obtain information technology services from shared-service centers at least for the core functions of personnel action processing and benefits management, the guidance states. In 2009, OPM has said it anticipates developing a certification framework to evaluate the capabilities of shared-service providers. Five agencies provide services under the HR LOB. They include the Agriculture Department’s National Finance Center, the Defense Department’s Civilian Personnel Management Service, the Health and Human Services Department’s Program Support Center, the Interior Department’s National Business Center, and the Treasury Department’s HR Connect program partnered with the Bureau of the Public Debt. The contractors that provide HR LOB services are Accenture National Security Services, Allied Technology Group, Carahsoft Technology and IBM.