1222 - ORGANIZATION OF WORK UNITS.

 

1222.1 - Organization Principles.

 

1.     The workforce of the Ozark-St. Francis NFs is dynamic, being constantly monitored and adjusted to reflect the current and projected needs of the agency, forest resources and the employees themselves.  The Forest Leadership Team (FLT) will annually review the Forest organization charts and make needed modifications to best meet the needs of the public and resources, and as a team, make recommendations to the Forest Supervisor.

 

2.      Fixed costs on the Forest shall comprise approximately 70% of the total annual Forest budget.  Fixed costs are defined as those costs associated with: permanent salaries, rents, utilities, FOR, OWCP, unemployment and others as defined by the Region.

 

3.      There are four Ranger Districts on the Forest.  Those District Rangers with deputies in separate offices shall continue to work on sharing expertise and unifying processes among the offices.  Deputy District Ranger positions are established as developmental positions with the expectation that individuals in these positions shall move on to Ranger jobs. 

 

4.     The Ozark-St. Francis employees are part of a team that shares duties and workloads across organizational boundaries where this leads to increased efficiency (reduced costs) and effectiveness (increased outputs).  Sharing is emphasized at the both the Forest and District levels.

 

5.     The FLT is responsible for identifying the appropriate mix of skills needed on the Forest (job title, series and grade levels).  Supervisors are responsible for preparing position descriptions that adequately reflect the work being assigned to employees and insuring that employees work within their established PD.  This should reduce the requests for accretion of duty promotions.

 

6.     All jobs, resulting from accretion of duties or through vacancies, shall be advertised.  A few exceptions will be approved on a case-by-case basis in concert with the Forest Service Merit Promotion Plan.

 

7.      Long-term details and acting assignments are available to all qualified employees.  Long-term details and acting assignments are an exception and not a norm.  The intent is to fill most vacancies within six months.

 

8.      Outreach for vacancies shall be emphasized to encourage a diverse applicant pool.  Evidence of Outreach efforts must be documented before announcement procedures can begin.

 

9.     The Ozark- St. Francis NFs will build a more resilient workforce over a continuous spectrum of age, race, gender and experience levels.

 

10.   The Ozark-St. Francis NFs shall utilize a Position Management Committee to assist the FLT in managing the Forest organization.  The duties of this committee shall be to identify specific recommendations on how to implement these guiding principles.  The roles and organization of the Position Management committee shall be documented in a Forest Manual supplement.

 

11.   The Forest shall continue to utilize a futuring budget and organizational process like FTE 2000 to keep the workforce in line with expected budgets.     

 

1223 - STANDARD TITLES AND UNIT NAMES.

 

1223.1 - Titles Approved for Use.  The names of organization units and the organizational title of the individual in charge of each are as follows:

 

Forest

 

Organizational Unit

Organization Title

 

 

Supervisor's Office

Forest Supervisor

 

 

Public Services Staff Officer

 

 

Recreation, Wilderness, Heritage Resource, and Administrative Officer

 

 

Technical Services Staff Officer

 

 

Engineering, Lands, Special Uses, and Minerals

 

 

Ecosystems Staff Officer

 

 

Timber, Range, Wildlife and Fisheries

 

Planning/SWA Staff Officer

Fire Staff Officer

Public Affairs Staff Officer

 

 

Ranger Districts

District Ranger

 

 

1225 - APPROVAL OF ORGANIZATION CHANGES

 

1225.03 - Policy.  The Forest Supervisor will approve all organization change proposals after review and recommendation by the Forest Position Management Committee.  Exhibit 1 lists the current members of the Position Management Committee.

 

1225.04 - Responsibility.

 

Organization Charts.  The Public Service Staff Officer, with assistance from the Personnel Specialist, is responsible for maintaining the approved Forest Organization Chart.  The organization chart will be kept current and prepared in accordance with Regional guidelines.

 

Forest Position Management Committee.   The Forest Position Management Committee is established to review and make formal recommendations to the Forest Supervisor regarding all proposed organization changes within the Forest organization.   The team will consist of four full members (two Rangers, two Staff) appointed by the Forest Supervisor to serve on a rotating basis.  The Personnel Specialist will serve as a non-voting member on the team, available primarily for technical advice.  The purpose of the team is to consider all proposed organization changes submitted for the Supervisor's approval.  The team is expected to operate on the basis of sound position management principals and offer its recommendations to the Forest Supervisor concerning approval, disapproval or modification of any organization proposal brought before it.   Final approval, however, rests with the Forest Supervisor.

 

The team will meet on a quarterly basis.   Minor changes, however, not requiring a meeting may be discussed with team members by phone and recommendations developed, without necessity of a meeting. 

 

1225.1 - Changes Requiring Approval

 

1225.2 - Documentation and Procedures for Obtaining Approval.

 

            Positions on the approved organization chart.

 

a.   The requesting official will prepare a brief narrative identifying the need to fill a vacated position on the approved organization chart.  This narrative will contain a summary of the effects of filling this position on the budget and FTEs for the unit, along with any other alternatives that were considered.  The intent of this narrative would be to insure the position management committee that all ideas to make our organization more efficient and effective have been considered.

 

b.   The requesting official will prepare Forms SF-52, requesting each specific personnel action, Forms AD-332 and position description, Demo Form 002 containing vacancy announcement selection criteria and documentation of Outreach efforts and results.

 

c.      These documents (a and b above) must be received by the Personnel Specialist 10 days prior to the Position Management Committee meeting for evaluation by the position management committee.  If complete packages are not received on time, the packages will be held for evaluation at the next scheduled quarterly meeting.

 

d.   If the Position Management Committee would like a requesting official to be present at the Position Management meeting, the Personnel Specialist will notify the appropriate requesting official at least five days before the scheduled meeting.

 

e.      After evaluation by the committee, a written recommendation will be forwarded to the Forest Supervisor for a final decision.

 

Positions not on the approved organization chart. (includes new positions, upgrades, or changes in series and job titles)

 

a.   The requesting official will prepare a statement explaining how management, service, efficiency, and the effectiveness of the organization is to be improved by the proposed changes.  This statement will also include the estimated effects of the action on the budget, FTEs, and fixed costs.  A draft organization chart with the changes identified must be included.  This chart may be in pencil.

 

b.   The requesting official will prepare Forms SF-52, requesting each specific personnel action, Forms AD-332 and position description, Demo Form 002 containing vacancy announcement selection criteria and documentation of Outreach efforts and results.

 

c.      These documents (a and b above) must be received by the Personnel Specialist 10 days prior to the Position Management Committee meeting for evaluation by the position management committee.  If complete packages are not received on time, the packages will be held for evaluation at the next scheduled quarterly meeting.

 

d.   If the Position Management Committee would like a requesting official to be present at the Position Management meeting, the Personnel Specialist will notify the appropriate requesting official at least five days before the scheduled meeting.

 

e.      After evaluation, the committee will decide if the proposed action should be forwarded to the Forest Leadership Team (FLT) for discussion prior to the Forest Supervisor's decision.  Most proposed changes to the Forest's organization chart will be submitted to the FLT for discussion.  The FLT will meet at least once annually to discuss proposed changes to the Forest organization

 

 

 

EXHIBIT 1

 

 

POSITION MANAGEMENT COMMITTEE MEMBERS

 

RANGERS & DEPUTY RANGERS

TERM

STAFF

 

 

 

Pleasant Hill

FY00/01

Public Services

Buffalo

FY01/02

Ecosystems

St. Francis

FY02/03

Technical Services

Boston Mtn.

FY03/04

Fire

Bayou

FY04/05

Planning/SWA

Sylamore

FY06/07

Planning/SWA

Magazine

FY08/09

Public Affairs

 

 

 

 

Advisory Member

 

Personnel Specialist

 

 

Ex-officio Member

 

Public Services/Administrative Officer