Following the passage of the Foreign Assistance Act of 1961, the United States foreign assistance programs underwent significant changes ( U.S. Agency for International Development, 2020 ). The then-president, John F. Kennedy, wanted to unite development into a single agency that will manage and oversee aid to foreign countries for social and economic development. As a result, the United States Agency for International Development (USAID) was conceived. With the introduction of USAID, the government was able to categorize the several existing foreign assistance programs under one umbrella. The primary objective of USAID is to promote democratic values abroad and facilitate the development of a free, peaceful, and economically prosperous world ( U.S. Agency for International Development, 2020 ). The agency's mission is to support the United States foreign policy by facilitating development, disaster assistance, the reduction of poverty, and the promotion of democratic governance, among others. The agency's objective is to help the friendly nations to become self-sufficient and able to lead their own development objectives. To help actualize the aforementioned objective, USAID targets to achieve various goals, including the reduction of conflict, prevention of disease outbreaks, addressing issues of violence, instability, and transnational crime, among other security threats.
Since its inception in 1961, the organization has undergone significant change, particularly in the strategies guiding its operation. The President's Policy Directive on Global Development, which was issued in 2010, the 2010 Quadrennial Diplomacy and Development review, and its subsequent revision of 2015 are some of the primary documents that are employed in USAID's day-to-day activities (Tarnoff, 2015). These documents address the benefits of enhancing the U.S national security through diplomacy and defenses, as well as facilitating worldwide developments. The Quadrennial Diplomacy and Development Review stresses the significance of USAID as a development agency, which focusses on food security, health, climate change, economic growth, democracy and governance, and humanitarian assistance.
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Agency Functions
USAID has three primary functions in the United States' foreign policy. Aside from being the primary development agency in the U.S., USAID also serves as a key implementor of humanitarian and political-strategic assistance (Tarnoff, 2015). As the primary development agency, USAID has various development assistance programs that are designed to promote sustainable economic growth, democratic governance, and adherence to social welfares in developing nations (Tarnoff, 2015). USAID, through its development assistance programs, helps the U.S. government in developing trade partners and future allies, countering terrorism, addressing international issues, and promoting U.S. leadership outside the United States borders. Aside from promoting development in other nations, USAID also acts as a humanitarian aid agency that targets to alleviate natural and human-made disasters. Finally, the third function of this agency is to offer political-strategic aid, which addresses the special U.S economic, political, and security interests (Tarnoff, 2015). Therefore, aside from offering development assistance, USAID also helps in promoting government activities and interests in other jurisdictions. As outlined in its recently revised mission statement, USAID facilitates partnerships to help end extreme poverty and promote democratic societies while advancing the United States' security and prosperity.
Agency News
In 2017, the president offered an executive order to federal agencies, with the target to improve the efficiency, effectiveness, and accountability of the executive branch. In response to the executive order, USAID advanced a reform effort that incorporated 32 reform projects ( United States Government Accountability Office, 2019 ). These reform projects have been implemented by a USAID Transformation Task Team. The primary objectives of the reform initiative included the establishment of metrics and approaches to help host nation recipients to become more self-reliant, to restructure USAID bureaus and their offices to grow the agency's core capabilities, to promote national security interest, and to maximize the outcome from taxpayer investments in foreign assistance ( United States Government Accountability Office, 2019 ). Part of these reform projects, some of which are completed, have a direct impact on personnel management. For instance, the development of a new bureau to strengthen the core capabilities of the agency, and the completion of projects to empower people to lead will change the agency's management of its human resources significantly.
In a bid to improve the core capabilities of the organization, USAID launched various projects, most of which have been completed, to introduce new bureaus. The creation of new bureaus, such as the Bureau for Humanitarian Assistance, Bureau for Resilience and Food Security, and the Bureau for Conflict Prevention and Stabilization, among others, will change the organization's chain of management ( United States Government Accountability Office, 2019 ). The Bureau for Humanitarian Assistance, which was created to advance USAID's objective of delivering food and non-food international aid, will result in the establishment of leadership for the Bureau along with the allocation of a significant number of employees to work for the Bureau. Therefore, the chain of command within the agency will change significantly. Aside from the newly created Bureau, some of the already existing Bureaus, such as the Bureau of Management and the Bureau of Asia, is currently being restructured and reintegrated, respectively, and thus affecting the chain of command.
Some of the reforms target to empower people to lead. The Workforce Flexibility and Mobility project was developed to test a new non-career expected-service hiring technique that brings agility and efficiency into the organization ( United States Government Accountability Office, 2019 ). With the full adoption of the reform, USAID is more capable of hiring the right talent, at the right time, place, and duration. The Workforce Flexibility and Mobility project will facilitate better management of the agency's talents. Also, with the completion of the initiative to explore the delivery of human resources operation, USAID can now outsource human resource operations to improve efficiency, reduce the cost of maintaining outdated systems, and streamline the human resources functions. The outsourcing of human resources operations will change the personnel management techniques of the agency.
Rationale for Selecting Agency
USAID is the most suitable agency for the effective conceptualization of the historical, legislative, and ethical perspectives of personnel management for a federal agency. Access to information about USAID is easy. One can easily access information that is relevant to personnel management through the agency's websites, the multiple press releases, and publications. The USAID Human Capital Framework Publication can help with the provision of information that is relevant to personnel management (USAID, 2018). In addition, other publications, such as USAID reform, outlines the various reform projects that have been completed recently or are ongoing, and thus providing information on the potential changes that might occur to the agency's personnel management as a result of reforms. Furthermore, in addition to the easy access to background information, the arrangement of an interview with the agency representative is relatively easier. Therefore, USAID makes a perfect choice due to the readily available information about the agency.
Aside from the readily available information, the organization has recently undergone various reformations, which makes the organization a suitable choice for the analysis of the effect of changes to the management of organizational personnel. A part of the more than thirty reforms has a direct impact on how personnel management will be conducted. Therefore, by selecting USAID, one can get an in-depth understanding of how personnel management is conducted in federal agencies. Furthermore, the operability of USAID on a global level, along with its partnership with other government agencies and countries, provides a challenging personnel management framework that will facilitate a better understanding of the ethical elements of public personnel management.
References
Tarnoff, C. (2015). US Agency for International Development (USAID): Background, operations, and issues . Washington, DC: Congressional Research Service.
U.S. Agency for International Development. (2020). Retrieved 17 July 2020, from https://www.usaid.gov/
USAID. (2018). ADS Chapter 401 USAID's Human Capital (HC) Accountability System.
United States Government Accountability Office. (2019). USAID REFORM: Efforts address most key practices but could improve in performance assessment and strategic workforce planning. GAO.
