Big Changes Mean Big Challenges for Shared Services and Government HR with Academy Fellow Brodi Fontenot and OPM's Rebecca Ayers

James-Christian Blockwood discusses U.S. Office of Personnel Management's modernization of federal HR and retirement IT systems with OPM’s Rebecca Ayers and Academy Fellow Brodi Fontenot. Building on a 2021 academy report urging congressional funding to modernize OPM systems, they describe the administration’s goal to build a merit-based workforce and modernize people management through the Federal HR 2.0 initiative. Key elements include moving agencies onto a mandatory single core HCM platform to replace over 100 systems, improve data, speed retirement processing, enable employee self-service, and generate an estimated nearly $1 billion in savings, alongside a voluntary OPM Shared Service Center offering standardized operational services and strategic consulting. They highlight historical swings between decentralization and centralization, the change-management challenges of standardization, feedback loops, and long-term commitment, and note upcoming milestones such as announcing the new core HCM system and additional agencies opting into shared services.00:50 Modernization Stakes02:34 Federal HR 2.0 Vision04:58 Shared Services Context07:41 Centralize Versus Decentralize10:34 Change Management Hurdles12:51 Mandatory Versus Voluntary16:19 Why Now17:17 Public Impact21:09 Leader Playbook22:37 Next MilestonesManagement Matters is a presentation of the National Academy of Public Administration produced by Lizzie Alwan and Matt Hampton and edited by Matt Hampton. Support the Podcast Today at: [email protected] or 202-347-3190Episode music: Hope by Mixaund | https://mixaund.bandcamp.comMusic promoted by https://www.free-stock-music.comFollow us on YouTube for clips and more: @NAPAWASH_YT