NAME OF SYSTEM: Automated Personnel ORIGINATOR: Automated Personnel Management System Federal Housing Administration Department of Housing and Urban Development Washington, D.C. 20410 cations and eligibility of individuals for promotion or to fill new or vacant positions. To assist in solution of this problem, a magnetic tape skills inventory file contains such helpful information as occupational series, training courses completed, years of service, grade span, and* academic fields. T H E N E W M E T H O D . The initial input of source data to the personnel data master file is the Personnel Transaction Form. Though quite similar to the Standard Form 50, it contains additional information on personnel skills and other data that comprise each employee's profile. Data on the form is coded by a personnel clerk and then converted to punched paper tape on an automatic typewriter. The punched paper tape is forwarded to the computer activity for conversion to punched card format and then batched with other input cards for computer processing and storage on the magnetic tape master personnel file. Search requests initiated by managers and supervisors that concern personnel who might be qualified for new or unfilled positions are handled in much the same manner as the initial input to the master file. First, all pertinent skills and other qualifying features of the position are recorded on a skills locator form. This form, which has a potential of 43 different entries, is then reduced to a coded format on punched paper tape for conversion to punched cards. At the computer center, the technicians gather the punched cards for batching prior to their conversion to magnetic tape. After conversion, the skill search tape is programed for matching against the master file tape. The names of individuals found eligible for the position, together with their file folder location identities, are retrieved in the form of a computer printout. A copy of the printout may then be forwarded to the original requesting office for study. Where appropriate, the employee file jacket may be obtained for further study and further action. R E M A R K S . The F H A automated personnel system supplies management with impor- O B J E C T I V E . To develop a comprehensive integrated personnel data system that will satisfy the Federal Housing Administration's ( F H A ) various and continuing personnel management and information needs. BACKGROUND. The Federal Housing Administration carries out broad Federal programs of loan and mortgage insurance as authorized by the Federal Housing Act. The F H A employs about 8,500 personnel throughout the United States in support of these responsibilities. For many years the F H A has been in the forefront of those government activities taking advantage of the capabilities of nonconventional information retrieval methods and techniques to better manage their broad range of affairs. For example, F H A ' s present Automated Personnel Management System utilizes magnetic tape as the storage medium for their large personnel file. Illustrative of the growing trend toward shared use of computers, this system exists as a by-product of a completely integrated personnel management application, which in turn shares computer time with several still larger systems in the same computer center. Several of F H A ' s personnel functional areas benefiting from the storage and retrieval capabilities of this system are the payroll office, personnel placement office, and personnel management activity. The personnel placement office shall be used to illustrate this system's characteristics in solving information retrieval requirements. This office has information needs of a specific nature due to its interest in evaluating qualifi88 tant information through complex data correlation and improves the overall effectiveness of the personnel system. It produces all regular periodic personnel reports and can analyze information based on specific programing to select the most qualified person for various job vacancies. This system is a good example of the sharing of computer usage with other organizational elements. Because of the computer's fast processing speed and the F H A system's relatively small workload, a computer could not be justified for use as an information and retrieval system alone. 89 AUTOMATED PERSONNEL I N P U T PROCESSING 1 STORAGE SEARCH AND R E T R I E V A L Personnel Transaction Form f Punched Cards 1 Search Request 2 1 Coded Form 2 Coded Form { Converter y 1 3 / Paper \ t Typewriter^ / /—\ ^ ^^ \ i Keypunch / 1 1 / Mag \ I Tape J 1 P a p e r Tape 1 1 1 P a p e r Tape 1 / Converter 1 V-~7 Punched Cards 3 1 / 1 Punched Card Printout 1. S e a r c h r e q u e s t i n i t i a t e d by 1 1. F o r m is i n i t i a t e d by p e r s o n n e l P u n c h e d c a r d s a r e b a t c h e d , 1 p l a c e m e n t office a s a r e s u l t of i n - c o n v e r t e d to m a g n e t i c t a p e m a n a g e r s and s u p e r v i s o r s 1 f o r m a t i o n input f r o m i n d i v i d u a l s . f o r m a t , and i n f o r m a t i o n is added t h r o u g h p e r s o n n e l office. to m a s t e r t a p e file. 2. S t e p s follow s e q u e n c e of 1 2. The v a r i o u s s k i l l s a r e coded input p r o c e s s i n g s t e p s 2 and 3. 1 in t h e p e r s o n n e l office. 3. A p e r s o n n e l office t y p i s t , 1 using a paper tape t y p e w r i t e r , 1 c o n v e r t s t h e c o d e s to punched 1 p a p e r tape, which in t u r n is c o n 1 v e r t e d into punched c a r d s . 3. The skill s e a r c h t a p e is m a t c h e d a g a i n s t the m a s t e r t a p e file. The i d e n t i t i e s of c a s e folder l o c a t i o n s a r e r e t r i e v e d in c o m puter printout format. 90