AF improves civilian hiring process Published March 6, 2007 By 010307 RANDOLPH AIR FORCE BASE, Texas -- The Air Force Personnel Center here will soon provide personal assistance to civilian hiring managers and selection officials in the field through the new Management Advisory Clearing House program. The MACH recently completed a successful 30-day proof-of-concept phase Nov. 15 at Peterson Air Force Base, Colo., and will be phased in Air Force-wide over the next year. The primary goal of the MACH program is customer service. It is designed to help managers who are trying to fill civilian vacancies at their location through AFPC, by providing personal assistance during the hiring process. MACH personnel will work closely with their customers to help them understand the fill process and how to get their positions filled faster. In past years, a base's civilian personnel flight served as the "face" to customers for hiring civilians. Commanders and hiring managers went to their CPF for help with filling positions, while AFPC served in the background supporting the CPFs. However, the regionalization of CPF functions moved most of their capabilities to AFPC in order to increase efficiency and save manpower, according to Mr. Rob Thomas II, AFPC executive director. "With regionalization, there was no more 'face' to the customers, because the CPFs no longer had the capability to fill positions ... AFPC did. Hiring managers were told to work directly with AFPC using e-mail communication," he added. Unfortunately, because the civilian-hiring process has special, complicated lingo and laws that laymen simply don't understand, managers became increasingly frustrated when they couldn't talk to a person about their questions, according to Col. James Sturch, director of civilian force integration at AFPC. They would send their fill requests to AFPC via e-mail and get them sent back when they were wrong. There was no verbal feedback or discussion about the process. The MACH program remedies that problem and is now the 'face' of AFPC to the hiring managers in the field, according to Mr. Thomas. "Our goal is to provide one-stop shopping to answer a manager's questions about the status of a vacancy he or she is trying to fill." Problems with a civilian fill can now be corrected over the phone without having to send products back and forth via e-mail. "The greatest benefit of MACH is the improved partnerships with the customers and truly advising them to make their jobs easier," said Colonel Sturch. "Timeliness and quality are natural by-products of this great customer service." "We're always striving to improve all of our processes at AFPC," said Mr. Thomas. "We had taken the 'personal' out of personnel in civil service assignments. MACH enables us to provide more efficient and direct communication during the hiring process. Emphasis on personal contact and true management advisement will be the focus, while ensuring the hiring manager or selection official knows what options are available when he or she is trying to fill a civilian requirement." For more information contact AFPC/DPID at DSN 665-1680, commercially at (210) 565-1680 or by e-mail at AFPC/DPID.Mach@randolph.af.mil.