POGO tracks federal watchdog vacancies
February 8th, 2012 | Agency Management White House | Posted by Sarah Chacko
The Project On Government Oversight launched a new web page today to track how long agencies have been left without inspectors general, hoping to spur government officials to appoint leadership to the watchdog roles as soon as possible.
“Congress and the public rely on [Offices of Inspectors General] reports to hold agencies and individuals accountable for wrongdoing, identify a need for legislation, and evaluate the effectiveness of government programs and policies,” POGO says on the site.
The longest vacancy has been at the State Department, which has operated more than four years without a permanent inspector general, the website shows. This is at a time when the department has taken on the responsibility of managing private security contractors in war zones, POGO said in a news release.
Currently, 12 agencies operate without an appointed IG. Six agencies have IG positions that have been vacant for more than a year.
Acting IGs are generally less effective than appointed IGs because they are considered to be temporary, so they are less likely to take a strong leadership role and set long-term priorities, POGO says. Appointed IGs have to undergo significant vetting — especially those that require Senate confirmation — which helps instill confidence that the position is truly independent, the group says.
Tags: accountability, audit, Inspectors General, investigation, vacancies
Creativity, innovation slighted, many feds say
August 10th, 2011 | Agency Management | Posted by Sean Reilly
If there were ever a time for the federal government to recognize the value of new approaches and ideas, this would be it.
But at most major federal agencies, fewer than half of employees believe that’s actually happening, according to a survey analysis released today by the Partnership for Public Service.
The two exceptions were NASA and the Nuclear Regulatory Commission, where more than 60 percent of respondents agreed that “creativity and innovation are rewarded.” At the three military services and 23 agencies, however, the comparable ratios were below 50 percent and at a couple—including the Transportation Department and the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission—they were below one-third.
At the bottom was the Securities and Exchange Commission, where just 28.4 percent of responding employees saw such incentives for innovation.
That’s the same SEC that’s picking up a slew of new responsibilities under the Dodd-Frank financial overhaul signed last year. In an email, spokesman John Nester touted the fact that–in response to another survey question–nearly 9 in 10 SEC staffers said they were “constantly looking for ways to do their jobs better.” The agency is “looking for ways to better encourage and reward them for that,” Nester added.
The analysis draws on data from last year’s Federal Employee Viewpoint Survey, which attracted responses from more than 250,000 full-time permanent feds. At every agency covered, overwhelming majorities of respondents said they were “constantly” looking for ways to do their jobs better. At most, more than half said that they felt encouraged to come up with new and better ways of doing things.
What gives?
“We have a work force that is individually motivated to try new things to succeed and they’re not receiving either leadership or organizational support in trying to be creative and innovative,” Partnership President Max Stier said in a phone interview. “That’s a problem.”
The analysis singles out a half-dozen conditions–such as involving employees in decisions that affect their work–that help drive innovation. And probably managers at just about every federal agency would claim that they’re all for getting away from business as usual. So is there a disconnect between lip service and reality? What do you think?
Tags: Equal Opportunity Employment Commission, Partnership for Public Service, Securites and Exchange Commission, Transportation Department
Government responses to shutdown questions eerily similar
February 22nd, 2011 | Agencies Agency Management Commerce Energy Uncategorized White House | Posted by Andy Medici
The staff over here at Federal Times are getting a sense of deja vu from agency responses to our questions about a possible government shutdown.
Here is a response from the Energy Department (Emphasis added).
As a matter of course, our agency plans for contingencies, but this is besides the point since, as the bipartisan congressional leadership has said on a number of occasions and as the President has made clear, no one anticipates or wants a government shutdown. The Department is working with both sides on Capitol Hill to fund the government and keep its vital services and functions operating.
Here is the response from the Commerce Department:
As a matter of course, the Commerce Department plans for contingencies. In fact, since 1980, all agencies have had to have a plan in case of a government shutdown, and these plans are updated routinely. All of this is beside the point since, as the bipartisan congressional leadership has said on a number of occasions and as the President has made clear, no one anticipates or wants a government shutdown. The administration will work with both sides on Capitol Hill to fund the government and keep its vital services and functions operating.
Somehow I doubt that these two public affairs people at these two agencies came up with the exact same phrasing and punctuation.
I will post questions to each of these agencies and will update if I get a response.
Obama to SES: We need you
September 14th, 2010 | Agency Management Government reform OMB | Posted by Sean Reilly
President Obama is urging the Senior Executive Service to embrace his accountability agenda, according to a memo released today.
“As the most senior managers in the federal government, you know how essential the work you and your colleagues do is to the nation,” Obama told more than 7,000 SES members. “You also are aware what happens when your best efforts are thwarted by outdated technologies and outmoded ways of doing business.
“You understand the consequences of accepting billions of dollars in waste as the cost of doing business and of allowing obsolete or under-performing programs to continue year after year.”
“Working together we can change that.”
The memo’s existence was first reported by The Washington Post.
Obama added that he has asked acting Office of Management and Budget Director Jeffrey Zients, who is also federal chief performance officer, for regular updates on progress in making government “more efficient and effective.”
In his own accompanying memo, Zients told SES members that “as a group, you set the tone and expectations for what the federal workforce can accomplish.
“For us to succeed in overcoming skepticism and bureaucratic inertia, we need you to spread the belief that performance improvements are not only critical, they are well within our reach.”
The administration has settled on six strategies–such as driving agencies’ top priorities, cutting waste, and attracting and motivating top talent–and will be tracking results on the web site, performance. gov. Now available to federal managers, the site will be opened to the public later this fall, Zients wrote.
Along with other members of the President’s Management Council, he said, “I will be following up with you regularly to review our progress and to get your input on where things are going well and where we need to make further improvements.”
Tags: Jeffrey Zients, President Obama, Senior Executive Service
DHS gets federal cybersecurity portfolio
July 9th, 2010 | Agency Management Homeland Security Information Technology OMB | Posted by Tom Spoth
The Office of Management and Budget has officially tabbed the Homeland Security Department to oversee cybersecurity in the executive branch, as OMB indicated would be the case in April.
A memo this week from OMB Director Peter Orszag and federal cybersecurity coordinator Howard Schmidt gives DHS responsibility for:
• overseeing the government-wide and agency-specific implementation of and reporting on cybersecurity policies and guidance;
• overseeing and assisting government-wide and agency-specific efforts to provide adequate, risk-based and cost-effective cybersecurity;
• overseeing the agencies’ compliance with FISMA and developing analyses for OMB to assist in the development of the FISMA annual report;
• overseeing the agencies’ cybersecurity operations and incident response and providing appropriate assistance; and
• annually reviewing the agencies’ cybersecurity programs.
Tags: cybersecurity, DHS, OMB, Peter Orszag
More on OMB’s performance reviews
June 28th, 2010 | 2012 Budget Agency Management OMB | Posted by Tom Spoth
Shelley Metzenbaum, OMB’s associate director for performance and personnel management, issued a memo on performance management today that didn’t seem to say much beyond previously announced plans to meet with agencies on their high-priority goals and set up a website to track agencies’ performance.
One interesting line, though, was this one: “Agencies should consider this year a transition year during which OMB and the [Performance Improvement Council] will move to a more dynamic performance planning, management, improvement, and reporting framework that is useful, streamlined and coherent.”
This seems to indicate that OMB is going to establish some kind of performance-management system or checklist that agencies use, even though Metzenbaum has said before that OMB didn’t want to do that. Or perhaps this just refers to OMB’s performance website?
I’m checking this out with OMB, but at first blush this memo doesn’t appear to be a change in direction from OMB’s vision of using outcome-based, data-driven analysis and holding agencies accountable for progress toward their high-priority goals. We’ll be watching to see how agencies live up to these expectations when they’re explaining to OMB this summer why they want to cut Program X from their fiscal 2012 budget, but not Project Y.
UPDATE 6/29/10:
Here’s the response to my questions I received from OMB press secretary Jean Weinberg. Do with this information what you will.
“1. The transition year refers to the period during which agencies are producing documents to meet the requirements of GPRA, which include the FY 2012 Performance Budget/Annual Performance Plan and the FY 2010 Annual Performance Report.
2. The new “framework” is expected to cover the full performance improvement process – not just plan and report production. The framework is expected to include key steps such as leaders setting priorities, analyzing results to identify performance variations and understand the reasons for them, holding regular data-driven reviews, and ensuring accountability and transparency of results. This new approach is exemplified by the High Priority Performance Goal effort, the launching pad for the Administration’s broader performance improvement and transparency efforts.”
At GPO, the presses go, even in snow
February 11th, 2010 | Agencies Agency Management Regulation | Posted by Steve Watkins
With D.C. offices in their fourth day of closures (check back later to see if it will be a five-day sweep), the business of government marches on. And that includes publications from the Government Printing Office, many of which are needed to implement new policies and regulations.
Although most D.C. federal offices were closed this week, GPO reports more than 200 of its workers “braved the elements to print important materials for the White House and Congress.” Among the key publications they ensured went out on time, the Economic Report of the President, the Congressional Record and the Federal Register, according to a Feb. 11 GPO news release.
Tags: GPO
More money SAVE-ing ideas
December 28th, 2009 | Agency Management OMB Workplace | Posted by Steve Watkins
While Nancy Fitchner’s SAVE Award winning idea to let veterans take home their unused prescriptions from Veterans Affairs Department hospitals will be the one included in the 2011 budget, that doesn’t mean the Office of Management and Budget is ignoring the 38,000 other ideas that were submitted to its first SAVE Award contest.
On the same day Fitchner was honored at the White House, OMB Director Peter Orszag told agencies to adopt some “common sense ideas” that were submitted and can be implemented without congressional action.
In a Dec. 21 memo, Orszag said in the short run agencies should:
- Make electronic pay stubs the default way of receiving pay stubs. Currently, 64 percent of employees opt in to the electronic pay stub system, but switching electronic stubs to the default system will boost those numbers, saving the government on printing costs, Orszag wrote. Those wishing to receive paper stubs would be able to opt out of the electronic system. OMB is working with payroll providers at the National Finance Center, the Defense Finance and Accounting Service, the National Business Center and the General Services Administration to implement this policy.
- Inform employees in Washington, D.C. offices that they can choose not to claim their monthly transportation benefits when they have a balance sufficient for the coming month. Orszag used the example of an employee who walks to work in the summer, but takes Metro the rest of the year.
Tags: Nancy Fitchner, Peter Orszag, SAVE Award
Congratulations Nancy Fichtner!
December 11th, 2009 | Agency Management OMB Veterans Affairs | Posted by Steve Watkins
Congratulations to Nancy Fichtner, a Veterans Affairs Department employee from Colorado, for winning the first ever SAVE (Securing Americans Value and Efficiency) Award contest.
Her money saving idea: Allow veterans to take home the medications they use while at the hospital, instead of tossing the prescriptions in the trash when veterans are discharged. The idea would not only save the government money, but veterans too.
Fichtner’s idea beat out 38,000 other ideas submitted by fellow federal employees in the contest designed to harness the experience of frontline employees to save the government money. Her idea was one of four finalists selected by OMB staff and put to a public vote earlier this week.
Fichtner will jet off to Washington to present her idea directly to President Barack Obama on Dec. 21. The cost-cutting plan will be included in the fiscal 2011 budget.
Tags: Nancy Fichtner, SAVE Award
The Final Four!
December 7th, 2009 | Agency Management OMB | Posted by Steve Watkins
Congratulations to the four finalists in the Office of Management and Budget’s first SAVE (Securing Americans Value and Efficiency) Award.
OMB staff narrowed down the 38,000 entries received between Sept. 23 and Oct. 14 to the following four:
- Allow citizens to make Social Security appointments online
This idea came from Christie Dickson, who works for the Social Security Administration in Alabama. Allowing online appointment scheduling will free up Social Security staff to handle other inquiries on the phone, Dickson told OMB. Approximately two-thirds of Social Security phone calls she receives are for appointments, and it would save time for both employees and citizens if there were an online option for appointment booking, she said.
- Allow veterans to take unused medications home from the hospital
This idea comes from Nancy Fichtner, of Colorado. Fichtner said VA hospitals should allow patients to take home unfinished prescriptions of medications they’ll continue to take after they are discharged. Current practice is to throw the unfinished medicine away, resulting in a waste and additional expense to both hospitals and veterans, she wrote.
- Streamline how agencies handle cash from visitor fees and other funds.
This idea comes from Julie Fosbender, an employee at the Monongahela National Forest in West Virginia. Her plan would streamline the process for handling visitor fees and other funds for the National Forests. Currently, employees handling cash collected from campground fees, park passes or other fees, must account for and document what was collected, bring the money to the bank, convert it into a money order and then turn it — and all of the associated paperwork — over to the unit collection officer. She writes: “The unit collection officer then recounts the receipts, makes two copies of the money orders and checks, creates a bill for collection, waits 24 hours for the bill to print, fills out a remittance report, runs two calculator tapes of receipts (one for her and one for the bank) and mails the package (via certified mail) to a bank in San Francisco, CA. … Why can’t we just deposit our collections into a local bank?”
- Streamline subsidized housing inspections.
This idea comes from Huston Prescott from Alaska. Prescott recommended that the Housing and Urban Development Department streamline subsidized housing inspections to cut out redundancy. Subsidized housing funds come from many revenue streams, all of which require their own inspection of the property, confirmation of resident incomes and annual auditing. Since inspectors are often reporting the same information multiple times, Prescott proposed allowing the same inspections, certifications and audits be used to save time and money.
Now that the four finalists have been chosen, the public has until 11:59 p.m. EST Dec. 10 to choose the idea they like best. That idea will be included in the 2011 White House budget proposal. The winning employee gets his or her picture taken with Pres. Barack Obama. You can cast your vote here.
As for the ideas that didn’t make it to the final four…OMB passed along “hundreds of the most promising ones” to the relevant agencies and departments for possible inclusion in their 2011 budget plans.
Tags: SAVE Award