2006 Report to Employees — Management that Maximizes the Mission

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Secretary's Message

Dear DOL Colleagues:

This third annual Report to Employees once again highlights the many successes the Department of Labor has achieved under the President's Management Agenda. As we look back at these accomplishments, it is not hard to see why DOL remains at the top of all Federal Departments in meeting our commitments in the five government-wide President's Management Agenda initiatives. The Office of Management and Budget has rated us green in Strategic Management of Human Capital, Competitive Sourcing, Improved Financial Performance, Expanded Electronic Government, and Budget and Performance Integration.

In three additional President's Management Agenda initiatives found in selected Federal agencies, the Department achieved green in Eliminating Improper Payments and Faith-Based and Community Initiative and has made excellent progress in Real Property.

Because of the hard work of DOL employees, the Department was also the first agency to be awarded the President's Quality Award for Performance in Integrating Management Systems. This President's Quality Award is the highest award given to Executive Branch agencies for management excellence and for specific management initiatives as outlined in the President's Management Agenda.

Another exceptional achievement was being ranked number one by George Mason University's Mercatus Center for the fourth year in a row for our 2005 Performance and Accountability Report, which included our ninth consecutive clean audit opinion. This report is evidence of the quality that we can attain by teaming up across the DOL Agencies.

I am very proud of the scores, awards, and recognition that DOL has received. This level of excellence can make a real difference in people's lives. Just look at DOL's extraordinary response to Hurricanes Katrina and Rita. They are prime examples of the true dedication of the DOL workforce. We came together — not only to meet our responsibilities to the American people — but to support our colleagues in need.

We are making a difference at the U.S. Department of Labor — one employee at a time. There can be no greater calling. For this, I am truly proud.

Sincerely,

Elaine L. Chao

Statement from the Deputy Secretary

Proud to Be at Labor. Personal Best. Management that Maximizes the Mission. These are more than themes of our annual reports to employees. These are ways of doing business — such as ensuring that the programs we provide for American citizens are as effective and accessible as possible. It also means ensuring that we are thoughtful and strategic as we look to apply 21st Century solutions to issues of the workplace.

As a way to identify these solutions and leverage technology to the Department's benefit, I agreed to chair an electronic government subcommittee of the President's Management Council. This provides DOL a government-wide voice to explore ideas and strategies that maximize the mission through technology.

To leverage technology at the 21st Century Department of Labor, we first must pull technology procurement out of what I like to call the primordial swamp. With the project management insight afforded by Earned Value Management and the purchasing power harnessed by SmartBuy, our IT investment dollars go further and deliver more capacity. Collaboration, consolidation, and interoperability at DOL lead us to reaching an Information Technology nirvana: simplicity. The winners? America's working families — which is at the core of the President's Management Agenda.

We also continue to strive to make the Department's programs more transparent. At the end of this summer, 32 DOL programs will have been evaluated to date through the Program Assessment Rating Tool (PART) — by which performance targets have been established to demonstrate quantifiable improvements each and every year. Complementing these performance targets is an agency improvement plan — which establishes aggressive follow-up actions designed at improving program performance. The end of this process rightly turns back to the citizens we serve: all DOL PART ratings, improvement plans, performance targets, and details of each assessment are available on the ExpectMore.gov Web site for all to see.

Every day the Department of Labor redefines excellence as we build on our growing accomplishments — and each and every employee plays an important role in working to meet our mission. Your commitment to public service is exemplified in the day-to-day work you do. And this annual Report to Employees is just one small way to say thanks for a job well done.

Enjoy reading about our collective accomplishments — and I look forward to working with each of you to build upon these achievements in the months ahead.

Thanks for all you do,

Stephen J. Law