Summary
Now that the Government Performance and Results Act (GPRA) has been in effect for 10 years, GAO was asked to address (1) the effect of GPRA in creating a governmentwide focus on results and the government's ability to deliver results to the American public, (2) the challenges agencies face in measuring performance and using performance information in management decisions, and (3) how the federal government can continue to shift toward a more results-oriented focus.
GPRA's requirements have established a solid foundation of results-oriented performance planning, measurement, and reporting in the federal government. Federal managers surveyed by GAO reported having significantly more of the types of performance measures called for by GPRA. GPRA has also begun to facilitate the linking of resources to results, although much remains to be done in this area to increase the use of performance information to make decisions about resources. We also found agency strategic and annual performance plans and reports we reviewed have improved over initial efforts. Although a foundation has been established, numerous significant challenges to GPRA implementation still exist. Inconsistent top leadership commitment to achieving results within agencies and Office of Management and Budget (OMB) can hinder the development of results-oriented cultures in agencies. Furthermore, in certain areas, federal managers continue to have difficulty setting outcome-oriented goals, collecting useful data on results, and linking institutional, program, unit, and individual performance measurement and reward systems. Finally, there is an inadequate focus on addressing issues that cut across federal agencies. OMB, as the focal point for management in the federal government, is responsible for overall leadership and direction in addressing these challenges. OMB has clearly placed greater emphasis on management issues during the past several years. However, it has showed less commitment to GPRA implementation in its guidance to agencies and in using the governmentwide performance plan requirement of GPRA to develop an integrated approach to crosscutting issues. In our view, governmentwide strategic planning could better facilitate the integration of federal activities to achieve national goals.
Recommendations
Our recommendations from this work are listed below with a Contact for more information. Status will change
from "In process" to "Implemented" or "Not implemented" based on our follow up work.
Director:
Team:
Phone:
Bernice Steinhardt
Government Accountability Office: Strategic Issues
No phone on record
Matters for Congressional Consideration
Recommendation: To ensure that agency strategic plans more closely align with changes in the federal government leadership, Congress may wish to consider amending GPRA to require that updates to agency strategic plans be submitted at least once every 4 years, 12-18 months after a new administration begins its term. Additionally, consultations with congressional stakeholders should be held at least once every new Congress and interim updates made to strategic and performance plans as warranted. Congress may wish to consider using these consultations along with its traditional oversight role and legislation as opportunities to clarify its performance expectations for agencies. This process may provide an opportunity for Congress to develop a more structured oversight agenda.
Status: In process
Comments: This provision was added to proposed legislation that would require OMB to perform assessments of each federal program (similar to OMB's PART reviews). The committee reported on the proposed legislation in HR 109-26. No further action has been taken. We continue to monitor for any action.
Recommendation: To provide a framework to identify long-term goals and strategies to address issues that cut across federal agencies, Congress may wish to consider amending GPRA to require the President to develop a governmentwide strategic plan.
Status: In process
Comments: Congress has not acted on this Matter for Consideration. We continue to monitor for any action.
Recommendations for Executive Action
Recommendation: To provide a broader perspective and more cohesive picture of the federal government's goals and strategies to address issues that cut across executive branch agencies, the Director of OMB should fully implement GPRA's requirement to develop a governmentwide performance plan.
Agency Affected: Executive Office of the President: Office of Management and Budget
Status: In process
Comments: OMB has not yet implemented this recommendation. We continue to monitor for implementation.
Recommendation: To achieve the greatest benefit from both GPRA and PART, the Director of OMB should articulate and implement an integrated and complementary relationship between the two. GPRA is a broad legislative framework that was designed to be consultative with Congress and other stakeholders, and allows for varying uses of performance information. PART looks through a particular lens for a particular use--the executive budget formulation process.
Agency Affected: Executive Office of the President: Office of Management and Budget
Status: In process
Comments: Since 2005, the PART guidance has contained language indicating that "OMB and agencies must agree on appropriate measures early to allow for review with relevant stakeholders, if needed", noting that GPRA requires stakeholders be consulted if strategic goals are revised. GAO's October 2005 report on PART recognized that OMB has taken some steps to further clarify the PART-GPRA relationship, but noted that many agencies still struggle to balance the differing needs of the budget and planning processes and their various stakeholders. Unresolved tensions between PART and GPRA continue to contribute to a lack of consensus about what to measure and how to measure it. We will continue to monitor the evolving relationship between PART and GPRA.
Recommendation: To improve the quality of agencies' strategic plans, annual performance plans, and performance reports and help agencies meet the requirements of GPRA, the Director of OMB should provide clearer and consistent guidance to executive branch agencies on how to implement GPRA. Such guidance should include standards for communicating key performance information in concise as well as longer formats to better meet the needs of external users who lack the time or expertise to analyze lengthy, detailed documents.
Agency Affected: Executive Office of the President: Office of Management and Budget
Status: In process
Comments: OMB has continued to provide minimal guidance in its A-11 guidance to agencies on how to develop annual performance plans. However, OMB revised its guidance to agencies on developing Performance and Accountability reports (PARs) to encourage the development of brief highlights versions of PARs, which present key findings and relevant financial and performance data, including summary PART results. OMB further states that agencies should prepare the highlights document in a manner and writing style appropriate for the general public. We will continue to monitor.
Recommendation: To help address agencies' performance meawsurement challenges, the Director of OMB should engage in a continuing dialogue with agencies about their performance measurement practices with a particular focus on grant-making, research and development, and regulatory functions to identify and replicate successful approaches agencies are using to measure and report on their outcomes, including the use of program evaluation tools. Additionally, the Director of OMB should work with executive branch agencies to identify the barriers to obtaining timely data to show progress against performance goals and the best ways to report information where there are unavoidable lags in data availability. Interagency councils, such as the President's Management Council and the Chief Financial Officers Council, may be effective vehicles for working on these issues.
Agency Affected: Executive Office of the President: Office of Management and Budget
Status: Implemented
Comments: OMB has taken a number of steps to address challenges associated with measuring performance in particular areas. For example, on October 14, 2005, OMB conducted a seminar on grants management for agency managers. The seminar focused on best practices for assessing the performance and accountability of grant programs. The seminar included presentations by an expert in grants management and managers of federal grant programs from several agencies. The topics included program design, performance measurement, using data to manage the program, incentives, and accountability. In addition, the Performance Improvement Council has established a workgroup tasked with developing best practices for improving performance in grant and R&D programs. OMB includes "R&D Investment Criteria" as an initiative on the President's Management Agenda and current OMB guidance requires agencies to justify their R&D program investments based in part on performance information. OMB has also been working with agencies to encourage more timely performance data by increasing to twice yearly the updates to performance information in PARTWEb and the publishing of actuals and updated targets on ExpectMore.gov.
Recommendation: To facilitate the transformation of agencies' management cultures to be more results oriented, the Director of OMB should work with agencies to ensure they are making adequate investments in training on performance planning and measurement, with a particular emphasis on how to use performance information to improve program performance.
Agency Affected: Executive Office of the President: Office of Management and Budget
Status: In process
Comments: OMB has not yet implemented this recommendation. We continue to monitor for implementation.
