U.S. Office of Personnel Management - Ensuring the Federal Government has an effective civilian workforce

Performance Is the Centerpiece of Government Reform

The Bush Administration has given clear signals that performance is the centerpiece of its policies regarding human resources issues and Government reform.

• Workforce Planning and Restructuring.
• President's Management Council.
• Human Resources Flexibilities.

In President Bush's budget, A Blueprint for New Beginnings: Government Reform, the President uses a balance of measures to help create a Government that is:

• citizen-centered-not bureaucracy-centered;
• results-oriented-not process-oriented; and
• market-based-actively promoting, not stifling, innovation and competition.

To accomplish these goals and improve Government performance, the Administration has initiatives to:

• link budget and management decisions to performance;
• flatten the Federal hierarchy;
• use the Internet to create a citizen-centered Government;
• incorporate successful private sector reforms throughout the Federal workforce; and
• open Government activities to competition.

Workforce Planning and Restructuring.  To begin the process of Government reform, and to improve Government service to citizens, the Office of Management and Budget (OMB) issued a bulletin on May 8, 2001 that required agencies to prepare a restructuring plan based upon a workforce analysis and submit the analysis to OMB no later than June 29, 2001. Based on that analysis, agencies will develop 5-year restructuring plans that should be part of their fiscal year 2003 budget submissions. The plans should identify the specific changes agencies propose to:

• reduce the number of managers and organizational layers, and the time it takes to make decisions;
• increase the span of control; and
• redirect positions within the agency to ensure that the largest number of employees possible are in direct service delivery positions and/or redeploy employees as part of restructuring efforts.

President's Management Council.  To further promote Government reform and improve performance throughout the executive branch, President Bush issued a memorandum on July 11, 2001, for the heads of executive departments and agencies that establishes the President's Management Council. The Council comprises the Chief Operating Officers of cabinet departments and several agencies, the Director of the Office of Personnel Management, the Administrator of General Services, and other officials. The Deputy Director of OMB will serve as Chairperson of the Council.

As members of the Council, the Chief Operating Officers are key to implementing Government reform. They are responsible for:

• implementing the President's and agency head's goals and the agency's mission;
• providing overall organization management to improve agency performance;
• assisting the agency head in promoting Government reform, developing strategic plans, and measuring results; and
• § overseeing agency-specific efforts to integrate performance and budgeting, expand competitive sourcing, strengthen their workforce, improve financial management, advance e-government, apply information policy and technology policies, and other governmentwide management reforms.

Human Resources Flexibilities.   The Administration also encourages agencies to use existing tools and flexibilities available in current human resources laws and regulations to attract and retain a high-quality Federal workforce. OPM has produced the HR Flexibilities Guide—a practical guide to the options available in current law to help agencies recruit and hire a diverse and high performing workforce and set a strategic direction through workforce planning and organizational realignment. You may download the Guide from our web site.

Originally published Summer 2001