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

2005 Presidential Award for Management Excellence

Department of Labor

Overall Management

The Department of Labor (DOL) was established in 1913 to “…foster, promote and develop the welfare of the wage earners of the United States, to improve their working conditions, and to advance their opportunities for profitable employment.”  While this mission has evolved to reflect changes in our dynamic American workplace and our nation’s priorities, it still remains focused on the welfare of the job seekers, wage earners, and retirees of the United States. 

On June 30, 2005, the Department of Labor was the first Executive Branch organization to receive all green status scores in the five governmentwide President’s Management Agenda (PMA) initiatives.  While receiving green status in all five initiative areas is noteworthy, the Department has exemplified themselves in the overall integration of those initiatives.  

The foundation for DOL’s integration efforts began in August 2001 when Secretary Elaine L. Chao established a Management Review Board (MRB) to provide a Departmental forum for crosscutting management issues.  This monthly executive level Board meeting, chaired by the Assistant Secretary for Administration and Management, addresses topics ranging from annual Agency budget and performance to detailed discussions of each individual PMA initiative.  At the request of Department of Labor’s Agency Heads, the Department established internal PMA scorecards for 15 DOL agencies and components, the results of which are also reviewed at the MRB every quarter. 

DOL agencies have also independently put in place their own strategic management plans and have refined their internal reviews of performance to parallel these plans.  Quarterly Budget and Performance Management Reviews provide the Deputy Secretary with a high-level overview of the health and progress of DOL programs, budget, and performance.  The Department further expanded its vision for improved financial and performance integration by implementing a managerial cost accounting system used by both financial and program managers to make informed decisions.   This new financial system has enabled DOL to track expenses and obligations to program outputs enabling them to develop efficiency measures for all programs.

Furthering their efforts to ensure they have the most effective and efficient organization, DOL announced eight competitive sourcing competitions in 2004; seven of which were won by the in-house workforce.  To assist those employees whose jobs were lost or downgraded as a result of these competitions, DOL has undertaken several measures to provide services and support to affected employees. 

The Department has focused their efforts under the Expanded Electronic Government initiative, on making government more accessible to workers and employers, and to enable DOL employees.  The anchor for this initiative is the Agency Technical Review Board, chaired by the Deputy Chief Information Office and comprised of a panel of advisors and eleven voting agency representatives.  The DOL information technology (IT) vision, which centers on collaboration and inter-operability to collect, analyze and discuss strategic information from once largely uncoordinated Departmental entities, filters down to business and technical representatives from all Departments.  By integrating current systems and replacing redundant, piecemeal architecture, the Department has established a more efficient deployment of IT systems and sound stewardship of Federal IT investment dollars.  Examples of new deployed systems are the creation of an enterprise-wide Directory Service and common e-mail system, an enterprise-wide E-Procurement System, and a web-based online injury and illness reporting system.

The Department of Labor’s approach to integration of all the President’s Management Agenda initiatives throughout the Agency has resulted in sustainable and proven results and are worthy of this most prestigious recognition.