In accordance with section 3 of the Reports Consolidation Act of 2000, a statement is provided by the Inspector General, which summarizes what she considers to be the most serious management challenges facing the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission. These issues were the focus of significant work conducted by the Office of Inspector General (OIG) during FY 2005, and they require continuous effort by the agency. The management challenges also link directly to the President's Management Agenda (PMA) initiatives.
During FY 2005, the EEOC strengthened its enforcement activities and expanded outreach, while repositioning the agency for improved service and sustained viability. Repositioning activities, which includes a National Contact Center (NCC) pilot, field office restructuring, and headquarters realignment pose significant challenges to management and staff that impact employee performance and morale, as well as service to customers.
The NCC began accepting calls nationwide in April 2005. Recently, the OIG began an evaluation of NCC operations to determine its impact on field and headquarters staff, including whether some EEOC staff now have additional time to perform other duties. The center's impact on the efficiency and effectiveness of EEOC operations will also be evaluated, as well as its impact on EEOC's customers. In July 2005, the Commission voted on and approved, the Chair's plan to reposition the field structure for improved customer service and efficiency. Implementation of the plan is currently pending. The final repositioning activity, realigning EEOC Headquarters, will be announced in FY 2006.
Additional management challenges address EEOC's efforts to meet the core requirements of PMA initiatives and progress made during the year.
As the agency moves forward with its repositioning plans, strategic management of human capital remains a critical management challenge. The Office of Human Resources (OHR) is committed to ensuring that the agency meets the initiatives of the PMA and the Office of Personnel Management's (OPM's) Human Capital Standards for Success. Some of OHR's accomplishments included issuing a final EEOC Strategic Human Capital Plan, making significant progress towards completion of employee performance plans, and conducting the OPM Federal Human Capital Survey (FHCS) at the Commission. The Plan for Strategic Human Capital Management has been communicated to staff throughout the commission and is aligned with the agency's mission, strategies, goals and objectives. The plan also includes metrics for each performance standard, timelines, and assigns responsibility to accountable managers. Performance plans for managers and other critical positions were developed and OHR anticipates the completion of all employee performance plans early in FY 2006.
Human capital challenges faced by the agency include the need for additional funds for skill-level training and an agency awards program to reward outstanding employees. Improvement of staff retention and succession planning efforts is needed. In addition, OHR must complete its analysis of the agency's FHCS results and design an action plan to address those areas needing improvement.
The agency continues to make progress in budget and performance integration. The Chief Financial Officer (CFO) completed a review of the agency's time allocation system and made recommendations on improving the usefulness of the system, including adding new program element codes to capture time relating to Freedom of Information Act support and time spent for training. These actions will lead to better information for effective management of program costs. The FY 2007 Performance Budget submitted to OMB successfully integrated staffing and funding requests with the two mission-related strategic objectives in the EEOC's current strategic plan.
A challenge for the agency is its upcoming initial Performance Assessment Rating Tool (PART) review, which will be conducted by OMB in the spring of FY 2006. PART evaluates program performance by reviewing program purpose and design, strategic planning, program management, and program results and accountability. To prepare for this review, the agency will conduct a dry run exercise involving staff from a cross section of the agency and the OIG. Once the agency has experienced the PART review process, it will be in a better position to target and design program improvements and provide Congress and other stakeholders with important program insights, in addition to meeting the core requirements of the PMA budget and performance integration initiative.
The agency was successful in obtaining an unqualified opinion on its FY 2004 financial statements and in meeting the accelerated reporting deadlines established by OMB. To address the material weakness reported during the FY 2004 audit, the CFO provided internal training to its staff and has implemented the use of Hyperion software to improve the quality control over the financial reporting process.
The challenge confronting the agency is one of funding to replace its obsolete integrated financial management system. EEOC's current financial management system is outdated and the system's vendor no longer provides updates to the system. In addition, the Department of the Interior's National Business Center will discontinue hosting and supporting the system in October 2007. Funding for a new financial management system was requested in EEOC's FY 2007 budget.
The agency met the OMB's established deadlines for reporting its inventory of commercial and inherently governmental positions in accordance with the Federal Activities Inventory Reform Act (FAIR Act). During FY 2005, the EEOC successfully completed a streamlined competition following the established policies contained in OMB circular A-76, Performance of Commercial Activities. The Control Room function of the Office of Federal Operations was competed resulting in the function remaining in-house with anticipated savings of $100,000 over five years. Other functions considered for future competitions include the Office of Information Technology's (OIT's) desktop support services, and managed telecommunications and server operations.
However, the OMB core requirements for improved competitive sourcing calls for standard competitions, as opposed to streamline competitions. The agency's challenge in this area is that it has not completed a standard competition involving 65 or more full-time equivalent employees.
The EEOC's progress in this area remains consistent. OIT has completed business cases for all major agency systems. These systems are certified and accredited and are also generally secure. Further, the agency continues to participate in a number of the E-Gov initiatives including E-Training, E-Reports, E-Travel, and E-Payroll.
This page was last modified on December 2, 2005
