# March 30, 2004

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# INSPECTION MEMORANDUM

**To:** Phil Maestri

Director, Management Improvement Team

> Office of Deputy Secretary

**From:** Cathy H. Lewis

Assistant Inspector General

Evaluation, Inspection and Management Services

# Subject: Review of MIT Action Item Number 218 (ED/OIG I13E0009)

This memorandum provides the results of our inspection of one Action
Plan item from the Department of Education's (Department's) Blueprint
for Management Excellence. The EIMS group is examining several Action
Plan items related to Human Capital. Our objective is two-fold: 1) were
the items completed as described; and, 2) as completed, does the action
taken help the Department towards its stated Blueprint objective. In
this report, we examined item Number 218, concerning the communication
to all employees of the Department's values, the desired outcomes of
One-ED, and the desired behaviors of managers and employees.

## 

## Background:

With the issuance of the One-ED Report, the Department included a
section on the One-ED Communication Plan. The purpose of the plan was to
"ensure alignment at the organizational and individual levels" within
the Department allowing for support and implementation of One-ED. In
addition, the plan would communicate the Department's new values, the
desired outcomes from the implementation of One-ED, and what would be
expected of employees in order to achieve the Department's strategic
goals. The plan suggested a two-pronged approach. Phase I, Awareness and
Understanding, would use briefings, training, news, information,
incentives, and promotional material to give employees a better
foundation in the Department's new direction. Phase II, Building a
Foundation for Implementation, would build on the previous phase and
employ a more sustained effort to align major strategies with daily work
and performance.

The action required by item number 218 was to:

> **"Communicate to all employees the Department's values, the desired
> outcomes of One-ED, including a Culture of Accountability and linking
> performance expectations/awards to the Strategic Plan; the desired
> behaviors of managers and employees, including recognition of training
> recruitment and performance management as 'investment activities,' not
> activities that interrupt so-called 'real work.'"**

The comments field on this item states, "Completed 3/31/03 -- SES
monthly meetings; Assistant Secretary retreat 2/03; periodic EMT
meetings include one-ED updates and discussion of strategic plan and
action steps. MIT has agendas on file."

**Objective 1: Did OM complete the actions needed to complete this
item?**

The Office of Management (OM) developed a database to track all of the
different actions and milestones needed to implement its Communications
Plan. Among some of the items listed are the following: brief the
Executive Management Team (EMT) on One-ED progress; conduct Secretary's
All Staff Meeting to communicate the One-ED vision, including its core
values and desired outcomes; develop the most effective and efficient
ways to increase the awareness of One-ED to ED employees; and develop
criteria and guidelines for a PRIDE Award (One-ED Core Values-Plaque,
Certificate, etc).

In addition to the creation and implementation of the database, OM has
held briefings about One-ED for the Department's employees, expanded the
briefing of new employees during orientation, published information on
ED Notebook, ConnectED and InsideED, and distributed promotional
material. While the actions did not address all of the items identified
as implementation milestones (such as the PRIDE Award), these actions
completed the majority of the action items listed in the original
Communications Plan and sufficiently addressed most of the issues
addressed in the Action Item.

Throughout the One-ED implementation process, OM has sent messages to
managers and employees conveying the Department's values and the
behaviors expected of all employees. For example, in addition to
frequent updates that have appeared on ConnectED, the Department
established a Culture of Accountability Employee team to suggest
recommendations on leadership, skill gaps, trainings, communication, and
other issues. Its report issued in September of 2002 addresses where
each of these recommendations are in its process. OM made this report
available to all employees via ConnectED at the same time.

On March 31, 2003, once the Management Improvement Team (MIT) felt it
was clear that there was a system in place to complete what is always an
ongoing effort, it marked this item as "completed."

The above actions taken completed this Action Item.

**Objective 2: Did the actions completed meet the objective "To improve
the strategic management of the Department's human capital?"**

While a communication plan was developed, as required by action item
218, the Department has not formally assessed the effectiveness of its
plan. This is an important step in ensuring that the actions taken help
support the underlying Blueprint objective.

According to OM, it gathered some informal feedback on the survey and
after listening to this informal feedback, decided that the original
Communications Plan was not meeting the Department's need. OM consulted
the Public Sector Council and Booz Allen Hamilton in an effort to tailor
a new, more effective Communications Plan. Currently, OM has completed a
new plan that focuses more on the Culture of Accountability and its
effect on staff. However, this plan does not differ much from the
original communications plan and still contains the traditional top-down
approach to communication, with information trickling down from upper
management. OM plans to implement this plan shortly.

As noted by the Department, communication is an ongoing effort and
should continually be revisited and assessed for its effectiveness. OM's
initiative to redesign the communication plan can be seen as a
progressive step, however, only if it is well informed by employee
feedback.

# 

# Departmental Response

We provided OM with a draft report. We have summarized OM\'s comments
below and included them in their entirety as an attachment.

# [MIT Comments]{.underline}

The MIT agrees that OM should continue to assess the communications
plan. According to the MIT, OM has taken some initial steps to enhance
the communication plan, including seeking additional resource help,
trying to change the top-down approach, and requesting input and
feedback from employees. OM does not believe this action needs a
separate corrective action plan.

# [OIG Response]{.underline}

OM's efforts should continue in order to make the communications plan as
effective as possible. In addition, it is important that OM proactively
acquire formal feedback from Department employees; however, given the
actions undertaken by OM, we have withdrawn our recommendation for a
separate corrective action plan and consider this report closed.

####  

February 13, 2004

To: Cathy H. Lewis

Assistant Inspector General

Evaluation, Inspection and Management Services

From: Phillip Maestri, Director

Management Improvement Team

Subject: Draft Inspection Memorandum (1/6/04)

Review of MIT Action Item Number 218 (ED/OIG I13E0009)

"Communicate to all employees the Department's values... the desired

outcomes of One-ED... and the desired behavior of managers and
employees"

Thank you for the opportunity to review and comment on a draft version
of this inspection memorandum.

### Comments on Background and Findings

In response to your draft memo, the MIT reviewed the documentation on
the One-ED communication plan. Consistent with the OIG findings, we
found that the action was designated "completed" on March 31, 2003,
based on the briefings and other information dissemination completed.
The MIT also reviewed the EMT agendas for evidence that OM continues to
evaluate the effectiveness of the One-ED communication strategy. As the
draft memo notes, OM has completed a new plan, which was presented for
review and comment by the EMT on October 28, 2003. That presentation
reflected thoughtful consideration of the impact of prior communications
and intention for continued assessment and improvement of the strategy.

The Office of Management provides the additional following details about
the One-ED communication strategy:

As indicated by the Inspection Memorandum, the Office of Management (OM)
developed and implemented a communication plan that involved numerous
activities, including: briefings for current and new staff on One-ED;
publication of articles in the Department's three primary internal
communication vehicles; and multiple messages to managers and employees
about the Department's values and the behaviors expected of all
employees, especially those related to the Department's performance
appraisal and awards systems. The responsibility and use of various
communication vehicles has, in effect, become institutionalized, with
lead responsibility resting in Performance and Process Improvement
Services, and oversight being provided by the Assistant Secretary for
Management and the One-ED Steering Committee, as appropriate. When the
action was "completed," the MIT and OM agreed that work in the area of
communications would continue because it is a vital component of
creating a "culture of accountability" in the Department.

OM is committed to an approach of "continuous improvement." We have
learned much from our first year's efforts and have factored the lessons
learned into a revised approach. For example, we have learned that to be
effective, we must use a variety of communication vehicles and we must
constantly seek feedback from those with whom we are trying to
communicate to ensure that our message and meaning are clear. In
revising our communications approach after our initial plan was
implemented, we sought advice from those who are experts on
communications and change management. The Inspection Memorandum cites
our efforts to solicit advice from external experts at Booz Allen
Hamilton and the Private Sector Council. In addition, since speaking
with OIG about researching ways to make our communications efforts more
effective, we have performed additional research and further improved
our approach. Specifically, we reached out to our internal experts
within the Department and have established a partnership with the Office
of Public Affairs, the Secretary's Chief of Staff and the Department's
Internal Communications Team Leader. Together we are focusing on
improving communications and implementing a strategy focused on the
following objectives:

-   Clarify the vision for a "*culture of accountability,*"

-   Highlight how reorganizations, re-engineering, competitive sourcing
    and other management initiatives support the culture of
    accountability,

-   Indicate how changes necessary to create a culture of accountability
    will affect employees, and if needed,

-   Let employees know how they will be supported through the various
    changes that they and the Department will undergo.

The result of the partnership has been to enrich the communication
strategy in a number of ways, making it less of a top-down approach.
Planned actions include:

-   Conferring with the Chief of Staff and Assistant Secretary in each
    of the Principal Offices (PO) to plan an all-staff meeting where
    employees can discuss what is meant by a culture of accountability
    and actions planned or taken to strengthen such a culture within
    each PO.

-   Scheduling periodic roundtable discussions, to which all staff are
    invited, to generate discussion around the Culture of
    Accountability. Ideas for roundtable topics and "experts" are being
    solicited from multiple sources.

-   Publishing stories in ED Notebook and/or Inside ED that highlight
    success stories told by employee teams that have experienced change
    in a positive way and have helped improve accountability within
    their program area.

The Inspection Memorandum includes a recommendation that OM "assess the
effectiveness of the communication plan with provision for formal,
periodic employee input and make adjustments to the plan accordingly."
We plan to seek feedback to evaluate our efforts using the following
approaches:

-   Doing just-in-time surveys at the PO-wide meetings and roundtable
    sessions.

-   Seeking feedback in scheduled sessions with the EMT, SES Forum,
    Internal Communication Team, and Chiefs of Staff by requesting time
    of the agenda to get their perceptions of the effectiveness of the
    communication strategies.

### Response to recommendations

The MIT agrees that OM should continue to assess the effectiveness of
the One-ED communication plan. Given the work to date and OM's current
plans, we do not see a need for a separate corrective action plan.

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