# March 26, 2004

# 

# 

# INSPECTION MEMORANDUM

**To:** Phillip Maestri, Director

Management Improvement Team

**From:** Cathy H. Lewis

Assistant Inspector General

Evaluation, Inspection and Management Services

# Subject: Review of MIT ACTION Item \# 179 (ED/OIG I13D0022)

## 

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 (to
improve the strategic management of the Department's human capital). In
this report, we examined item #179 (completed on 9/30/02), which calls
for the implementation of a new employee entrance survey process.

## 

## Background:

In 2002, the Department implemented an entrance survey to gain
information about new employees' expectations and experiences with the
employment process. This survey was to target why people chose to work
at the Department, what benefits influenced their decision, and other
employment process concerns, in order to improve the recruitment
process. Phase I (Startup) of the implementation started with the Office
of Management (OM) drafting a survey instrument, approved by the
Assistant Secretary for Management and the Union, which was then made
web accessible. After OM sent out the initial survey via email on
September 30, 2002 to those employees who joined ED between August 1 and
September 30, 2002, Phase II (Data Collection and Reporting) was to
continue. The entire process included the following steps: 1) obtain the
names of new employees for each pay period; 2) send an email request to
each new employee to take the survey; 3) collect the responses and
import them into Survey Tracker; 4) generate a quarterly report of the
most important reasons for choosing ED and the most important benefits;
and 5) distribute the report to the Executive Management Team (EMT), OM,
and other interested organizations.[^1]

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

The action required by item #179 was to:

**"Implement the entrance survey process."**

The comments field on this item states, "Completed 9/30/02. Survey
issued to employees hired between 8/1/02 and 9/30/02. Subsequent surveys
will be issued each quarter." This item was considered completed on this
date because the first email was sent to new employees to complete the
survey.

**Findings:**

-   According to an email sent from Heather Noiwan on September 30,
    2002, OM issued the first entrance survey to 38 new employees (those
    hired between August 1 and September 30, 2002) via email, with
    participants linking to the online survey. Through July 26, 2003, OM
    has requested that 303 employees complete the survey with 202
    employees replying. OM employed an Entrance Survey Implementation
    Process and this action item is considered "complete."

-   OM only completed steps one through three in its process.

-   OM never used the information gathered for any discernable purpose
    and has not, to date, issued a formal quarterly report. According to
    the Entrance Survey Implementation Process, information gathered and
    analyzed would be presented to the EMT, OM, and other interested
    organizations. Thus far, OM has not completed steps four or
    five---to generate a quarterly report and distribute its findings.
    In an interview with the OM staff person responsible for this
    project, she indicated that, at this point there has not been
    "enough" data gathered, it has not revealed anything "shocking," and
    the information has only "validated" the anecdotal data it already
    possesses. While OM does have plans to release the data at the end
    of Fiscal Year 2003, it will be for "informational purposes" only.

**Objective 2: A**s **completed, does the action taken help the
Department towards its stated Blueprint objective?**

**Findings:**

-   OM has not fully completed its entrance survey process and the
    Department has not used or distributed the results of the completed
    surveys. This partial implementation of the action step does not
    help the Department towards its objective of improving the strategic
    management of human capital.

**Recommendations:**

In order for Action item #179 to be "complete," we recommend that the
EMT direct the MIT to address the above issues in the following manner:

1.  Until such time as OM completes these actions, Action item #179
    should be designated as "open." Alternatively, if OM believes this
    survey is not providing useful information, it should be
    discontinued and designated as "closed."

2.  Require OM to prepare and distribute a report on the findings to the
    EMT, OM and other interested organizations on a quarterly basis; or,

3.  OM should discontinue the survey if the information gathered is not
    yielding any data important enough for OM to use or to distribute to
    other organizations.

# Department Response

In commenting on a draft of this report, the MIT did not concur with
Recommendation No.1, that the MIT should reclassify this action item as
"Open" or "Closed." However, since OM has decided to follow
Recommendation No.3 and discontinue use of the survey after sharing the
results with the EMT (which was done after the draft of this report was
issued), the MIT should designate this item as "Completed" on the date
OM decided to discontinue its use.

A copy of the Department response is included with this report.

January 7, 2004

To: Cathy H. Lewis

Assistant Inspector General

Evaluation, Inspection and Management Services

From: Phillip Maestri, Director

Management Improvement Team

Subject: Draft Inspection Memorandum (December 3, 2003)

Review of MIT Action Item Number 179 (ED/OIG I13D0022)

"Implement entrance survey process"

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

### Response to findings

OM offers the following additional information that should be useful in
describing the entrance survey. The entrance survey process was
undertaken for valid reasons. First of all, research on strategic human
capital management indicated that the use of entrance surveys was a good
way to collect information from new employees about why they want to
work in a particular place, and that information can be useful in
targeting recruitment efforts, as well as training and workplace
services resources. In addition, the survey was undertaken as a way to
clarify how the hiring process was viewed by new hires. Anecdotal
information from managers doing the hiring indicated concerns with this
process. Both perspectives were deemed important in making process
improvements.

During the first year that this survey was administered, OM sent 361
surveys, and 234 surveys were returned for a response rate of 65
percent. OM Performance and Process Improvement Services staff generated
reports of results, which OM shared with OIG for this investigation. As
noted in the draft memo, the usefulness of the survey was limited; that
is, the analysis of the survey results did not reveal anything new, or
anything from which OM identified any new actionable issues. The results
were useful to ED's human capital management in so far as they confirmed
the need for action already underway, including improving recruitment
outreach efforts and streamlining the hiring process.

The draft memo indicates that the entrance survey results were not
complied, distributed or shared with the EMT. The survey results for a
one-year period were compiled by the Director, Performance and Process
Improvement Services and presented to the Assistant Secretary for
Management and the Director of Human Resources Services. In addition, OM
presented the relevant findings to the EMT during its December 16
meeting, as part of a briefing on the results of the *Best Places to
Work Survey*. The EMT did not direct OM to take any action on the *Best
Places to Work Survey* because ED is currently addressing findings of
that survey through ongoing efforts.

### Response to recommendations

[Recommendation 1]{.underline}: Designate item as "open" or "closed"
(rather than complete). The MIT does not concur. The action required the
implementation of the survey. It was implemented and the results
analyzed.

-   Although OM did not complete all the steps it initially planned for
    this action, the MIT designated it as "complete" when the
    action\--as worded in the Blueprint\--was substantially complete. As
    occurred here, the "action owner" may change the strategy and steps
    from an initial work plan and still complete the item as worded.

-   The MIT has not used the Blueprint action plan to follow ongoing
    work related to the actions. Actions that require continued
    involvement by senior leadership have been recorded as new items in
    the strategic plan and Blueprint action plan. This action has been
    superseded by new human capital management activities.

[Recommendation 2]{.underline}: Report on the findings on a quarterly
basis (and/or)

[Recommendation 3:]{.underline} Discontinue the survey.

OM has already completed activities consistent with these
recommendations. OM shared some results of the entrance survey with the
EMT on December 16, 2003. Because of the limited usefulness of the
entrance survey and to conserve limited resources, OM will discontinue
the survey, consistent with Recommendation 3.

[^1]: From the Survey Implementation Process Chart.