CONFIRMATION OF

POLITICAL

APPOINTEES

Eliciting Nominees’

Views on Leadership

and Management

Issues

United States General Accounting Office

GAO Report to the Chairman, Subcommittee

on Oversight of Government

Management, Restructuring, and the

District of Columbia, Committee on

Governmental Affairs, U.S. Senate

August 2000

GAO/GGD-00-174

United States General Accounting Office

Washington, D.C. 20548

Page 1 GAO/GGD-00-174 Political Appointees

Comptroller General

of the United States

B-284958

August 11, 2000

The Honorable George V. Voinovich

Chairman, Subcommittee on Oversight of

 Government Management, Restructuring,

 and the District of Columbia

Committee on Governmental Affairs

United States Senate

Dear Mr. Chairman:

On February 17, 2000, you wrote to us regarding your concern that some

political appointees in the executive branch lack the requisite leadership

and management skills and background to successfully address the

challenges facing federal agencies. You asked that we suggest questions to

assist the Senate in its constitutional role of confirming nominees, to help

ensure that future political appointees have the requisite skills to be

results-oriented leaders and managers. Appendix I of this letter transmits

those questions.

The questions cover the following four categories:

• results-oriented decisionmaking,

• financial management,

• information and technology management, and

• human capital management.

During the 1990s, Congress responded to long-standing shortcomings in

the way federal agencies were managed by creating a framework for more

results-oriented management. The three major areas addressed by the

reforms were results-oriented decisionmaking, financial management, and

information technology management. No consensus has yet emerged to

address what some see as the major remaining gap in that framework—

strategic human capital management. The Senate can facilitate progress in

these key management areas by confirming nominees who have the skills

and abilities to help make these key reforms a reality.

Recognizing that the positions nominees may fill can range from the heads

of major departments and agencies to program managers, we have

attempted to order the questions in the first three categories from the

general (more appropriate for agency heads) to the specific (more
B-284958

Page 2 GAO/GGD-00-174 Political Appointees

appropriate for program managers). The final category—human capital

management—is organized based on a five-part strategy discussed in our

September 1999 report.1

Realistically, there may be too many questions to expect each nominee to

answer them all, and some questions may not be appropriate for all

nominees. This does not detract from their usefulness because each Senate

committee planning a confirmation hearing can decide which questions to

include on the prehearing questionnaire, depending on the position to be

confirmed and the amount of other information the committee may require

the nominee to provide.

We believe that asking questions on selected leadership and management

issues will send a strong message that the Senate considers such issues to

be a priority for all nominees for senior agency positions. The questions

can also help ensure that nominees have the requisite skills to deal

effectively with the broad array of complex management challenges facing

the federal government in the 21st century. In addition, if the Senate asks

these questions as part of the confirmation process, then future Presidents

may place added importance on ensuring that nominees have the requisite

leadership and management experience for their positions before

submitting their names to the Senate for confirmation.

As agreed with your office, unless you announce the contents of this report

earlier, we plan no further distribution until 30 days after its issue date. At

that time, we will send copies of the report to Senator Richard J. Durbin,

Ranking Minority Member, Subcommittee on Oversight of Government

Management, Restructuring, and the District of Columbia, and to Senator

Fred Thompson, Chairman, and Senator Joseph Lieberman, Ranking

Minority Member, Senate Committee on Government Affairs. We will also

send copies to Jacob J. Lew, Director, Office of Management and Budget.

In addition, we will make copies available to others upon request.

Key contributors to these questions were Nancy Kingsbury, J. Christopher

Mihm, Al Stapleton, Stephen Altman, David Plocher, George Stalcup, Kevin

Tansey, and Dennise Stickley of GAO. We would also like to acknowledge

the important role of Pat McGinnis and principals and staff from the

Council for Excellence in Government. The Council organized an

extremely valuable and informative focus group involving over 20 of its

principals to help us develop questions to ask nominees. We solicited

further suggestions from a broad range of individuals with expertise in

 

1

 Human Capital: A Self-Assessment Checklist for Agency Leaders (GAO/GGD-99-179, September 1999).
B-284958

Page 3 GAO/GGD-00-174 Political Appointees

public management issues. The following experts and organizations

responded and offered insights and suggestions that we used in crafting

the questions: Don Kettl from the University of Wisconsin, Susan Shaw and

her colleagues from the National Treasury Employees Union, Mark

Huddleston from the University of Delaware, Jo Anne Lillis and her

colleagues from the American Society for Public Administration, and

Virginia Thomas from the Heritage Foundation.

We recognize that the nomination and confirmation of agency leaders with

appropriate management skills is only one step in transforming the

cultures of federal agencies so that they become high performance

organizations. We look forward to working with you and other Members of

Congress and executive branch officials in this important work.

If you have any questions, please call J. Christopher Mihm or Al Stapleton

on (202) 512-8676.

Sincerely yours,

David M. Walker

Comptroller General

of the United States
Appendix I

Possible Questions on Key Management

Issues

Page 4 GAO/GGD-00-174 Political Appointees

Citizens are demanding improved government services and better

stewardship of public resources. To respond to these demands, the federal

government is adopting the following principles of performance-based

management: (1) shifting the focus of government performance and

accountability away from a preoccupation with activities, such as grants or

inspections; (2) focusing on the results or outcomes of those activities,

such as real gains in safety, health, and living standards; and (3)

systematically integrating the results the government intends to achieve

with organizational structures, budgets, program and service delivery

strategies, the use of technology, and human capital strategies and

practices.

The cornerstone of efforts to implement performance-based management

is the adoption of a results orientation. However, because adopting a

results orientation requires a cultural transformation, many agencies

continue to struggle to implement performance-based management. Not

surprisingly, since agencies are in the early years of undertaking the

changes that performance-based management entails, progress across

government has been uneven. To help speed this progress and its uniform

adoption, the following questions have been developed to determine

whether candidates have the skills and knowledge necessary to implement

the basic tenets of performance-based management.

1. During your tenure in this appointed position, what key performance

goals do you want to accomplish, and how would this Committee know

whether you have accomplished them?

2. To successfully lead an organization into the future, a leader must be

able to create and share a vision that inspires people to follow. In your

past experience, what specific steps have you taken to successfully

create a vision for an organization, and how did you make sure that the

entire organization had a common understanding of the mission and

was aligned so that it could be accomplished?

3. Describe two or three tangible examples of instances where your

personal leadership skills were essential in getting your employees to

accomplish a challenging goal. How could those leadership abilities

help you in the position for which you have been nominated?

4. Since the mid-1960s, there has been a general decline in the public’s

trust in government. A 1999 survey found that just 29 percent of

Americans trust the federal government to do the right thing all or

most of the time. This disconnect between the government and the

Results-Oriented

Decisionmaking

Possible Questions
Appendix I

Possible Questions on Key Management Issues

Page 5 GAO/GGD-00-174 Political Appointees

citizens it serves has constrained the government’s ability to attract

and retain qualified employees with the skills necessary to improve

program performance. What skills do you have that could prove useful

in trying to reverse this troubling trend, and describe instances where

you used these skills effectively?

5. What characteristics do you believe a results-oriented leader and

effective manager in the federal government must possess? Can you

provide a self-assessment on each characteristic you cite?

6. The Government Performance and Results Act (GPRA) is intended to

provide managers with a disciplined approach—developing a strategic

plan, establishing annual goals, measuring performance, and reporting

on the results—for improving performance and service quality,

increasing customer satisfaction, and strengthening internal

management. What are your views on this law and your experience

with it, as well as your preliminary ideas on how this law might be

implemented? What experiences have you had in supporting

individuals or teams that analyzed root causes, developed solutions

and set goals, as well as used data to measure and systematically

improve program performance, service quality, and customer

satisfaction?

7. Are you familiar with the strategic plan, annual performance plans,

annual accountability report, and financial statements of your

prospective agency? What do you consider to be the most important

priorities and challenges facing the agency as it strives to achieve its

goals? What changes, if any, do you feel might be necessary in these

plans?

8. Virtually all the results that the federal government attempts to achieve

are accomplished only if the efforts of a vast network of state and local

government and private sector contractors and partners are effectively

coordinated. For example, much of the federal government’s domestic

agenda—from mass transit to community mental health—is

accomplished in part by providing grants and other technical

assistance and support to state and local governments and third

parties. Federal agencies, by working closely with their state and local

partners, can instill performance-based approaches to managing

intergovernmental programs that seek to maximize both results and

state and local flexibility. Describe the skills and experience that you

have that will prove helpful in developing and leading

intergovernmental performance-based partnerships.
Appendix I

Possible Questions on Key Management Issues

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9. What is your experience in working with Congress or other legislative

bodies responsible for the authorization, funding, and oversight of

government programs? Specifically, describe any experience you have

in working on a bipartisan basis to identify statutory changes that can

improve program efficiency and effectiveness, as well as in fostering

and responding to legislative oversight.

10. In the private sector, a company must be customer focused to survive.

How important do you think a customer focus is for the public sector,

and what would you do to make sure your agency identified its

customers, understood their expectations, and established

performance goals and measures to meet those expectations,

consistent with other priorities?

Policymakers and program managers need high-quality financial

information in making decisions affecting the budget, controlling costs,

and measuring performance. This is key to successful, well managed, and

results-oriented organizations, whether in the private sector or the

government. Congress established improved financial information as a

goal for major federal agencies when it passed the Chief Financial Officers

Act of 1990 and other financial management improvement legislation.

To meet this goal, federal agencies need to have annual audited financial

statements and financial management systems that support the systematic

measurement of performance, cost accounting, and reporting. While

agencies are making progress in producing annual financial reports and

having them audited, several agencies continue to have major problems in

doing so and in meeting legislative expectations for producing reliable,

useful, and timely financial information for managing ongoing operations

and holding managers accountable.

Another critical aspect of helping to better achieve agencies’ missions and

minimize operational problems is the implementation of appropriate

internal controls that support management oversight. Internal controls

provide an early warning about the extent to which employees are meeting

their responsibilities for safeguarding assets and preventing and detecting

errors and fraud. In short, internal controls help government program

managers achieve desired results by supporting activities that ensure the

effective stewardship of public resources.

The following questions are intended to elicit nominees’ experience and

ideas for using reliable and timely financial information to ensure adequate

Financial Management
Appendix I

Possible Questions on Key Management Issues

Page 7 GAO/GGD-00-174 Political Appointees

accountability, manage for results, and make timely and well-informed

judgments.

11. What are your views on the importance and role of financial

information in managing operations and holding managers

accountable?

12. How would you address a situation in which you found that reliable,

useful, and timely financial information was not routinely available for

these purposes?

13. What is your background in using cost information to analyze the

performance, manage the operation, and modify the activities of large

and complex programs?

14. How would your experience in these areas be useful in effectively

administering government programs?

15. What is your view on the importance and role of internal controls (i.e.,

management controls) in effectively meeting missions, goals, and

objectives?

The government is dependent on information management systems and

networks to implement vital public services, including tax collection,

national defense, and social benefits. However, GAO and agency

Inspectors General have reported that federal agencies have wasted

billions of dollars in developing systems and processes that are not cost

effective, fail to deliver expected results, and provide sub-optimal

solutions to agency’s core mission and business needs. Perhaps more

importantly, agencies are not taking full advantage of technology to help

reengineer their key business processes or to explore opportunities to use

techniques developed for e-business/e-commerce to make dramatic

improvements in customer service and to drive down administrative costs.

Finally, the vast majority of agencies have experienced difficulty in

providing adequate security over their automated systems. As a result,

most agencies may be vulnerable to unauthorized intrusions or service

disruptions that threaten the integrity of their operations.

Congress has taken action to provide a legislative framework for

improving agency information technology management, including the

Paperwork Reduction Act, the Clinger-Cohen-Act, and the Computer

Security Act. Other legislation, such as the Government Paperwork

Possible Questions

Information and

Technology

Management
Appendix I

Possible Questions on Key Management Issues

Page 8 GAO/GGD-00-174 Political Appointees

Elimination Act, was enacted to foster electronic submission and

maintenance of information and the use of electronic signatures.

Most agencies, however, have not established the integrated set of

management controls and processes necessary to support the effective use

of information technology, as required by statute. These underpinnings,

which include technical and business architectures, investment control

processes, and life-cycle management controls, provide the structure and

framework for effective information technology implementation. Without

such a structure, individual agency information technology projects are

more likely to flounder and fail to support other initiatives.

16. Based on your experience, please explain the role technology should

play in your agency to support mission needs. What measures would

you implement to show the impact technology has in meeting these

needs?

17. How would you determine whether your agency has in place the key

information management processes required by law, including a

detailed architecture (both business and technical), an investment

control process, and computer security plans? What role do you

envision you would play in managing or providing oversight over these

processes? How would you go about implementing or improving these

processes?

18. Based on your experience, how would you assess your core mission

and business processes to identify opportunities for reengineering and

for the enhanced use of technology? What challenges do you believe

your agency may face in reengineering and using technology? In using

e-government? In hiring and retaining qualified information technology

professionals?

The federal government employs a diverse and knowledge-based

workforce, comprised of individuals with a broad spectrum of technical

and program skills and institutional memory. They are the government’s

human capital, its greatest asset. Social, economic, and technological

changes have become a constant in our society and our world. These

changes inevitably affect the way government must do business and have

made federal managers acutely aware of how much they rely on their

human capital. To meet the changing environment, political appointees

and other agency managers need to give human capital a higher priority

than ever before and modernize their human capital policies and practices.

Possible Questions

Human Capital

Management
Appendix I

Possible Questions on Key Management Issues

Page 9 GAO/GGD-00-174 Political Appointees

To be successful, political appointees need to grasp two principles that are

central to the human capital idea. First, people are assets whose value can

be enhanced through investment. As with any investment, the goal is to

maximize value while managing risk. As the value of people increases, so

does the performance capacity of the organization, and therefore its value

to clients and other stakeholders. Second, an organization’s human capital

policies must be aligned to support the organization’s “shared vision”—the

mission, vision for the future, core values, goals, and strategies by which

the organization has defined its direction and its expectations for itself and

its people. All human capital policies and practices should be developed,

implemented, and assessed by the standard of how well they help the

organization pursue its shared vision.

The importance of managing people strategically and of maintaining a

highly skilled and energized workforce that is empowered to focus on

results is a lesson that is well-known in the private sector and among highperforming governments at the state and local levels and abroad. Here in

the United States, quality management principles, such as those

expounded by W. Edwards Deming, are at the heart of programs that

recognize world-class organizational management, such as the Malcolm

Baldridge National Quality Award Program in the private sector and the

President’s Quality Award Program in the federal government.

Using similar principles to assess their own “people management”, federal

agencies should assess the extent to which their approaches to managing

human capital support their missions and goals. Agency leaders should

examine five key areas--recognizing, however, that all aspects of human

capital management are interrelated and should not be dealt with in

isolation from one another.1

 These five parts of the human capital

assessment framework are as follows:

• Strategic planning: Establish the agency’s mission, vision for the future,

core values, goals, and strategies.

• Organizational alignment: Integrate human capital strategies with the

agency’s core business practices.

• Leadership: Foster a committed leadership team and provide for

reasonable continuity through succession planning.

• Talent: Recruit, hire, develop, and retain employees with the skills for

mission accomplishment.

 

1

 For a fuller discussion, see Human Capital: A Self-Assessment Checklist for Agency Leaders

(GAO/GGD-99-179, September 1999).
Appendix I

Possible Questions on Key Management Issues

Page 10 GAO/GGD-00-174 Political Appointees

• Performance culture: Enable and motivate performance while ensuring

accountability and fairness for all employees.

It is critical for agency leaders to align their agency’s human capital

management policies and practices with modern performance

management principles, within the constraints imposed by current law.

The following questions are intended to elicit nominees’ experience and

ideas for building, maintaining, and marshaling the human capital needed

to achieve results.

19. GPRA envisions that agencies will link their human capital planning

with their strategic and annual plans. However, we found that most

agency plans did not sufficiently address how human capital will be

used to achieve results. Can you describe your experience in building

and maintaining the human capital needed to achieve results (getting

the right employees for the job and providing the training, structure,

incentives, and accountability to work effectively)? More generally,

describe your experience in integrating human capital considerations

and planning into programmatic planning.

20. Describe your experience in evaluating workforces (factors such as

age, attrition rates, diversity, and skills imbalances) to identify the

most challenging human capital issues, and discuss how you propose

dealing with these issues in your agency over the next several years.

21. Agency leaders can use various methods to access human capital:

hiring full-time career employees, hiring limited-term employees, and

contracting for services. What experience do you have in using these

methods to achieve your goals, and what are the

advantages/disadvantages of each?

22. If you have spoken with your predecessors—those who have held the

position you now seek—-about their “lessons learned” on how to

manage the agency effectively, describe how their advice and

experience has influenced your thinking and plans.

23. What key differences do you see in managing a public versus private

sector organization (e.g., the code of government ethics)? Can you

provide a self-assessment of your leadership capabilities for dealing

effectively with those differences?

Possible Questions

Strategic Planning

Organizational Alignment

Leadership
Appendix I

Possible Questions on Key Management Issues

Page 11 GAO/GGD-00-174 Political Appointees

24. High-performance organizations draw on the strengths of employees at

all levels and maintain honest two-way communications. Based on

your experience, how would you assess your agency’s capability for

two-way communication, and what preliminary ideas do you have to

promote such communication in your agency?

25. The federal government’s workforce has undergone significant

downsizing in the past several years, and with the current tight labor

market, it is becoming increasingly difficult to attract and retain talent.

How would you work, within current rules, to attract and retain

individuals with the experience, education, and skills needed by your

agency?

26. Numerous GAO reports have highlighted the need for agencies to

expend more resources on effective training and professional

development programs to better equip federal employees for the

workplaces of the future. Based on your experience, what priority

would you place on workplace development, and how would you

emphasize continuous learning in your agency?

27. To what extent, if any, do you believe that federal employees’ pay

should be more closely tied to their agencies’ strategic and annual

performance goals, and why?

28. High-performance organizations have a performance culture that

effectively involves and empowers employees to improve operational

and program performance while ensuring accountability and fairness

for all employees. In fostering a performance-oriented culture,

agencies may focus on (1) working with unions to develop buy-in on

goals and strategies, (2) providing the training that staff need to work

effectively, and (3) devolving authority while focusing accountability

on results. Describe the range of experiences you have had in using

each of these strategies to instill a results orientation throughout an

organization.

29. To become a high-performance organization, an agency needs senior

leaders who are drivers of continuous improvement. What is the best

approach for motivating career employees, or any employees for that

matter, to achieve excellence?

30. Political appointees who create and maintain constructive working

relationships with civil servants, including members of federal unions,

can improve employee morale, increase performance, and lower costs.

Talent

Performance Culture
Appendix I

Possible Questions on Key Management Issues

Page 12 GAO/GGD-00-174 Political Appointees

Describe your specific experience involving “front line” employees in

achieving results.

31. High-performance organizations maintain an environment

characterized by inclusiveness and diversity of styles and personal

backgrounds. Based on your experience, what is your vision for

creating and maintaining this kind of workplace environment?
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