FY 2022–2026 Learning Agenda 

FY 2022–2023 Annual Evaluation Plan

Bureau of the Fiscal Service
FY 2022–2026 Learning Agenda

FY 2022–2023 Annual Evaluation Plan

Bureau of the Fiscal Service
2 

Table of Contents

Introduction ....................................................................................................................... 3

Learning Agenda Framework............................................................................................. 4

Stakeholder Engagement ................................................................................................... 6

Challenges and Proposed Solutions .................................................................................. 6

Goal 1: Our Operations ..................................................................................................... 7

Learning Agenda Questions ............................................................................................... 7

FY 2022–2023 Evaluation...................................................................................................... 8

Goal 2: Our Data .............................................................................................................. 12

Learning Agenda Questions .............................................................................................12

Goal 3: Our Customers .................................................................................................... 14

Learning Agenda Questions:............................................................................................14

Goal 4: Our Workforce .................................................................................................... 16

Learning Agenda Questions:............................................................................................16

FY 2022–2023 Evaluation....................................................................................................17
3 

Introduction

The mission of the Bureau of the Fiscal Service (Fiscal Service) is to promote the financial integrity 

and operational efficiency of the federal government through exceptional collections, 

disbursements, financing, reporting, and shared services. Fiscal Service’s vision is to transform 

financial management and delivery of shared services in the federal government—serving as a 

valued partner for agencies as they strengthen their own financial management or as they look for a 

quality financial management service provider. Fiscal Service uses a strategic management 

framework to improve outcomes for our customers (figure 1). The framework consists of strategic 

and enterprise planning, program and risk management, performance management, and 

evaluation. The four areas interconnect and build on each other.

Figure 1. Fiscal Service’s Strategic Management Framework

The Foundations for Evidence-Based Policymaking Act of 2018 (Evidence Act), 1 signed into law on 

January 14, 2019, requires Chief Financial Officers (CFO) Act of 19902 agencies to engage in 

evidence-building activities, including research, evaluations, and statistical analysis to build evidence 

to inform decisions. To meet Evidence Act requirements, agencies must create learning agendas, 

have designated personnel to lead their evidence-building activities, conduct planning and 

evaluations, and have data that is open, managed, and accessible for statistical purposes. 

1 Foundations for Evidence-Based Policymaking Act of 2018 (Public Law 115-435). 

https://www.congress.gov/115/plaws/publ435/PLAW-115publ435.pdf 2 Chief Financial Officers Act of 1990 (Public Law 101–576). https://www.congress.gov/101/statute/STATUTE-104/STATUTE104-Pg2838.pdf
4 

In alignment with the Department, Fiscal Service has incorporated the foundations of the Evidence 

Act through its Learning Agenda (Learning Agenda), Annual Evaluation Plan (Evaluation Plan), 

Program Evaluation Framework, and program evaluations in support of the Strategic Management 

Framework. Evaluations conducted in support of the Learning Agenda will follow the Program 

Evaluation Framework.

Learning Agenda Framework

The Program Evaluation Branch (PEB) is charged with preparing Fiscal Service’s first FY 2022–2026 

Learning Agenda and FY 2022–2023 Evaluation Plan. The PEB collaborated with management and 

staff throughout Fiscal Service to identify priority questions related to programs, policies, and 

activities for inclusion in the Learning Agenda.

The Learning Agenda is aligned with Fiscal Service’s FY 2022–2026 Strategic Plan goals and 

objectives. The Learning Agenda identifies priority questions for each strategic goal that, when 

answered, build evidence and foster continuous learning. The Learning Agenda presents each 

strategic goal with an overview, its objectives, related priority questions, and planned evaluations.

The FY 2022–2026 strategic goals are:

1. Our Operations: Deliver modern and innovative financial management operations and 

services that are inclusive, efficient, sustainable, and secure.

2. Our Data: Increase the value, availability, and quality of our data for decision-making and 

insights.

3. Our Customers: Improve the customer experience throughout the journey with Fiscal 

Service.

4. Our Workforce: Recruit, retain, develop, and engage a diverse, high-performing 

workforce to meet our customers’ needs.

Further, Fiscal Service’s Learning Agenda aligns with some of the Department of the Treasury’s 

(Treasury) FY 2022–2026 Strategic Plan priority questions (figure 2, next page). 3 

3 Treasury Strategic Plan FY 2022–2026. https://home.treasury.gov/system/files/266/TreasuryStrategicPlan-FY2022-2026.pdf 
5 

Figure 2. Alignment of Priority Questions

Strategic Goals Learning Agenda Questions and Alignment to Treasury’s FY 2022–2026 Learning Agenda Questions

•How can Fiscal Service improve the delivery of government payments to hard-to-reach populations?

Treasury Learning Agenda Question: How can Treasury improve the delivery of government payments to hard-to-reach 

populations (e.g., unbanked)? (Strategic Objective 3.3 Financial Innovation) 

•What opportunities exist to improve efficiency, implement new, and identify duplicative or unnecessary 

products, tools, and services, to improve operations?

•How can partnerships with governments, financial institutions, academia, and industry strengthen 

Fiscal Service capabilities?

•What emerging capabilities or best practices can Fiscal Service adopt to improve its operations?

•How can Fiscal Service expand its use of data to improve internal business operations?

•What opportunities exist to improve the quality, accessibility, and interoperability of Fiscal Service’s

internal data?

•What are the most important changes that Fiscal Service should make to its transparency products 

(USAspending, Data Lab, and Fiscal Data) to expand its reach, increase public understanding of federal 

finance, and create trust with the public?

Treasury: What are ways to improve data collection, use, and sharing to improve Treasury’s ability to deliver 

services and make programmatic and policy decisions more equitably? (Strategic Objective 5.3 Better Use of Data)

•How much does Fiscal Service spend each year to collect and maintain data and what is spent on data 

that it does not use? 

•Where are Fiscal Service’s customer experience capability and competency gaps, and how can we 

leverage best practices to close those gaps over time?

•How can Fiscal Service ensure it is collaborating effectively with its agency partners to improve the 

customer experience and mission delivery?

•How can Fiscal Service ensure equitable access and use of its services by underserved communities or 

companies? 

Treasury: What are effective strategies for serving hard-to-reach customers, particularly those who lack access to 

reliable internet, banks/financial institutions, and the credentials required to verify their digital identity? 

(Strategic Objective 5.4 Customer Experience Practices) 

•How can Fiscal Service accurately assess, evaluate, and monitor customer experience, and utilize 

measurement tools to drive improvements?

Treasury: What is the right beacon metric for measuring customer experience for the department? 

(Strategic Objective 5.4 Customer Experience Practices) 

•Which Fiscal Service products and services are underutilized by federal CFOs, why, and what 

improvements can Fiscal Service make?

•How does Fiscal Service currently approach customer experience activities across the enterprise, and 

how might we standardize our approach to efficiently and effectively meet the customer experience 

objectives?

•What skillsets do employees currently have, what skillsets does Fiscal Service need, is Fiscal Service 

effectively identifying needed competencies and existing gaps, and what opportunities exist to close 

the gaps?

Treasury: How are our customers’ needs changing, how are employee needs changing, and how do you foster 

innovation and collaboration in a hybrid organization? (Strategic Objective 5.2 Future Work Routines)

•How can Fiscal Service foster a diverse and inclusive culture throughout all levels of the bureau to 

provide better services to its customers, stakeholders, and employees?

•How can Fiscal Service ensure that resources are appropriately aligned with the bureau’s priorities, as 

articulated in the strategic plan and supporting documents?

•How does Fiscal Service define a diverse workforce, what beacon metrics can Fiscal Service use to 

measure diversity, and what opportunities exist to increase diversity in the Fiscal Service workforce?

•How does a hybrid work environment impact Fiscal Service’s culture, its ability to recruit candidates, 

and its ability to retain its existing employees, and how can we best measure those impacts?

Treasury: How are our customers’ needs changing, how are employee needs changing, and how do you foster 

innovation and collaboration in a hybrid organization? (Strategic Objective 5.2 Future Work Routines)

GOAL 1: 

OUR 

OPERATIONS

GOAL 2: 

OUR DATA

GOAL 4:

OUR 

WORKFORCE

GOAL 3: 

OUR 

CUSTOMERS
6 

Included in the Learning Agenda is the FY 2022–2023 Evaluation Plan, which identifies questions that 

will be addressed through evaluations in those fiscal years. Evaluations were identified from the 

priority questions and based on Treasury and Fiscal Service priorities, leadership priorities, and prior 

evaluations, among other factors.

Learning agenda questions should consider a broad range of agency priorities, include regulations 

and policies, define questions as either long-term or short-term, and identify questions best suited for 

external engagement. Fiscal Service identifies long-term questions as those that will require more 

than a year to answer or include iterative evaluations, and short-term questions as those that may be 

answered using rapid testing, existing data, or literature reviews and require one year or less to 

answer. The long- and short-term distinction reflects the length of time needed to fully answer the 

learning agenda question and does not reflect prioritization or a timeline of when an evaluation will 

occur.

As part of the strategic management framework, evaluation results will be used to inform Fiscal 

Service leadership, programs, and future projects to improve the organization. The Learning Agenda 

and Evaluation Plan will be updated each fiscal year to incorporate the results of what was learned the 

prior year and the evaluations for the upcoming year.

Stakeholder Engagement

In developing Fiscal Service’s Learning Agenda and Evaluation Plan, the PEB held stakeholder sessions 

with employees, managers, directors, and leadership from each Fiscal Service business area to gather 

input and questions related to Fiscal Service’s FY 2022–2026 Strategic Plan goals and objectives. The 

PEB team used these sessions to identify themes and common questions for the Learning Agenda and 

engaged with Treasury to integrate and ensure alignment between the Department’s and Fiscal 

Service’s Learning Agenda. 

A cross-functional leadership team consisting of, or representing, the Chief Customer Officer, Chief 

Data Officer, Chief Risk Officer, Evaluation Officer, Performance Improvement Officer, and Statistical 

Officer was created to provide support, guidance, expertise, and input to the PEB. 

Challenges and Proposed Solutions

Although Fiscal Service has begun to expand its capacity for evidence-based decision-making through 

the Learning Agenda and Evaluation Plan, some challenges remain. For example, barriers to access, or 

restrictions on, the use of data for evaluation pose challenges. Fiscal Service’s current staffing and 

resource levels could pose challenges in timely completion of evaluations. Moreover, because formal 

evaluations at Fiscal Service are new, bureau staff might not immediately recognize the utility in 

evaluations or the differences between an evaluation and an audit. Fiscal Service recognizes the 

importance of building staff capacity and has established mechanisms to support this growth, such as 

establishing an Evaluation Repository for information sharing across the bureau. The PEB also 

established an Evaluation Community of Practice to further staff capacity and information sharing by 

discussing evaluation best practices and results of evaluations.
Goal 1: Our Operations

Deliver modern and innovative financial management operations and 

services that are inclusive, efficient, sustainable, and secure.

Fiscal Service operations are critical to the financial stability of the nation and the operational 

efficiency of the federal government. Our collections, disbursements, financing, reporting, and 

shared service operations provide key services to agencies and the public. It is important that 

we continue to deliver operational excellence to maintain our position as the trusted leader in 

federal financial management. 

Strategic Objectives

1.1 Business Transformation: Transform our businesses to generate new value and 

improved capabilities for our customers.

1.2 Emerging Technology and Business Practices: Identify, incubate, and promote 

emerging technologies and business practices with the potential to transform the bureau 

and government-wide financial management capabilities.

1.3 Operational Integrity: Improve security, resiliency, and controls of operations and 

services.

Learning Agenda Questions

Long-Term

• How can Fiscal Service improve the delivery of government payments to 

hard-to-reach populations? 4 (FY 2022–2023 Evaluation)

• What opportunities exist to improve efficiency, implement new, and identify 

duplicative or unnecessary products, tools, and services to improve operations?

• How can partnerships with governments, financial institutions, academia, and 

industry strengthen Fiscal Service capabilities?

Short-Term

• What emerging capabilities or best practices can Fiscal Service adopt to improve its 

operations?

4 Aligns to Treasury Learning Agenda Question: How can Treasury improve the delivery of government payments to 

hard-to-reach populations (e.g., unbanked)? (Strategic Objective 3.3 Financial Innovation)
8 

FY 2022–2023 Evaluation

How can Fiscal Service improve the delivery of government payments to 

hard-to-reach populations?

In FY 2022–2023, we will conduct an evaluation to answer, “How can Fiscal Service improve 

the delivery of government payments to hard-to-reach populations?” 

This evaluation supports the Agency Priority Goal (APG) on improving the payment 

experience and the Treasury Learning Agenda. 

Background and Significance

Each year, trillions of dollars in federal payments are disbursed by Fiscal Service. 

For example, in FY 2021, Fiscal Service disbursed over 90 percent of all federal payments, 

totaling 1.71 billion payments valued at more than $6.4 trillion. 5 Of the 1.71 billion total 

payments, 1.58 billion (92.5 percent) were disbursed electronically, leaving 128.3 million 

(7.5 percent) via paper checks. 6 Through the APG, Treasury has committed to creating a 

modern, seamless, inclusive, and secure federal payment experience for the public that 

meets customer needs while reducing costs, expanding financial inclusion, and improving 

climate sustainability of Treasury’s operations. 7 The APG seeks to increase the electronic 

payment rate for Treasury-disbursed payments from 96.18 percent to 96.56 percent by the 

end of FY 2023.

To meet this APG, Fiscal Service is collaborating with top check-producing federal agencies 

(such as the IRS) to develop check-reducing strategies and promote the benefits of 

increasing electronic payments. One strategy Fiscal Service is leveraging is to increase

electronic payments by offering federal payments through the Direct Express® Debit 

Mastercard®. Since 2008, Fiscal Service has worked with federal agencies—including the 

Coast Guard, Department of Labor, Social Security Administration, and the Department of 

Veterans Affairs—to disburse payments through the Direct Express® prepaid debit card. 

In FY 2021, $45 billion was deposited to Direct Express® debit cards. There are 

approximately 3.6 million Direct Express® debit cardholders that are actively using their 

cards providing millions of Americans with an entryway into the financial mainstream. 

Of these cardholders, approximately 2.5 million (70 percent) are unbanked.

5 The FY 2021 figures include pandemic-related relief payments such as economic impact payments and advance child tax 

credit payments. Excluding pandemic related payments, the FY 2021 electronic payment rate was 96.2 percent, and 

48.8 million checks were issued.

6 Payments are disbursed electronically through methods such as the automated clearing house, direct deposit, wire 

transfers, stored-value cards, Direct Express® Debit Mastercard®, and the U.S. Debit Card. 7 Increasing electronic payments can reduce greenhouse gas emissions, reduce contribution to the waste stream from 

producing consumables (e.g., check stock and envelopes), and reduce energy costs, among other things.
9 

The Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation (FDIC) conducts a biennial survey on how 

America banks. The 2019 survey showed that an estimated 7.1 million U.S. households 

(5.4 percent) were unbanked. 8 The survey also showed that unbanked rates were higher 

among households in the southern U.S. (figure 3), households with volatile income, and 

households that were lower income, less educated, Black, Hispanic, American Indian, 

Alaska Native, or working age disabled. Some of the challenges that unbanked households 

faced included access to bank branches, internet accessibility, obtaining credit, 

establishing savings for unexpected expenses or emergencies, and employment status. 

Figure 3. Unbanked Rates by State, 2019 (Percent)

Source: FDIC, Survey of Household Use of Banking and Financial Services, 2019 

The delivery of government payments continues to evolve to meet the needs of 

Americans, including hard-to-reach populations, such as the unbanked, underserved, and 

transient or individuals experiencing homelessness. The use of debit cards for disbursing 

payments is a key example of how Fiscal Service, Treasury, and other federal agencies like 

the Coast Guard, Department of Labor, Social Security Administration, and the 

Department of Veterans Affairs have reduced paper checks and increased electronic 

payments while addressing some of the individualized needs of hard-to-reach 

populations. There are many factors why people may be considered hard-to-reach, 

some of which have been identified through studies such as the FDIC survey. 

Understanding these factors is necessary for developing strategies to improve payments 

to hard-to-reach populations.

8

 FDIC, Survey of Household Use of Banking and Financial Services, 2019.

https://www.fdic.gov/analysis/household-survey/2019report.pdf
10

Primary Evaluation Questions

As part of Fiscal Service’s commitment to deliver operational excellence and maintain our 

position as the trusted leader in federal financial management, we plan to assess how 

Fiscal Service can improve the delivery of government payments to hard-to-reach 

populations. Primary evaluation questions include:

• Who comprises hard-to-reach populations, such as the unbanked, underserved, 

and transient or homeless populations?

• What data exists on these populations, such as surveys conducted by our 

counterparts (e.g., FDIC, Consumer Financial Protection Bureau, Federal Reserve) 

and what does it tell us about the populations?

• Why are these populations hard-to-reach? 

• What do the populations need in order to receive government payments? 

• How can our partner agencies help to better reach hard-to-reach populations?

Timeline 

FY 2022 Q3 to FY 2023 Q4

Methods

This evaluation will be a combination of a design and a process evaluation. The PEB will 

use a design evaluation to identify who comprises hard-to-reach populations, what data 

exists and what it tells us about these populations, what characteristics makes these 

populations hard-to-reach, and what specific needs these populations have related to 

receiving government payments. We will use a process evaluation to determine how Fiscal 

Service can partner with other agencies to improve delivery of payments to these 

hard-to-reach populations.

To conduct these evaluations, we will hold discussions with Fiscal Service staff and 

leadership, review documents, and conduct literature reviews. We will review survey 

results, such as the Federal Reserve Survey of Economic Well-Being of U.S. Households, 

the Department of Housing and Urban Development’s Annual Homeless Assessment 

Report, and the FDIC survey in addition to meeting with partner agencies. We also will 

collaborate with Payment Management to develop a logic model that identifies activities 

and outcomes related to delivering payments to hard-to-reach populations.
11

Anticipated Challenges 

Anticipated challenges include, but are not limited to, the availability and robustness of 

data or information and the ability to meet with partner agencies. Obtaining information 

outside Fiscal Service also could present challenges due to time and resource constraints. 

To help with the challenges, we will leverage already existing information and data, 

including supporting the Payment Management team to conduct this evaluation. 

Further, the APG has multi-faceted goals (meets customer needs while reducing costs, 

expanding financial inclusion, and improving climate sustainability), and steps to address 

one area may create challenges in others. For example, issuing debit cards may expand 

financial inclusion, but may have a negative impact on climate sustainability. The results of 

this evaluation will help the bureau determine how to balance and prioritize actions to 

address these multi-faceted goals.

Dissemination

We will disseminate this report internally to the Payment Management Assistant 

Commissioner, Payment Strategy and Innovation Director, Chief Customer Officer, and

senior leadership, and post it on our internal Evaluation Repository. We also will share this 

report with Treasury through the Office of Strategic Planning and Performance 

Improvement. Further, we will discuss the methodology and results at the Evaluation 

Community of Practice.

This evaluation could help inform:

• Treasury Learning Agenda question, “How can Treasury improve the delivery of 

government payments to hard-to-reach populations (e.g., unbanked)?” 

• A milestone in the Treasury Agency Priority Goal “Improving the Payment 

Experience” 

• Fiscal Service Strategic Goal 1 key research question, “How can partnerships with 

governments, financial institutions, academia, and industry strengthen Fiscal Service 

capabilities?” 

• Fiscal Service Strategic Goal 2 key research question, “How can Fiscal Service 

expand its use of data to improve internal business operations and transparency?” 

• Fiscal Service Strategic Goal 3 key research questions, “How can Fiscal ensure it is 

collaborating effectively with its agency partners to improve the customer experience 

and mission delivery?” and “How can Fiscal Service ensure equitable access and use of 

its services by underserved communities or companies?” 
12

Goal 2: Our Data

Increase the value, availability, and quality of our data for decisionmaking and insights.

Our data is a catalyst for driving digital transformation, ensuring efficient use of resources, 

allowing us to deliver a better customer experience, and enhancing transparency for agencies, 

businesses, and the public. Improving the quality of our data and providing our workforce with 

the tools and expertise needed to extract insights from our data will advance the bureau to be a 

more modern, data-driven organization.

Strategic Objectives

2.1 Data Quality and Transparency: Improve the quality, completeness, and availability 

of data that is consumable for insights.

2.2 Data Analytics: Increase analytics practices and capabilities to support decisionmaking.

Learning Agenda Questions

Long-Term

• How can Fiscal Service expand its use of data to improve internal business 

operations? 

• What opportunities exist to improve the quality, accessibility, and interoperability 

of Fiscal Service’s internal data? 

• What are the most important changes that Fiscal Service should make to its 

transparency products (USAspending, Data Lab, and Fiscal Data) to expand its 

reach, increase public understanding of federal finance, and create trust with the 

public? 9

Short-Term

• How much does Fiscal Service spend each year to collect and maintain data and 

what is spent on data that it does not use? 

9 Aligns to Treasury Learning Agenda Question: What are ways to improve data collection, use, and sharing to improve Treasury’s 

ability to deliver services and make programmatic and policy decisions more equitably? (Strategic Objective 5.3 Better Use of 

Data)
13

FY 2022–2023 Evaluation

Given current resource levels, we will not specifically address key research questions for 

Strategic Goal 2 in FY 2022–2023; however, the evaluation of the Fiscal Service Strategic 

Goal 1 key research question, “How can Fiscal Service improve the delivery of government 

payments to hard-to-reach populations?” could help inform the Fiscal Service Strategic Goal 

2 question, “How can Fiscal Service expand its use of data to improve internal business 

operations and transparency?” 

Further, the evaluation of the Fiscal Service Strategic Goal 4 key research question, 

“How does Fiscal Service define a diverse workforce, what beacon metrics can Fiscal Service use 

to measure diversity, and what opportunities exist to increase diversity in the Fiscal Service 

workforce?” could help inform the Fiscal Service Strategic Goal 2 question, 

“What opportunities exist to improve quality, accessibility, and interoperability of Fiscal Service’s 

internal data?” 

Although the PEB will not specifically address key research questions for Strategic Goal 2 

in FY 2022–2023 through a formal evaluation, the Office of the Chief Data Officer will 

gather information on the data Fiscal Service collects, maintains, and uses. We will use this 

information to help inform key research questions in our FY 2024 update, such as 

“How much does Fiscal Service spend each year to collect and maintain data and what is spent 

on data that it does not use?” 
14

Goal 3: Our Customers

Improve the customer experience throughout the journey with Fiscal 

Service.

The customers we serve expect an ease of doing business, simple yet effective services, 

and a modern and inclusive experience that instills confidence and builds trust. Fiscal Service 

recognizes the importance of the customer experience for both our partner agencies, 

and the public we serve. Fiscal Service will develop and foster a customer-centric culture that 

unifies our engagement efforts, increases our understanding of federal agency needs, brings 

the customer voice into our decision-making processes, and ensures a seamless and equitable 

user experience from start to finish. 

Strategic Objectives:

3.1 Customer Experience Practices: Create a customer-centric culture that incorporates 

customer needs and expectations into the design and provision of services to improve the 

customer experience.

3.2 Agency Engagement: Engage with federal chief financial officers (CFOs) and the 

broader financial management community to understand what agencies need and how 

we can best provide unified, seamless solutions to meet those needs.

3.3 Marketplace Solutions: Provide the financial management community with access to 

innovative, proven, and standards-based solutions.

Learning Agenda Questions:

Long-Term

• Where are Fiscal Service’s customer experience capability and competency gaps, 

and how can we leverage best practices to close those gaps over time?

• How can Fiscal Service ensure it is collaborating effectively with its agency partners 

to improve the customer experience and mission delivery?

• How can Fiscal Service ensure equitable access and use of its services by 

underserved communities or companies? 10 

10 Aligns to Treasury Learning Agenda Question: What are effective strategies for serving hard-to-reach customers, particularly 

those who lack access to reliable internet, banks/financial institutions, and the credentials required to verify their digital identity?

(Strategic Objective 5.4 Customer Experience Practices)
15

Short-Term

• How can Fiscal Service accurately assess, evaluate, and monitor customer 

experience, and utilize measurement tools to drive improvements? 11

• Which Fiscal Service products and services are underutilized by federal CFOs, why, 

and what improvements can Fiscal Service make?

• How does Fiscal Service currently approach customer experience activities across 

the enterprise, and how might we standardize our approach to efficiently and 

effectively meet the customer experience objectives?

FY 2022–2023 Evaluation 

Given current resource levels, we will not specifically address key research questions for 

Strategic Goal 3 in FY 2022–2023; however, the evaluation of the Fiscal Service Strategic 

Goal 1 key research question, “How can Fiscal Service improve the delivery of government 

payments to hard-to-reach populations?” could help inform the Fiscal Service Strategic Goal 

3 questions, “How can Fiscal Service ensure it is collaborating effectively with its agency 

partners to improve the customer experience and mission delivery?” and “How can Fiscal 

Service ensure equitable access and use of its services by underserved communities or 

companies?” 

Fiscal Service administers an Annual Customer Satisfaction survey to federal agencies to 

assess their satisfaction with the services the bureau provides. Although we will not 

specifically address key research questions for Strategic Goal 3 in FY 2022–2023 through a 

formal evaluation, we will use information from the survey to inform key research 

questions in our FY 2024 update. Specifically, “How can Fiscal Service accurately assess, 

evaluate, and monitor customer experience, and utilize measurement tools to drive 

improvements?” and “Which Fiscal Service products and services are underutilized by federal 

CFOs, why, and what improvements can Fiscal Service make?” 

11 Aligns to Treasury Learning Agenda Question: What is the right beacon metric for measuring customer experience for the 

department? (Strategic Objective 5.4 Customer Experience Practices)
16

Goal 4: Our Workforce

Recruit, retain, develop, and engage a diverse, high-performing workforce to 

meet our customers’ needs.

Our workforce is the foundation for our success. Fiscal Service will foster a bureau-wide culture 

that promotes inclusivity, personal and professional development, and embodies our core 

values—Integrity, Collaboration, Accountability, Learning, and Excellence. We strive to provide 

an employee experience that makes us a recognized employer of choice where talented and 

diverse individuals want to work and can excel in the workplace of the future. 

Strategic Objectives:

4.1 Diversity, Equity, Inclusion, and Accessibility (DEIA): Foster a culture where bureau 

practices integrate the principles of DEIA to attract, develop, and retain a diverse and 

inclusive workforce.

4.2 Workforce of the Future: Identify and develop the skillsets required to meet the 

demands of tomorrow.

4.3 Workplace of the Future: Transform our work routines, facilities, and infrastructure 

to adapt to mission and workforce needs.

Learning Agenda Questions:

Long-Term

• What skillsets do employees currently have, what skillsets does Fiscal Service need, 

is Fiscal Service effectively identifying needed competencies and existing gaps, and 

what opportunities exist to close the gaps? 12

• How can Fiscal Service foster a diverse and inclusive culture throughout all levels of 

the bureau to provide better services to its customers, stakeholders, and 

employees?

• How can Fiscal Service ensure that resources are appropriately aligned with the 

bureau’s priorities, as articulated in the strategic plan and supporting documents? 

Short-Term

• How does Fiscal Service define a diverse workforce, what beacon metrics can 

Fiscal Service use to measure diversity, and what opportunities exist to 

increase diversity in the Fiscal Service workforce? (FY 2022–2023 Evaluation)

• How does a hybrid work environment impact Fiscal Service’s culture, its ability to 

recruit candidates, and its ability to retain its existing employees, and how can we 

best measure those impacts? 13

12 Aligns to Treasury Learning Agenda Question: How are our customers’ needs changing, how are employee needs changing, 

and how do you foster innovation and collaboration in a hybrid organization? (Strategic Objective 5.2 Future Work Routines) 13 Question also aligns to Treasury Learning Agenda Question above.
17

FY 2022–2023 Evaluation 

How does Fiscal Service define a diverse workforce, what beacon 

metrics can Fiscal Service use to measure diversity, and what 

opportunities exist to increase diversity in the Fiscal Service workforce?

In FY 2022–2023 the PEB will conduct an evaluation in collaboration with the Chief Human 

Resources Officer, the Diversity and Inclusion Officer, the Equal Employment Opportunity 

Officer, the Employee Inclusion Action Committee (EIAC), and the Diversity Advisory 

Council to answer, “How does Fiscal Service define a diverse workforce, what beacon metrics 

can Fiscal Service use to measure diversity, and what opportunities exist to increase diversity in 

the Fiscal Service workforce?”

Note, this evaluation is tied to Treasury’s response to the Executive Order (EO) on 

“Diversity, Equity, Inclusion, and Accessibility in the Federal Workforce” (EO 14035, June 25, 

2021) 14 and will consider the EO definition of diversity (i.e., the practice of including the 

many communities, identities, races, ethnicities, backgrounds, abilities, cultures, and 

beliefs of the American people, including underserved communities). 

Background and Significance

Fiscal Service has advocated for a diverse workforce 

since being established in October 2012. The 

Commissioner at the time established a Diversity 

Advisory Council to serve as advisors to senior 

leadership on cultural and workforce concerns. 

Those concerns included: employee recruitment, 

development, and retention; observance of 

practices, policies, and procedures; and the 

development of metrics to assist in building and 

maintaining a diverse and inclusive workforce. To 

complement the Diversity Advisory Council, the 

EIAC was chartered in November 2020 to focus on 

DEIA initiatives. The EIAC is a DEIA advocate, 

established to ensure DEIA is integrated into all 

aspects of the work at Fiscal Service. 

14 Executive Order 14035: “Diversity, Equity, Inclusion, and Accessibility in the Federal Workforce” June 25, 2021. 

https://www.federalregister.gov/documents/2021/06/30/2021-14127/diversity-equity-inclusion-and-accessibility-in-thefederal-workforce
18

To strengthen the federal workforce, President Biden signed EO 14035: “Diversity, Equity, 

Inclusion, and Accessibility in the Federal Workforce” on June 25, 2021. The EO stated the 

federal government must be a model for diversity, equity, inclusion, and accessibility, and 

strengthen its ability to recruit, hire, develop, promote, and retain talent, and remove 

barriers to equal opportunity. In accordance with the EO, and to lead Fiscal Service’s effort 

to create an inclusive and equitable environment where all employees can thrive, Fiscal 

Service created a Diversity and Inclusion Officer position in October 2021.

Primary Evaluation Questions

As part of Fiscal Service’s commitment to foster a culture where bureau practices 

integrate the principles of DEIA to attract, develop, and retain a diverse and inclusive 

workforce, we plan to assess how a diverse, equitable, inclusive, and accessible workforce 

is defined and measured, how Fiscal Service compares, and what opportunities exist to 

increase DEIA across Fiscal Service. Primary evaluation questions include:

• How does Fiscal Service, the federal government, the private sector, and academia 

define and measure a diverse, equitable, inclusive, and accessible workforce? 

• How does Fiscal Service compare against other definitions and measures? 

o Which definition and metrics make the most sense for Fiscal Service? 

o What obstacles or challenges inhibit the measurement of diversity, equity, 

inclusion, and accessibility at Fiscal Service? 

o What metrics can Fiscal Service implement to monitor increasing diversity, 

equity, inclusion, and accessibility within its workforce?

o Is there consistent and systematic fair, just, and impartial treatment of all 

individuals? (Equity)

o Is there recognition, appreciation, and use of the talents and skills of 

employees of all backgrounds? (Inclusion)

o Does Fiscal Service effectively provide accommodations and modifications to 

ensure equal access to employment? (Accessibility)

Timeline 

FY 2022 Q3 to FY 2023 Q4
19

Methods

This evaluation will be a combination of a design and an outcome evaluation. We will use a 

design evaluation to identify definitions and metrics of a diverse, equitable, inclusive, and 

accessible workforce, and determine how Fiscal Service compares. We also will use a 

design evaluation to determine which definitions and metrics make the most sense for 

Fiscal Service, what obstacles and challenges inhibit measurement, and which metrics 

Fiscal Service can implement. We will use an outcome evaluation to determine if Fiscal 

Service treats its workforce fairly, justly, and impartially, if employees of all backgrounds 

are recognized and have equal opportunities, and if Fiscal Service effectively provides 

accommodations and modifications. 

To conduct these evaluations, we will hold discussions with staff, leadership, and EIAC 

members, review documents, and conduct literature reviews. We will review survey 

results, such as the Federal Employee Viewpoint Survey, Treasury’s Inclusion Survey, and 

the EIAC’s climate survey. We will analyze human capital data on workforce composition, 

performance appraisals, recognition and appreciation, and reasonable accommodation 

requests.

Anticipated Challenges 

Anticipated challenges include, but are not limited to, the availability and robustness of 

data or information. Obtaining information outside Fiscal Service also could present 

challenges due to time and resource constraints. To help with the challenges, we will 

leverage already existing information and data, including working with Fiscal Service’s 

Chief Human Resources Officer, Diversity and Inclusion Officer, Equal Employment 

Opportunity Officer, EIAC, and Diversity Advisory Council.

Dissemination

We will disseminate this report internally to the Fiscal Service Chief Human Resources

Officer, Diversity and Inclusion Officer, Equal Employment Opportunity Officer, EIAC, and 

Fiscal Service senior leadership. We will share this report with Treasury through the Office 

of Strategic Planning and Performance Improvement. Additionally, we will post the report 

on our internal Evaluation Repository and discuss the methodology and results at the 

Evaluation Community of Practice.

This evaluation could help inform the Fiscal Service Strategic Goal 2 key research question, 

“What opportunities exist to improve quality, accessibility, and interoperability of Fiscal Service’s 

internal data?” and the Fiscal Service Strategic Goal 4 key research question “How can Fiscal 

Service foster a diverse and inclusive culture throughout all levels of the bureau to provide 

better services to its customers, stakeholders, and employees?”