GAO

United States General Accounting Office

Report to the Chairman, Subcommittee 

on Oversight of Government 

Management, Restructuring, and the 

District of Columbia, Committee on 

Governmental Affairs, U.S. Senate

May 2001 MANAGING FOR 

RESULTS

Federal Managers’ 

Views on Key 

Management Issues 

Vary Widely Across 

Agencies

GAO-01-592

Page 1 GAO-01-592 Managers’ Views on Key Issues by Agency

Contents

Letter 5

Results in Brief 8

Agencies Face Challenges in Instilling Aspects of Agency Climate 

That Contribute to Performance-Based Cultures 12

Survey Responses Indicate That the Types of Measures Managers 

Had To Gauge Program Performance Varied 21

Managers’ Responses Across Agencies on Using Performance

Information Were Mixed 29

Concluding Observations 38

Agency Comments 38

Appendixes Appendix I: Scope and Methodology 40

Appendix II: Department of Agriculture: Selected Survey

Results 43

Appendix III: Agency for International Development: Selected

Survey Results 48

Appendix IV: Department of Commerce: Selected Survey 

Results 53

Appendix V: Department of Defense: Selected Survey 

Results 58

Appendix VI: Department of Education: Selected Survey 

Results 63

Appendix VII: Department of Energy: Selected Survey 

Results 68

Appendix VIII: Environmental Protection Agency: Selected 

Survey Results 73

Appendix IX: Federal Aviation Administration: Selected 

Survey Results 78

Appendix X: Federal Emergency Management Agency: 

Selected Survey Results 84

Appendix XI: Forest Service: Selected Survey Results 89

Appendix XII: General Services Administration: Selected 

Survey Results 95

Appendix XIII: Health Care Financing Administration: 

Selected Survey Results 101
Contents

Page 2 GAO-01-592 Managers’ Views on Key Issues by Agency

Appendix XIV: Department of Health and Human Services: 

Selected Survey Results 107

Appendix XV: Department of Housing and Urban

Development: Selected Survey Results 112

Appendix XVI: Department of the Interior: Selected Survey 

Results 118

Appendix XVII: Internal Revenue Service: Selected Survey 

Results 123

Appendix XVIII: Department of Justice: Selected Survey 

Results 129

Appendix XIX: Department of Labor: Selected Survey 

Results 134

Appendix XX: National Aeronautics and Space Administration: 

Selected Survey Results 139

Appendix XXI: National Science Foundation: Selected Survey 

Results 145

Appendix XXII: Nuclear Regulatory Commission: Selected 

Survey Results 151

Appendix XXIII: Office of Personnel Management: Selected 

Survey Results 157

Appendix XXIV: Small Business Administration: Selected 

Survey Results 163

Appendix XXV: Social Security Administration: Selected 

Survey Results 169

Appendix XXVI: Department of State: Selected Survey Results 175

Appendix XXVII: Department of Transportation: Selected

Survey Results 180

Appendix XXVIII: Department of the Treasury: Selected Survey

Results 185

Appendix XXIX: Department of Veterans Affairs: Selected 

Survey Results 191

Appendix XXX: Comments From the Office of Management

and Budget 197
Contents

Page 3 GAO-01-592 Managers’ Views on Key Issues by Agency

Abbreviations

AID U.S. Agency for International Development

CFO Chief Financial Officers

CPDF Central Personnel Data File

DOD Department of Defense

DOT Department of Transportation

EPA Environmental Protection Agency

FAA Federal Aviation Administration

FEMA Federal Emergency Management Agency

GM General Management

GPRA Government Performance and Results Act of 1993

GS General Schedule

GSA General Services Administration

HCFA Health Care Financing Administration

HHS Department of Health and Human Services

HUD Department of Housing and Urban Development

IRS Internal Revenue Service

NASA National Aeronautics and Space Administration

NRC Nuclear Regulatory Commission

NSF National Science Foundation

OMB Office of Management and Budget

OPM Office of Personnel Management

SBA Small Business Administration

SES Senior Executive Service

SSA Social Security Administration

VA Department of Veteran Affairs

VHA Veterans Health Administration

VISN Veterans Integrated Service Network
Page 4 GAO-01-592 Managers’ Views on Key Issues by Agency
Page 5 GAO-01-592 Managers’ Views on Key Issues by Agency

United States General Accounting Office

Washington, D.C. 20548 Letr

May 25, 2001

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:

During the past decade, Congress has sought to encourage a greater focus 

on results and improve federal management by enacting a results-oriented 

statutory framework with the Government Performance and Results Act of 

1993 (GPRA) as its centerpiece. Performance-based management, as 

envisioned by GPRA, requires transforming organizational cultures to 

improve decisionmaking, maximize performance, and assure 

accountability. This transformation is not an easy one and requires 

investments of time and resources as well as sustained leadership 

commitment and attention. In that regard, our January 2001 Performance 

and Accountability Series and High-Risk Series described the major 

management challenges and program risks at major agencies.1

 Addressing 

these challenges is central to agencies’ effectively, efficiently, and 

economically accomplishing their missions and achieving better results for 

the benefit of the American people.

At your request, in calendar year 2000, we surveyed a statistically 

representative sample of managers and supervisors across the federal 

government on their experiences with and perceptions about performance 

and management issues as a follow-up to a survey we did in 1996-97 (1997 

survey), when governmentwide implementation of GPRA was about to 

begin.2

 In October 2000, as one part of our response to your request, we 

reported to you on selected governmentwide results of our 2000 survey

1

2001 High-Risk/Performance and Accountability Series: Full Set (GAO-01-240, Jan. 

2001).

2

The Government Performance and Results Act: 1997 Governmentwide Implementation 

Will Be Uneven (GAO/GGD-97-109, June 2, 1997). The results of our 1997 survey, as well as 

its scope and methodology, were included in this report.
Page 6 GAO-01-592 Managers’ Views on Key Issues by Agency

with comparisons to governmentwide results of our 1997 survey.3 On the 

basis of those results, we reported that managers’ experiences and 

perceptions as reflected in our 2000 survey indicated some positive 

changes since our 1997 survey, but there were still many areas where such 

changes had not occurred.

In contrast to the sample for our 1997 survey, the sample for the 2000 

survey allowed for individual agency analyses. Thus, as the next part of our 

response to your request, the specific objective of this report is to provide 

results from our 2000 survey of federal managers for each of the 28 

agencies included in our survey for selected items regarding resultsoriented agency climate, measurement of program performance, and use of 

performance information to make decisions that our work looking at highperforming organizations has found to be relevant to the success of those 

organizations.4

 In subsequent reports, we plan to continue to explore the 

relationships among survey responses to identify areas where agencies can 

take specific actions to foster a greater focus on results.

3

Managing for Results: Federal Managers’ Views Show Need for Ensuring Top Leadership 

Skills (GAO-01-127, Oct. 20, 2000).

4

The 28 agencies include the 24 agencies covered by the Chief Financial Officers Act of 1990 

(CFO Act) with an additional breakout of 4 selected agencies from their departments—the 

Federal Aviation Administration at the Department of Transportation, the Forest Service at 

the Department of Agriculture, the Health Care Financing Administration at the Department 

of Health and Human Services, and the Internal Revenue Service at the Department of the 

Treasury. In this report, the results for these four agencies are not included in the results for 

the departments that they are a part of. In reporting the questionnaire data, when we use 

the term “governmentwide” and the phrase “across the federal government,” we are 

referring to these 24 CFO Act executive branch agencies, and when we use the terms 

“federal managers” and “managers,” we are referring to both managers and supervisors.
Page 7 GAO-01-592 Managers’ Views on Key Issues by Agency

Our 2000 sample was a stratified random sample of 3,816 out of a 

population of about 93,000 full-time, mid- and upper-level civilian managers 

and supervisors in 28 executive branch departments and agencies. We 

drew the sample from the Office of Personnel Management’s (OPM) 

Central Personnel Data File (CPDF) using file designators indicating 

performance of managerial and supervisory functions.5

 Our sample 

included both Senior Executive Service (SES) and non-SES managers and 

supervisors in General Schedule (GS), General Management (GM), or 

equivalent schedules, at levels comparable to GS/GM-13 through career 

SES.6

 Our overall response rate was about 70 percent of the resulting 

eligible sample, ranging from 59 percent to 82 percent at the 28 agencies.

The survey results are generalizable to the 28 departments and agencies. 

All reported percentages are estimates based on the sample and are subject 

to some sampling error as well as nonsampling error. Unless otherwise 

noted, figures 1 through 14 and related discussions provide analyses of the 

percentage of managers at each of the 28 agencies choosing “to a great 

extent” or “to a very great extent” on a five-point response scale ranging 

from “to no extent” to “to a very great extent.” These figures do not show 

when individual agencies are statistically significantly different from each 

other.7

 However, we do note when differences between 1997 and 2000 

governmentwide data are statistically significant. Also, in our discussions 

of agency-specific data in appendixes II through XXIX, we note when an 

agency is statistically significantly different from the rest of the 

government. An expanded description of the scope and methodology for 

our 2000 survey is included in appendix I. We conducted our work between 

January 1999 and March 2001 in accordance with generally accepted 

government auditing standards.

5

These CPDF file designators identified individuals who accomplish work through the 

direction of other people and/or are responsible for such things as directing the work of an 

organizational unit and establishing or adjusting objectives, plans, schedules, and resource 

requirements.

6

 We do not compare the responses of SES and non-SES managers on an agency-by-agency 

basis in this report as our sample was not designed or large enough to adequately support 

such comparisons. However, in our October 2000 report, we did compare responses of SES 

and non-SES respondents governmentwide for selected items.

7

In this report, the term “statistical significance” is defined as a difference that is significant 

at the .05 or lower probability level. 
Page 8 GAO-01-592 Managers’ Views on Key Issues by Agency

It is important to keep in mind that the survey data included in this report 

represent managers’ views at a certain point in time. As such, the actions, 

if any, that individual agencies may need to take in response to the survey 

results need to be considered within the context of the challenges that 

agency faces and ongoing and planned efforts to transform its culture. 

Nevertheless, the survey results provide important data on the views of 

agency managers that agency leaders, other executive branch officials, and 

Congress can use to strengthen the performance of government, improve 

the quality and timeliness of services to citizens, and address longstanding 

management challenges and program risks.

Results in Brief Our survey data show that federal managers’ views varied widely across 

the 28 agencies regarding the extent to which basic elements are in place 

that enable agencies to be successful today and respond effectively to the 

emerging opportunities and challenges to government in the 21st century. 

Managers’ responses for each of the 28 agencies included in our survey on 

aspects of agency climate, performance measurement, and using 

performance information to make critical decisions are included in this 

report and are compared to managers’ responses for the rest of government 

in appendixes II through XXIX.

Our survey data show that some agencies appear to be making progress in 

instilling the essential attributes of high-performing organizations. 

However, the data also suggest that many of the 28 agencies face significant 

challenges in instilling key aspects of agency climate that contribute to a 

performance-based culture, as the following examples illustrate:

• At 11 agencies, less than half of the managers perceived a strong top 

leadership commitment to achieving results to at least a great extent. 

• At 26 agencies, less than half of the managers perceived that employees 

received positive recognition for helping the agency accomplish its 

strategic goals to at least a great extent.

• At 22 agencies, more than half of the managers reported that they were 

held accountable for the results of their programs to at least a great 

extent, but at only 1 agency did more than half of the managers report 

that they had the decisionmaking authority they needed to help the 

agency accomplish its strategic goals to a comparable extent.

When viewed on an individual agency basis, there was considerable 

variation in our 2000 survey results on these aspects of agency climate 

related to creating performance-based cultures, as shown in table 1. 
Page 9 GAO-01-592 Managers’ Views on Key Issues by Agency

Table 1: Lowest and Highest Percentages of Federal Managers, by Agency, Who Agreed to a Great or Very Great Extent on 

Selected Statements About Their Agency’s Climate

Source: GAO survey data.

In addition, measuring performance in assessing a program’s efforts to 

achieve its goals is essential to fostering a performance-based culture and 

managing for results. Encouragingly, significantly more managers overall 

reported having performance measures for the programs they were 

involved with in 2000 (84 percent) than in 1997 (76 percent). At 17 of the 28 

agencies, 50 percent or more of managers responded that they had 

performance measures that tell how many things are produced or services 

provided (output measures) to a great or very great extent. However, at 

only 8 agencies did 50 percent or more of managers report that they had 

performance measures that would demonstrate to someone outside of their 

agency whether or not intended results are being achieved (outcome 

measures) to that extent. Yet for both output and outcome measures, as 

well as for efficiency measures, there were statistically significant 

increases between 1997 and 2000 in the percentage of managers 

governmentwide responding that they had them to a great or very great 

extent. Across the 28 agencies included in our survey, managers’ responses 

on the types of measures they reported having for their programs varied, as 

shown in table 2.

Managers responding to a “great” or “very great” extent

Agency climate statement

Lowest percentage 

and agency

Highest percentage and 

agency

28 agencies

overall

Agency’s top leadership demonstrates a strong commitment to 

achieving results.

23% at the Federal 

Aviation Administration 

(FAA)

69% at the National 

Science Foundation 

(NSF)

53%

Employees in agency receive positive recognition for helping 

the agency accomplish its strategic goals.

12% at FAA 52% at the General 

Services 

Administration (GSA)

31%

Agency managers at their level are held accountable for the 

results of programs they are responsible for. 

40% at the Forest 

Service

79% at the Department 

of Housing and Urban 

Development (HUD)

63%

Agency managers at their level have decisionmaking authority 

they need to help agency accomplish strategic goals.

15% at the Internal 

Revenue Service (IRS)

58% at OPM 36%
Page 10 GAO-01-592 Managers’ Views on Key Issues by Agency

Table 2: Lowest and Highest Percentages of Federal Managers, by Agency, Who Reported Having Specific Types of Performance 

Measures to a Great or Very Great Extent

Source: GAO survey data.

In another important area—use of performance information for program 

management activities—managers’ responses across agencies were 

discouraging. At no more than 7 of the 28 agencies did 50 percent or more 

of managers respond that they used performance information to a great or 

very great extent for any of 5 of the key management activities we asked 

about. However, on a positive note, at 3 agencies—HUD, VA, and GSA—50 

percent or more of managers reported such use for all 5 of these activities. 

The ranges of managers’ responses are shown in table 3.

Managers responding to a “great” or “very great” extent

Type of performance measure

Lowest percentage and 

agency

Highest percentage and 

agency 28 agencies overall

Outcome measures that would demonstrate to someone 

outside of the agency whether or not intended results are 

being achieved. 

17% at the Health Care 

Financing Administration 

(HCFA)

63% at the National 

Aeronautics and Space 

Administration (NASA) 

and HUD

44%

Output measures that tell how many things are produced 

or services provided. 

19% at HCFA 75% at the Small 

Business Administration

(SBA) and HUD

50%

Customer service measures that tell whether or not 

customers are being satisfied. 

14% at the Nuclear 

Regulatory Commission

(NRC)

54% at

GSA and the Department 

of Veterans Affairs (VA)

38%

Quality measures that tell about the quality of products or 

services provided.

14% at HCFA 61% at NASA 39%

Efficiency measures that tell if programs are operating 

efficiently. 

9% at HCFA 56% at GSA 35%
Page 11 GAO-01-592 Managers’ Views on Key Issues by Agency

Table 3: Lowest and Highest Percentages of Federal Managers, by Agency, Who Reported Using Information Obtained From 

Performance Measurement to a Great or Very Great Extent for Various Management Activities

Source: GAO survey data.

The new administration and Congress confront a series of daunting 

operational and strategic challenges to improving the performance and 

assessing the accountability of the federal government. Building 

performance-based organizational cultures within agencies is key to 

addressing these challenges. However, doing so is not easy and takes both 

time and a substantial degree of commitment. At the most fundamental 

level, our survey data indicate top leadership must send strong and 

consistent messages that they are results-oriented. This entails holding 

managers accountable for their contributions to results and recognizing 

and rewarding those contributions. Equally important, it also entails 

providing managers with the authorities, tools, and flexibilities they need to 

be successful. Measuring program performance and using the resulting 

performance information to make decisions within agencies are also 

critical. Congress can play a constructive role as well. The confirmation, 

oversight, authorization, and appropriation processes all provide important 

opportunities to consider progress that the executive branch in general and 

individual agencies in particular are making in improving performance and 

accountability for the benefit of the American people. We are continuing to 

work with the agencies where we surveyed managers to identify actions 

that can be taken in response to the data presented in this report.

We provided the Director, Office of Management and Budget (OMB) with a 

draft of this report for his review and comment because of OMB’s 

Managers responding to a “great” or “very great” extent

Management activity

Lowest percentage 

and agency

Highest percentage 

and agency 28 agencies overall

Setting program priorities. 26% at NSF 64% at HUD 45%

Allocating resources. 24% at NSF 66% at OPM 43%

Adopting new program approaches or changing work processes. 25% at the Forest 

Service

64% at OPM 42%

Coordinating program efforts with other internal or external 

organizations.

17% at FAA 57% at HUD 35%

Setting individual job expectations. 16% at HCFA 66% at SBA 41%
Page 12 GAO-01-592 Managers’ Views on Key Issues by Agency

leadership responsibility in the executive branch for issues addressed by 

our survey. In OMB’s written response, the Deputy Director said that its 

findings appeared to be consistent with OMB’s views on the extent of 

agencies’ progress in implementing GPRA. He also outlined the new 

administration’s planned initiatives to make the federal government more 

results-oriented, including strengthening the linkage between budget 

decisionmaking and program performance.

We did not obtain individual agency comments because the agency-specific 

data reported consist solely of survey responses from our randomly 

selected sample of managers in the 28 agencies and we did not assess the 

individual change initiatives underway at any agency. However, we 

provided a draft of this letter and the relevant appendix to the heads of 

each of the 28 agencies included in our survey for their information in 

advance of the publication of this report.

Agencies Face 

Challenges in Instilling 

Aspects of Agency 

Climate That 

Contribute to 

Performance-Based 

Cultures

High-performing organizations reinforce a focus on results through 

demonstrated top leadership commitment, through positive recognition to 

employees for their contributions to organizational goals, and by holding 

managers accountable for results while giving them the necessary 

decisionmaking authority to achieve them. Our survey data suggest that 

across the 28 agencies there are ample opportunities to better instill these 

key attributes of a performance-based culture.

Demonstrated Top 

Leadership Commitment to 

Achieving Results

Successfully addressing the challenges that federal agencies face in 

becoming high-performing organizations requires agency leaders who are 

fully committed to achieving results. Top leadership’s commitment to 

achieving results is essential in driving continuous improvement to achieve 

excellence throughout an agency and inspiring employees to accomplish 

challenging goals. Without clear and demonstrated commitment of agency 

leadership—both political and career—organizational cultures will not be 

transformed, and new visions and ways of doing business will not take 

root.
Page 13 GAO-01-592 Managers’ Views on Key Issues by Agency

However, the responses of many managers in the 28 agencies did not 

indicate a strong perception that their agencies’ top leadership 

demonstrated a strong commitment to achieving results.8

 Managers’

positive responses across the 28 individual agencies varied widely from a 

low at FAA (23 percent) to 3 times that percentage at NSF (69 percent), as 

shown in figure 1. Specifically, at only four agencies—NSF, the Social 

Security Administration (SSA), NASA, and NRC—did more that two-thirds 

of managers perceive such commitment to a great or very great extent. At 

11 agencies, less than half of the managers perceived that there was such a 

degree of commitment.

8

We did not specify in the survey which positions in the agencies would constitute “top 

leadership.”
Page 14 GAO-01-592 Managers’ Views on Key Issues by Agency

Figure 1: Percentage of Federal Managers Who Reported That Agency Top Leadership Demonstrated to a Great or Very Great 

Extent a Strong Commitment to Achieving Results

a U.S. Agency for International Development

b Federal Emergency Management Agency

c

 Environmental Protection Agency

d

 Department of Defense

e Department of Transportation

f

 Department of Health and Human Services

Source: GAO survey data.

The clear and demonstrated top leadership commitment needed to sustain 

high levels of performance is not widely perceived among managers across 

the government overall and progress in fostering such leadership has 

23

26

39

42 42 44

46 46 47 47 49 50

52 54

56

59 59 60

62 63 63 64 64 65

67 68 68 69

0

20

40

60

80

100

FAA

Forest Service

AIDa

IRS

FEMAb

Interior

State

HCFA

VA

Agriculture

Justice

Energy

EPAc

SBA

Labor

DODd

 DOTe

HHSf

Education

OPM

GSA

Treasury

HUD

Commerce

NRC

NASA

SSA

NSF

Percentage responding to a “great” or “very great” extent
Page 15 GAO-01-592 Managers’ Views on Key Issues by Agency

remained stagnant. Governmentwide, our survey results show that in 2000, 

just over half of managers—53 percent—reported strong top leadership 

commitment, while 57 percent had this perception in 1997—not a 

statistically significant change. 

Positive Recognition for 

Helping Accomplish 

Strategic Goals

Incentives are important in steering an agency’s workforce to high levels of 

performance and they are critical to establishing a results-oriented 

management environment. A key element in agencies’ efforts to achieve 

results is their ability to motivate and reward their employees for 

supporting results through effective incentives, such as positive 

recognition.

However, both our agency-specific and governmentwide survey results 

suggest that positive recognition has not been an extensively used 

technique for motivating employees. On an individual agency basis, there 

are no agencies that stand out as notable at the top of the range for 

providing positive recognition to employees for helping the agency 

accomplish its strategic goals. The percentage of managers responding to a 

great or very great extent at the 28 agencies ranged from 12 percent at FAA 

to 52 percent at GSA. Even at the top of the range, the percentage of 

managers who reported that employees received such positive recognition 

barely exceeded 50 percent at GSA and SBA. At 14 of the 28 agencies 

surveyed, less than one-third of managers perceived that employees in their 

agencies were receiving positive recognition to at least a great extent for 

contributing to the achievement of agency goals. (See fig. 2.)
Page 16 GAO-01-592 Managers’ Views on Key Issues by Agency

Figure 2: Percentage of Federal Managers Who Reported to a Great or Very Great Extent That Employees Received Positive 

Recognition for Helping Their Agencies Accomplish Their Strategic Goals

Source: GAO survey data.

Governmentwide, few managers (31 percent) reported in 2000 that 

employees in their agencies received positive recognition to a great or very 

great extent for helping their agencies accomplish their strategic goals. 

This was not a statistically significant change from the 26 percent reporting 

this extent of positive recognition in 1997. Because effective incentive 

programs can help federal agencies maximize the results they achieve by 

both reinforcing personal accountability for high performance and 

motivating and rewarding employees, the results of our survey suggest that 

in most cases agencies are missing opportunities to positively affect 

12

14

18

23 23 24

26 26 27 27

29 30 31 31

33 33

36 36 37 39 39

45 46 47 47 49

51 52

0

20

40

60

80

100

FAA

AID

Labor

Education

VA

Agriculture

Justice

FEMA

IRS

Forest Service

EPA

HCFA

DOD

 DOT

Interior

Energy

SSA

State

NSF

Treasury

Commerce

NRC

HHS

NASA

HUD

OPM

SBA

GSA

Percentage responding to a “great” or “very great” extent
Page 17 GAO-01-592 Managers’ Views on Key Issues by Agency

program results through more widespread use of effective positive 

recognition techniques.

Accountability for Results 

and Necessary 

Decisionmaking Authority 

to Achieve Them 

Agencies need to create organizational cultures that involve employees and 

empower them to improve operational and program performance while 

ensuring accountability and fairness for those employees. Devolving 

decisionmaking authority to program managers in combination with 

holding them accountable for results is one of the most powerful incentives 

for encouraging results-based management. Additionally, providing 

managers with such authority gives those who know the most about an 

agency’s programs the power to make those programs work.

The range of responses across individual agencies regarding managers 

being held accountable for the results of their programs to a great or very 

great extent ranged from a low of 40 percent at the Forest Service to 79 

percent at HUD. At 22 of the 28 agencies included in our survey, more than 

50 percent of managers reported such accountability, with 66 percent or 

more at 10 of these agencies reporting such accountability. (See fig. 3.)
Page 18 GAO-01-592 Managers’ Views on Key Issues by Agency

Figure 3: Percentage of Federal Managers Reporting to a Great or Very Great Extent That They Were Held Accountable for 

Results

Source: GAO survey data.

In comparison, for each of the individual agencies included in our survey, 

the percentage of managers who reported that they had, to a great or very 

great extent, the decisionmaking authority they needed to help their 

agencies accomplish their strategic goals ranged from 15 percent at IRS to 

58 percent at OPM. At only one agency—OPM—was the percentage of 

managers reporting that they had the decisionmaking authority they 

needed above 50 percent. In fact, at 10 of the 28 agencies, only one-third or 

less of managers responded that they had such decisionmaking authority. 

(See fig. 4.)

40 42 43

49 49 49 51

53

55

57

59 59 60 60 60 62 62

65 66 67 68 68 68 69 69

75 76

79

0

20

40

60

80

100 Percentage responding to a “great” or “very great” extent

Forest Service

HCFA

AID

State

GSA

Energy

Education

EPA

DOT

Commerce

FAA

Agriculture

Interior

Justice

IRS

NSF

Labor

Treasury

DOD

VA

NASA

HHS

SSA

NRC

FEMA

SBA

OPM

HUD
Page 19 GAO-01-592 Managers’ Views on Key Issues by Agency

Figure 4: Percentage of Federal Managers Reporting to a Great or Very Great Extent That They Had Decisionmaking Authority 

They Needed to Help the Agency Accomplish Its Strategic Goals

Source: GAO survey data.

The differences reflected in managers’ responses to our questions on 

authority and accountability suggest that many agencies can better balance 

accountability for results with the authority needed to help achieve agency 

goals. For managers at 27 agencies, the percentage reporting that they 

were held accountable for results exceeded the percentage reporting that 

they had the authority they needed. At 16 of these 27 agencies, the 

percentage by which being held accountable exceeded having the authority 

needed was more than 20 percent. At only one agency—the Forest 

Service—were the percentages approximately equal. However, they were 

15 16

23

25 25

27 28

32 33 33 35 36 36 37 38 39 40 40 41 41 41 42 43 43 43 44 46

58

0

20

40

60

80

100

IRS

FAA

SSA

AID

Education

SBA

HCFA

NRC

Justice

Energy

State

GSA

HUD

VA

Agriculture

Treasury

Labor

DOD

NASA

Forest Service

EPA

FEMA

Interior

HHS

 DOT

NSF

Commerce

OPM

Percentage responding to a “great” or “very great” extent
Page 20 GAO-01-592 Managers’ Views on Key Issues by Agency

not very high, with the percentage of Forest Service managers responding 

positively at 41 percent for authority and at 40 percent for accountability.

Governmentwide, the differences between the level of accountability and 

the level of authority managers perceived was great in both our 1997 and 

2000 surveys. In 2000, 63 percent of federal managers overall reported that 

they were held accountable for program results but only 36 percent 

reported that they had the decisionmaking authority they needed to help 

their agencies accomplish their strategic goals. These percentages were 

not statistically significantly different than those from our 1997 survey, 

when 55 percent of managers reported such accountability for results while 

31 percent reported such decisionmaking authority, 

We recently reported that several agencies have begun to use resultsoriented performance agreements for their senior political and career 

executives to define accountability for specific goals, monitor progress 

during the year, and then contribute to performance evaluations.9

 Although 

each agency developed and implemented agreements that reflected its 

specific organizational priorities, structure, and culture, we identified 

common emerging benefits from each agency’s use of performance 

agreements. For example, the Veterans Health Administration (VHA) 

decentralized its management structure from 4 regions to 22 Veterans 

Integrated Service Networks (VISN). VHA gave each VISN substantial 

operational autonomy and established performance goals in the 

agreements to hold network and medical center directors accountable for 

achieving performance improvements. Senior VHA officials we spoke to as 

part of that review credit the use of performance agreements to 

improvements in key organizational goals. 

9

Managing for Results: Emerging Benefits From Selected Agencies’ Use of Performance 

Agreements (GAO-01-115, Oct. 30, 2000).
Page 21 GAO-01-592 Managers’ Views on Key Issues by Agency

Survey Responses 

Indicate That the Types 

of Measures Managers 

Had To Gauge Program 

Performance Varied 

A fundamental element in an organization’s efforts to manage for results is 

its ability to set meaningful goals for performance and to measure 

performance against those goals. High-performing, results-oriented 

organizations establish a set of measures to gauge progress over various 

dimensions of performance. As discussed in our January 2001 

Performance and Accountability Series, a major challenge that agencies 

face in implementing GPRA is articulating and reinforcing a results 

orientation.10 Encouragingly, more managers overall reported having 

performance measures in 2000 than in 1997. Specifically, 84 percent of 

federal managers governmentwide said they had performance measures for 

the programs they were involved with, a statistically significant increase 

over the 76 percent of managers who responded that way in 1997. The 

degree to which managers reported having each of the five types of 

performance measures we asked about—outcome, output, customer 

service, quality, and efficiency—varied by agency. However, managers’

responses at most federal agencies showed that they still may have room 

for improvement in this regard.

Outcome and Output 

Measures

Output measures that tell how many things are produced or services 

provided are an essential management tool in managing programs for 

results, but they represent only one basic dimension in the measurement of 

program performance. Rather, it is outcome measures that demonstrate 

whether or not program goals are being achieved and gauge the ultimate 

success of government programs. Collectively, managers’ responses across 

the 28 agencies suggest a need for further emphasizing and developing both 

outcome and output measures to address the multidimensional aspects of 

performance.

For outcome measures specifically, the percentage of managers responding 

that they had them to a great or very great extent ranged from 17 percent at 

HCFA to 63 percent at NASA and HUD. At only eight agencies did more 

than 50 percent of managers report having outcome measures. (See fig. 5.)

10Performance and Accountability Series: Major Management Challenges and Program 

Risks: A Governmentwide Perspective (GAO-01-241, Jan. 2001).
Page 22 GAO-01-592 Managers’ Views on Key Issues by Agency

Figure 5: Percentage of Federal Managers Who Reported Having Outcome Measures to a Great or Very Great Extent

Source: GAO survey data.

In comparison, at 17 of the 28 agencies, 50 percent or more of managers 

reported that they had output measures to a great or very great extent. The 

percentage of managers responding that they had output measures to that 

extent ranged from 19 percent at HCFA to 75 percent at SBA and HUD, as 

shown in figure 6.

17

28 28 29 30

32

34

37 38 39 39 40

43 44

46 46 47 48 48 49

55 55 56 56 56

58

63 63

0

20

40

60

80

100

HCFA

IRS

FEMA

Forest Service

NRC

 DOT

FAA

State

Justice

EPA

Interior

Labor

Agriculture

SBA

DOD

HHS

Commerce

Education

SSA

VA

NSF

Energy

Treasury

GSA

AID

OPM

HUD

NASA

Percentage responding to a “great” or “very great” extent
Page 23 GAO-01-592 Managers’ Views on Key Issues by Agency

Figure 6: Percentage of Federal Managers Who Reported Having Output Measures to a Great or Very Great Extent

Source: GAO survey data.

Governmentwide, 50 percent of managers reported in 2000 that they had 

output measures to a great or very great extent for their programs, a 

statistically significant increase over the 38 percent reporting having these 

measures in 1997. In comparison, 44 percent of managers governmentwide 

reported in 2000 that they had outcome measures to a similar extent, 

significantly more than the 32 percent reporting in this way in 1997. 

Although more managers overall said they had output measures than 

outcome measures in 2000, at 7 of the 28 agencies—the Federal Emergency 

Management Agency, the Department of Health and Human Services, the 

Department of Energy (Energy), the U.S. Agency for International 

19

27

32

42 43 44 44

46 47 48 49 50 50 51 51 52

54 55 56 56

58 59

62

66

68

73 75 75

0

20

40

60

80

100

HCFA

FEMA

IRS

 DOT

State

HHS

Justice

FAA

NSF

Interior

DOD

Commerce

AID

Agriculture

Energy

Education

EPA

Labor

Forest Service

OPM

GSA

NASA

VA

Treasury

NRC

SSA

HUD

SBA

Percentage responding to a "great" or "very great" extent
Page 24 GAO-01-592 Managers’ Views on Key Issues by Agency

Development, NSF, NASA, and OPM—slightly more managers said they had 

outcome measures than output measures.

Customer Service Measures Among GPRA’s stated purposes is the improvement of federal program 

effectiveness and public accountability by promoting a new focus on 

customer satisfaction. However, our survey results suggest that having the 

measures to determine whether or not agencies are satisfying their 

customers is still at an early stage in the federal government, and that, as 

such, there is ample room for improvement.

Managers’ responses indicated that the presence of customer service 

measures for programs in the 28 individual agencies was low. For the 28 

individual agencies, the percentage of managers responding to a great or 

very great extent ranged from 14 percent at NRC to a high of 54 percent at 

GSA and VA. At only four agencies—GSA, VA, OPM, and NASA—did even 

slightly over half of the managers report that they had customer service 

measures to such an extent. In 10 of the agencies, less than one-third of 

managers reported positively on having these measures. (See fig. 7.)
Page 25 GAO-01-592 Managers’ Views on Key Issues by Agency

Figure 7: Percentage of Federal Managers Who Reported Having Customer Service Measures to a Great or Very Great Extent

Source: GAO survey data.

Managers’ responses did not reflect any notable progress in further 

expanding the presence of customer service measures since our previous 

survey. Specifically, in 2000, 38 percent of managers reported having 

customer service measures for their programs to a great or very great 

extent compared with 32 percent reporting that way in 1997, not a 

statistically significant increase. 

Quality and Efficiency 

Measures

In crafting GPRA, Congress expressed its interest in American taxpayers 

getting quality results from the programs they pay for as well as its concern 

14

16

20

21

27 28 28 29 29

32

34 35 35 36 36 36 37 38

39 40 40 42

45 46

52 52

54 54

0

20

40

60

80

100

NRC

HCFA

Justice

State

FAA

Labor

EPA

Forest Service

SBA

 DOT

Agriculture

Education

IRS

HUD

Commerce

AID

Treasury

Interior

HHS

NSF

SSA

FEMA

DOD

Energy

NASA

OPM

VA

GSA

Percentage responding to a “great” or “very great” extent
Page 26 GAO-01-592 Managers’ Views on Key Issues by Agency

about waste and inefficiency in federal programs. However, managers’

responses indicate that the extent to which agencies have developed 

measures of either quality or efficiency is not very high.

In only three agencies—NASA, VA, and OPM—did more that 50 percent of 

managers report having quality measures to a great or very great extent. In 

14 of the agencies, less than one-third of managers reported having quality 

measures to a comparable extent. For the 28 individual agencies, this 

response ranged from 14 percent at HCFA to 61 percent at NASA. 

(See fig. 8.)
Page 27 GAO-01-592 Managers’ Views on Key Issues by Agency

Figure 8: Percentage of Federal Managers Who Reported Having Quality Measures to a Great or Very Great Extent

Source: GAO survey data.

Similarly for efficiency measures, at only two agencies—GSA and Energy—

did 50 percent or more of managers report having such measures to a great 

or very great extent. At almost half of the agencies, less than one-third of 

managers reported having them to this extent. For the 28 agencies 

included in our survey, this percentage ranged from 9 percent at HCFA to 

56 percent at GSA, as shown in figure 9.

14

24 25 25 25

27

29 29 29 29 30 30 31 31

35

37 37 38

41 41 42 42

45 45

48

54

57

61

0

20

40

60

80

100

HCFA

SBA

State

Forest Service

Justice

NRC

SSA

EPA

FAA

 DOT

FEMA

Interior

Education

Labor

Agriculture

HUD

IRS

NSF

Commerce

Treasury

HHS

GSA

DOD

Energy

AID

OPM

VA

NASA

Percentage responding to a “great” or “very great” extent
Page 28 GAO-01-592 Managers’ Views on Key Issues by Agency

Figure 9: Percentage of Federal Managers Who Reported Having Efficiency Measures to a Great or Very Great Extent

Source: GAO survey data.

Governmentwide, 39 percent of federal managers in 2000 reported having 

quality measures for their programs, not a statistically significant increase 

from the 31 percent in 1997. In 2000, 35 percent of managers cited that they 

had measures that gauged the efficiency of program operations, a 

significant increase from the 26 percent reporting such measures in 1997.

9

21

24 24

27 28 28 29 30 30 31 32 32

35 36 36 36 37 37 38

41

43 43 44 45

47

50

56

0

20

40

60

80

100

HCFA

EPA

Forest Service

Interior

 DOT

AID

FEMA

State

IRS

Commerce

SBA

FAA

Justice

NSF

Education

DOD

Labor

Agriculture

HHS

NRC

Treasury

NASA

OPM

VA

SSA

HUD

Energy

GSA

Percentage responding to a “great” or “very great” extent
Page 29 GAO-01-592 Managers’ Views on Key Issues by Agency

Managers’ Responses 

Across Agencies on 

Using Performance 

Information Were 

Mixed

The fundamental reason for collecting information on a program’s 

performance is to take action in managing the program on the basis of that 

information. For five of the management activities we asked about in 1997 

and 2000—setting program priorities, allocating resources, adopting new 

program approaches or changing work processes, coordinating program 

efforts, and setting individual job expectations—the reported use to a great 

or very great extent decreased to a statistically significant extent in 2000.

Setting Program Priorities, 

Allocating Resources, and 

Adopting New Program 

Approaches or Changing 

Work Processes

In setting program priorities, the information obtained from measuring a 

program’s performance provides a basis for deciding whether parts of the 

program or the entire program itself should be given a higher or lower 

priority. Across the 28 individual agencies, the percentage of managers 

reporting this use to a great or very great extent ranged from 26 percent at 

NSF to 64 percent at HUD. At only seven agencies—HUD, SSA, SBA, VA, 

GSA, OPM, and NASA—did more than 50 percent of managers respond 

positively regarding this use. (See fig. 10.)
Page 30 GAO-01-592 Managers’ Views on Key Issues by Agency

Figure 10: Percentage of Federal Managers Who Reported Using Performance Information to a Great or Very Great Extent When 

Setting Program Priorities

Source: GAO survey data.

When we examined the responses of only those managers who answered 

on the extent scale, 56 percent of managers overall reported in 2000 that 

they used performance information when setting program priorities. 

Although this percentage decreased to a statistically significant extent from 

66 percent in 1997, it was the activity for which the highest percentage of 

managers governmentwide reported this use to a great or very great extent 

in 2000.

26 27

33 34 35 36 37 37 38

40 40

44 44 45 46 46 46 47 47 48 49

53

56 57

60 61 62

64

0

20

40

60

80

100

NSF

HCFA

Interior

Forest Service

FAA

IRS

State

 DOT

Justice

FEMA

HHS

AID

Energy

Commerce

Labor

DOD

NRC

Agriculture

EPA

Treasury

Education

NASA

OPM

GSA

VA

SBA

SSA

HUD

Percentage responding to a “great” or “very great” extent
Page 31 GAO-01-592 Managers’ Views on Key Issues by Agency

In addition, performance information allows program managers to 

compare their programs’ results with goals and thus determine where to 

target program resources to improve performance. When managers are 

forced to reduce their resources, the same analysis can help them target 

the reductions to minimize the impact on program results. Across the 28 

individual agencies, the percentage of managers reporting that they used 

performance information to a great or very great extent when allocating 

resources ranged from 24 percent at NSF to 66 percent at OPM, with 50 

percent or more of managers reporting such use at only 7 agencies—OPM, 

SBA, HUD, NASA, GSA, the Department of Treasury, and VA. (See fig. 11.)

Figure 11: Percentage of Federal Managers Who Reported Using Performance Information to a Great or Very Great Extent When 

Allocating Resources

Source: GAO survey data.

24

29

31 32

34 34 35 35 37

39 39 40 41 42 42 43 43 44 45 45

49 50 51 52

54

58

61

66

0

20

40

60

80

100

NSF

HCFA

FAA

AID

Interior

 DOT

State

IRS

Forest Service

Justice

HHS

NRC

Labor

FEMA

Education

Energy

EPA

Agriculture

DOD

Commerce

SSA

VA

Treasury

GSA

NASA

HUD

SBA

OPM

Percentage responding to a “great” or “very great” extent
Page 32 GAO-01-592 Managers’ Views on Key Issues by Agency

Governmentwide, 53 percent of those managers who expressed an opinion 

on the extent scale reported in 2000 that they used performance 

information to a great or very great extent when allocating resources, a 

statistically significant decrease from the 62 percent responding in this way 

in 1997.

Third, by using performance information to assess the way a program is 

conducted, managers can consider alternative approaches and processes in 

areas where goals are not being met and enhance the use of program 

approaches and processes that are working well. Across the 28 individual 

agencies, the percentage of managers reporting such use to a great or very 

great extent ranged from 25 percent at the Forest Service to 64 percent at 

OPM. At only seven of the agencies—OPM, SBA, VA, GSA, NASA, HUD, 

and SSA—did 50 percent or more of managers report such use. (See fig. 

12.)
Page 33 GAO-01-592 Managers’ Views on Key Issues by Agency

Figure 12: Percentage of Federal Managers Who Reported Using Performance Information to a Great or Very Great Extent When 

Adopting New Program Approaches or Changing Work Processes

Source: GAO survey data.

Governmentwide in 2000, 51 percent of those managers who expressed an 

opinion on the extent scale reported that they used performance 

information when adopting new program approaches or changing work 

processes, statistically significantly lower than the 66 percent in 1997.

For these three key management activities—setting program priorities, 

allocating resources, and adopting new program approaches or changing 

work processes—the percentage of managers governmentwide that 

reported using performance information to a great or very great extent 

25 27 27

29 29

32 32 33

35 35 36 37 38 39

41

43 43

45 45 45 45

50

52 52

56 56

61

64

0

20

40

60

80

100

Forest Service

FAA

NSF

FEMA

IRS

EPA

HCFA

State

Interior

 DOT

NRC

Justice

Agriculture

Energy

Commerce

AID

HHS

DOD

Education

Labor

Treasury

SSA

HUD

NASA

GSA

VA

SBA

OPM

Percentage responding to a “great” or “very great” extent
Page 34 GAO-01-592 Managers’ Views on Key Issues by Agency

decreased significantly between 1997 and 2000. Moreover, for each of 

these activities, at only 7 of the 28 agencies did 50 percent or more of 

managers report such use. These data suggest that in the majority of 

agencies, the number of managers highly engaged in the application of one 

of the most fundamental and clear tenets of results-based management—

using program performance information to make government programs 

work better—is in the minority.

Coordinating Program 

Efforts 

GPRA’s emphasis on results implies that federal programs contributing to 

the same or similar outcomes should be closely coordinated to ensure that 

goals are consistent and complementary and that program efforts are 

mutually reinforcing. For programs that are related, program managers 

can use performance information to lay the foundation for improved 

coordination. The survey data show that such use may not be widespread. 

At the 28 individual agencies, the percentage of managers reporting such 

use to a great or very great extent ranged from 17 percent at FAA to 57 

percent at HUD. Moreover, one-third or less of managers at more than half 

of the agencies reported using performance information when coordinating 

program efforts. At only three agencies—HUD, VA, and GSA—was the 

percentage of managers reporting such use over 50 percent. (See fig. 13.)
Page 35 GAO-01-592 Managers’ Views on Key Issues by Agency

Figure 13: Percentage of Federal Managers Who Reported Using Performance Information to a Great or Very Great Extent When 

Coordinating Program Efforts With Other Internal or External Organizations

Source: GAO survey data.

Overall, 43 percent of those managers who expressed an opinion on the 

extent scale reported in 2000 that they used performance information when 

coordinating program efforts with other internal or external 

organizations—14 percent less than the 57 percent reporting this use in 

1997, a statistically significant change. 

Setting Individual Job 

Expectations

In high-performing organizations, employees’ performance expectations 

are aligned with the competencies and performance levels needed to 

support the organizations’ missions, goals and objectives, and strategies. 

17

21 21 21

24

27 27

29 30 30 31 32 33 33 33 35 35

37 38 39 39 39

43

47

49

52 53

57

0

20

40

60

80

100

FAA

Forest Service

HCFA

State

Interior

Labor

IRS

NSF

Justice

 DOT

Commerce

EPA

Education

Energy

Agriculture

FEMA

HHS

DOD

NRC

SSA

NASA

OPM

AID

SBA

Treasury

GSA

VA

HUD

Percentage responding to a “great” or “very great” extent
Page 36 GAO-01-592 Managers’ Views on Key Issues by Agency

When federal managers use performance information to set individual job 

expectations, they both emphasize the role their individual employees 

should play in accomplishing program goals and reinforce the importance 

of employee responsibility for achieving results. However, the results of 

our survey suggest that many managers are not consistently using 

performance information in this important way.

At the 28 individual agencies, the percentage of managers reporting the use 

of performance information to a great or very great extent when setting 

individual job expectations ranged from 16 percent at HCFA to 66 percent 

at SBA. As indicated by managers’ responses to our survey, less than half 

of managers in 21 of the 28 agencies are extensively engaged in taking this 

important step in reinforcing the relationship between employees’ efforts 

to implement their agencies’ programs and the results those programs 

realize. Only seven agencies—SBA, HUD, GSA, the Department of 

Commerce, VA, OPM, and NASA—had 50 percent or more of managers 

reporting such use. (See fig. 14.)
Page 37 GAO-01-592 Managers’ Views on Key Issues by Agency

Figure 14: Percentage of Federal Managers Who Reported Using Performance Information to a Great or Very Great Extent When 

Setting Individual Job Expectations

Source: GAO survey data.

When we examined the responses of only those managers who answered 

on the extent scale, 51 percent of managers overall reported in 2000 that 

they used performance information to a great or very great extent when 

setting individual job expectations, a statistically significant difference 

from the 61 percent responding in this way in 1997.

The executive branch has taken steps to reinforce the connection between 

employee performance and agency goals. For example, OMB’s latest 

Circular No. A-11 guidance on preparing fiscal year 2002 annual 

16

22

28

31 31

33

35 37 38 38 38 39 40 40 42 43 43 43

45 45

49 50 50 50

55 55

59

66

0

20

40

60

80

100

HCFA

NSF

Education

FAA

DOT

IRS

Energy

State

AID

EPA

FEMA

DOD

Justice

Forest Service

Labor

Agriculture

Interior

NRC

SSA

HHS

Treasury

NASA

OPM

VA

Commerce

GSA

HUD

SBA

Percentage responding to a “great” or “very great” extent
Page 38 GAO-01-592 Managers’ Views on Key Issues by Agency

performance plans states that those plans should set goals to cover human 

capital management in areas such as linking individual performance 

appraisals to program performance. Also, on October 13, 2000, OPM 

published final regulations, effective November 13, 2000, that change the 

way agencies are to evaluate the performance of members of the SES. 

Specifically, agencies are to place increased emphasis on appraising 

executive performance on results and using results as the basis for 

performance awards and other personnel decisions.

Concluding 

Observations

For agencies to successfully become high-performing organizations, their 

leaders need to foster performance-based cultures, find ways to measure 

performance, and use performance information to make decisions. At a 

fundamental level, results from our 2000 federal managers survey indicate 

wide differences among individual agencies’ levels of success in 

demonstrating a results-based climate. However, transforming 

organizational cultures is an arduous and long-term task. In addition, 

managers’ responses suggest that while some agencies are clearly showing 

signs of becoming high-performing organizations, others are not.

The survey results provide important information that agency leadership 

can use to help identify key opportunities to build higher-performing 

organizations across the federal government. We will continue to work 

with senior leadership in the individual agencies to identify actions that can 

be taken to address the issues raised by their managers’ survey responses. 

Congress has a vital role to play as well. As part of its confirmation, 

oversight, authorization, and appropriation responsibilities, Congress also 

has the opportunity to use the information from our 2000 managers survey, 

as well as information from agencies’ performance plans and reports and 

our January 2001 Performance and Accountability Series and High-Risk 

Series, to emphasize performance-based management and to underscore 

Congress’ commitment to addressing long-standing challenges.

Agency Comments On April 9, 2001, we provided the Director, Office of Management and 

Budget, with a draft of this report for his review and comment. In his May 

11, 2001 written response, included in appendix XXX, OMB’s Deputy 

Director acknowledged the importance of the report providing a basis for 

comparison to our 1997 survey results as well as allowing for individual 

analysis of 28 agencies. He said that the report’s findings appeared to be 

consistent with OMB’s views regarding the extent of agencies’ progress in 
Page 39 GAO-01-592 Managers’ Views on Key Issues by Agency

implementing GPRA, stating that while all agencies are in full compliance 

with the requirements of the law, most are not yet at a stage where they are 

truly managing for results. In addition, he outlined the new 

administration’s planned initiatives to make the federal government more 

results-oriented, including strengthening the linkage between budget 

decisionmaking and program performance.

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 Member, Subcommittee on Oversight of Government 

Management, Restructuring, and the District of Columbia, Senate 

Committee on Governmental Affairs; Senator Fred Thompson, Chairman, 

and Senator Joseph Lieberman, Ranking Member, Senate Committee on 

Governmental Affairs; and Representative Dan Burton, Chairman, and 

Representative Henry A. Waxman, Ranking Minority Member, House 

Committee on Government Reform. We will also send copies to the 

Honorable Mitchell E. Daniels, Jr., Director of the Office of Management 

and Budget, and the heads of the 28 agencies included in our survey. In 

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

If you have any questions concerning this report, please contact J. 

Christopher Mihm or Joyce Corry on (202) 512-6806. Peter Del Toro and 

Thomas Beall were key contributors to this report.

Sincerely yours, 

David M. Walker

Comptroller General

of the United States
Page 40 GAO-01-592 Managers’ Views on Key Issues by Agency

Appendix I

Scope and Methodology ApApenednxidexiIs

A questionnaire on performance and management issues was sent to a 

stratified random sample of 3,816 out of a population of about 93,000 fulltime, mid- and upper-level civilian managers and supervisors working in the 

24 executive branch agencies covered by the Chief Financial Officers Act of 

1990 (CFO Act). These agencies represent about 97 percent of the 

executive branch full-time workforce, excluding the U.S. Postal Service. In 

reporting the questionnaire data, when we use the term “governmentwide”

and the phrase “across the federal government,” we are referring to these 

24 CFO Act executive branch agencies, and when we use the terms “federal 

managers” and “managers,” we are referring to both managers and 

supervisors. The sample was drawn from the March 1999 Office of 

Personnel Management’s Central Personnel Data File (CPDF)—the most 

recent version of the CPDF available when we began drawing our sample—

using file designators indicating performance of managerial and 

supervisory functions.

The questionnaire was designed to obtain the observations and perceptions 

of respondents on such results-oriented management topics as the 

presence, use, and usefulness of performance measures; hindrances to 

measuring and using performance information; agency climate; 

information technology; program evaluation; and various aspects of the 

Government Performance and Results Act of 1993 (GPRA). Most of the 

items on the questionnaire were closed-ended—that is, depending on the 

particular item, respondents could choose one of two or more response 

categories or rating the strength of their perception on a 5-point extent 

scale ranging from “to no extent” to “to a very great extent.” In most cases, 

respondents also had an option of choosing the response category “no 

basis to judge/not applicable.”

About half of the items on the questionnaire were contained in a previous 

survey that was conducted between November 1996 and January 1997 as 

part of the work we did in response to a GPRA requirement that we report 

on implementation of the act.1

 This previous survey, although done with a 

smaller sample size of 1,300 managers, covered the same agencies as the 

2000 survey, which was sent out between January and August, 2000. 

Individuals who did not respond to the initial questionnaire were sent up to 

two follow-up questionnaires. In some cases, we contacted individuals by 

1

The Government Performance and Results Act: 1997 Governmentwide Implementation 

Will Be Uneven (GAO/GGD-97-109, June 2, 1997).
Appendix I

Scope and Methodology

Page 41 GAO-01-592 Managers’ Views on Key Issues by Agency

telephone and faxed the questionnaire to them to expedite completion of 

the survey.

The current survey was designed to update and further elaborate on the 

results of the previous survey. Similar to the previous survey, the sample 

was stratified by whether the manager or supervisor was Senior Executive 

Service (SES) or non-SES. The management levels covered General 

Schedule (GS), General Management (GM), or equivalent schedules at 

levels comparable to GS/GM-13 through career SES or equivalent levels of 

executive service. Stratification was also done by the 24 CFO Act agencies, 

with an additional breakout of 4 selected agencies from their 

departments—Forest Service, Health Care Financing Administration, 

Federal Aviation Administration, and Internal Revenue Service. These four 

agencies were selected on the basis of our previous work identifying them 

as facing significant managerial challenges.

The sample was also stratified to include special pay plans at some 

agencies to improve our coverage of managers and supervisors working at 

those agencies. For example, Senior Foreign Service executives from the 

State Department and the Agency for International Development were 

included in the sample. We included these special pay plan strata to ensure 

at least a 90-percent coverage of all managers and supervisors at or 

comparable to the GS/GM-13 through career SES level at the 28 

departments and agencies we surveyed. Finally, we added additional strata 

to include a group of respondents who answered the previous survey and 

who still worked in the same agency at the same management level at the 

time of the 2000 survey.

During the course of the survey, we deleted 212 persons from our sample 

who had either retired, separated, died, or otherwise left the agency or had 

some other reason that excluded them from the population of interest. We 

received useable questionnaires from 2,510 sample respondents, or about 

70 percent of the remaining eligible sample. The response rate across the 

28 agencies ranged from 59 percent to 82 percent.

We took several steps to check the quality of our survey data. We reviewed 

and edited the completed questionnaires, made internal consistency 

checks on selected items, and checked the accuracy of data entry on a 

sample of surveys. We also followed up on a sample of nonrespondents to 

assess whether their views differed from the views of those who returned 

the survey. We randomly selected a subsample of 136 persons across all 

strata from that group of individuals who had not returned a completed 
Appendix I

Scope and Methodology

Page 42 GAO-01-592 Managers’ Views on Key Issues by Agency

questionnaire a month or more after the last of 3 attempts were made to 

elicit their participation in our survey. We received 67 useable surveys 

from this group. In addition, there were 41 individuals who, when 

contacted by telephone, refused to participate in the survey but were 

willing to answer 3 key questions from the survey. We included their 

answers to the three questions in our analysis of nonrespondents on those 

three questions. We analyzed the responses of these groups on selected 

items compared with the responses received from all other respondents. 

Our analyses of selected items did not show a sufficient or consistent 

degree of difference between survey nonrespondents and respondents, 

and, thus, we included the responses of our subsample with all other 

responses.

Except where noted, percentages are based on all respondents returning 

useable questionnaires. The survey results are generalizable to the 28 

departments and agencies we surveyed. All reported percentages are 

estimates that are based on the sample and are subject to some sampling 

error as well as nonsampling error. In general, percentage estimates in this 

report for the entire sample have confidence intervals ranging from about 

±2 to ±7 percentage points at the 95 percent confidence interval. In other 

words, if all CFO Act agency managers and supervisors in our population 

had been surveyed, the chances are 95 out of 100 that the result obtained 

would not differ from our sample estimate in the more extreme cases by 

more than ±7 percent. In the appendixes of this report comparing each 

agency to the rest of government, confidence intervals for the reported 

agency percentages and the rest of government percentages range from ±2 

to ±16 percentage points.

Because a complex sample design was used and different types of 

statistical analyses are being done, the magnitude of sampling error will 

vary across the particular groups or items being compared due to 

differences in the underlying sample sizes and associated variances. 

Consequently, in some instances, a difference of a certain magnitude may 

be statistically significant. In other instances, depending on the nature of 

the comparison being made, a difference of equal or even greater 

magnitude may not achieve statistical significance. We note when 

differences are significant at the .05 probability level between 1997 and 

2000 governmentwide data throughout the report and between an agency’s 

data and data for the rest of government in appendices II through XXIX. 

Figures 1 through 14 in the letter report do not show when individual 

agencies are statistically significantly different from each other. 
Page 43 GAO-01-592 Managers’ Views on Key Issues by Agency

Appendix II

Department of Agriculture: Selected Survey 

Results ApendxiI

Of all the agencies surveyed, the responses from managers at the 

Department of Agriculture most closely paralleled those of other managers 

governmentwide in the aspects of agency climate, performance 

measurement, and using performance information. That is, Agriculture 

was not significantly different from the rest of the government for any of 

the survey questions we examine in this appendix. Agriculture is the only 

agency of the 28 we surveyed for which this is true. Survey results for one 

component of Agriculture, the Forest Service, are not included here but are 

reported in a separate appendix. 

Top Leadership Less than half (47 percent) of Agriculture’s managers expressed the view 

that their agency’s top leadership was strongly committed to achieving 

results to a great or very great extent, as shown below. For the rest of the 

government, 53 percent of managers indicated a similar level of 

commitment by top leadership to achieving results. 

Figure 15: Percentage of Federal Managers Who Reported That Agency Top 

Leadership Demonstrated a Strong Commitment to Achieving Results

Source: GAO survey data.

53

47

0

20

40

60

80

100

Agriculture Rest of government

Percentage responding to a "great" or "very great" extent
Appendix II

Department of Agriculture: Selected Survey 

Results

Page 44 GAO-01-592 Managers’ Views on Key Issues by Agency

Positive Recognition Less than a quarter (24 percent) of managers at Agriculture reported that 

employees received positive recognition to a great or very great extent for 

helping their agencies accomplish their strategic goals, as shown below. 

Agriculture ranked in the lowest quarter of the 28 agencies surveyed.

Figure 16: Percentage of Federal Managers Who Reported That Employees 

Received Positive Recognition for Helping Their Agencies Accomplish Their 

Strategic Goals

Source: GAO survey data.

31

24

0

20

40

60

80

100

Agriculture Rest of government

Percentage responding to a "great" or "very great" extent
Appendix II

Department of Agriculture: Selected Survey 

Results

Page 45 GAO-01-592 Managers’ Views on Key Issues by Agency

Authority and 

Accountability

Thirty-eight percent of managers at Agriculture reported that they had, to a 

great or very great extent, the decisionmaking authority they needed to 

help the agency accomplish its strategic goals, whereas 59 percent 

indicated that they were held accountable for results to a similar extent, as 

shown below. For the rest of the government, these percentages were 36 

and 63 respectively. 

Figure 17: Percentage of Federal Managers Who Reported That 

Managers/Supervisors at Their Levels (1) Had the Decisionmaking Authority Needed 

to Help the Agency Accomplish Its Strategic Goals and (2) Were Held Accountable 

for Results 

Source: GAO survey data.

59

38

63

36

0

20

40

60

80

100

Had decisionmaking authority Were held accountable for results

Agriculture

Rest of government

Percentage responding to a “great” or “very great” extent
Appendix II

Department of Agriculture: Selected Survey 

Results

Page 46 GAO-01-592 Managers’ Views on Key Issues by Agency

Types of Performance 

Measures

When asked about the types of performance measures they had for their 

programs, output measures and customer service measures had, 

respectively, the highest and lowest percentage of managers at Agriculture 

(51 and 34 percent) responding positively.

Figure 18: Percentage of Federal Managers Who Reported Having Specific Types of 

Performance Measures 

Source: GAO survey data.

51

37

34 35

43

50

35

39 39

44

0

20

40

60

80

100

Output

measures

Efficiency

measures

Customer

service

measures

Quality

measures

Outcome

measures

Percentage responding to a “great” or “very great” extent

Agriculture

Rest of government
Appendix II

Department of Agriculture: Selected Survey 

Results

Page 47 GAO-01-592 Managers’ Views on Key Issues by Agency

Using Performance 

Information

Similar to the rest of the government, less than half of managers at 

Agriculture reported that they used performance information for each of 

the management activities shown below.

Figure 19: Percentage of Federal Managers Who Reported Using Information 

Obtained From Performance Measurement for Various Management Activities

Source: GAO survey data.

47 44

38

33

43 43 42

35

45

41

0

20

40

60

80

100

Setting

program

priorities

Allocating

resources

Adopting

new/different

approaches

Coordinating

program

efforts

Setting

individual job

expectations

Agriculture

Rest of government

Percentage responding to a “great” or “very great” extent
Page 48 GAO-01-592 Managers’ Views on Key Issues by Agency

Appendix III

Agency for International Development: 

Selected Survey Results ApendxiI

Overall, the Agency for International Development (AID) was largely 

similar to the rest of government except for being lower in aspects of 

agency climate. AID was statistically significantly lower than the rest of 

the government in the percentage of managers who reported the following 

to at least a great extent: top leadership demonstrated a strong 

commitment to achieving results; managers were held accountable for 

results; and employees who helped the agency achieve its strategic goals 

were positively recognized. In addition, the percentage of managers 

responding to at least a great extent on positive recognition was the second 

lowest, after the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA), of the 28 agencies 

surveyed. In all other areas, AID was not statistically significantly different 

from the rest of the government.

Top Leadership Thirty-nine percent of AID managers expressed the view that their top 

leadership was strongly committed to achieving results to a great or very 

great extent, as shown below, and this percentage is 14 points lower than 

that of the rest of the government (53 percent). This difference is 

statistically significant. 

Figure 20: Percentage of Federal Managers Who Reported That Agency Top 

Leadership Demonstrated a Strong Commitment to Achieving Results

Source: GAO survey data.

53

39

0

20

40

60

80

100

AID Rest of government

Percentage responding to a “great” or “very great” extent
Appendix III

Agency for International Development: 

Selected Survey Results

Page 49 GAO-01-592 Managers’ Views on Key Issues by Agency

Positive Recognition Fourteen percent of AID managers reported that employees received 

positive recognition to a great or very great extent for helping their agency 

accomplish its strategic goals, as shown below, and this percentage is 17 

points lower than that of managers who responded this way for the rest of 

the government (31 percent). This difference is statistically significant. 

AID was the second lowest ranking agency in this regard, after FAA, of the 

28 agencies included in the survey. 

Figure 21: Percentage of Federal Managers Who Reported That Employees in Their 

Agencies Received Positive Recognition for Helping Their Agencies Accomplish 

Their Strategic Goals

Source: GAO survey data.

31

14

0

20

40

60

80

100

AID Rest of Government

Percentage responding to a “great” or “very great” extent
Appendix III

Agency for International Development: 

Selected Survey Results

Page 50 GAO-01-592 Managers’ Views on Key Issues by Agency

Authority and 

Accountability

Twenty-five percent of AID managers reported that they had, to a great or 

very great extent, the decisionmaking authority they needed to help the 

agency accomplish its strategic goals, whereas 43 percent indicated that 

they were held accountable for results to a similar extent, as shown below.

AID managers’ response concerning the extent to which managers were 

held accountable for results (43 percent) was statistically significantly 

lower than the 63 percent reported for the rest of the government. AID was 

one of six agencies surveyed that had less than half of its managers 

reporting that they were held accountable to at least a great extent. (The 

others were the Department of Energy, Department of State, Forest 

Service, General Services Administration, and Health Care Financing 

Administration.) 

Figure 22: Percentage of Federal Managers Who Reported That 

Managers/Supervisors at Their Levels (1) Had the Decisionmaking Authority Needed 

to Help the Agency Accomplish Its Strategic Goals and (2) Were Held Accountable 

for Results 

Source: GAO survey data.

36

63

25

43

0

20

40

60

80

100

Had decision

making authority

Were held accountable 

for results

Percentage responding to a “great” or “very great” extent

AID

Rest of government
Appendix III

Agency for International Development: 

Selected Survey Results

Page 51 GAO-01-592 Managers’ Views on Key Issues by Agency

Types of Performance 

Measures

When asked about the types of performance measures in their programs, 

the highest percentage of AID managers (56 percent) reported having 

outcome measures and the lowest (28 percent) cited efficiency measures, 

as shown below. AID was one of only seven agencies where outcome 

measures were cited more frequently than output measures. (The others 

were the Department of Energy, Federal Emergency Management Agency, 

Department of Health and Human Services, National Aeronautics and 

Space Administration, National Science Foundation, and Office of 

Personnel Management.) 

In addition, the percentages of AID managers who reported having quality 

measures (48 percent) and outcome measures (56 percent) to a great or 

very great extent were both in the highest quarter of the 28 agencies 

surveyed. 

Figure 23: Percentage of Federal Managers Who Reported Having Specific Types of 

Performance Measures 

Source: GAO survey data.

56

35

48 50

28

36

44

50

39 39

0

20

40

60

80

100

Output

measures

Efficiency

measures

Customer

service

measures

Quality

measures

Outcome

measures

Percentage responding to a “great” or “very great” extent

AID

Rest of government
Appendix III

Agency for International Development: 

Selected Survey Results

Page 52 GAO-01-592 Managers’ Views on Key Issues by Agency

Use of Performance 

Information

Similar to the rest of the government, less than half of AID managers 

reported that they used performance information for each of the 

management activities shown below. AID ranked in the lowest quarter of 

the agencies for the percentage of managers who reported that they used 

performance information when allocating resources (32 percent). 

Figure 24: Percentage of Federal Managers Who Reported Using Performance 

Information for Various Management Activities

Source: GAO survey data.

38

43 43 44

32

43 41

45

35

42

0

20

40

60

80

100

Setting program

priorities

Allocating

resources

Adopting

new/different

approaches

Coordinating

program efforts

Setting individual

job expectations

Percentage responding to a “great” or “very great” extent

AID

Rest of government
Page 53 GAO-01-592 Managers’ Views on Key Issues by Agency

Appendix IV

Department of Commerce: Selected Survey 

Results ApendxiIV

Overall, the Department of Commerce was largely similar to the rest of the 

government except on two aspects of agency climate and using 

performance information. Commerce was statistically significantly higher 

than the rest of the government in the percentage of managers who 

reported that their agency’s top leadership was strongly committed to 

achieving results to at least a great extent, and the percentage of managers 

who indicated that they used performance information when setting 

individual job expectations for staff to a similar extent. In all other areas, 

Commerce was not statistically significantly different from the rest of the 

government.

Top Leadership Almost two-thirds (65 percent) of managers at Commerce expressed the 

view that their top leadership was strongly committed to achieving results 

to a great or very great extent, as shown below, and this percentage is 12 

points higher than that of the rest of the government (53 percent). This 

difference is statistically significant. 

Figure 25: Percentage of Federal Managers Who Reported That Agency Top 

Leadership Demonstrated a Strong Commitment to Achieving Results

Source: GAO survey data.

53

65

0

20

40

60

80

100

Commerce Rest of government

Percentage responding to a “great” or “very great” extent
Appendix IV

Department of Commerce: Selected Survey 

Results

Page 54 GAO-01-592 Managers’ Views on Key Issues by Agency

Positive Recognition Thirty-nine percent of Commerce managers reported that employees 

received positive recognition to a great or very great extent for helping 

their agency accomplish its strategic goals, as shown below, whereas 30 

percent of managers responded this way for the rest of the government.

Figure 26: Percentage of Federal Managers Who Reported That Employees in Their 

Agencies Received Positive Recognition for Helping Their Agencies Accomplish 

Their Strategic Goals

Source: GAO survey data.

30

39

0

20

40

60

80

100

Commerce Rest of government

Percentage responding to a “great” or “very great” extent
Appendix IV

Department of Commerce: Selected Survey 

Results

Page 55 GAO-01-592 Managers’ Views on Key Issues by Agency

Authority and 

Accountability

Forty-six percent of managers at Commerce reported that they had, to a 

great or very great extent, the decisionmaking authority they needed to 

help the agency accomplish its strategic goals, whereas 57 percent 

indicated that they were held accountable for results to a similar extent, as 

shown below. For the rest of the government, these percentages were 35 

and 63 respectively.

Commerce managers’ responses concerning the extent of their 

decisionmaking authority placed the agency in the highest quarter of the 

agencies surveyed, although the difference between Commerce and the 

rest of the government was not statistically significant. 

Figure 27: Percentage of Federal Managers Who Reported That 

Managers/Supervisors at Their Levels (1) Had the Decisionmaking Authority Needed 

to Help the Agency Accomplish Its Strategic Goals and (2) Were Held Accountable 

for Results 

Source: GAO survey data.

35

63

46

57

0

20

40

60

80

100

Had decisionmaking authority Were held accountable for results

Percentage responding to a “great” or “very great” extent

Commerce

Rest of government
Appendix IV

Department of Commerce: Selected Survey 

Results

Page 56 GAO-01-592 Managers’ Views on Key Issues by Agency

Types of Performance 

Measures

When asked about the types of performance measures in their programs, 

the highest percentage of Commerce managers (50 percent) reported 

having output measures and the lowest (30 percent) cited efficiency 

measures, as shown below. Forty-seven percent of managers reported 

having outcome measures to at least a great extent. 

Figure 28: Percentage of Federal Managers Who Reported Having Specific Types of 

Performance Measures 

Source: GAO survey data.

47

36

41

50

30

36

44

50

39 39

0

20

40

60

80

100 Percentage responding to a “great” or “very great” extent

Commerce

Rest of government

Output

measures

Efficiency

measures

Customer

service

measures

Quality

measures

Outcome

measures
Appendix IV

Department of Commerce: Selected Survey 

Results

Page 57 GAO-01-592 Managers’ Views on Key Issues by Agency

Use of Performance 

Information

Commerce ranked statistically significantly higher (55 percent) than the 

rest of the government (41 percent) in the percentage of managers who 

indicated that they used performance information when setting individual 

job expectations for staff, as shown below.

Figure 29: Percentage of Federal Managers Who Reported Using Performance 

Information for Various Management Activities

Source: GAO survey data.

55

41

45 45

31

42

35

41 43 45

0

20

40

60

80

100 Percentage responding to a “great” or “very great” extent

Commerce

Rest of government

Setting program

priorities

Allocating

resources

Adopting

new/different

approaches

Coordinating

program efforts

Setting individual

job expectations
Page 58 GAO-01-592 Managers’ Views on Key Issues by Agency

Appendix V

Department of Defense: Selected Survey 

Results ApendxiV

Overall, the Department of Defense (DOD) was largely similar to the rest of 

government, except in aspects of agency climate and performance 

measurement. DOD was statistically significantly higher than the rest of 

the government for survey items concerning the percentage of managers 

who reported that their agency's top leadership was strongly committed to 

achieving results to at least a great extent, and the percentage of managers 

who reported having customer service and quality measures to at least a 

great extent. In all other areas, DOD was not statistically significantly 

different from the rest of the government. 

Top Leadership Fifty-nine percent of DOD managers expressed the view that their top 

leadership was strongly committed to achieving results to a great or very 

great extent, as shown below, and this percentage is 9 points higher than 

that of the rest of the government (50 percent). This difference is 

statistically significant. 

Figure 30: Percentage of Federal Managers Who Reported That Agency Top 

Leadership Demonstrated a Strong Commitment to Achieving Results

Source: GAO survey data.

50

59

0

20

40

60

80

100

DOD Rest of government

Percentage responding to a “great” or “very great” extent
Appendix V

Department of Defense: Selected Survey 

Results

Page 59 GAO-01-592 Managers’ Views on Key Issues by Agency

Positive Recognition Thirty-one percent of DOD managers reported that employees received 

positive recognition to a great or very great extent for helping their agency 

accomplish its strategic goals, as shown below, and this percentage is 

about the same as managers who responded this way for the rest of the 

government (30 percent).

Figure 31: Percentage of Federal Managers Who Reported That Employees in Their 

Agencies Received Positive Recognition for Helping Their Agencies Accomplish 

Their Strategic Goals

Source: GAO survey data.

30 31

0

20

40

60

80

100

DOD Rest of government

Percentage responding to a “great” or “very great” extent
Appendix V

Department of Defense: Selected Survey 

Results

Page 60 GAO-01-592 Managers’ Views on Key Issues by Agency

Authority and 

Accountability

Forty percent of managers at DOD reported that they had, to a great or very 

great extent, the decisionmaking authority they needed to help the agency 

accomplish its strategic goals, whereas 66 percent indicated that they were 

held accountable for results to a similar extent, as shown below. For the 

rest of the government, these percentages were 34 and 61 respectively.

Figure 32: Percentage of Federal Managers Who Reported That 

Managers/Supervisors at Their Levels (1) Had the Decisionmaking Authority Needed 

to Help the Agency Accomplish Its Strategic Goals and (2) Were Held Accountable 

for Results 

Source: GAO survey data.

34

61

40

66

0

20

40

60

80

100

Had decisionmaking authority Were held accountable for results

Percentage responding to a “great” or “very great” extent

DOD

Rest of government
Appendix V

Department of Defense: Selected Survey 

Results

Page 61 GAO-01-592 Managers’ Views on Key Issues by Agency

Types of Performance 

Measures

When asked about the types of performance measures in their programs, 

the highest percentage of DOD managers (49 percent) reported having 

output measures and the lowest (36 percent) cited efficiency measures, as 

shown below. Forty-six percent of managers reported having outcome 

measures to at least a great extent.

In addition, the percentages of DOD managers who reported having 

customer service and quality measures to a great or very great extent (both 

45 percent) were significantly higher than the percentages of managers 

who responded in this way for the rest of the government (35 and 36 

percent, respectively). 

Figure 33: Percentage of Federal Managers Who Reported Having Specific Types of 

Performance Measures 

Source: GAO survey data.

45 46 49

36

45

51

43

35 35 36

0

20

40

60

80

100

Output

measures

Efficiency

measures

Customer

service

measures

Quality

measures

Outcome

measures

Percentage responding to a “great” or “very great” extent

DOD

Rest of government
Appendix V

Department of Defense: Selected Survey 

Results

Page 62 GAO-01-592 Managers’ Views on Key Issues by Agency

Use of Performance 

Information

Similar to the rest of the government, less than half of DOD managers 

reported that they used performance information for each of the 

management activities shown below.

Figure 34: Percentage of Federal Managers Who Reported Using Performance 

Information for Various Management Activities

Source: GAO survey data.

39

45 45 46

37

40

34

42 42 44

0

20

40

60

80

100 Percentage responding to a “great” or “very great” extent

DOD

Rest of government

Setting program

priorities

Allocating

resources

Adopting

new/different

approaches

Coordinating

program efforts

Setting individual

job expectations
Page 63 GAO-01-592 Managers’ Views on Key Issues by Agency

Appendix VI

Department of Education: Selected Survey 

Results ApendxiVI

The Department of Education was statistically significantly lower than the 

rest of the government on one aspect of using performance information: 

the percentage of managers who reported using performance information 

when setting individual job expectations for staff. Education had the third 

lowest percentage of managers, after the Health Care Financing 

Administration and the National Science Foundation, among the 28 

agencies surveyed who reported using performance information in this way 

to a great or very great extent. In all other areas, Education was not 

significantly different from the rest of the government. 

Top Leadership Sixty-two percent of managers at Education expressed the view that their 

top leadership was strongly committed to achieving results to a great or 

very great extent, compared with 53 percent for the rest of the government, 

as shown below. 

Figure 35: Percentage of Federal Managers Who Reported That Agency Top 

Leadership Demonstrated a Strong Commitment to Achieving Results

Source: GAO survey data.

53

62

0

20

40

60

80

100

Education Rest of government

Percentage responding to a “great” or “very great” extent
Appendix VI

Department of Education: Selected Survey 

Results

Page 64 GAO-01-592 Managers’ Views on Key Issues by Agency

Positive Recognition Twenty-three percent of managers at Education reported that employees 

received positive recognition to a great or very great extent for helping 

their agency accomplish its strategic goals, as shown below, compared with 

31 percent for the rest of the government. 

Figure 36: Percentage of Federal Managers Who Reported That Employees in Their 

Agencies Received Positive Recognition for Helping Their Agencies Accomplish 

Their Strategic Goals

Source: GAO survey data.

31

23

0

20

40

60

80

100

Education Rest of government

Percentage responding to a “great” or “very great” extent
Appendix VI

Department of Education: Selected Survey 

Results

Page 65 GAO-01-592 Managers’ Views on Key Issues by Agency

Authority and 

Accountability

Twenty-five percent of managers at Education reported that they had, to a 

great or very great extent, the decisionmaking authority they needed to 

help the agency accomplish its strategic goals, whereas 51 percent 

indicated that they were held accountable for results to a similar extent, as 

shown below. For the rest of the government, these percentages were 36 

and 63 respectively. 

Figure 37: Percentage of Federal Managers Who Reported That 

Managers/Supervisors at Their Levels (1) Had the Decisionmaking Authority Needed 

to Help the Agency Accomplish Its Strategic Goals and (2) Were Held Accountable 

for Results 

Source: GAO survey data.

36

63

25

51

0

20

40

60

80

100

Had decisionmaking authority Were held accountable for results

Percentage responding to a “great” or “very great” extent

Education

Rest of government
Appendix VI

Department of Education: Selected Survey 

Results

Page 66 GAO-01-592 Managers’ Views on Key Issues by Agency

Types of Performance 

Measures

When asked about the types of performance measures in their programs, 

the highest percentage of Education managers (52 percent) reported 

having output measures and the lowest (31 percent) cited quality measures, 

as shown below. Forty-eight percent of managers reported having outcome 

measures to at least a great extent.

Figure 38: Percentage of Federal Managers Who Reported Having Specific Types of 

Performance Measures 

Source: GAO survey data.

48

35

31

52

36 35

44

50

39 39

0

20

40

60

80

100

Output

measures

Customer

service

measures

Quality

measures

Outcome

measures

Percentage responding to a “great” or “very great” extent

Education

Rest of government

Efficiency

measures
Appendix VI

Department of Education: Selected Survey 

Results

Page 67 GAO-01-592 Managers’ Views on Key Issues by Agency

Use of Performance 

Information

Similar to the rest of the government, less than half of managers at 

Education reported that they used performance information for each of the 

management activities shown below. In addition, Education was 

significantly lower (28 percent) than the rest of the government (41 

percent) in the percentage of managers who indicated that they used 

performance information when setting individual job expectations for staff. 

Education was the third lowest agency surveyed, after the Health Care 

Financing Administration and the National Science Foundation, in the 

percentage of managers who reported using performance information in 

this way to a great or very great extent.

Figure 39: Percentage of Federal Managers Who Reported Using Performance 

Information for Various Management Activities

Source: GAO survey data.

41

28

33

49

42 45 43 45

35

42

0

20

40

60

80

100 Percentage responding to a “great” or “very great” extent

Education

Rest of government

Setting program

priorities

Allocating

resources

Adopting

new/different

approaches

Coordinating

program efforts

Setting individual

job expectations
Page 68 GAO-01-592 Managers’ Views on Key Issues by Agency

Appendix VII

Department of Energy: Selected Survey 

Results ApendxiVI

The Department of Energy was largely similar to the rest of the government 

except for aspects of performance measurement and agency climate. It 

was statistically significantly higher than the rest of government in the 

percentage of managers who reported having outcome and efficiency 

measures to a great or very great extent. Energy was significantly below 

the rest of the government in the percentage of managers who reported 

that managers were held accountable for results to at least a great extent. 

In all other areas, the agency was not statistically significantly different 

from the rest of the government.

Top Leadership Exactly half (50 percent) of managers at Energy expressed the view that 

their top leadership was strongly committed to achieving results to a great 

or very great extent, as shown below, compared with 53 percent for the rest 

of government.

Figure 40: Percentage of Federal Managers Who Reported That Agency Top 

Leadership Demonstrated a Strong Commitment to Achieving Results

Source: GAO survey data.

53

50

0

20

40

60

80

100

Energy Rest of government

Percentage responding to a “great” or “very great” extent
Appendix VII

Department of Energy: Selected Survey 

Results

Page 69 GAO-01-592 Managers’ Views on Key Issues by Agency

Positive Recognition Thirty-three percent of managers at Energy reported that employees 

received positive recognition to a great or very great extent for helping 

their agency accomplish its strategic goals, as shown below, which was 

about the same as managers who responded this way for the rest of the 

government (31 percent).

Figure 41: Percentage of Federal Managers Who Reported That Employees in Their 

Agencies Received Positive Recognition for Helping Their Agencies Accomplish 

Their Strategic Goals

Source: GAO survey data.

33

31

0

20

40

60

80

100

Energy Rest of government

Percentage responding to a “great” or “very great” extent
Appendix VII

Department of Energy: Selected Survey 

Results

Page 70 GAO-01-592 Managers’ Views on Key Issues by Agency

Authority and 

Accountability

Thirty-three percent of managers at Energy reported that they had, to a 

great or very great extent, the decisionmaking authority they needed to 

help the agency accomplish its strategic goals, whereas 49 percent 

indicated that they were held accountable for results to a similar extent, as 

shown below.

Energy managers' response concerning the extent to which managers were 

held accountable for results (49 percent) was statistically significantly 

lower than the 63 percent reported by the rest of the government. Energy 

was one of six agencies surveyed that had less than half of its managers 

reporting that they were held accountable to at least a great extent. (The 

others were the Agency for International Development, Department of 

State, Forest Service, General Services Administration, and Health Care 

Financing Administration.)

Figure 42: Percentage of Federal Managers Who Reported That 

Managers/Supervisors at Their Levels (1) Had the Decisionmaking Authority Needed 

to Help the Agency Accomplish Its Strategic Goals and (2) Were Held Accountable 

for Results 

Source: GAO survey data.

36

63

33

49

0

20

40

60

80

100

Had decisionmaking authority Were held accountable for results

Percentage responding to a “great” or “very great” extent

Energy

Rest of government
Appendix VII

Department of Energy: Selected Survey 

Results

Page 71 GAO-01-592 Managers’ Views on Key Issues by Agency

Types of Performance 

Measures

When asked about the types of performance measures in their programs, 

the highest percentage of managers at Energy (55 percent) reported having 

outcome measures and the lowest percentage (45 percent) cited quality 

measures, as shown below. Energy was one of only seven agencies where 

outcome measures were cited more frequently than output measures. (The 

others were the Agency for International Development, Federal Emergency 

Management Agency, Department of Health and Human Services, National 

Aeronautics and Space Administration, National Science Foundation, and 

Office of Personnel Management.) 

In addition, the percentages of managers at Energy who reported having 

efficiency (50 percent) and outcome measures (55 percent) to a great or 

very great extent were significantly higher than the percentages of 

managers who responded in this way for the rest of the government (35 and 

44 percent, respectively).

Figure 43: Percentage of Federal Managers Who Reported Having Specific Types of 

Performance Measures 

Source: GAO survey data.

55

45

51 50

46

35

44

50

38 39

0

20

40

60

80

100

Output

measures

Customer

service

measures

Quality

measures

Outcome

measures

Percentage responding to a “great” or “very great” extent

Energy

Rest of government

Efficiency

measures
Appendix VII

Department of Energy: Selected Survey 

Results

Page 72 GAO-01-592 Managers’ Views on Key Issues by Agency

Use of Performance 

Information

Similar to the rest of the government, less than half of managers at Energy 

reported that they used performance information for each of the 

management activities shown below. 

Figure 44: Percentage of Federal Managers Who Reported Using Performance 

Information for Various Management Activities

Source: GAO survey data.

35 33

44 43

39 41 45 43

35

42

0

20

40

60

80

100 Percentage responding to a "great" or "very great" extent

Energy

Rest of government

Setting program

priorities

Allocating

resources

Adopting

new/different

approaches

Coordinating

program efforts

Setting individual

job expectations
Page 73 GAO-01-592 Managers’ Views on Key Issues by Agency

Appendix VIII

Environmental Protection Agency: Selected 

Survey Results ApendxiVI

In general, the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) was largely similar 

to the rest of the government except for two aspects of performance 

measurement. The agency was statistically significantly lower than the rest 

of the government in the percentage of managers who reported having 

efficiency and customer service measures to at least a great extent. In all 

other areas, EPA was not statistically significantly different from the rest of 

the government.

Top Leadership Slightly more than half (52 percent) of EPA managers expressed the view 

that their top leadership was strongly committed to achieving results to a 

great or very great extent, as shown below, and this percentage is about the 

same as reported by managers in the rest of the government (53 percent).

Figure 45: Percentage of Federal Managers Who Reported That Agency Top 

Leadership Demonstrated a Strong Commitment to Achieving Results

Source: GAO survey data.

52 53

0

20

40

60

80

100

EPA Rest of government

Percentage responding to a “great” or “very great” extent
Appendix VIII

Environmental Protection Agency: Selected 

Survey Results

Page 74 GAO-01-592 Managers’ Views on Key Issues by Agency

Positive Recognition Twenty-nine percent of EPA managers reported that employees received 

positive recognition to a great or very great extent for helping their agency 

accomplish its strategic goals, as shown below, and this percentage is 

about the same as that reported by managers in the rest of the government 

(31 percent). 

Figure 46: Percentage of Federal Managers Who Reported That Employees in Their 

Agencies Received Positive Recognition for Helping Their Agencies Accomplish 

Their Strategic Goals

Source: GAO survey data.

31 29

0

20

40

60

80

100

EPA Rest of government

Percentage responding to a “great” or “very great” extent
Appendix VIII

Environmental Protection Agency: Selected 

Survey Results

Page 75 GAO-01-592 Managers’ Views on Key Issues by Agency

Authority and 

Accountability

Forty-one percent of EPA managers reported that they had, to a great or 

very great extent, the decisionmaking authority they needed to help the 

agency accomplish its strategic goals, whereas 53 percent indicated that 

they were held accountable for results to a similar extent, as shown below. 

For the rest of the government, these percentages were 36 and 63 

respectively.

Figure 47: Percentage of Federal Managers Who Reported That 

Managers/Supervisors at Their Levels (1) Had the Decisionmaking Authority Needed 

to Help the Agency Accomplish Its Strategic Goals and (2) Were Held Accountable 

for Results 

Source: GAO survey data.

36

63

41

53

0

20

40

60

80

100

Had decisionmaking authority Were held accountable for results

Percentage responding to a "great" or "very great" extent

EPA

Rest of government
Appendix VIII

Environmental Protection Agency: Selected 

Survey Results

Page 76 GAO-01-592 Managers’ Views on Key Issues by Agency

Types of Performance 

Measures

When asked about the types of performance measures in their programs, 

the highest percentage of EPA managers reported having output measures 

(54 percent) and the lowest percentage (21 percent) cited efficiency 

measures, as shown below. Thirty-nine percent of managers reported 

having outcome measures to at least a great extent.

In addition, the percentages of EPA managers who reported having 

efficiency measures (21 percent) and customer service measures (28 

percent) to a great or very great extent were significantly below the 

percentages of managers who responded in this way for the rest of the 

government (36 and 39 percent, respectively). 

Figure 48: Percentage of Federal Managers Who Reported Having Specific Types of 

Performance Measures 

Source: GAO survey data.

39

36

44

29

54

21

28

50

39 39

0

20

40

60

80

100 Percentage responding to a “great” or “very great” extent

EPA

Rest of government

Output

measures

Efficiency

measures

Customer

service

measures

Quality

measures

Outcome

measures
Appendix VIII

Environmental Protection Agency: Selected 

Survey Results

Page 77 GAO-01-592 Managers’ Views on Key Issues by Agency

Use of Performance 

Information

Similar to the rest of the government, less than half of EPA managers 

reported that they used performance information for each of the 

management activities shown below.

Figure 49: Percentage of Federal Managers Who Reported Using Performance 

Information for Various Management Activities

Source: GAO survey data.

38

32

47

43

32

41

45

43

35

42

0

20

40

60

80

100 Percentage responding to a “great” or “very great” extent

EPA

Rest of government

Setting program

priorities

Allocating

resources

Adopting

new/different

approaches

Coordinating

program efforts

Setting individual

job expectations
Page 78 GAO-01-592 Managers’ Views on Key Issues by Agency

Appendix IX

Federal Aviation Administration: Selected 

Survey Results ApendxiIX

In general, the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) was worse than the 

rest of the government on multiple aspects of agency climate, performance 

measurement, and the use of performance information. The agency was 

statistically significantly lower than the rest of the government in the 

percentage of managers who reported that top agency leadership 

demonstrated a strong commitment to achieving results; that employees 

who helped the agency achieve its strategic goals received positive 

recognition; managers had the decisionmaking authority they needed; that 

they had outcome, customer service, or quality performance measures; and 

that they used performance information for all five management activities 

discussed in this appendix. For other survey items—being held 

accountable for results and having output and efficiency measures—FAA 

was not significantly different from the rest of the government. Of the 28 

agencies surveyed, FAA rated significantly lower than the rest of the 

government on more of the survey items discussed in this appendix than 

any other agency. 

FAA had the lowest percentage of managers who reported to at least a 

great extent that their agency’s top leadership was strongly committed to 

achieving results, that employees received positive recognition for helping 

their agency accomplish its strategic goals, and using performance 

information when coordinating program efforts with other internal or 

external organizations. 
Appendix IX

Federal Aviation Administration: Selected 

Survey Results

Page 79 GAO-01-592 Managers’ Views on Key Issues by Agency

Top Leadership Less than a quarter (22 percent) of FAA managers expressed the view that 

their top leadership was strongly committed to achieving results to a great 

or very great extent, as shown below. This percentage is 33 points lower 

than that of the rest of the government (55 percent), and this difference is 

statistically significant. For this item, FAA ranked last of the 28 agencies 

included in the survey. 

Figure 50: Percentage of Federal Managers Who Reported That Agency Top 

Leadership Demonstrated a Strong Commitment to Achieving Results

Source: GAO survey data.

55

22

0

20

40

60

80

100

FAA Rest of government

Percentage responding to a “great” or “very great” extent
Appendix IX

Federal Aviation Administration: Selected 

Survey Results

Page 80 GAO-01-592 Managers’ Views on Key Issues by Agency

Positive Recognition Twelve percent of FAA managers reported that employees received 

positive recognition to a great or very great extent for helping their agency 

accomplish its strategic goals, as shown below. This percentage is 20 

points lower than that of managers who responded this way for the rest of 

the government (32 percent), and is statistically significant. For this item, 

FAA was the lowest ranking agency of the 28 agencies included in the 

survey. 

Figure 51: Percentage of Federal Managers Who Reported That Employees in Their 

Agencies Received Positive Recognition for Helping Their Agencies Accomplish 

Their Strategic Goals

Source: GAO survey data.

32

12

0

20

40

60

80

100

FAA Rest of government

Percentage responding to a “great” or “very great” extent
Appendix IX

Federal Aviation Administration: Selected 

Survey Results

Page 81 GAO-01-592 Managers’ Views on Key Issues by Agency

Authority and 

Accountability

Sixteen percent of FAA managers reported that they had, to a great or very 

great extent, the decisionmaking authority they needed to help the agency 

accomplish its strategic goals, whereas 59 percent indicated that they were 

held accountable for results to a similar extent, as shown below. FAA was 

among five agencies surveyed where the gap between accountability and 

authority was wide and exceeded 40 percentage points. (The others were 

the Internal Revenue Service (IRS), Social Security Administration, Small 

Business Administration, and Department of Housing and Urban 

Development.)

FAA managers’ response concerning the extent of their decisionmaking 

authority was the second lowest, after IRS, among the 28 agencies 

surveyed. FAA’s 16 percent is significantly lower than the 37 percent 

reported by the rest of the government. 

Figure 52: Percentage of Federal Managers Who Reported That 

Managers/Supervisors at Their Levels (1) Had the Decisionmaking Authority Needed 

to Help the Agency Accomplish Its Strategic Goals and (2) Were Held Accountable 

for Results 

Source: GAO survey data.

37

63

16

59

0

20

40

60

80

100

Had decisionmaking authority Were held accountable for results

Percentage responding to a “great” or “very great” extent

FAA

Rest of government
Appendix IX

Federal Aviation Administration: Selected 

Survey Results

Page 82 GAO-01-592 Managers’ Views on Key Issues by Agency

Types of Performance 

Measures

When asked about the types of performance measures in their programs, 

output measures were reported by the highest percentage of FAA managers 

(46 percent) and customer service measures were cited by the lowest 

percentage (27 percent), as shown below.

In addition, the percentages of FAA managers who reported having 

customer service measures (27 percent), quality measures (29 percent), 

and outcome measures (34 percent) to a great or very great extent were all 

significantly below the percentages of managers who responded in this way 

for the rest of the government (39, 40, and 44 percent, respectively). 

Figure 53: Percentage of Federal Managers Who Reported Having Specific Types of 

Performance Measures 

Source: GAO survey data.

34

50

36

44

29

46

32

27

39 40

0

20

40

60

80

100 Percentage responding to a “great” or “very great” extent

FAA

Rest of government

Output

measures

Efficiency

measures

Customer

service

measures

Quality

measures

Outcome

measures
Appendix IX

Federal Aviation Administration: Selected 

Survey Results

Page 83 GAO-01-592 Managers’ Views on Key Issues by Agency

Use of Performance 

Information

FAA ranked significantly lower than the rest of the government in the 

percentage of managers who indicated that they used performance 

information for each of the management activities shown below. In 

addition, the agency ranked lowest (17 percent) among the 28 agencies 

surveyed concerning the use of such information when coordinating 

program efforts with internal or external organizations.

Figure 54: Percentage of Federal Managers Who Reported Using Performance 

Information for Various Management Activities

Source: GAO survey data.

31

46 44 42

17

35

31

27

36

43

0

20

40

60

80

100 Percentage responding to a “great” or “very great” extent

FAA

Rest of government

Setting program

priorities

Allocating

resources

Adopting

new/different

approaches

Coordinating

program efforts

Setting individual

job expectations
Page 84 GAO-01-592 Managers’ Views on Key Issues by Agency

Appendix X

Federal Emergency Management Agency: 

Selected Survey Results ApendxiX

The Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) was generally 

similar to the rest of the government except for being lower on two aspects 

of performance measurement and one aspect of how managers use 

performance information. The agency was statistically significantly lower 

than the rest of the government in the percentage of managers who 

reported having output and outcome measures and who reported using 

performance information when adopting new program approaches or 

changing work processes to at least a great extent. In all other areas, 

FEMA was not statistically significantly different from the rest of the 

government.

Top Leadership Forty-two percent of FEMA managers expressed the view that their top 

leadership was strongly committed to achieving results to a great or very 

great extent, compared with 53 percent for the rest of the government, as 

shown below. 

Figure 55: Percentage of Federal Managers Who Reported That Agency Top 

Leadership Demonstrated a Strong Commitment to Achieving Results

Source: GAO survey data.

53

42

0

20

40

60

80

100

FEMA Rest of government

Percentage responding to a “great” or “very great” extent
Appendix X

Federal Emergency Management Agency: 

Selected Survey Results

Page 85 GAO-01-592 Managers’ Views on Key Issues by Agency

Positive Recognition Slightly more than a quarter (26 percent) of FEMA managers reported that 

employees received positive recognition to a great or very great extent for 

helping their agency accomplish its strategic goals, as shown below, 

compared with 31 percent for the rest of the government. 

Figure 56: Percentage of Federal Managers Who Reported That Employees in Their 

Agencies Received Positive Recognition for Helping Their Agencies Accomplish 

Their Strategic Goals

Source: GAO survey data.

31

26

0

20

40

60

80

100

FEMA Rest of government

Percentage responding to a “great” or “very great” extent
Appendix X

Federal Emergency Management Agency: 

Selected Survey Results

Page 86 GAO-01-592 Managers’ Views on Key Issues by Agency

Authority and 

Accountability

Forty-two percent of FEMA managers reported that they had, to a great or 

very great extent, the decisionmaking authority they needed to help the 

agency accomplish its strategic goals, whereas 69 percent indicated that 

they were held accountable for results to a similar extent, as shown below. 

For the rest of the government, these percentages were 36 and 63, 

respectively.

Figure 57: Percentage of Federal Managers Who Reported That 

Managers/Supervisors at Their Levels (1) Had the Decisionmaking Authority Needed 

to Help the Agency Accomplish Its Strategic Goals and (2) Were Held Accountable 

for Results 

Source: GAO survey data.

36

63

42

69

0

20

40

60

80

100

Had decisionmaking authority Were held accountable for results

Percentage responding to a “great” or “very great” extent

FEMA

Rest of government
Appendix X

Federal Emergency Management Agency: 

Selected Survey Results

Page 87 GAO-01-592 Managers’ Views on Key Issues by Agency

Types of Performance 

Measures

When asked about the types of performance measures in their programs, 

the highest percentage of FEMA managers (42 percent) reported having 

customer service measures and the lowest percentage (27 percent) cited 

output measures, as shown below. FEMA was the only agency of the 28 we 

surveyed where managers identified customer service measures as the 

most prevalent of the 5 performance measures asked about. 

In addition, the percentages of FEMA managers who reported having 

output measures (27 percent) and outcome measures (28 percent) to a 

great or very great extent were significantly below the percentages of 

managers who responded in this way for the rest of the government (50 and 

44 percent respectively). 

Figure 58: Percentage of Federal Managers Who Reported Having Specific Types of 

Performance Measures 

Source: GAO survey data.

28

50

35

44

30 27 28

42

39 39

0

20

40

60

80

100 Percentage responding to a “great” or “very great” extent

FEMA

Rest of government

Output

measures

Efficiency

measures

Customer

service

measures

Quality

measures

Outcome

measures
Appendix X

Federal Emergency Management Agency: 

Selected Survey Results

Page 88 GAO-01-592 Managers’ Views on Key Issues by Agency

Use of Performance 

Information

Similar to the rest of the government, less than half of FEMA managers 

reported that they used performance information for each of the 

management activities shown below. In addition, the percentage of 

managers who indicated that they used performance information when 

adopting new program approaches or changing work processes at FEMA 

was significantly lower (29 percent) than that in the rest of the government 

(42 percent).

Figure 59: Percentage of Federal Managers Who Reported Using Performance 

Information for Various Management Activities

Source: GAO survey data.

38

45

35

40 42

29

43 41

35

42

0

20

40

60

80

100 Percentage responding to a “great” or “very great” extent

FEMA

Rest of government

Setting program

priorities

Allocating

resources

Adopting

new/different

approaches

Coordinating

program efforts

Setting individual

job expectations
Page 89 GAO-01-592 Managers’ Views on Key Issues by Agency

Appendix XI

Forest Service: Selected Survey Results ApendxiXI

Overall, the Forest Service was below the rest of the government in aspects 

of agency climate, performance measurement, and the use of performance 

information. It was statistically significantly lower than the rest of the 

government in the percentage of managers who reported that top agency 

leadership demonstrated a strong commitment to achieving results; 

managers were held accountable for results; they had outcome, quality, or 

efficiency performance measures; and they used performance information 

to set priorities, adopt new program approaches, or coordinate program 

efforts. Of the 28 agencies surveyed, Forest Service rated significantly 

lower than the rest of the government on more of the survey items 

discussed in this appendix than any other agency except for the Federal 

Aviation Administration (FAA) and Health Care Financing Administration. 

Forest Service was the lowest among the agencies we surveyed in the 

percentage of managers who reported that they were held accountable for 

achieving results to at least a great extent. In addition, the agency ranked 

the lowest among the 28 agencies surveyed in the percentage of managers 

who reported using performance information when adopting new 

approaches or changing work processes and the second lowest, next to 

FAA, in the percentage of managers who indicated that they used 

performance information when coordinating efforts with internal or 

external organizations. In all other areas, the agency was not statistically 

significantly different from the rest of the government. 
Appendix XI

Forest Service: Selected Survey Results

Page 90 GAO-01-592 Managers’ Views on Key Issues by Agency

Top Leadership Slightly more than a quarter (26 percent) of managers at the Forest Service 

expressed the view that their top leadership was strongly committed to 

achieving results to a great or very great extent, as shown below. This 

percentage is 28 points lower than that of the rest of the government (54 

percent), and this difference is statistically significant. Forest Service 

ranked second from last, just ahead of FAA, of the 28 agencies included in 

the survey. 

Figure 60: Percentage of Federal Managers Who Reported That Agency Top 

Leadership Demonstrated a Strong Commitment to Achieving Results

Source: GAO survey data.

54

26

0

20

40

60

80

100

Forest Service Rest of government

Percentage responding to a “great” or “very great” extent
Appendix XI

Forest Service: Selected Survey Results

Page 91 GAO-01-592 Managers’ Views on Key Issues by Agency

Positive Recognition Twenty-seven percent of Forest Service managers reported that employees 

received positive recognition to a great or very great extent for helping 

their agency accomplish its strategic goals, as shown below, compared with 

31 percent of managers that responded this way for the rest of the 

government.

Figure 61: Percentage of Federal Managers Who Reported That Employees in Their 

Agencies Received Positive Recognition for Helping Their Agencies Accomplish 

Their Strategic Goals

Source: GAO survey data.

31

27

0

20

40

60

80

100

Forest Service Rest of government

Percentage responding to a “great” or “very great” extent
Appendix XI

Forest Service: Selected Survey Results

Page 92 GAO-01-592 Managers’ Views on Key Issues by Agency

Authority and 

Accountability

Forty-one percent of Forest Service managers reported that they had, to a 

great or very great extent, the decisionmaking authority they needed to 

help the agency accomplish its strategic goals, whereas almost the same 

percentage of managers—40 percent—indicated that they were held 

accountable for results to a similar extent, as shown below. 

Forest Service managers’ response concerning the extent to which 

managers were held accountable for results (40 percent) was the lowest 

among the 28 agencies surveyed and is statistically significantly lower than 

the 63 percent reported by managers in the rest of the government. Forest 

Service was one of six agencies surveyed that had less than half of its 

managers reporting that they were held accountable to at least a great 

extent. (The others were the Agency for International Development, 

Department of Energy, Department of State, General Services 

Administration, and Health Care Financing Administration.)

Figure 62: Percentage of Federal Managers Who Reported That 

Managers/Supervisors at Their Levels (1) Had the Decisionmaking Authority Needed 

to Help the Agency Accomplish Its Strategic Goals and (2) Were Held Accountable 

for Results 

Source: GAO survey data.

36

63

41 40

0

20

40

60

80

100

Had decisionmaking authority Were held accountable for results

Percentage responding to a “great” or “very great” extent

Forest Service

Rest of government
Appendix XI

Forest Service: Selected Survey Results

Page 93 GAO-01-592 Managers’ Views on Key Issues by Agency

Types of Performance 

Measures

When asked about the types of performance measures in their programs, 

the highest percentage of Forest Service managers (56 percent) reported 

having output measures and the lowest (24 percent) cited efficiency 

measures, as shown below. In addition, the percentages of Forest Service 

managers who reported having outcome measures (29 percent), efficiency 

measures (24 percent), or quality measures (25 percent) to a great or very 

great extent were all significantly below the percentages of managers who 

responded in this way for the rest of the government (44, 36, and 39 

percent, respectively). 

Figure 63: Percentage of Federal Managers Who Reported Having Specific Types of 

Performance Measures 

Source: GAO survey data.

29

36

44

25

56

24

29

50

39 39

0

20

40

60

80

100 Percentage responding to a “great” or “very great” extent

Forest Service

Rest of government

Output

measures

Efficiency

measures

Customer

service

measures

Quality

measures

Outcome

measures
Appendix XI

Forest Service: Selected Survey Results

Page 94 GAO-01-592 Managers’ Views on Key Issues by Agency

Use of Performance 

Information

Forest Service was statistically significantly lower than the rest of the 

government in the percentage of managers who indicated that they used 

performance information when setting program priorities (34 percent), 

adopting new program approaches or changing work processes (25 

percent), and coordinating program efforts with internal or external 

organizations (21 percent). 

Figure 64: Percentage of Federal Managers Who Reported Using Performance 

Information for Various Management Activities

Source: GAO survey data.

40

45 43 41

25

37 34

21

42

35

0

20

40

60

80

100 Percentage responding to a “great” or “very great” extent

Forest Service

Rest of government

Setting program

priorities

Allocating

resources

Adopting

new/different

approaches

Coordinating

program efforts

Setting individual

job expectations
Page 95 GAO-01-592 Managers’ Views on Key Issues by Agency

Appendix XII

General Services Administration: Selected 

Survey Results ApendxiXI

The General Services Administration (GSA) was above the rest of the 

government in aspects of agency climate, performance measurement, and 

the use of performance information. The agency was statistically 

significantly higher than the rest of the government in the percentage of 

managers who reported that employees who helped the agency achieve its 

strategic goals received positive recognition; they had outcome, customer 

service, or efficiency performance measures; and they used performance 

information for four different management tasks. For the survey items 

discussed in this appendix, GSA and the Small Business Administration had 

the greatest number of items for which they were statistically significantly 

higher than the rest of the government. GSA was also significantly lower 

than the rest of the government concerning the percentage of managers 

who reported that they were held accountable for results. In all other 

areas, the agency was not statistically significantly different from the rest 

of the government.

GSA ranked first among the 28 agencies surveyed in the percentage of 

managers reporting that employees received positive recognition for 

helping the agency accomplish its strategic goals to at least a great extent. 

The agency also had the highest percentage of managers who indicated that 

they had efficiency measures for their programs to at least a great extent 

and, along with the Department of Veterans Affairs (VA), GSA had the 

highest percentage of managers who reported having customer service 

measures to a similar extent.
Appendix XII

General Services Administration: Selected 

Survey Results

Page 96 GAO-01-592 Managers’ Views on Key Issues by Agency

Top Leadership Almost two-thirds (63 percent) of GSA managers expressed the view that 

their top leadership was strongly committed to achieving results to a great 

or very great extent, as shown below, compared with 53 percent for the rest 

of the government. 

Figure 65: Percentage of Federal Managers Who Reported That Agency Top 

Leadership Demonstrated a Strong Commitment to Achieving Results

Source: GAO survey data.

53

63

0

20

40

60

80

100

GSA Rest of government

Percentage responding to a “great” or “very great” extent
Appendix XII

General Services Administration: Selected 

Survey Results

Page 97 GAO-01-592 Managers’ Views on Key Issues by Agency

Positive Recognition Fifty-two percent of GSA managers reported that employees received 

positive recognition to a great or very great extent for helping their agency 

accomplish its strategic goals, as shown below. This percentage is 22 

points higher than that of managers who responded in this way for the rest 

of the government (30 percent) and the difference is statistically 

significant. GSA was the highest-ranking agency of the 28 agencies 

included in the survey for this item. 

Figure 66: Percentage of Federal Managers Who Reported That Employees in Their 

Agencies Received Positive Recognition for Helping Their Agencies Accomplish 

Their Strategic Goals

Source: GAO survey data.

30

52

0

20

40

60

80

100

GSA Rest of government

Percentage responding to a “great” or “very great” extent
Appendix XII

General Services Administration: Selected 

Survey Results

Page 98 GAO-01-592 Managers’ Views on Key Issues by Agency

Authority and 

Accountability

Thirty-six percent of GSA managers reported that they had, to a great or 

very great extent, the decisionmaking authority they needed to help the 

agency accomplish its strategic goals, whereas 49 percent indicated that 

they were held accountable for results to a similar extent, as shown below. 

GSA managers’ response concerning the extent to which managers were 

held accountable for results (49 percent) was statistically significantly 

lower than the 63 percent reported by the rest of the government. GSA was 

one of six agencies surveyed that had less than half of its managers 

reporting that they were held accountable to at least a great extent. (The 

others were the Agency for International Development, Department of 

Energy, Department of State, Forest Service, and Health Care Financing 

Administration.)

Figure 67: Percentage of Federal Managers Who Reported That 

Managers/Supervisors at Their Levels (1) Had the Decisionmaking Authority Needed 

to Help the Agency Accomplish Its Strategic Goals and (2) Were Held Accountable 

for Results

Source: GAO survey data.

36

63

36

49

0

20

40

60

80

100

Had decisionmaking authority Were held accountable for results

Percentage responding to a “great” or “very great” extent

GSA

Rest of government
Appendix XII

General Services Administration: Selected 

Survey Results

Page 99 GAO-01-592 Managers’ Views on Key Issues by Agency

Types of Performance 

Measures

When asked about the types of performance measures in their programs, 

the highest percentage of GSA managers (58 percent) reported having 

output measures and the lowest (42 percent) cited quality measures, as 

shown below.

In addition, the percentages of GSA managers who reported having 

efficiency measures (56 percent), customer service measures (54 percent), 

and outcome measures (56 percent) to a great or very great extent were 

significantly above the percentages of managers who responded in this way 

for the rest of the government. GSA ranked first among the 28 agencies 

surveyed in the percentage of managers who reported that they had 

efficiency measures for their programs to at least a great extent and also 

ranked first, along with VA, for the percentage reporting customer service 

measures to a similar extent.

Figure 68: Percentage of Federal Managers Who Reported Having Specific Types of 

Performance Measures 

Source: GAO survey data.

56

42

58 56 54

44

35

50

38 39

0

20

40

60

80

100 Percentage responding to a “great” or “very great” extent

GSA

Rest of government

Output

measures

Efficiency

measures

Customer

service

measures

Quality

measures

Outcome

measures
Appendix XII

General Services Administration: Selected 

Survey Results

Page 100 GAO-01-592 Managers’ Views on Key Issues by Agency

Use of Performance 

Information

GSA was statistically significantly higher than the rest of the government in 

the percentage of managers who indicated that they used performance 

information for the management activities shown below, except for the 

allocation of resources. 

Figure 69: Percentage of Federal Managers Who Reported Using Performance 

Information for Various Management Activities

Source: GAO survey data.

55 52

57

52

56

45 43 41

34

42

0

20

40

60

80

100 Percentage responding to a “great” or “very great” extent

GSA

Rest of government

Setting program

priorities

Allocating

resources

Adopting

new/different

approaches

Coordinating

program efforts

Setting individual

job expectations
Page 101 GAO-01-592 Managers’ Views on Key Issues by Agency

Appendix XIII

Health Care Financing Administration: 

Selected Survey Results ApendxXiI

Overall, the Health Care Financing Administration (HCFA) was below the 

rest of the government in aspects of agency climate, the use of 

performance information, and especially, performance measurement. The 

agency was statistically significantly lower than the rest of the government 

for survey items concerning the percentages of managers who reported 

that managers were held accountable for results; reported having five 

different types of performance measures; and indicated that they used 

performance information for four management tasks. In all other areas, 

HCFA was not statistically significantly different from the rest of the 

government. Of the 28 agencies surveyed, HCFA rated significantly lower 

than the rest of the government on more of the survey items discussed in 

this appendix than any other agency except for the Federal Aviation 

Administration. 

HCFA had the lowest percentage of managers who reported having four of 

the five types of performance measures we asked about: output, efficiency, 

quality, and outcome measures. For the fifth type—customer service 

measures—the agency ranked second lowest ahead of the Nuclear 

Regulatory Commission (NRC). In addition, the agency had the lowest 

percentage of managers who indicated that they used performance 

information when setting individual job expectations for staff. HCFA was 

also second lowest among the agencies we surveyed in the percentage of 

managers who reported that they were held accountable for results to at 

least a great extent. 
Appendix XIII

Health Care Financing Administration: 

Selected Survey Results

Page 102 GAO-01-592 Managers’ Views on Key Issues by Agency

Top Leadership Less than half (46 percent) of HCFA managers expressed the view that their 

top leadership was strongly committed to achieving results to a great or 

very great extent, as shown below, compared with 53 percent for the rest of 

the government. 

Figure 70: Percentage of Federal Managers Who Reported That Agency Top 

Leadership Demonstrated a Strong Commitment to Achieving Results

Source: GAO survey data.

53

46

0

20

40

60

80

100

HCFA Rest of government

Percentage responding to a “great” or “very great” extent
Appendix XIII

Health Care Financing Administration: 

Selected Survey Results

Page 103 GAO-01-592 Managers’ Views on Key Issues by Agency

Positive Recognition Thirty percent of HCFA managers reported that employees received 

positive recognition to a great or very great extent for helping their agency 

accomplish its strategic goals, as shown below, and this percentage is 

almost the same as that of managers who responded this way for the rest of 

the government (31 percent). 

Figure 71: Percentage of Federal Managers Who Reported That Employees in Their 

Agencies Received Positive Recognition for Helping Their Agencies Accomplish 

Their Strategic Goals

Source: GAO survey data.

30 31

0

20

40

60

80

100

HCFA Rest of government

Percentage responding to a “great” or “very great” extent
Appendix XIII

Health Care Financing Administration: 

Selected Survey Results

Page 104 GAO-01-592 Managers’ Views on Key Issues by Agency

Authority and 

Accountability

Twenty-eight percent of HCFA managers reported that they had, to a great 

or very great extent, the decisionmaking authority they needed to help the 

agency accomplish its strategic goals, whereas 42 percent indicated that 

they were held accountable for results to a similar extent, as shown below. 

HCFA managers’ response concerning the extent to which managers were 

held accountable for results (42 percent) was significantly lower than the 

63 percent reported by the rest of the government. HCFA was second 

lowest of the agencies we surveyed, after Forest Service, in the percentage 

of managers who reported that they were held accountable to at least a 

great extent. The agency was also one of six agencies surveyed that had 

less than half of its managers reporting that they were held accountable to 

at least a great extent. (The others were the Agency for International 

Development, Department of Energy, Department of State, Forest Service, 

and General Services Administration.)

Figure 72: Percentage of Federal Managers Who Reported That 

Managers/Supervisors at Their Levels (1) Had the Decisionmaking Authority Needed 

to Help the Agency Accomplish Its Strategic Goals and (2) Were Held Accountable 

for Results. 

Source: GAO survey data.

36

63

28

42

0

20

40

60

80

100

Had decisionmaking authority Were held accountable for results

Percentage responding to a “great” or “very great” extent

HCFA

Rest of government
Appendix XIII

Health Care Financing Administration: 

Selected Survey Results

Page 105 GAO-01-592 Managers’ Views on Key Issues by Agency

Types of Performance 

Measures

When asked about the types of performance measures in their programs, 

the highest percentage of HCFA managers (19 percent) reported having 

output measures and the lowest (9 percent) cited efficiency measures, as 

shown below. Seventeen percent of managers reported having outcome 

measures to at least a great extent.

The percentages of HCFA managers who reported having each of the five 

types of performance measures shown below were all statistically 

significantly below the percentages of managers who responded in this way 

for the rest of the government. In addition, HCFA was the lowest ranking 

agency of the 28 agencies surveyed for each type of performance measure 

shown below—except for customer service measures, where it ranked 

second lowest next to NRC.

Figure 73: Percentage of Federal Managers Who Reported Having Specific Types of 

Performance Measures 

Source: GAO survey data.

17

50

36

44

14

19

9

16

39 39

0

20

40

60

80

100 Percentage responding to a “great” or “very great” extent

HCFA

Rest of government

Output

measures

Efficiency

measures

Customer

service

measures

Quality

measures

Outcome

measures
Appendix XIII

Health Care Financing Administration: 

Selected Survey Results

Page 106 GAO-01-592 Managers’ Views on Key Issues by Agency

Use of Performance 

Information

HCFA was statistically significantly lower than the rest of the government 

in the percentage of managers who indicated that they used performance 

information for all of the management activities shown below, except for 

adopting new program approaches and changing work processes. In 

addition, the agency ranked lowest among the 28 agencies surveyed 

concerning the use of such information when setting individual job 

expectations for staff (16 percent), and second lowest ahead of the 

National Science Foundation, when using performance information to set 

program priorities (27 percent).

Figure 74: Percentage of Federal Managers Who Reported Using Performance 

Information for Various Management Activities

Source: GAO survey data.

45 43 41

16

21

27 29

32

35

42

0

20

40

60

80

100 Percentage responding to a “great” or “very great” extent

HCFA

Rest of government

Setting program

priorities

Allocating

resources

Adopting

new/different

approaches

Coordinating

program efforts

Setting individual

job expectations
Page 107 GAO-01-592 Managers’ Views on Key Issues by Agency

Appendix XIV

Department of Health and Human Services: 

Selected Survey Results ApendxXiIV

The Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) was largely similar 

to the rest of the government, except for one aspect of agency climate. 

HHS was statistically significantly higher than the rest of the government in 

the percentage of managers who reported that employees received positive 

recognition to at least a great extent for helping the agency achieve its 

strategic goals. In all other areas, the agency was not significantly different 

from the rest of the government. Survey results for one component of HHS, 

the Health Care Financing Administration, are not included here but are 

reported in a separate appendix.

Top Leadership Sixty percent of HHS managers expressed the view that their top 

leadership was strongly committed to achieving results to a great or very 

great extent, as shown below, compared with 53 percent for the rest of the 

government.

Figure 75: Percentage of Federal Managers Who Reported That Agency Top 

Leadership Demonstrated a Strong Commitment to Achieving Results

Source: GAO survey data.

53

60

0

20

40

60

80

100

HHS Rest of government

Percentage responding to a “great” or “very great” extent
Appendix XIV

Department of Health and Human Services: 

Selected Survey Results

Page 108 GAO-01-592 Managers’ Views on Key Issues by Agency

Positive Recognition Forty-six percent of HHS managers reported that employees received 

positive recognition to a great or very great extent for helping their agency 

accomplish its strategic goals, as shown below. This percentage is 16 

points higher than that of managers who responded this way for the rest of 

the government (30 percent) and this difference is statistically significant.

Figure 76: Percentage of Federal Managers Who Reported That Employees in Their 

Agencies Received Positive Recognition for Helping Their Agencies Accomplish 

Their Strategic Goals

Source: GAO survey data.

30

46

0

20

40

60

80

100

HHS Rest of government

Percentage responding to a “great” or “very great” extent
Appendix XIV

Department of Health and Human Services: 

Selected Survey Results

Page 109 GAO-01-592 Managers’ Views on Key Issues by Agency

Authority and 

Accountability

Forty-three percent of HHS managers reported that they had, to a great or 

very great extent, the decisionmaking authority they needed to help the 

agency accomplish its strategic goals, whereas 68 percent indicated that 

they were held accountable for results to a similar extent, as shown below. 

For the rest of the government, these percentages were 35 and 62 

respectively. 

HHS managers ranked in the top quarter of the 28 agencies surveyed for 

managers' perceptions concerning both the extent of decisionmaking 

authority and the degree to which managers were held accountable for 

results, although the differences between HHS and the rest of the 

government on these two items were not statistically significant. 

Figure 77: Percentage of Federal Managers Who Reported That 

Managers/Supervisors at Their Levels (1) Had the Decisionmaking Authority Needed 

to Help the Agency Accomplish Its Strategic Goals and (2) Were Held Accountable 

for Results 

Source: GAO survey data.

35

62

43

68

0

20

40

60

80

100

Had decisionmaking authority Were held accountable for results

Percentage responding to a “great” or “very great” extent

HHS

Rest of government
Appendix XIV

Department of Health and Human Services: 

Selected Survey Results

Page 110 GAO-01-592 Managers’ Views on Key Issues by Agency

Types of Performance 

Measures

When asked about the types of performance measures in their programs, 

the highest percentage of HHS managers (46 percent) reported having 

outcome measures and the lowest (37 percent) cited efficiency measures, 

as shown below. HHS was one of only seven agencies where outcome 

measures were cited more frequently than output measures. (The others 

were the Agency for International Development, Department of Energy, 

Federal Emergency Management Agency, National Aeronautics and Space 

Administration, National Science Foundation, and Office of Personnel 

Management.) The agency ranked in the lowest quarter of the agencies 

surveyed for the percentage of managers reporting that their programs had 

output measures (44 percent), although the difference between HHS and 

the rest of the government was not statistically significant. 

Figure 78: Percentage of Federal Managers Who Reported Having Specific Types of 

Performance Measures 

Source: GAO survey data.

46

51

42

44

37 39

35

44

39 39

0

20

40

60

80

100 Percentage responding to a “great” or “very great” extent

HHS

Rest of government

Output

measures

Efficiency

measures

Customer

service

measures

Quality

measures

Outcome

measures
Appendix XIV

Department of Health and Human Services: 

Selected Survey Results

Page 111 GAO-01-592 Managers’ Views on Key Issues by Agency

Use of Performance 

Information

Similar to the rest of the government, less than half of HHS managers 

reported that they used performance information for each of the 

management activities shown below. 

Figure 79: Percentage of Federal Managers Who Reported Using Performance 

Information for Various Management Activities

Source: GAO survey data.

45 45

35

40 39 43 43 41

35

42

0

20

40

60

80

100 Percentage responding to a “great” or “very great” extent

HHS

Rest of government

Setting program

priorities

Allocating

resources

Adopting

new/different

approaches

Coordinating

program efforts

Setting individual

job expectations
Page 112 GAO-01-592 Managers’ Views on Key Issues by Agency

Appendix XV

Department of Housing and Urban 

Development: Selected Survey Results ApendxiXV

The Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) was above the 

rest of the government in aspects of agency climate, performance 

measurement, and particularly, in the use of performance information. The 

agency was statistically significantly higher than the rest of the government 

in the percentages of managers who reported that employees received 

positive recognition for helping the agency achieve its strategic goals; 

managers are held accountable for results; they have output and outcome 

measures; and they use performance information to set program priorities, 

allocate resources, coordinate program efforts, and set job expectations. 

Of the 28 agencies surveyed, HUD had the second greatest number of total 

items for which the agency was significantly higher than the rest of the 

government after the General Services Administration and the Small 

Business Administration (SBA), both of which had 1 more. In all other 

areas, HUD was not significantly different from the rest of the agencies we 

surveyed. 
Appendix XV

Department of Housing and Urban 

Development: Selected Survey Results

Page 113 GAO-01-592 Managers’ Views on Key Issues by Agency

Top Leadership Almost two-thirds (64 percent) of HUD managers expressed the view that 

their top leadership was strongly committed to achieving results to a great 

or very great extent, whereas 53 percent of managers responded this way 

for the rest of the government, as shown below. HUD managers were in the 

top quarter of agencies surveyed for this item. 

Figure 80: Percentage of Federal Managers Who Reported That Agency Top 

Leadership Demonstrated a Strong Commitment to Achieving Results 

Source: GAO survey data.

53

64

0

20

40

60

80

100

HUD Rest of government

Percentage responding to a “great” or “very great” extent
Appendix XV

Department of Housing and Urban 

Development: Selected Survey Results

Page 114 GAO-01-592 Managers’ Views on Key Issues by Agency

Positive Recognition Forty-seven percent of HUD managers reported that employees received 

positive recognition to a great or very great extent for helping their agency 

accomplish its strategic goals, as shown below. This percentage is 17 

points higher than that of managers who responded this way for the rest of 

the government (30 percent) and is a statistically significant difference. 

Figure 81: Percentage of Federal Managers Who Reported That Employees in Their 

Agencies Received Positive Recognition for Helping Their Agencies Accomplish 

Their Strategic Goals

Source: GAO survey data.

30

47

0

20

40

60

80

100

HUD Rest of government

Percentage responding to a “great” or “very great” extent
Appendix XV

Department of Housing and Urban 

Development: Selected Survey Results

Page 115 GAO-01-592 Managers’ Views on Key Issues by Agency

Authority and 

Accountability

Thirty-six percent of HUD managers reported that they had, to a great or 

very great extent, the decisionmaking authority they needed to help their 

agency accomplish its strategic goals, whereas 79 percent indicated that 

they were held accountable for results to a similar extent, as shown below. 

HUD was among five agencies surveyed where the gap between 

accountability and authority was wide and exceeded 40 percentage points. 

(The others were the Federal Aviation Administration, Internal Revenue 

Service, SBA, and Social Security Administration.)

HUD managers’ response concerning the extent of their decisionmaking 

authority (36 percent) was identical to that of the rest of the government. 

Their response concerning the extent to which managers were held 

accountable for results (79 percent) was statistically significantly higher 

than the 63 percent reported by managers in the rest of the government. 

HUD ranked highest in its response concerning accountability among the 

28 agencies included in the survey. 

Figure 82: Percentage of Federal Managers Who Reported That 

Managers/Supervisors at Their Levels (1) Had the Decisionmaking Authority Needed 

to Help the Agency Accomplish Its Strategic Goals and (2) Were Held Accountable 

for Results

Source: GAO survey data.

36

63

36

79

0

20

40

60

80

100

Had decisionmaking authority Were held accountable for results

Percentage responding to a “great” or “very great” extent

HUD

Rest of government
Appendix XV

Department of Housing and Urban 

Development: Selected Survey Results

Page 116 GAO-01-592 Managers’ Views on Key Issues by Agency

Types of Performance 

Measures

When asked about the types of performance measures in their programs, 

the highest percentage of HUD managers reported having output measures 

(75 percent) which was statistically significantly higher than the rest of the 

government (50 percent). In addition, HUD and SBA were first among the 

28 agencies surveyed in the percentage of managers reporting this type of 

performance measure. HUD was also significantly higher than the rest of 

the government in the percentage of its managers who reported having 

outcome measures. HUD and the National Aeronautics and Space 

Administration were first among the agencies surveyed in the percentage of 

managers reporting outcome measures (63 percent). Of the five measures 

we asked about, HUD managers cited customer services measures least 

frequently (36 percent), as shown below. 

Figure 83: Percentage of Federal Managers Who Reported Having Specific Types of 

Performance Measures 

Source: GAO survey data.

63

37

75

47

36

44

35

50

39 39

0

20

40

60

80

100 Percentage responding to a “great” or “very great” extent

HUD

Rest of government

Output

measures

Efficiency

measures

Customer

service

measures

Quality

measures

Outcome

measures
Appendix XV

Department of Housing and Urban 

Development: Selected Survey Results

Page 117 GAO-01-592 Managers’ Views on Key Issues by Agency

Use of Performance 

Information

HUD ranked statistically significantly higher than the rest of the 

government in the percentage of managers who indicated that they used 

performance information for each of the management activities shown 

below, except for adopting new program approaches or changing work 

processes. In addition, the agency ranked first among the 28 agencies we 

surveyed concerning the use of performance information when setting 

program priorities (64 percent) and coordinating program efforts with 

internal or external organizations (57 percent). HUD also ranked second to 

SBA in the percentage of managers who reported using performance 

information when setting individual job expectations for staff (59 percent).

Figure 84: Percentage of Federal Managers Who Reported Using Performance 

Information for Various Management Activities

Source: GAO survey data.

59 57

64

58

39 41

45 43

35

42

0

20

40

60

80

100 Percentage responding to a “great” or “very great” extent

HUD

Rest of government

Setting program

priorities

Allocating

resources

Adopting

new/different

approaches

Coordinating

program efforts

Setting individual

job expectations
Page 118 GAO-01-592 Managers’ Views on Key Issues by Agency

Appendix XVI

Department of the Interior: Selected Survey 

Results ApendxXiVI

The Department of the Interior was below the rest of the government in 

aspects of agency climate, performance measurement, and the use of 

performance information. The agency was statistically significantly lower 

than the rest of the government in the percentages of managers who 

expressed the view that the agency's top leadership was strongly 

committed to achieving results to at least a great extent; reported having 

efficiency and quality measures; and indicated that they used performance 

information for setting program priorities, allocating resources, and 

coordinating program efforts. In all other areas, the agency was not 

statistically significantly different from the rest of the government.

Top Leadership Less than half (44 percent) of managers at Interior expressed the view that 

their top leadership was strongly committed to achieving results to a great 

or very great extent, as shown below. This percentage is 10 points lower 

than that of the rest of the government (54 percent) and this difference is 

statistically significant. Interior ranks in the bottom quarter of the 28 

agencies included in the survey. 

Figure 85: Percentage of Federal Managers Who Reported That Agency Top 

Leadership Demonstrated a Strong Commitment to Achieving Results

Source: GAO survey data.

54

44

0

20

40

60

80

100

Interior Rest of government

Percentage responding to a “great” or “very great” extent
Appendix XVI

Department of the Interior: Selected Survey 

Results

Page 119 GAO-01-592 Managers’ Views on Key Issues by Agency

Positive Recognition Thirty-three percent of Interior's managers reported that employees 

received positive recognition to a great or very great extent for helping 

their agency accomplish its strategic goals, as shown below, and this is 

about the same as the percentage of managers who responded this way for 

the rest of the government (30 percent). 

Figure 86: Percentage of Federal Managers Who Reported That Employees in Their 

Agencies Received Positive Recognition for Helping Their Agencies Accomplish 

Their Strategic Goals

Source: GAO survey data.

30

33

0

20

40

60

80

100

Interior Rest of government

Percentage responding to a “great” or “very great” extent
Appendix XVI

Department of the Interior: Selected Survey 

Results

Page 120 GAO-01-592 Managers’ Views on Key Issues by Agency

Authority and 

Accountability

Forty-three percent of managers at Interior reported that they had, to a 

great or very great extent, the decisionmaking authority they needed to 

help the agency accomplish its strategic goals, whereas 60 percent 

indicated that they were held accountable for results to a similar extent, as 

shown below. For the rest of the government, these percentages were 35 

and 63, respectively. 

Figure 87: Percentage of Federal Managers Who Reported That 

Managers/Supervisors at Their Levels (1) Had the Decisionmaking Authority Needed 

to Help the Agency Accomplish Its Strategic Goals and (2) Were Held Accountable 

for Results 

Source: GAO survey data.

35

63

43

60

0

20

40

60

80

100

Had decisionmaking authority Were held accountable for results

Percentage responding to a “great” or “very great” extent

Interior

Rest of government
Appendix XVI

Department of the Interior: Selected Survey 

Results

Page 121 GAO-01-592 Managers’ Views on Key Issues by Agency

Types of Performance 

Measures

When asked about the types of performance measures in their programs, 

the highest percentage of Interior managers (48 percent) reported having 

output measures and the lowest (24 percent) cited efficiency measures, as 

shown below. Thirty-nine percent of managers reported having outcome 

measures.

In addition, the percentages of Interior managers who reported having 

efficiency measures (24 percent) and quality measures (30 percent) to a 

great or very great extent were statistically significantly below the 

percentages of managers reporting these results for the rest of the 

government. Interior also ranked in the lowest quarter of the agencies 

surveyed for efficiency measures. 

Figure 88: Percentage of Federal Managers Who Reported Having Specific Types of 

Performance Measures 

Source: GAO survey data.

39 36

44

30

48

24

38

50

40 39

0

20

40

60

80

100 Percentage responding to a “great” or “very great” extent

Interior

Rest of government

Output

measures

Efficiency

measures

Customer

service

measures

Quality

measures

Outcome

measures
Appendix XVI

Department of the Interior: Selected Survey 

Results

Page 122 GAO-01-592 Managers’ Views on Key Issues by Agency

Use of Performance 

Information 

Interior was statistically significantly lower than the rest of the government 

in the percentage of managers who indicated that they used performance 

information for all of the management activities shown below, except for 

adopting new program approaches/changing work processes and setting 

individual job expectations for staff. 

Figure 89: Percentage of Federal Managers Who Reported Using Performance 

Information for Various Management Activities

Source: GAO survey data.

43 45 43

24

33 34 35

41

35

42

0

20

40

60

80

100 Percentage responding to a “great” or “very great” extent

Interior

Rest of government

Setting program

priorities

Allocating

resources

Adopting

new/different

approaches

Coordinating

program efforts

Setting individual

job expectations
Page 123 GAO-01-592 Managers’ Views on Key Issues by Agency

Appendix XVII

Internal Revenue Service: Selected Survey 

Results ApendxiXVI

The Internal Revenue Service (IRS) was below the rest of the government 

in aspects of agency climate, performance measurement, and the use of 

performance information. The agency was significantly lower than the rest 

of government in the percentage of managers who reported that top 

leadership at their agency demonstrated a strong commitment to achieving 

results; that managers had the decisionmaking authority they needed to 

help their agency accomplish its strategic goals; that their programs had 

output and outcome performance measures; and that they used 

performance information when setting program priorities, adopting new 

program approaches or changing work processes, and coordinating 

program efforts. In all other areas, the agency was not statistically 

significantly different from the rest of the government.

IRS had the lowest percentage of managers who reported that they had the 

decisionmaking authority they needed to help their agency accomplish its 

strategic goals to at least a great extent. The agency also ranked second to 

last, next to the Health Care Financing Administration, among the agencies 

surveyed in the percentage of managers who indicated that they had 

outcome measures for their programs. 
Appendix XVII

Internal Revenue Service: Selected Survey 

Results

Page 124 GAO-01-592 Managers’ Views on Key Issues by Agency

Top Leadership Forty-two percent of managers at IRS expressed the view that their top 

leadership was strongly committed to achieving results to a great or very 

great extent, as shown below. This result is 12 percentage points lower 

than the rest of government (54 percent) and this difference is statistically 

significant. IRS ranked in the lowest quarter of the agencies surveyed.

Figure 90: Percentage of Federal Managers Who Reported That Agency Top 

Leadership Demonstrated a Strong Commitment to Achieving Results

Source: GAO survey data.

54

42

0

20

40

60

80

100

IRS Rest of government

Percentage responding to a “great” or “very great” extent
Appendix XVII

Internal Revenue Service: Selected Survey 

Results

Page 125 GAO-01-592 Managers’ Views on Key Issues by Agency

Positive Recognition Twenty-seven percent of IRS managers reported that employees received 

positive recognition to a great or very great extent for helping their agency 

accomplish its strategic goals, as shown below, not significantly different 

from the percentage of managers who responded this way for the rest of 

the government (31 percent). 

Figure 91: Percentage of Federal Managers Who Reported That Employees in Their 

Agencies Received Positive Recognition for Helping Their Agencies Accomplish 

Their Strategic Goals

Source: GAO survey data.

31

27

0

20

40

60

80

100

IRS Rest of government

Percentage responding to a “great” or “very great” extent
Appendix XVII

Internal Revenue Service: Selected Survey 

Results

Page 126 GAO-01-592 Managers’ Views on Key Issues by Agency

Authority and 

Accountability

Fifteen percent of IRS managers reported that they had, to a great or very 

great extent, the decisionmaking authority they needed to help the agency 

accomplish its strategic goals, whereas 60 percent indicated that they were 

held accountable for results to a similar extent, as shown below. IRS was 

among five agencies surveyed where the gap between accountability and 

authority was wide and exceeded 40 percentage points. (The others were 

the Federal Aviation Administration, Social Security Administration, Small 

Business Administration, and Department of Housing and Urban 

Development.) 

IRS managers' response concerning the extent of their decisionmaking 

authority was the lowest among the 28 agencies surveyed. The IRS' 15 

percent is statistically significantly lower than 37 percent reported by the 

rest of the government. 

Figure 92: Percentage of Federal Managers Who Reported That 

Managers/Supervisors at Their Levels (1) Had the Decisionmaking Authority Needed 

to Help the Agency Accomplish Its Strategic Goals and (2) Were Held Accountable 

for Results 

Source: GAO survey data.

37

63

15

60

0

20

40

60

80

100

Had decisionmaking authority Were held accountable for results

Percentage responding to a "great" or "very great" extent

IRS

Rest of government
Appendix XVII

Internal Revenue Service: Selected Survey 

Results

Page 127 GAO-01-592 Managers’ Views on Key Issues by Agency

Types of Performance 

Measures

When asked about the types of performance measures in their programs, 

the highest percentage of IRS managers (37 percent) reported having 

quality measures and the lowest (28 percent) cited outcome measures, as 

shown below.

In addition, the percentages of IRS managers who reported having output 

measures (32 percent) and outcome measures (28 percent) to a great or 

very great extent were significantly below the percentages of managers 

reporting these results for the rest of the government. 

Figure 93: Percentage of Federal Managers Who Reported Having Specific Types of 

Performance Measures 

Source: GAO survey data.

28

51

36

45

37

32

30

35

39 39

0

20

40

60

80

100 Percentage responding to a “great” or “very great” extent

IRS

Rest of government

Output

measures

Efficiency

measures

Customer

service

measures

Quality

measures

Outcome

measures
Appendix XVII

Internal Revenue Service: Selected Survey 

Results

Page 128 GAO-01-592 Managers’ Views on Key Issues by Agency

Use of Performance 

Information

IRS ranked statistically significantly lower than the rest of the government 

in the percentage of managers who indicated that they used performance 

information for setting program priorities (36 percent), adopting new 

program approaches or changing work processes (29 percent), and 

coordinating program efforts (27 percent), as shown below. 

Figure 94: Percentage of Federal Managers Who Reported Using Performance 

Information for Various Management Activities

Source: GAO survey data.

33

45 44 42

27

36 35

29

35

43

0

20

40

60

80

100 Percentage responding to a “great” or “very great” extent

IRS

Rest of government

Setting program

priorities

Allocating

resources

Adopting

new/different

approaches

Coordinating

program efforts

Setting individual

job expectations
Page 129 GAO-01-592 Managers’ Views on Key Issues by Agency

Appendix XVIII

Department of Justice: Selected Survey 

Results ApendxiXVI

The Department of Justice was largely similar to the rest of the 

government, except for two aspects of performance measurement. It was 

statistically significantly lower than the rest of the government in the 

percentages of managers who reported having customer service and quality 

performance measures. In all other areas, Justice was not statistically 

significantly different from the rest of the government.

Top Leadership Less than half (49 percent) of managers at Justice expressed the view that 

their top leadership was strongly committed to achieving results to a great 

or very great extent, as shown below, compared with 54 percent for the rest 

of the government.

Figure 95: Percentage of Federal Managers Who Reported That Agency Top 

Leadership Demonstrated a Strong Commitment to Achieving Results

Source: GAO survey data.

54

49

0

20

40

60

80

100

Justice Rest of government

Percentage responding to a “great” or “very great” extent
Appendix XVIII

Department of Justice: Selected Survey 

Results

Page 130 GAO-01-592 Managers’ Views on Key Issues by Agency

Positive Recognition Twenty-six percent of managers at Justice reported that employees 

received positive recognition to a great or very great extent for helping 

their agency accomplish its strategic goals, as shown below. This 

percentage is not significantly different from that of managers who 

responded this way in the rest of the government (31 percent). 

Figure 96: Percentage of Federal Managers Who Reported That Employees in Their 

Agencies Received Positive Recognition for Helping Their Agencies Accomplish 

Their Strategic Goals

Source: GAO survey data.

31

26

0

20

40

60

80

100

Justice Rest of government

Percentage responding to a “great” or “very great” extent
Appendix XVIII

Department of Justice: Selected Survey 

Results

Page 131 GAO-01-592 Managers’ Views on Key Issues by Agency

Authority and 

Accountability

Thirty-three percent of managers at Justice reported that they had, to a 

great or very great extent, the decisionmaking authority they needed to 

help the agency accomplish its strategic goals, whereas 60 percent 

indicated that they were held accountable for results to a similar extent, as 

shown below. For the rest of the government, these percentages were 36 

and 63, respectively.

Figure 97: Percentage of Federal Managers Who Reported That 

Managers/Supervisors at Their Levels (1) Had the Decisionmaking Authority Needed 

to Help the Agency Accomplish Its Strategic Goals and (2) Were Held Accountable 

for Results

Source: GAO survey data.

36

63

33

60

0

20

40

60

80

100

Had decisionmaking authority Were held accountable for results

Percentage responding to a “great” or “very great” extent

Justice

Rest of government
Appendix XVIII

Department of Justice: Selected Survey 

Results

Page 132 GAO-01-592 Managers’ Views on Key Issues by Agency

Types of Performance 

Measures

When asked about the types of performance measures in their programs, 

the highest percentage of managers at Justice (44 percent) reported having 

output measures and the lowest (20 percent) cited customer service 

measures, as shown below. Thirty-eight percent of managers reported 

having outcome measures.

In addition, percentages of managers at Justice who reported having 

customer service measures (20 percent) and quality measures (25 percent) 

to a great or very great extent were significantly below that of the rest of 

the government. 

Figure 98: Percentage of Federal Managers Who Reported Having Specific Types of 

Performance Measures 

Source: GAO survey data.

38

51

36

44

25

44

32

20

40 40

0

20

40

60

80

100

Justice

Rest of government

Output

measures

Efficiency

measures

Customer

service

measures

Quality

measures

Outcome

measures

Percentage responding to a “great” or “very great” extent
Appendix XVIII

Department of Justice: Selected Survey 

Results

Page 133 GAO-01-592 Managers’ Views on Key Issues by Agency

Use of Performance 

Information

Similar to the rest of the government, less than half of managers at Justice 

reported that they used performance information for each of the 

management activities shown below. In addition, Justice ranked in the 

second lowest quarter of the agencies surveyed for the percentage of 

managers who reported using performance information for each of the 

management activities shown below. 

Figure 99: Percentage of Federal Managers Who Reported Using Performance 

Information for Various Management Activities

Source: GAO survey data.

40

46

30

38 39 37

43 41

35

42

0

20

40

60

80

100 Percentage responding to a “great” or “very great” extent

Justice

Rest of government

Setting program

priorities

Allocating

resources

Adopting

new/different

approaches

Coordinating

program efforts

Setting individual

job expectations
Page 134 GAO-01-592 Managers’ Views on Key Issues by Agency

Appendix XIX

Department of Labor: Selected Survey ResultsApendxiXIX

The Department of Labor was largely similar to the rest of the government, 

except in one aspect of agency climate and one aspect of performance 

measurement. The agency was statistically significantly lower than the rest 

of the government in the percentage of managers who reported that 

employees received positive recognition for helping their agency achieve 

its strategic goals to at least a great extent and the percentage of managers 

reporting that they had customer service measures for their programs. In 

all other areas, Labor was not statistically significantly different from the 

rest of the government.

Top Leadership Over half (56 percent) of managers at Labor expressed the view that their 

top leadership was strongly committed to achieving results to a great or 

very great extent, as shown below. This percentage is about the same as 

that of the rest of the government (53 percent). 

Figure 100: Percentage of Federal Managers Who Reported That Agency Top 

Leadership Demonstrated a Strong Commitment to Achieving Results

Source: GAO survey data.

53 56

0

20

40

60

80

100

Labor Rest of government

Percentage responding to a “great” or “very great” extent
Appendix XIX

Department of Labor: Selected Survey 

Results

Page 135 GAO-01-592 Managers’ Views on Key Issues by Agency

Positive Recognition Eighteen percent of managers at Labor reported that employees received 

positive recognition to a great or very great extent for helping their agency 

accomplish its strategic goals, as shown below. This percentage is 13 

points lower than that of managers who responded this way for the rest of 

the government (31 percent) and this difference is statistically significant. 

For this survey item, Labor was the third lowest ranking agency, after the 

Federal Aviation Administration and the Agency for International 

Development, of the 28 agencies included in the survey. 

Figure 101: Percentage of Federal Managers Who Reported That Employees in Their 

Agencies Received Positive Recognition for Helping Their Agencies Accomplish 

Their Strategic Goals

Source: GAO survey data.

31

18

0

20

40

60

80

100

Labor Rest of government

Percentage responding to a “great” or “very great” extent
Appendix XIX

Department of Labor: Selected Survey 

Results

Page 136 GAO-01-592 Managers’ Views on Key Issues by Agency

Authority and 

Accountability

Forty percent of managers at Labor reported that they had, to a great or 

very great extent, the decisionmaking authority they needed to help the 

agency accomplish its strategic goals, whereas 62 percent indicated that 

they were held accountable for results to a similar extent, as shown below. 

For the rest of the government, these percentages were 36 and 63, 

respectively.

Figure 102: Percentage of Federal Managers Who Reported That 

Managers/Supervisors at Their Levels (1) Had the Decisionmaking Authority Needed 

to Help the Agency Accomplish Its Strategic Goals and (2) Were Held Accountable 

for Results 

Source: GAO survey data.

36

63

40

62

0

20

40

60

80

100

Had decisionmaking authority Were held accountable for results

Percentage responding to a “great” or “very great” extent

Labor

Rest of government
Appendix XIX

Department of Labor: Selected Survey 

Results

Page 137 GAO-01-592 Managers’ Views on Key Issues by Agency

Types of Performance 

Measures

When asked about the types of performance measures in their programs, 

the highest percentage of managers at Labor (55 percent) reported having 

output measures and the lowest (28 percent) cited customer service 

measures, as shown below. In addition, the percentage of managers at 

Labor who reported having customer service measures to a great or very 

great extent was significantly below the percentage of managers for the 

rest of the government (39 percent). Forty percent of managers at Labor 

reported having outcome measures.

Figure 103: Percentage of Federal Managers Who Reported Having Specific Types 

of Performance Measures 

Source: GAO survey data.

40

31

55

36

28

44

35

50

39 39

0

20

40

60

80

100 Percentage responding to a “great” or “very great” extent

Labor

Rest of government

Output

measures

Efficiency

measures

Customer

service

measures

Quality

measures

Outcome

measures
Appendix XIX

Department of Labor: Selected Survey 

Results

Page 138 GAO-01-592 Managers’ Views on Key Issues by Agency

Use of Performance 

Information

Similar to the rest of the government, less than half of managers at Labor 

reported that they used performance information for each of the 

management activities shown below. In addition, the agency ranked in the 

lowest quarter of agencies we surveyed concerning the use of such 

information when coordinating program efforts with internal or external 

organizations (27 percent).

Figure 104: Percentage of Federal Managers Who Reported Using Performance 

Information for Various Management Activities

Source: GAO survey data.

42

27

46

41

45

41 43

45

35

42

0

20

40

60

80

100 Percentage responding to a “great” or “very great” extent

Labor

Rest of government

Setting program

priorities

Allocating

resources

Adopting

new/different

approaches

Coordinating

program efforts

Setting individual

job expectations
Page 139 GAO-01-592 Managers’ Views on Key Issues by Agency

Appendix XX

National Aeronautics and Space 

Administration: Selected Survey Results ApendxiX

The National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) was above the 

rest of the government in aspects of agency climate, performance 

measurement, and the use of performance information. It was statistically 

significantly higher than the rest of the government in the percentages of 

managers who reported that the agency’s top leadership demonstrated a 

strong commitment to achieving results; that the agency provided positive 

recognition of employees who helped the agency achieve its strategic 

goals; that they had outcome, quality, and customer service measures; and 

that they used performance information to allocate resources. In all other 

areas, the agency was not statistically significantly different from the rest 

of the government. For the items discussed in this appendix, NASA was in 

the top quarter of the 28 agencies we surveyed when ranked by the total 

number of items they had that were statistically significantly higher than 

the rest of the government. 

The percentage of NASA managers reporting that the agency’s leadership 

demonstrated a strong commitment to achieving results to at least a great 

extent was second highest, along with the Social Security Administration 

(SSA), and just behind the National Science Foundation (NSF), among the 

agencies we surveyed. The agency also had the highest percentage of 

managers reporting that their programs had quality measures and was tied 

for second highest with the Office of Personnel Management (OPM), after 

the Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) and the General Services 

Administration (GSA), in the percentage of managers reporting that they 

had customer service measures. 
Appendix XX

National Aeronautics and Space 

Administration: Selected Survey Results

Page 140 GAO-01-592 Managers’ Views on Key Issues by Agency

Top Leadership Over two-thirds (68 percent) of NASA managers expressed the view that 

their top leadership was strongly committed to achieving results to a great 

or very great extent, as shown below. This percentage is 15 points higher 

than that of the rest of the government (53 percent), and this difference is 

statistically significant. NASA ranked second highest, along with SSA and 

after NSF, of the 28 agencies included in the survey. 

Figure 105: Percentage of Federal Managers Who Reported That Agency Top 

Leadership Demonstrated a Strong Commitment to Achieving Results

Source: GAO survey data.

53

68

0

20

40

60

80

100

NASA Rest of government

Percentage responding to a “great” or “very great” extent
Appendix XX

National Aeronautics and Space 

Administration: Selected Survey Results

Page 141 GAO-01-592 Managers’ Views on Key Issues by Agency

Positive Recognition Forty-seven percent of NASA managers reported that employees received 

positive recognition to a great or very great extent for helping their agency 

accomplish its strategic goals, as shown below. This percentage is 17 

points higher than that of managers who responded this way for the rest of 

the government (30 percent) and this difference is statistically significant. 

Figure 106: Percentage of Federal Managers Who Reported That Employees in Their 

Agencies Received Positive Recognition for Helping Their Agencies Accomplish 

Their Strategic Goals

Source: GAO survey data.

30

47

0

20

40

60

80

100

NASA Rest of government

Percentage responding to a “great” or “very great” extent
Appendix XX

National Aeronautics and Space 

Administration: Selected Survey Results

Page 142 GAO-01-592 Managers’ Views on Key Issues by Agency

Authority and 

Accountability

Forty-one percent of NASA managers reported that they had, to a great or 

very great extent, the decisionmaking authority they needed to help the 

agency accomplish its strategic goals, whereas 68 percent indicated that 

they were held accountable for results to a similar extent, as shown below. 

For the rest of the government, these percentages were 36 and 63, 

respectively. 

Figure 107: Percentage of Federal Managers Who Reported That 

Managers/Supervisors at Their Levels (1) Had the Decisionmaking Authority Needed 

to Help the Agency Accomplish Its Strategic Goals and (2) Were Held Accountable 

for Results

Source: GAO survey data.

36

63

41

68

0

20

40

60

80

100

Had decisionmaking authority Were held accountable for results

Percentage responding to a “great” or “very great” extent

NASA

Rest of government
Appendix XX

National Aeronautics and Space 

Administration: Selected Survey Results

Page 143 GAO-01-592 Managers’ Views on Key Issues by Agency

Types of Performance 

Measures

When asked about the types of performance measures in their programs, 

the highest percentage of NASA managers (63 percent) reported having 

outcome measures and the lowest (43 percent) cited efficiency measures, 

as shown below. NASA was one of only seven agencies where outcome 

measures were cited more frequently than output measures. (The others 

were the Agency for International Development, Department of Energy, 

Federal Emergency Management Agency, Department of Health and 

Human Services, National Science Foundation, and Office of Personnel 

Management.) 

In addition, the percentages of NASA managers who reported having 

outcome measures (63 percent), quality measures (61 percent), or 

customer service measures (52 percent) to a great or very great extent 

were all significantly above the percentages of managers reporting these 

results for the rest of the government. NASA ranked highest of 28 agencies 

in the percentage of managers reporting that their programs had quality 

measures and second highest, along with OPM and after VA and GSA, in the 

percentage citing customer service measures. 

Figure 108: Percentage of Federal Managers Who Reported Having Specific Types 

of Performance Measures 

Source: GAO survey data.

63

59 61

43

52

35

43

50

38 39

0

20

40

60

80

100 Percentage responding to a “great” or “very great” extent

NASA

Rest of government

Output

measures

Efficiency

measures

Customer

service

measures

Quality

measures

Outcome

measures
Appendix XX

National Aeronautics and Space 

Administration: Selected Survey Results

Page 144 GAO-01-592 Managers’ Views on Key Issues by Agency

Use of Performance 

Information

NASA ranked statistically significantly higher than the rest of the 

government in the percentage of managers who indicated that they used 

performance information when allocating resources (54 and 43 percent, 

respectively), as shown below. 

Figure 109: Percentage of Federal Managers Who Reported Using Performance 

Information for Various Management Activities

Source: GAO survey data.

50

39

53 54 52

41

45 43

35

42

0

20

40

60

80

100 Percentage responding to a “great” or “very great” extent

NASA

Rest of government

Setting program

priorities

Allocating

resources

Adopting

new/different

approaches

Coordinating

program efforts

Setting individual

job expectations
Page 145 GAO-01-592 Managers’ Views on Key Issues by Agency

Appendix XXI

National Science Foundation: Selected Survey 

Results ApendxiXI

The National Science Foundation (NSF) was above the rest of the 

government in one aspect of agency climate, and the agency was below the 

rest of the government in aspects of the use of performance information. It 

was statistically significantly higher than the rest of the government and 

ranked first of the 28 agencies included in the survey in the percentage of 

managers who reported that their agency’s top leadership was strongly 

committed to achieving results to at least a great extent. 

NSF was significantly lower than the rest of the government in the 

percentage of managers who indicated that they used performance 

information when carrying out three management tasks: setting program 

priorities, allocating resources, and setting individual job expectations. 

For all three of these items, NSF ranked among the lowest of the agencies 

we surveyed. The agency had the lowest percentage of managers reporting 

that they used performance information when setting program priorities 

and when allocating resources. NSF had the second lowest percentage, 

next to the Health Care Financing Administration, for managers reporting 

that they used this information when setting individual job expectations for 

staff. In all other areas, NSF was not statistically significantly different 

from the rest of the government.
Appendix XXI

National Science Foundation: Selected 

Survey Results

Page 146 GAO-01-592 Managers’ Views on Key Issues by Agency

Top Leadership More than two-thirds (69 percent) of NSF managers expressed the view 

that their top leadership was strongly committed to achieving results to a 

great or very great extent, as shown below. This percentage is 16 points 

higher than that of the rest of the government (53 percent), and this 

difference is statistically significant. For this survey item, NSF ranks first 

of the 28 agencies included in the survey. 

Figure 110: Percentage of Federal Managers Who Reported That Agency Top 

Leadership Demonstrated a Strong Commitment to Achieving Results

Source: GAO survey data.

53

69

0

20

40

60

80

100

NSF Rest of government

Percentage responding to a “great” or “very great” extent
Appendix XXI

National Science Foundation: Selected 

Survey Results

Page 147 GAO-01-592 Managers’ Views on Key Issues by Agency

Positive Recognition Thirty-seven percent of NSF managers reported that employees received 

positive recognition to a great or very great extent for helping their agency 

accomplish its strategic goals, as shown below, compared with 31 percent 

for the rest of the government.

Figure 111: Percentage of Federal Managers Who Reported That Employees in Their 

Agencies Received Positive Recognition for Helping Their Agencies Accomplish 

Their Strategic Goals

Source: GAO survey data.

31

37

0

20

40

60

80

100

NSF Rest of government

Percentage responding to a “great” or “very great” extent
Appendix XXI

National Science Foundation: Selected 

Survey Results

Page 148 GAO-01-592 Managers’ Views on Key Issues by Agency

Authority and 

Accountability

Forty-four percent of NSF managers reported that they had, to a great or 

very great extent, the decisionmaking authority they needed to help the 

agency accomplish its strategic goals, whereas 62 percent indicated that 

they were held accountable for results to a similar extent, as shown below. 

For the rest of the government, these percentages were 36 and 63, 

respectively.

NSF managers’ response concerning the extent of their decisionmaking 

authority ranked third highest among the 28 agencies surveyed (after the 

Office of Personnel Management and the Department of Commerce), 

although the difference from the rest of the government was not 

statistically significant. 

Figure 112: Percentage of Federal Managers Who Reported That 

Managers/Supervisors at Their Levels (1) Had the Decisionmaking Authority Needed 

to Help the Agency Accomplish Its Strategic Goals and (2) Were Held Accountable 

for Results 

Source: GAO survey data.

36

63

44

62

0

20

40

60

80

100

Had decisionmaking authority Were held accountable for results

Percentage responding to a “great” or “very great” extent

NSF

Rest of government
Appendix XXI

National Science Foundation: Selected 

Survey Results

Page 149 GAO-01-592 Managers’ Views on Key Issues by Agency

Types of Performance 

Measures 

When asked about the types of performance measures in their programs, 

the highest percentage of NSF managers reported having outcome 

measures (55 percent) and the agency ranked in the top quarter of the 

agencies surveyed for the percentage of managers citing this type of 

measure. The lowest percentage of NSF managers responding on this topic 

were those who reported having efficiency measures to at least a great 

extent in their programs (35 percent), as shown below. NSF was one of 

only seven agencies where outcome measures were cited more frequently 

than output measures. (The others were the Agency for International 

Development, Department of Energy, Federal Emergency Management 

Agency, Department of Health and Human Services, National Aeronautics 

and Space Administration, and Office of Personnel Management.) 

Figure 113: Percentage of Federal Managers Who Reported Having Specific Types 

of Performance Measures 

Source: GAO survey data.

55

38

47

35

40

50

35

44

39 39

0

20

40

60

80

100 Percentage responding to a “great” or “very great” extent

NSF

Rest of government

Output

measures

Efficiency

measures

Customer

service

measures

Quality

measures

Outcome

measures
Appendix XXI

National Science Foundation: Selected 

Survey Results

Page 150 GAO-01-592 Managers’ Views on Key Issues by Agency

Use of Performance 

Information

NSF was significantly lower than the rest of the government in the 

percentage of managers who indicated that they used performance 

information for each of the management activities shown below, except for 

adopting new program approaches or changing work processes and 

coordinating program efforts with internal or external organizations. 

In addition, the agency ranked last among the 28 agencies we surveyed 

concerning the use of performance information when setting program 

priorities (26 percent) and allocating resources (24 percent) and second 

from last, ahead of HCFA, when setting individual job expectations for staff 

(22 percent). 

Figure 114: Percentage of Federal Managers Who Reported Using Performance 

Information for Various Management Activities

Source: GAO survey data.

22

45 43 41

29 26 24 27

35

42

0

20

40

60

80

100 Percentage responding to a “great” or “very great” extent

NSF

Rest of government

Setting program

priorities

Allocating

resources

Adopting

new/different

approaches

Coordinating

program efforts

Setting individual

job expectations
Page 151 GAO-01-592 Managers’ Views on Key Issues by Agency

Appendix XXII

Nuclear Regulatory Commission: Selected 

Survey Results ApendxXi I

The Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC) was above the rest of the 

government for aspects of agency climate, and the agency was both above 

and below the rest of the government for different aspects of performance 

measurement. It was statistically significantly higher than the rest of the 

government in the percentages of managers who reported that their 

agency’s top leadership demonstrated a strong commitment to achieving 

results; that the agency provided positive recognition of employees who 

helped the agency achieve its strategic goals; and that they used output 

measures. In addition, NRC was significantly lower in the percentage of 

managers who reported having customer service, quality, and outcome 

measures. In all other areas, the agency was not statistically significantly 

different from the rest of the government.

NRC ranked fourth, after the National Science Foundation, Social Security 

Administration, and National Aeronautics and Space Administration, in the 

percentage of managers who reported that their agency’s top leadership 

was strongly committed to achieving results to at least a great extent and 

ranked last among the agencies surveyed in the percentage of managers 

who reported having customer service measures. 
Appendix XXII

Nuclear Regulatory Commission: Selected 

Survey Results

Page 152 GAO-01-592 Managers’ Views on Key Issues by Agency

Top Leadership More than two-thirds (67 percent) of NRC managers expressed the view 

that their top leadership was strongly committed to achieving results to a 

great or very great extent, as shown below. This percentage is 14 points 

higher than that of the rest of the government (53 percent), and this 

difference is statistically significant. 

Figure 115: Percentage of Federal Managers Who Reported That Agency Top 

Leadership Demonstrated a Strong Commitment to Achieving Results

Source: GAO survey data.

53

67

0

20

40

60

80

100

NRC Rest of government

Percentage responding to a “great” or “very great” extent
Appendix XXII

Nuclear Regulatory Commission: Selected 

Survey Results

Page 153 GAO-01-592 Managers’ Views on Key Issues by Agency

Positive Recognition Forty-five percent of NRC managers reported that employees received 

positive recognition to a great or very great extent for helping their agency 

accomplish its strategic goals, as shown below. This percentage is 14 

points higher than that of managers who responded this way for the rest of 

the government (31 percent) and this difference is statistically significant. 

Figure 116: Percentage of Federal Managers Who Reported That Employees in Their 

Agencies Received Positive Recognition for Helping Their Agencies Accomplish 

Their Strategic Goals

Source: GAO survey data.

31

45

0

20

40

60

80

100

NRC Rest of government

Percentage responding to a “great” or “very great” extent
Appendix XXII

Nuclear Regulatory Commission: Selected 

Survey Results

Page 154 GAO-01-592 Managers’ Views on Key Issues by Agency

Authority and 

Accountability

Thirty-two percent of NRC managers reported that they had, to a great or 

very great extent, the decisionmaking authority they needed to help the 

agency accomplish its strategic goals, whereas 69 percent indicated that 

they were held accountable for results to a similar extent, as shown below. 

For the rest of the government, these percentages were 36 and 63, 

respectively. 

Figure 117: Percentage of Federal Managers Who Reported That 

Managers/Supervisors at Their Levels (1) Had the Decisionmaking Authority Needed 

to Help the Agency Accomplish Its Strategic Goals and (2) Were Held Accountable 

for Results. 

Source: GAO survey data.

36

63

32

69

0

20

40

60

80

100

Had decisionmaking authority Were held accountable for results

Percentage responding to a “great” or “very great” extent

NRC

Rest of government
Appendix XXII

Nuclear Regulatory Commission: Selected 

Survey Results

Page 155 GAO-01-592 Managers’ Views on Key Issues by Agency

Types of Performance 

Measures

When asked about the types of performance measures in their programs, 

the highest percentage of NRC managers (68 percent) reported having 

output measures and the lowest (14 percent) cited customer service 

measures, as shown below.

NRC was statistically significantly higher than the rest of the government in 

the percentage of its managers who identified having output measures to a 

great or very great extent (68 percent). The percentages of NRC managers 

who reported having customer service measures (14 percent), quality 

measures (27 percent), or outcome measures (30 percent) were all 

statistically significantly below the percentages of managers for the rest of 

the federal government. In addition, NRC ranked last of the 28 agencies 

included in the survey for the percentage of managers who reported that 

they had customer service measures.

Figure 118: Percentage of Federal Managers Who Reported Having Specific Types 

of Performance Measures Source: GAO survey data.

Source: GAO survey data.

30

44

27

68

38

14

35

50

39 39

0

20

40

60

80

100 Percentage responding to a “great” or “very great” extent

NRC

Rest of government

Output

measures

Efficiency

measures

Customer

service

measures

Quality

measures

Outcome

measures
Appendix XXII

Nuclear Regulatory Commission: Selected 

Survey Results

Page 156 GAO-01-592 Managers’ Views on Key Issues by Agency

Use of Performance 

Information

Similar to the rest of the government, less than half of NRC managers 

reported that they used performance information for each of the 

management activities shown below. 

Figure 119: Percentage of Federal Managers Who Reported Using Performance 

Information for Various Management Activities

Source: GAO survey data.

43

38

46

40

36

43 45

41

35

42

0

20

40

60

80

100 Percentage responding to a “great” or “very great” extent

NRC

Rest of government

Setting program

priorities

Allocating

resources

Adopting

new/different

approaches

Coordinating

program efforts

Setting individual

job expectations
Page 157 GAO-01-592 Managers’ Views on Key Issues by Agency

Appendix XXIII

Office of Personnel Management: Selected 

Survey Results ApendxiXI

The Office of Personnel Management (OPM) was higher than the rest of the 

government in aspects of agency climate and the use of performance 

information. The agency was statistically significantly higher than the rest 

of the government in the percentages of managers who reported that their 

agency provided positive recognition of employees who helped the agency 

achieve its strategic goals; that managers had the decisionmaking authority 

they needed to help their agency accomplish its strategic goals; and that 

they used performance information when allocating resources and 

adopting new program approaches or changing work processes. In all 

other areas, the agency was not statistically significantly different from the 

rest of the government. 

Of the 28 agencies surveyed, OPM had the highest percentage of managers 

who reported that they had the decisionmaking authority they needed to 

achieve results to at least a great extent. The agency ranked third, after the 

General Services Administration (GSA) and the Small Business 

Administration (SBA), in the percentage of managers who indicated that 

employees received positive recognition for achieving results to a great or 

very great extent. OPM managers again ranked first among the agencies 

surveyed in their use of performance information when allocating 

resources and when adopting new or different program approaches. 
Appendix XXIII

Office of Personnel Management: Selected 

Survey Results

Page 158 GAO-01-592 Managers’ Views on Key Issues by Agency

Top Leadership Almost two-thirds (63 percent) of OPM managers expressed the view that 

their top leadership was strongly committed to achieving results to a great 

or very great extent, as shown below, which is not a statistically significant 

difference from managers in the rest of government (53 percent). 

Figure 120: Percentage of Federal Managers Who Reported That Agency Top 

Leadership Demonstrated a Strong Commitment to Achieving Results

Source: GAO survey data.

53

63

0

20

40

60

80

100

OPM Rest of government

Percentage responding to a “great” or “very great” extent
Appendix XXIII

Office of Personnel Management: Selected 

Survey Results

Page 159 GAO-01-592 Managers’ Views on Key Issues by Agency

Positive Recognition Forty-nine percent of OPM managers reported that employees received 

positive recognition to a great or very great extent for helping their agency 

accomplish its strategic goals, as shown below. This percentage is 18 

points higher than that of managers who responded this way for the rest of 

the government (31 percent) and this difference is statistically significant. 

OPM was the third highest-ranking agency, behind GSA and SBA, of the 28 

agencies included in the survey. 

Figure 121: Percentage of Federal Managers Who Reported That Employees in Their 

Agencies Received Positive Recognition for Helping Their Agencies Accomplish 

Their Strategic Goals

Source: GAO survey data.

31

49

0

20

40

60

80

100

OPM Rest of government

Percentage responding to a “great” or “very great” extent
Appendix XXIII

Office of Personnel Management: Selected 

Survey Results

Page 160 GAO-01-592 Managers’ Views on Key Issues by Agency

Authority and 

Accountability

Fifty-eight percent of OPM managers reported that they had, to a great or 

very great extent, the decisionmaking authority they needed to help the 

agency accomplish its strategic goals, whereas 76 percent indicated that 

they were held accountable for results to a similar extent, as shown below. 

OPM managers’ response concerning the extent of their decisionmaking 

authority was the highest among the 28 agencies surveyed. OPM’s 58 

percent is statistically significantly higher than the 36 percent reported by 

the rest of the government. OPM managers’ response concerning the 

extent to which managers were held accountable for results (76 percent) 

was the second highest of all agencies surveyed (after HUD), although 

OPM was not statistically significantly different from the rest of the 

government (63 percent).

Figure 122: Percentage of Federal Managers Who Reported That 

Managers/Supervisors at Their Levels (1) Had the Decisionmaking Authority Needed 

to Help the Agency Accomplish Its Strategic Goals and (2) Were Held Accountable 

for Results

Source: GAO survey data.

36

63

58

76

0

20

40

60

80

100

Had decisionmaking authority Were held accountable for results

Percentage responding to a “great” or “very great” extent

OPM

Rest of government
Appendix XXIII

Office of Personnel Management: Selected 

Survey Results

Page 161 GAO-01-592 Managers’ Views on Key Issues by Agency

Types of Performance 

Measures

When asked about the types of performance measures in their programs, 

the highest percentage of OPM managers (58 percent) reported having 

outcome measures and the lowest (43 percent) cited efficiency measures, 

as shown below. OPM was one of only seven agencies where outcome 

measures were cited more frequently than output measures. (The others 

were the Agency for International Development, Department of Energy, 

Federal Emergency Management Agency, Department of Health and 

Human Services, National Aeronautics and Space Administration, and 

National Science Foundation.) 

In addition, OPM, along with the National Aeronautics and Space 

Administration (NASA) and behind the Department of Veterans Affairs 

(VA) and GSA, had the second highest percentage of managers who 

reported that their programs had customer service measures (52 percent) 

and third highest after NASA and VA for quality measures (54 percent) and, 

after NASA and HUD, for outcome measures (58 percent). OPM was not 

statistically significantly different from the rest of the government on these 

items. 

Figure 123: Percentage of Federal Managers Who Reported Having Specific Types 

of Performance Measures 

Source: GAO survey data.

58

54 56

43

52

44

35

50

39 39

0

20

40

60

80

100

OPM

Rest of government

Output

measures

Efficiency

measures

Customer

service

measures

Quality

measures

Outcome

measures

Percentage responding to a “great” or “very great” extent
Appendix XXIII

Office of Personnel Management: Selected 

Survey Results

Page 162 GAO-01-592 Managers’ Views on Key Issues by Agency

Use of Performance 

Information

OPM ranked statistically significantly higher than the rest of the 

government in the percentage of managers who indicated that they used 

performance information when allocating resources (66 percent) and when 

adopting new program approaches or changing work processes (64 

percent), as shown below. The agency ranked first among the 28 agencies 

surveyed for both of these items. In addition, the agency was among the 

top quarter of agencies concerning the use of performance information 

when setting program priorities (56 percent) or setting individual job 

expectations for staff (50 percent). However, OPM was not statistically 

significantly different from the rest of the government on either of these 

two items. 

Figure 124: Percentage of Federal Managers Who Reported Using Performance 

Information for Various Management Activities

Source: GAO survey data.

50

39

56

66

64

41 43

45

35

42

0

20

40

60

80

100 Percentage responding to a “great” or “very great” extent

OPM

Rest of government

Setting program

priorities

Allocating

resources

Adopting

new/different

approaches

Coordinating

program efforts

Setting individual

job expectations
Page 163 GAO-01-592 Managers’ Views on Key Issues by Agency

Appendix XXIV

Small Business Administration: Selected 

Survey Results ApendxiXIV

The Small Business Administration (SBA) was higher than the rest of the 

government in aspects of agency climate, performance measurement, and, 

particularly, the use of performance information. The agency was lower 

than the rest of the government in one aspect of performance 

measurement. It was statistically significantly higher than the rest of the 

government for survey items concerning the percentage of employees 

receiving positive recognition, accountability for results, having output 

measures, and using performance information for all five key activities 

discussed in this appendix. SBA was significantly below the rest of the 

government in the percentage of managers who reported having quality 

measures. Of the survey items discussed in this appendix, SBA and the 

General Services Administration (GSA) had the greatest number of items 

for which they were significantly higher than the rest of the government. In 

all other areas, SBA was not statistically significantly different from the 

rest of the government.

The agency ranked second after GSA among the 28 agencies surveyed in 

the percentage of managers reporting that employees received positive 

recognition for helping the agency accomplish its strategic goals to at least 

a great extent. While generally comparable to the rest of the government 

for the other types of performance measures we asked about, SBA was 

ranked first among the agencies surveyed—along with the Department of 

Housing and Urban Development (HUD)—in the percentage of managers 

who reported that they had output measures. SBA also ranked first in the 

percentage of managers who indicated that they used performance 

information when setting individual job expectations. 
Appendix XXIV

Small Business Administration: Selected 

Survey Results

Page 164 GAO-01-592 Managers’ Views on Key Issues by Agency

Top Leadership Slightly more than half (54 percent) of SBA managers expressed the view 

that their top leadership was strongly committed to achieving results to a 

great or very great extent, as shown below, and this percentage is about the 

same as managers who responded this way for the rest of the government 

(53 percent). 

Figure 125: Percentage of Federal Managers Who Reported That Agency Top 

Leadership Demonstrated a Strong Commitment to Achieving Results.

Source: GAO survey data.

53 54

0

20

40

60

80

100

SBA Rest of government

Percentage responding to a “great” or “very great” extent
Appendix XXIV

Small Business Administration: Selected 

Survey Results

Page 165 GAO-01-592 Managers’ Views on Key Issues by Agency

Positive Recognition Fifty-one percent of SBA managers reported that employees received 

positive recognition to a great or very great extent for helping their agency 

accomplish its strategic goals, as shown below. This percentage is 21 

points higher than that of managers who responded this way for the rest of 

the government (30 percent) and this difference is statistically significant. 

SBA ranked second highest, after GSA, of the 28 agencies included in the 

survey. 

Figure 126: Percentage of Federal Managers Who Reported That Employees in Their 

Agencies Received Positive Recognition for Helping Their Agencies Accomplish 

Their Strategic Goals

Source: GAO survey data.

30

51

0

20

40

60

80

100

SBA Rest of government

Percentage responding to a “great” or “very great” extent
Appendix XXIV

Small Business Administration: Selected 

Survey Results

Page 166 GAO-01-592 Managers’ Views on Key Issues by Agency

Authority and 

Accountability

Twenty-seven percent of SBA managers reported that they had, to a great 

or very great extent, the decisionmaking authority they needed to help the 

agency accomplish its strategic goals, whereas 75 percent indicated that 

they were held accountable for results to a similar extent, as shown below. 

SBA was among five agencies surveyed where the gap between 

accountability and authority was wide and exceeded 40 percentage points. 

(The others were the Federal Aviation Administration, Internal Revenue 

Service, Social Security Administration, and Department of Housing and 

Urban Development.)

SBA managers’ response concerning the extent to which managers are held 

accountable for results (75 percent) was statistically significantly higher 

than the 63 percent reported by the rest of the government. SBA managers’

response concerning the extent of their decisionmaking authority placed 

the agency in the bottom quarter of agencies surveyed, although the 

difference between SBA (27 percent) and the rest of the government 

(36 percent) was not statistically significant. 

Figure 127: Percentage of Federal Managers Who Reported That 

Managers/Supervisors at Their Levels (1) Had the Decisionmaking Authority Needed 

to Help the Agency Accomplish Its Strategic Goals and (2) Were Held Accountable 

for Results 

Source: GAO survey data.

36

63

27

75

0

20

40

60

80

100

Had decisionmaking authority Were held accountable for results

Percentage responding to a “great” or “very great” extent

SBA

Rest of government
Appendix XXIV

Small Business Administration: Selected 

Survey Results

Page 167 GAO-01-592 Managers’ Views on Key Issues by Agency

Types of Performance 

Measures

When asked about the types of performance measures in their programs, 

the highest percentage of SBA managers (75 percent) reported having 

output measures and the lowest (24 percent) cited quality measures, as 

shown below. Forty-four percent of managers reported having outcome 

measures.

SBA was statistically significantly higher than the rest of the government in 

the percentage of its managers who identified having output measures to a 

great or very great extent (75 percent). However, the percentage of SBA 

managers who reported having quality measures (24 percent) was 

significantly below the percentage for the rest of the government

(39 percent). In addition, SBA was tied for first with HUD among the 

28 agencies surveyed in the percentage of managers who reported that they 

had output measures.

Figure 128: Percentage of Federal Managers Who Reported Having Specific Types 

of Performance Measures 

Source: GAO survey data.

44

35

24

75

31

29

44

50

39 39

0

20

40

60

80

100

SBA

Rest of government

Percentage responding to a “great” or “very great” extent

Output

measures

Efficiency

measures

Customer

service

measures

Quality

measures

Outcome

measures
Appendix XXIV

Small Business Administration: Selected 

Survey Results

Page 168 GAO-01-592 Managers’ Views on Key Issues by Agency

Use of Performance 

Information

SBA was statistically significantly higher than the rest of the government in 

the percentage of managers who indicated that they used performance 

information for all five management activities shown below. In addition, 

the agency ranked first among the 28 agencies we surveyed concerning the 

use of performance information when setting individual job expectations 

for staff (66 percent). SBA was second from the top in the percentage of 

managers reporting that they used such information when allocating 

resources (61 percent), after the Office of Personnel Management (OPM). 

SBA also ranked second to OPM in the percentage of managers who cited 

using this information when adopting new program approaches or 

changing work processes (61 percent). Finally, it was third, after HUD and 

the Social Security Administration, in the percentage of managers reporting 

that they used such information when setting program priorities (61 

percent).

Figure 129: Percentage of Federal Managers Who Reported Using Performance 

Information for Various Management Activities

Source: GAO survey data.

66

47

61 61 61

41 43 45

35

42

0

20

40

60

80

100 Percentage responding to a “great” or “very great” extent

SBA

Rest of government

Setting program

priorities

Allocating

resources

Adopting

new/different

approaches

Coordinating

program efforts

Setting individual

job expectations
Page 169 GAO-01-592 Managers’ Views on Key Issues by Agency

Appendix XXV

Social Security Administration: Selected 

Survey Results ApendxXi V

The Social Security Administration (SSA) was above the rest of the 

government in aspects of agency climate, performance measurement, and 

the use of performance information, and it was below the rest of the 

government in other aspects of agency climate and performance 

measurement. The agency was statistically significantly higher than the 

rest of the government in the percentage of managers reporting that their 

agency’s top leadership had a strong commitment to achieving results; that 

they used output measures, and that they used performance information to 

set program priorities. SSA was significantly lower in the percentage of 

managers reporting that they had the decisionmaking authority they 

needed, and that they had quality performance measures. In all other 

areas, the agency was not statistically significantly different from the rest 

of the government.

SSA and the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) were 

second highest among the 28 agencies, after the National Science 

Foundation (NSF), in the percentage of managers who reported that their 

agency’s top leadership was strongly committed to achieving results to at 

least a great extent. Yet, SSA was the third lowest agency, before the 

Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) and the Internal Revenue Service 

(IRS), in the percentage of managers who believed that they had the 

decisionmaking authority they needed to achieve results to a similar 

extent. 
Appendix XXV

Social Security Administration: Selected 

Survey Results

Page 170 GAO-01-592 Managers’ Views on Key Issues by Agency

Top Leadership Over two-thirds (68 percent) of managers at SSA expressed the view that 

their top leadership was strongly committed to achieving results to a great 

or very great extent, as shown below. This percentage is 15 points higher 

than that of the rest of the government (53 percent), and this difference is 

statistically significant. SSA and NASA were second to NSF for the 28 

agencies included in the survey on this item. 

Figure 130: Percentage of Federal Managers Who Reported That Agency Top 

Leadership Demonstrated a Strong Commitment to Achieving Results

Source: GAO survey data.

53

68

0

20

40

60

80

100

SSA Rest of government

Percentage responding to a “great” or “very great” extent
Appendix XXV

Social Security Administration: Selected 

Survey Results

Page 171 GAO-01-592 Managers’ Views on Key Issues by Agency

Positive Recognition Thirty-six percent of SSA managers reported that employees received 

positive recognition to a great or very great extent for helping their agency 

accomplish its strategic goals compared with 30 percent for the rest of the 

government, as shown below. 

Figure 131: Percentage of Federal Managers Who Reported That Employees in Their 

Agencies Received Positive Recognition for Helping Their Agencies Accomplish 

Their Strategic Goals

Source: GAO survey data.

30

36

0

20

40

60

80

100

SSA Rest of government

Percentage responding to a “great” or “very great” extent
Appendix XXV

Social Security Administration: Selected 

Survey Results

Page 172 GAO-01-592 Managers’ Views on Key Issues by Agency

Authority and 

Accountability

Twenty-three percent of SSA managers reported that they had, to a great or 

very great extent, the decisionmaking authority they needed to help the 

agency accomplish its strategic goals, whereas 68 percent indicated that 

they were held accountable for results to a similar extent, as shown below. 

SSA was among five agencies surveyed where the gap between 

accountability and authority was wide and exceeded 40 percentage points. 

(The others were the Internal Revenue Service, Federal Aviation 

Administration, Small Business Administration, and Department of 

Housing and Urban Development.)

SSA managers’ response concerning the extent of their decisionmaking 

authority (23 percent) was the third lowest, ahead of FAA and IRS, among 

the 28 agencies surveyed and is statistically significantly lower than the 

36 percent reported by the rest of the government.

Figure 132: Percentage of Federal Managers Who Reported That 

Managers/Supervisors at Their Levels (1) Had the Decisionmaking Authority Needed 

to Help the Agency Accomplish Its Strategic Goals and (2) Were Held Accountable 

for Results. 

Source: GAO survey data.

36

62

23

68

0

20

40

60

80

100

Had decisionmaking authority Were held accountable for results

Percentage responding to a “great” or “very great” extent

SSA

Rest of government
Appendix XXV

Social Security Administration: Selected 

Survey Results

Page 173 GAO-01-592 Managers’ Views on Key Issues by Agency

Types of Performance 

Measures

When asked about the types of performance measures in their programs, 

the highest percentage of SSA managers (73 percent) reported having 

output measures and the lowest (29 percent) cited quality measures, as 

shown below. Forty-eight percent of managers reported having outcome 

measures.

SSA was statistically significantly higher than the rest of the government in 

the percentage of its managers who identified having output measures to a 

great or very great extent. The percentage of SSA managers who reported 

having quality measures (29 percent) was significantly below the 

percentages of managers for the rest of the government. 

Figure 133: Percentage of Federal Managers Who Reported Having Specific Types 

of Performance Measures 

Source: GAO survey data.

49 48

44

29

73

45

40

35

38 39

0

20

40

60

80

100

SSA

Rest of government

Percentage responding to a “great” or “very great” extent

Output

measures

Efficiency

measures

Customer

service

measures

Quality

measures

Outcome

measures
Appendix XXV

Social Security Administration: Selected 

Survey Results

Page 174 GAO-01-592 Managers’ Views on Key Issues by Agency

Use of Performance 

Information

In contrast to the rest of the federal government, 62 percent of managers at 

SSA reported that they used performance information to a great or very 

great extent when setting program priorities. This is a statistically 

significant difference when compared to the 44 percent of managers who 

responded in this way across the rest of the government, as shown below. 

Figure 134: Percentage of Federal Managers Who Reported Using Performance 

Information for Various Management Activities

Source: GAO survey data.

45

39

62

49 50

43 44

41

35

42

0

20

40

60

80

100 Percentage responding to a “great” or “very great” extent

SSA

Rest of government

Setting program

priorities

Allocating

resources

Adopting

new/different

approaches

Coordinating

program efforts

Setting individual

job expectations
Page 175 GAO-01-592 Managers’ Views on Key Issues by Agency

Appendix XXVI

Department of State: Selected Survey Results ApendxiXVI

The Department of State was below the rest of the government in aspects 

of agency climate, performance measurement, and the use of performance 

information. It was statistically significantly lower than the rest of the 

government in the percentage of managers who reported that managers 

were held accountable by their agency for results. State also ranked 

significantly lower in the percentage of managers who reported having 

customer service and quality measures and using performance information 

when coordinating program efforts with other organizations. In all other 

areas, State was not statistically significantly different from the rest of the 

government.

Top Leadership Less than half (46 percent) of managers at the Department of State 

expressed the view that their top leadership was strongly committed to 

achieving results to a great or very great extent, compared with 53 percent 

for the rest of the government, as shown below. 

Figure 135: Percentage of Federal Managers Who Reported That Agency Top 

Leadership Demonstrated a Strong Commitment to Achieving Results

Source: GAO survey data.

53

46

0

20

40

60

80

100

State Rest of government

Percentage responding to a “great” or “very great” extent
Appendix XXVI

Department of State: Selected Survey 

Results

Page 176 GAO-01-592 Managers’ Views on Key Issues by Agency

Positive Recognition Thirty-six percent of State managers reported that employees received 

positive recognition to a great or very great extent for helping their agency 

accomplish its strategic goals, as shown below, compared with 30 percent 

for the rest of the government, as shown below. 

Figure 136: Percentage of Federal Managers Who Reported That Employees in Their 

Agencies Received Positive Recognition for Helping Their Agencies Accomplish 

Their Strategic Goals

Source: GAO survey data.

30

36

0

20

40

60

80

100

State Rest of government

Percentage responding to a “great” or “very great” extent
Appendix XXVI

Department of State: Selected Survey 

Results

Page 177 GAO-01-592 Managers’ Views on Key Issues by Agency

Authority and 

Accountability

Thirty-five percent of managers at State reported that they had, to a great 

or very great extent, the decisionmaking authority they needed to help the 

agency accomplish its strategic goals, whereas 49 percent indicated that 

they were held accountable for results to a similar extent, as shown below. 

State managers' response concerning the extent to which managers were 

held accountable for results (49 percent) was statistically significantly 

lower than the 63 percent reported by the rest of the government. State 

was one of six agencies surveyed that had less than half of its managers 

reporting that they were held accountable to at least a great extent. (The 

others were the Agency for International Development, Department of 

Energy, Forest Service, General Services Administration, and Health Care 

Financing Administration.)

Figure 137: Percentage of Federal Managers Who Reported That 

Managers/Supervisors at Their Levels (1) Had the Decisionmaking Authority Needed 

to Help the Agency Accomplish Its Strategic Goals and (2) Were Held Accountable 

for Results

Source: GAO survey data.

36

63

35

49

0

20

40

60

80

100

Had decisionmaking authority Were held accountable for results

Percentage responding to a “great” or “very great” extent

State

Rest of government
Appendix XXVI

Department of State: Selected Survey 

Results

Page 178 GAO-01-592 Managers’ Views on Key Issues by Agency

Types of Performance 

Measures

When asked about the types of performance measures in their programs, 

the highest percentage of managers at State (43 percent) reported having 

output measures and the lowest (21 percent) cited customer service 

measures, as shown below. Thirty-seven percent of managers reported 

having outcome measures.

In addition, the percentages of State managers who reported having 

customer service measures (21 percent) and quality measures (25 percent) 

to a great or very great extent were statistically significantly below the 

percentages of managers reporting these results for the rest of the 

government. 

Figure 138: Percentage of Federal Managers Who Reported Having Specific Types 

of Performance Measures 

Source: GAO survey data.

37

50

35

44

25

43

29

21

39 39

0

20

40

60

80

100

State

Rest of government

Percentage responding to a “great” or “very great” extent

Output

measures

Efficiency

measures

Customer

service

measures

Quality

measures

Outcome

measures
Appendix XXVI

Department of State: Selected Survey 

Results

Page 179 GAO-01-592 Managers’ Views on Key Issues by Agency

Use of Performance 

Information

State ranked statistically significantly lower than the rest of the 

government in the percentage of managers who indicated that they used 

performance information when coordinating program efforts with internal 

or external organizations (21 percent).

Figure 139: Percentage of Federal Managers Who Reported Using Performance 

Information for Various Management Activities

Source: GAO survey data.

37

45 43

21

37 35 33

41

35

42

0

20

40

60

80

100 Percentage responding to a “great” or “very great” extent

State

Rest of government

Setting program

priorities

Allocating

resources

Adopting

new/different

approaches

Coordinating

program efforts

Setting individual

job expectations
Page 180 GAO-01-592 Managers’ Views on Key Issues by Agency

Appendix XXVII

Department of Transportation: Selected 

Survey Results ApendxiXVI

The Department of Transportation (DOT) was below the rest of the 

government in one aspect of performance measurement. It was 

statistically significantly lower than the rest of the government in the 

percentage of managers who reported having outcome measures for their 

programs. In all other areas, DOT was not significantly different from the 

rest of the government. Survey results for one component of DOT, the 

Federal Aviation Administration, are not included here but are reported in a 

separate appendix.

Top Leadership Fifty-nine percent of managers at DOT expressed the view that their top 

leadership was strongly committed to achieving results to a great or very 

great extent, compared with 53 percent of managers in the rest of the 

government, as shown below.

Figure 140: Percentage of Federal Managers Who Reported That Agency Top 

Leadership Demonstrated a Strong Commitment to Achieving Results

Source: GAO survey data.

53

59

0

20

40

60

80

100

DOT Rest of government

Percentage responding to a “great” or “very great” extent
Appendix XXVII

Department of Transportation: Selected 

Survey Results

Page 181 GAO-01-592 Managers’ Views on Key Issues by Agency

Positive Recognition Thirty-one percent of DOT managers reported that employees received 

positive recognition to a great or very great extent for helping their agency 

accomplish its strategic goals, as shown below, and this percentage is equal 

to that of managers in the rest of the government. 

Figure 141: Percentage of Federal Managers Who Reported That Employees in Their 

Agencies Received Positive Recognition for Helping Their Agencies Accomplish 

Their Strategic Goals

Source: GAO survey data.

31 31

0

20

40

60

80

100

DOT Rest of government

Percentage responding to a “great” or “very great” extent
Appendix XXVII

Department of Transportation: Selected 

Survey Results

Page 182 GAO-01-592 Managers’ Views on Key Issues by Agency

Authority and 

Accountability

Forty-three percent of DOT managers reported that they had, to a great or 

very great extent, the decisionmaking authority they needed to help the 

agency accomplish its strategic goals, whereas 55 percent indicated that 

they were held accountable for results to a similar extent, as shown below. 

For the rest of the government, these percentages were 36 and 63, 

respectively.

Figure 142: Percentage of Federal Managers Who Reported That 

Managers/Supervisors at Their Levels (1) Had the Decisionmaking Authority Needed 

to Help the Agency Accomplish Its Strategic Goals and (2) Were Held Accountable 

for Results 

Source: GAO survey data.

36

63

43

55

0

20

40

60

80

100

Had decisionmaking authority Were held accountable for results

Percentage responding to a “great” or “very great” extent

DOT

Rest of government
Appendix XXVII

Department of Transportation: Selected 

Survey Results

Page 183 GAO-01-592 Managers’ Views on Key Issues by Agency

Types of Performance 

Measures

When asked about the types of performance measures in their programs, 

the highest percentage of DOT managers (42 percent) reported having 

output measures and the lowest (27 percent) cited efficiency measures, as 

shown below. In addition, the percentage of DOT managers who reported 

having outcome measures to a great or very great extent (32 percent) was 

statistically significantly below the percentage of managers reporting these 

results for the rest of the government (44 percent). 

Figure 143: Percentage of Federal Managers Who Reported Having Specific Types 

of Performance Measures 

Source: GAO survey data.

32

50

36

44

29

42

27

32

39 39

0

20

40

60

80

100 Percentage responding to a “great” or “very great” extent

DOT

Rest of government

Output

measures

Efficiency

measures

Customer

service

measures

Quality

measures

Outcome

measures
Appendix XXVII

Department of Transportation: Selected 

Survey Results

Page 184 GAO-01-592 Managers’ Views on Key Issues by Agency

Use of Performance 

Information

Similar to the rest of the government, less than half of managers at DOT 

reported that they used performance information for each of the 

management activities shown below. In addition, DOT ranked in the lowest 

quarter of the agencies surveyed for the percentage of managers who 

reported using performance information when allocating resources (34 

percent) and when setting individual job expectations with staff (31 

percent).

Figure 144: Percentage of Federal Managers Who Reported Using Performance 

Information for Various Management Activities

Source: GAO survey data.

45 43 41

30 31

37

34 35 35

42

0

20

40

60

80

100 Percentage responding to a “great” or “very great” extent

DOT

Rest of government

Setting program

priorities

Allocating

resources

Adopting

new/different

approaches

Coordinating

program efforts

Setting individual

job expectations
Page 185 GAO-01-592 Managers’ Views on Key Issues by Agency

Appendix XXVIII

Department of the Treasury: Selected Survey 

Results ApendxiXVI

The Department of the Treasury was above the rest of the government in 

aspects of agency climate, performance measurement, and the use of 

performance information. The agency was statistically significantly higher 

than the rest of the government in the percentage of managers who 

expressed the view that their agency’s top leadership was strongly 

committed to achieving results to at least a great extent; who reported that 

they had both output and outcome measures for their programs; and who 

indicated that they used performance information when coordinating 

program efforts. For the items discussed in this appendix, Treasury was in 

the top quarter of the 28 agencies we surveyed when ranked by the total 

number of items they had that were statistically significantly higher than 

the rest of the government. In all other areas, Treasury was not statistically 

significantly different from the rest of the government. Survey results for 

one component of Treasury, the Internal Revenue Service, are not included 

here but are reported in a separate appendix.
Appendix XXVIII

Department of the Treasury: Selected Survey 

Results

Page 186 GAO-01-592 Managers’ Views on Key Issues by Agency

Top Leadership Almost two-thirds (64 percent) of managers at Treasury expressed the view 

that their top leadership was strongly committed to achieving results to a 

great or very great extent, as shown below. This percentage is 11 points 

higher than the rest of the government (53 percent) and is statistically 

significantly different. 

Figure 145: Percentage of Federal Managers Who Reported That Agency Top 

Leadership Demonstrated a Strong Commitment to Achieving Results

Source: GAO survey data.

53

64

0

20

40

60

80

100

Treasury Rest of government

Percentage responding to a “great” or “very great” extent
Appendix XXVIII

Department of the Treasury: Selected Survey 

Results

Page 187 GAO-01-592 Managers’ Views on Key Issues by Agency

Positive Recognition Thirty-nine percent of Treasury managers reported that employees 

received positive recognition to a great or very great extent for helping 

their agency accomplish its strategic goals, compared with 30 percent for 

the rest of the government, as shown below. 

Figure 146: Percentage of Federal Managers Who Reported That Employees in Their 

Agencies Received Positive Recognition for Helping Their Agencies Accomplish 

Their Strategic Goals

Source: GAO survey data.

30

39

0

20

40

60

80

100

Treasury Rest of government

Percentage responding to a “great” or “very great” extent
Appendix XXVIII

Department of the Treasury: Selected Survey 

Results

Page 188 GAO-01-592 Managers’ Views on Key Issues by Agency

Authority and 

Accountability

Thirty-nine percent of Treasury managers reported that they had, to a great 

or very great extent, the decisionmaking authority they needed to help the 

agency accomplish its strategic goals, whereas 65 percent indicated that 

they were held accountable for results to a similar extent, as shown below. 

For the rest of the government, these percentages were 36 and 63, 

respectively.

Figure 147: Percentage of Federal Managers Who Reported That 

Managers/Supervisors at Their Levels (1) Had the Decisionmaking Authority Needed 

to Help the Agency Accomplish Its Strategic Goals and (2) Were Held Accountable 

for Results 

Source: GAO survey data.

36

63

39

65

0

20

40

60

80

100

Had decisionmaking authority Were held accountable for results

Percentage responding to a “great” or “very great” extent

Treasury

Rest of government
Appendix XXVIII

Department of the Treasury: Selected Survey 

Results

Page 189 GAO-01-592 Managers’ Views on Key Issues by Agency

Types of Performance 

Measures

When asked about the types of performance measures in their programs, 

the highest percentage of Treasury managers (66 percent) reported having 

output measures and the lowest (37 percent) cited customer service 

measures, as shown below.

In addition, the percentages of Treasury managers who reported having 

output measures (66 percent) and outcome measures (56 percent) to a 

great or very great extent were significantly above the percentages of 

managers reporting these results for the rest of the government (50 and 43 

percent, respectively).

Figure 148: Percentage of Federal Managers Who Reported Having Specific Types 

of Performance Measures 

Source: GAO survey data.

56

35

41

66

41

37

43

50

39 39

0

20

40

60

80

100 Percentage responding to a “great” or “very great” extent

Treasury

Rest of government

Output

measures

Efficiency

measures

Customer

service

measures

Quality

measures

Outcome

measures
Appendix XXVIII

Department of the Treasury: Selected Survey 

Results

Page 190 GAO-01-592 Managers’ Views on Key Issues by Agency

Use of Performance 

Information

Treasury was significantly higher than the rest of the government in the 

percentage of managers who indicated that they used performance 

information when coordinating program efforts with internal or external 

organizations (49 percent).

Figure 149: Percentage of Federal Managers Who Reported Using Performance 

Information for Various Management Activities

Source: GAO survey data.

48 49 49 51

45

41 43 45

34

42

0

20

40

60

80

100 Percentage responding to a “great” or “very great” extent

Treasury

Rest of government

Setting program

priorities

Allocating

resources

Adopting

new/different

approaches

Coordinating

program efforts

Setting individual

job expectations
Page 191 GAO-01-592 Managers’ Views on Key Issues by Agency

Appendix XXIX

Department of Veterans Affairs: Selected 

Survey Results ApendxiXIX

The Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) was above the rest of the 

government in aspects of performance measurement and the use of 

performance information. It was statistically significantly higher than the 

rest of the government in the percentage of managers who reported having 

output, customer service, and quality measures and those who reported 

using performance information to set program priorities, adopt new 

program approaches or change work processes, and coordinate program 

efforts with other organizations. In all other areas, the agency was not 

statistically significantly different from the rest of the government. 

For the items discussed in this appendix, VA was in the top quarter of the 

28 agencies we surveyed when ranked by the total number of items they 

had that were statistically significantly higher than the rest of the 

government. In addition, VA and the General Services Administration 

(GSA) ranked highest among the 28 agencies surveyed in the percentage of 

managers who reported having customer service measures for their 

programs.
Appendix XXIX

Department of Veterans Affairs: Selected 

Survey Results

Page 192 GAO-01-592 Managers’ Views on Key Issues by Agency

Top Leadership Less than half (47 percent) of managers at VA expressed the view that their 

top leadership was strongly committed to achieving results to a great or 

very great extent, compared with 54 percent for the rest of the government, 

as shown below. 

Figure 150: Percentage of Federal Managers Who Reported That Agency Top 

Leadership Demonstrated a Strong Commitment to Achieving Results

Source: GAO survey data.

54

47

0

20

40

60

80

100

VA Rest of government

Percentage responding to a “great” or “very great” extent
Appendix XXIX

Department of Veterans Affairs: Selected 

Survey Results

Page 193 GAO-01-592 Managers’ Views on Key Issues by Agency

Positive Recognition Twenty-three percent of VA managers reported that employees received 

positive recognition to a great or very great extent for helping their agency 

accomplish its strategic goals, compared with 31 percent for the rest of the 

government, as shown below. 

Figure 151: Percentage of Federal Managers Who Reported That Employees in Their 

Agencies Received Positive Recognition for Helping Their Agencies Accomplish 

Their Strategic Goals

Source: GAO survey data.

31

23

0

20

40

60

80

100

VA Rest of government

Percentage responding to a “great” or “very great” extent
Appendix XXIX

Department of Veterans Affairs: Selected 

Survey Results

Page 194 GAO-01-592 Managers’ Views on Key Issues by Agency

Authority and 

Accountability

Thirty-seven percent of VA managers reported that they had, to a great or 

very great extent, the decisionmaking authority they needed to help the 

agency accomplish its strategic goals, whereas 67 percent indicated that 

they were held accountable for results to a similar extent, as shown below. 

For the rest of the government, these percentages were 36 and 62, 

respectively.

Figure 152: Percentage of Federal Managers Who Reported That 

Managers/Supervisors at Their Levels (1) Had the Decisionmaking Authority Needed 

to Help the Agency Accomplish Its Strategic Goals and (2) Were Held Accountable 

for Results 

Source: GAO survey data.

36

62

37

67

0

20

40

60

80

100

Had decisionmaking authority Were held accountable for results

Percentage responding to a “great” or “very great” extent

VA

Rest of government
Appendix XXIX

Department of Veterans Affairs: Selected 

Survey Results

Page 195 GAO-01-592 Managers’ Views on Key Issues by Agency

Types of Performance 

Measures

When asked about the types of performance measures in their programs, 

the highest percentage of VA managers (62 percent) reported having output 

measures and the lowest (44 percent) cited efficiency measures, as shown 

below. Forty-nine percent of managers reported having outcome 

measures.

In addition, the percentages of VA managers who reported having customer 

service measures (54 percent), quality measures (57 percent), and output 

measures (62 percent) to a great or very great extent were significantly 

above the percentages of managers reporting these results for the rest of 

the government. VA and GSA were the highest among the agencies 

surveyed for the percentage of managers who reported having customer 

service measures for their programs. 

Figure 153: Percentage of Federal Managers Who Reported Having Specific Types 

of Performance Measures 

Source: GAO survey data.

50 49

35

43

57

62

44

54

38 38

0

20

40

60

80

100 Percentage responding to a "great" or "very great" extent

VA

Rest of government

Output

measures

Efficiency

measures

Customer

service

measures

Quality

measures

Outcome

measures
Appendix XXIX

Department of Veterans Affairs: Selected 

Survey Results

Page 196 GAO-01-592 Managers’ Views on Key Issues by Agency

Use of Performance 

Information

VA was significantly higher than the rest of the government in the 

percentage of managers who indicated that they used performance 

information when setting program priorities (60 percent), adopting new 

program approaches or changing work processes (56 percent), and 

coordinating program efforts with internal or external organizations (53 

percent).

Figure 154: Percentage of Federal Managers Who Reported Using Performance 

Information for Various Management Activities

Source: GAO survey data.

50 53

60

50

56

40

44 43

34

41

0

20

40

60

80

100 Percentage responding to a “great” or “very great” extent

VA

Rest of government

Setting program

priorities

Allocating

resources

Adopting

new/different

approaches

Coordinating

program efforts

Setting individual

job expectations
Page 197 GAO-01-592 Managers’ Views on Key Issues by Agency

Appendix XXX

Comments From the Office of Management 

and Budget ApendxiXX
Appendix XXX

Comments From the Office of Management 

and Budget

(450018) Letr Page 198 GAO-01-592 Managers’ Views on Key Issues by Agency
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