U.S. GOVERNMENT ACCOUNTABILITY OFFICE

S E R V I N G T H E C O N G R E S S A N D T H E N A T I O N

F i s c a l Ye a r 2 0 0 6

G A O

Accountability Integrity Reliability

G A O

erformance lan
 GAO-05-776SP GAO’s Fiscal Year 2006 Performance Plan 

Contents 

Comptroller General’s Letter ...........................................................................................................................3 

About GAO .........................................................................................................................................................4 

Mission...................................................................................................................................................4 

Strategic Goals......................................................................................................................................5 

Organizational Structure......................................................................................................................7 

How We Measure Our Performance................................................................................................................9 

Annual Performance Measures...........................................................................................................9 

Measuring the Results of Our Work ....................................................................................10 

Measuring Client Service......................................................................................................11 

Measuring the Management of Our People ........................................................................11 

Measuring Our Internal Operations.....................................................................................12 

Multiyear Performance Goals ...........................................................................................................12 

Data Quality.........................................................................................................................................13 

Our Planned Performance for Fiscal Year 2006...........................................................................................14 

Agencywide Performance and Resources Needed ........................................................................14 

Performance Targets and Resource Needs by Goal.......................................................................17 

Goal 1 ....................................................................................................................................17 

Goal 2 ....................................................................................................................................19 

Goal 3 ....................................................................................................................................21 

Goal 4 ....................................................................................................................................23 

Strategies and Means for Achieving Our Goals ...........................................................................................25 

Strategies for Goals 1, 2, and 3..........................................................................................................25 

Strategies for Goal 4...........................................................................................................................27 

Collaboration Efforts .........................................................................................................................28 

Addressing Management Challenges.............................................................................................................31 

The Human Capital Challenge ..........................................................................................................31 

The Information Security Challenge ................................................................................................32 

The Physical Security Challenge ......................................................................................................33 

Mitigating External Factors That Could Affect Our Performance ............................................................34 

Image Sources..................................................................................................................................................36 

Obtaining Copies of GAO Products...............................................................................................................36
2 GAO-05-776SP GAO’s Fiscal Year 2006 Performance Plan

Abbreviations 

DOD Department of Defense 

FTE full-time equivalent 

GAO Government Accountability Office 

INTOSAI International Organization of Supreme Audit Institutions 

IT information technology 

NASA National Aeronautics and Space Administration 

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3 GAO-05-776SP GAO’s Fiscal Year 2006 Performance Plan

Comptroller General’s Letter 

June 2005 

I am pleased to present the Government Accountability Office’s (GAO) Performance Plan for Fiscal 

Year 2006. In the spirit of the Government Performance and Results Act, this annual plan informs 

the Congress and the American people about what we expect to accomplish on their behalf in the 

coming fiscal year. It sets forth our plan to make progress toward achieving our strategic goals for 

serving the Congress and the American people. The plan is based on our strategic plan for 2004 to 

2009, which was prepared in consultation with members of the Congress and other key stakeholders 

and was issued in March 2004. 

This performance plan takes into account that historically the vast majority of our engagement 

resources are devoted to congressional mandates and requests for our work. As such, this plan 

includes work related to long-standing national challenges, such as the educational needs of the 

nation’s children, the long-term viability of Social Security and Medicare, the rising cost of health 

care and the millions of Americans who are uninsured, the vulnerability to sabotage of the 

government’s computer systems, and national defense and homeland security issues. At the same 

time, we plan to invest a small percentage of our engagement resources in important discretionary 

work to identify and help the Congress address the emerging issues that may affect the nation’s 

future, such as managing the large and growing long-term fiscal imbalance facing the nation. 

Consequently, the plan reflects a variety of changes and challenges. In addition, this plan describes 

the total resources needed to accomplish our work—information that may be useful for 

appropriations and oversight by the Congress as well as informative for the American public. 

Fiscal year 2006 promises to be a challenging year for us, especially given increasing budgetary 

constraints and increasing demands for our services. Nonetheless, I believe that our planned work 

will, as in past years, result in an excellent return on the taxpayers’ investment in us. 

If you have any questions or comments on this plan, please contact Gene Dodaro, Chief Operating 

Officer, at (202) 512-5600 or dodarog@gao.gov or Sallyanne Harper, Chief Financial Officer, at (202) 

512-5800 or harpers@gao.gov. 

David M. Walker 

Comptroller General 

of the United States 
4 GAO-05-776SP GAO’s Fiscal Year 2006 Performance Plan

About GAO 

GAO is an independent, nonpartisan, professional services agency in the legislative branch of the 

federal government. Commonly known as the “investigative arm of the Congress” or the 

“congressional watchdog,” we examine how taxpayer dollars are spent and advise lawmakers and 

agency heads on ways to make government work better. As a legislative branch agency, we differ in 

some ways from executive branch agencies. We are, for instance, exempt from many laws 

applicable to the executive branch. However, we hold ourselves to the spirit of many of these laws, 

including the Government Performance and Results Act of 1993.1

 Accordingly, this performance plan 

for fiscal year 2006 supplies what we consider to be information that is at least equivalent to that 

supplied by executive branch agencies in their annual performance plans. 

Mission 

Our mission is to support the Congress in meeting its constitutional responsibilities and to help 

improve the performance and ensure the accountability of the federal government for the benefit of 

the American people. The strategies and means that we use to accomplish this mission are 

described in the following pages. In short, we accomplish our mission by providing reliable 

information and informed analysis to the Congress, to federal agencies, and to the public; and we 

recommend improvements, when appropriate, on a wide variety of issues. The three core values that 

are shown below—accountability, integrity, and reliability—form the basis for all of our work, 

regardless of its origin. 

 

1

The Government Performance and Results Act seeks to improve public confidence in federal agency performance by 

requiring that federally funded agencies develop and implement an accountability system based on performance 

measurement, including setting goals and objectives and measuring progress toward achieving them. 

Core Values 

Accountability Integrity Reliability

We help the Congress oversee 

federal programs and operations to 

ensure accountability to the 

American people. GAO’s analysts, 

auditors, lawyers, economists, 

information technology specialists, 

investigators, and other 

multidisciplinary professionals seek 

to enhance the economy, 

efficiency, effectiveness, and 

credibility of the federal 

government both in fact and in the 

eyes of the American people. 

We set high standards for 

ourselves in the conduct of GAO’s 

work. Our agency takes a 

professional, objective, fact-based, 

nonpartisan, nonideological, fair, 

and balanced approach to all 

activities. Integrity is the 

foundation of reputation, and the 

GAO approach to work ensures 

both. 

We at GAO want our work to be 

viewed by the Congress and the 

American public as reliable. We 

produce high-quality reports, 

testimony, briefings, legal opinions, 

and other products and services 

that are timely, accurate, useful, 

clear, and candid. 
5 GAO-05-776SP GAO’s Fiscal Year 2006 Performance Plan

Strategic Goals 

To accomplish our mission, we use a strategic planning and management process that is based on a 

hierarchy of four elements (see fig. 1), beginning at the highest level with the following four 

strategic goals: 

• Strategic Goal 1: Provide Timely, Quality Service to the Congress and the Federal Government to 

Address Current and Emerging Challenges to the Well-Being and Financial Security of the 

American People 

• Strategic Goal 2: Provide Timely, Quality Service to the Congress and the Federal Government to 

Respond to Changing Security Threats and the Challenges of Global Interdependence 

• Strategic Goal 3: Help Transform the Federal Government’s Role and How It Does Business to 

Meet 21st Century Challenges 

• Strategic Goal 4: Maximize the Value of GAO by Being a Model Federal Agency and a WorldClass Professional Services Organization 

Figure 1: GAO’s Strategic Planning Hierarchy 

Our work is primarily aligned under the first three strategic goals, which span both domestic and 

international issues that affect the lives of all Americans as well as the issues specific to governance 

that influence how well the nation’s current and future interests are served by the U.S. government. 

The fourth goal is our only internal one and is aimed at maximizing our productivity through such 

efforts as steady investments in information technology (IT); ensuring the safety and security of our 

people, information, and assets; pursuing human capital transformation; and leveraging our 

knowledge and experience. We revisit the focus and appropriateness of these four strategic goals 

each time that we update our strategic plan. 

The four strategic goals are supported by strategic objectives, which are in turn supported by and 

achieved through numerous performance goals and key efforts. Our strategic planning framework, 

which lists the strategic objectives under each goal, is depicted on the next page. Complete 

descriptions of the steps in our strategic planning and management process are included in our 

strategic plan for fiscal years 2004 through 2009, which is available on our Web site at 

http://www.gao.gov. This site also provides access to our annual performance plans since fiscal year 

1999 and our performance and accountability reports since fiscal year 2001. 

Source: GAO.
6 GAO-05-776SP GAO’s Fiscal Year 2006 Performance Plan

CORE VALUES

Fiscal years 2004-2009 Source: GAO.

Health care needs and financing

Education and protection of children

Work opportunities and worker 

protection

Retirement income security

Effective system of justice

Viable communities

Natural resources use and 

environmental protection

Physical infrastructure

. . . Address Current and Emerging Challenges to the Well-Being Address Current and Emerging Challenges to the Well-Being

 and Financial Security of the American People nd Financial Security of the American People related to . . . related to . . .

Emerging threats

Military capabilities and readiness

Advancement of U.S. interests

Global market forces

. . . Respond to Changing Security Threats and the Challenges of Respond to Changing Security Threats and the Challenges of 

 Global Interdependence lobal Interdependence involving . . . involving . . .

Roles in achieving federal 

objectives

Government transformation

Key management challenges

and program risks

Fiscal position and financing of the 

government

Help Transform the Federal Government Help Transform the Federal Government’s Role and How It Role and How It 

Does Business to Meet 21st Century Challenges Does Business to Meet 21st Century Challenges by assessing . . . by assessing . . .

Client and customer satisfaction

Strategic leadership

Institutional knowledge and experience

Process improvement

Employer of choice

Maximize the Value of GAO by Being a Model Federal Agency and Maximize the Value of GAO by Being a Model Federal Agency and 

a World-Class Professional Services Organization a World-Class Professional Services Organization in the areas of . . . in the areas of . . .

Provide Timely, Quality Service to the Congress and the Provide Timely, Quality Service to the Congress and the 

Federal Federal Government to Government to . . . 

Demographics

National

Security

Long-Term

Fiscal Imbalance

Global

Interdependence

Changing 

Economy

Science 

and Technology

Quality 

of Life

Governance

MISSION

GAO exists to support the Congress in meeting its constitutional 

responsibilities and to help improve the performance and ensure the accountability 

of the federal government for the benefit of the American people.

Accountability Integrity Reliability

SERVING THE CONGRESS AND THE NATION 

GAO S STRATEGIC PLAN FRAMEWORK ,
7 GAO-05-776SP GAO’s Fiscal Year 2006 Performance Plan

Organizational Structure 

As the Comptroller General of the United States, David M. Walker is the head of GAO and is serving a 

15-year term that began in November 1998. Three other executives join Comptroller General Walker 

to form GAO’s Executive Committee; these executives are Chief Operating Officer Gene L. Dodaro, 

Chief Administrative Officer/Chief Financial Officer Sallyanne Harper, and General Counsel 

Anthony H. Gamboa. 

To achieve our strategic goals, our staff is organized as shown in figure 2. For the most part, our 13 

research, audit, and evaluation teams perform the work that supports strategic goals 1, 2, and 3—our 

three external strategic goals—with several of the teams working in support of more than one 

strategic goal. Senior executives in charge of the teams manage a mix of engagements to ensure that 

the Congress’s need for information on quickly emerging issues is met as we also continue longer 

term work efforts that flow from our strategic plan. To effectively serve the Congress with a finite 

set of resources, senior managers consult with our congressional clients and determine the timing 

and priority of engagements for which they are responsible. As described below, General Counsel 

supports the work of all of our teams. In addition, the Applied Research and Methods team assists 

the other teams on matters requiring expertise in areas such as economics, research design, and 

statistical analysis. And staff in many offices such as Strategic Planning and External Liaison, 

Congressional Relations, Opportunity and Inclusiveness, Quality and Continuous Improvement, 

Public Affairs, and the Chief Administrative Office support the efforts of the teams. This 

collaborative process, which we refer to as matrixing, increases our effectiveness, flexibility, and 

efficiency in using our expertise and resources to meet congressional needs on complex issues. 

General Counsel is structured organizationally along subject matter lines to facilitate the delivery of 

legal services. This structure allows General Counsel to (1) provide legal support to GAO and its 

audit teams concerning all matters related to their work and (2) produce legal decisions and 

opinions for the Comptroller General. Specifically, the Goal 1, Goal 2, and Goal 3 groups in General 

Counsel are organized to provide each of the audit teams with a corresponding team of attorneys 

dedicated to supporting each team’s needs for legal services. In addition, these groups prepare 

advisory opinions to committees and members of the Congress on agency adherence to laws 

applicable to their programs and activities. General Counsel’s Legal Services group provides inhouse support to GAO’s management on a wide array of human capital matters and initiatives and on 

information management and acquisition matters and defends the agency in administrative and 

judicial forums. Finally, attorneys in the Procurement Law and the Budget and Appropriations Law 

groups prepare administrative decisions and opinions adjudicating protests to the award of 

government contracts or opining on the availability and use of appropriated funds. 

For strategic goal 4—our fourth and only internal strategic goal—staff in our Chief Administrative 

Office take the lead. They are assisted on specific key efforts by the Applied Research and Methods 

team and by staff offices such as Strategic Planning and External Liaison, Congressional Relations, 

Opportunity and Inclusiveness, Quality and Continuous Improvement, and Public Affairs. In 

addition, attorneys in General Counsel, primarily in the Legal Services group, provide legal support 

for goal 4 efforts. 

Throughout GAO, we maintain a workforce of highly trained professionals with degrees in many 

academic disciplines, including accounting, law, engineering, public and business administration, 

economics, and the social and physical sciences. About three-quarters of our approximately 3,200 

employees are based at our headquarters in Washington, D.C.; the rest are deployed in 11 field 

offices across the country. Specifically, we have offices in Atlanta, Boston, Chicago, Dallas, Dayton, 

Denver, Huntsville, Los Angeles, Norfolk, San Francisco, and Seattle. Staff in these field offices are 
8 GAO-05-776SP GAO’s Fiscal Year 2006 Performance Plan

aligned with our research, audit, and evaluation teams and perform work in tandem with our 

headquarters staff in support of our external strategic goals. 

Figure 2: Organizational Structure 

Note: General Counsel’s structure largely mirrors the agency’s goal structure, and attorneys who are assigned to goals 

work with the teams on specific engagements. Thus, the dotted lines in this figure indicate General Counsel’s support of 

or advisory relationship with the goals and teams rather than a direct reporting relationship. 

Opportunity and Inspector General

Inclusiveness

Congressional

Relations

Public 

Affairs

Source: GAO.

Teams/ 

Field Operations

Comptroller General 

of the United States

Chief Operating Officer

Quality and

Continuous

Improvement

Strategic Planning 

and External Liaison

General

Counsel

Chief Administrative Officer/

Chief Financial Officer

Goal

4

Goal

2

Goal

3

Goal

1

Goal

4

Goal

3

Goal

2

Goal

1

• Provide audit and 

other legal support 

services for all goals 

and staff offices

• Manage GAO’s bid 

protest and 

appropriations law work

Provide timely, quality

service to the Congress

and the federal

government to respond

to changing security

threats and the

challenges of global

interdependence

• Acquisition and 

Sourcing 

Management

• Defense Capabilities 

and Management

• International Affairs 

and Trade

Provide timely, quality

service to the Congress

and the federal

government to address

current and emerging

challenges to the wellbeing and financial

security of the

American people

• Education, 

Workforce, and 

Income Security

• Financial Markets 

and Community 

Investment

• Health Care

• Homeland Security 

and Justice

• Natural Resources 

and Environment

• Physical 

Infrastructure

Help transform the

federal government’s

role and how it does

business to meet 21st

century challenges

• Applied Research 

and Methods

• Financial 

Management and 

Assurance

 – Forensic Audits 

 and Special

 Investigations

• Information 

Technology

• Strategic Issues

 – Federal Budget

 and

 Intergovernmental

 Relations

Maximize the value of

GAO by being a model

federal agency and a

world-class professional

services organization

• Controller

• Human Capital 

Office 

– Chief Human 

 Capital Officer

• Information Systems 

and Technology 

Services 

– Chief Information 

 Officer

• Knowledge Services

 – Chief Knowledge 

 Services Officer

• Professional 

Development 

Program
9 GAO-05-776SP GAO’s Fiscal Year 2006 Performance Plan

How We Measure Our Performance 

We measure our performance using annual quantitative performance measures and multiyear 

qualitative performance goals. Together, these indicators help us to determine how well we are 

meeting the needs of the Congress and maximizing our value as a world-class organization. 

Annual Performance Measures 

For several years, we have assessed our performance annually using quantitative performance 

measures that are related to our work results and the usefulness of those results to our primary 

client—the Congress. Recently, we have expanded our focus to include a more balanced set of 

performance measures. Consequently, the measures that we plan to use during fiscal year 2006 

reflect our mission and strategic goals for serving the Congress and focus on four key areas: results, 

clients, people, and internal operations.2

• Results. Focusing on results and the effectiveness of the processes needed to achieve them is 

fundamental to accomplishing our mission. To assess our results, we measure financial benefits, 

other (nonfinancial) benefits, recommendations implemented, and percentage of new products 

with recommendations.3

• Clients. Our strategy in this area draws upon a variety of data sources to obtain information on 

the services we are providing to our congressional clients. To judge how well we are serving our 

clients, we measure the number of times we are asked to present expert testimony at 

congressional hearings as well as our timeliness in delivering products to the Congress. 

• People. As our most important asset, our people define our character and capacity to perform. 

A variety of data sources, including an internal survey, provide information to help us measure 

how well we are attracting and retaining high-quality staff and how well we are developing, 

supporting, using, and leading staff. 

• Internal operations. Our mission and people are supported by our internal administrative 

services, including information management, building management, knowledge services, human 

capital, financial management, and other services. Through an internal customer satisfaction 

survey, we gather information on how well our internal operations help employees get their jobs 

done or improve employees’ quality of work life. Examples of surveyed services include 

providing secure Internet access and voice communication systems, performance management, 

and benefits information and assistance. 

 

2

In addition, we have begun to explore measures that could help us assess how well we develop mutually beneficial 

relationships with other accountability organizations. Such partnerships are important because they (1) create 

opportunities for collaboration and cooperation that help all organizations involved address common challenges and 

enhance their ability to improve government operations and serve the public better, (2) allow us and other organizations to 

make meaningful changes in our internal accountability processes and policies, and (3) allow us to better leverage available 

resources. See GAO’s Performance and Accountability Report, Fiscal Year 2004 (GAO-05-62SP) for more information on

the partnerships we have established. 

3

As announced in our performance and accountability report for fiscal year 2004, beginning in fiscal year 2005, we will stop 

reporting on the number of new recommendations made. We created this measure to provide performance information 

related to recommendations. Subsequently, we added a measure for the percentage of new products with 

recommendations. We now feel that it alone is a sufficient measure to ensure that our work results in beneficial 

recommendations. However, we will continue to monitor the number of new recommendations made to ensure that teams 

supporting strategic goals 1 through 3 continue to plan and complete engagements that result in recommendations—the 

basis for our financial and other benefits for the American people. 
10 GAO-05-776SP GAO’s Fiscal Year 2006 Performance Plan

To establish targets for these measures, we examined what we have been able to achieve in the past 

and the external factors that influence our work (those factors are discussed in the section of this 

report called Strategies and Means for Achieving Our Goals). The teams and offices that are directly 

engaged in the work discussed their views of what must be accomplished in the upcoming fiscal year 

with our top executives, who then established targets for the performance measures. Once approved 

by the Comptroller General, the targets became final and are presented in this annual performance 

plan. We may adjust these targets after they are initially published when our past performance, 

expected future work, or level of funding provided warrant doing so. If changes are made, we 

include the modified targets in later documents, such as a performance and accountability report, 

and annotate them as having been modified. 

 

Measuring the Results of Our Work 

We use four of our annual measures to assess our efforts to provide the kind of information and 

recommendations that will lead to benefits for the American people. These measures are briefly 

described in table 1. 

Table 1: Annual Measures of the Results of Our Work 

Measure Description 

Financial benefits Benefits to the federal government that can be estimated in dollar terms (e.g., decreased costs, 

increased revenues, or monetary revenues made available for other purposes) that result in 

improved services to the public, improved statutes or regulations, or improved government business 

operations that occurred as a result of work that we completed over the past several years. 

Other benefits Benefits to the federal government that cannot be estimated in dollar terms that result in improved 

services to the public, improved statutes or regulations, or improved government business 

operations that occurred as a result of work that we completed over the past several years. 

Past 

recommendations 

implemented 

Of the recommendations made 4 fiscal years prior to the current fiscal year, the percentage of 

recommendations that were implemented. 

Percentage of 

products with 

recommendations 

Of the written products issued in the fiscal year, the percentage that included at least one 

recommendation. Not all products that we issue during the fiscal year contain recommendations—

some provide the Congress with policy options or are purely informational. 

Source: GAO. 

For financial benefits and other benefits we first set targets for the agency as a whole and then we 

set targets for each of the external goals—that is, goals 1, 2, and 3—so that the sum of the targets for 

the goals equals the agencywide targets. For past recommendations implemented and percentage of 

products with recommendations, we set targets and report performance for the agency as a whole 

because we want our performance on these measures to be consistent across goals. We track our 

performance by strategic goal in order to understand why we meet or do not meet the agencywide 

target. We also use this information to provide feedback to our teams on the extent to which they 

are contributing to the overall target and to help them identify areas in which they need to improve. 

Financial benefits and other benefits provide quantitative and qualitative information, respectively, 

on the outcomes or results that have been achieved from our work. They often represent outcomes 

that occurred over a period of several years. The remaining measures are intermediate outcomes in 

that they often lead to achieving outcomes that are ultimately captured in our financial or other 

benefits. 
11 GAO-05-776SP GAO’s Fiscal Year 2006 Performance Plan

Measuring Client Service 

We use two performance measures—the number of testimonies and the timeliness of our products—

as indicators of how well we are meeting our clients’ needs (see table 2). We consider requests to 

present testimony as an indicator that our clients believe our work can add value to the 

congressional decision-making process. We set a target at the agencywide level for the number of 

testimonies and then assign a portion of the testimonies as a target for each of the external goals—

that is, goals 1, 2, and 3—based on their expected contribution to the agencywide total. As in 

measuring the results of our work, we track our progress on this measure at the goal level in order to 

understand why we met or did not meet the agencywide target. 

Table 2: Annual Measures of Client Service 

Measure Description 

Testimonies The number of hearings at which we presented testimony. 

Timeliness Of the products issued in the fiscal year, the percentage that were issued by the date agreed upon 

with the client or, for work initiated under the Comptroller General’s authority, by the date agreed to 

internally. 

Source: GAO. 

We also believe that our ability to provide products by the agreed-upon date means that we have met 

the clients’ needs for providing information in time for it to be of value to them. We set agencywide 

targets for timeliness because we want our performance on these measures to be consistent across 

goals. We use this information to provide feedback to our teams on the extent to which they are 

contributing to the overall target and to help them identify areas in which they need to improve. 

Measuring the Management of Our People 

Our most important asset is our people, and they determine our capacity to perform. Therefore, we 

hold our managers accountable for performance measures that will help us determine how well we 

are attracting, retaining, using, investing in, and leading our human resources. Table 3 describes the 

measures that we plan to use to assess our performance in this area. We set targets for these 

measures at the agencywide level. The information needed for these measures comes from a variety 

of sources, including the Department of Agriculture’s National Finance Center database—which 

handles payroll and personnel data for GAO and other agencies—and an annual confidential survey 

of employees. 

Table 3: Annual Measures Related to Our People 

Measure Description 

New hire rate The ratio of the number of people hired to the number we planned to hire. 

Acceptance rate The ratio of the number of applicants accepting offers to the number of offers made. 

Retention rate The ratio of the number of people who did not leave GAO during the fiscal year to the average 

number of people on board during the year. (Retention rate is the inverse of attrition rate.) We 

present two calculations of retention rate—one that includes retirees in the attrition rate and another 

that excludes retirees from that calculation. 

Staff development From an annual employee survey, the percentage of people responding favorably to questions on 

internal, external, and on-the-job training. 
12 GAO-05-776SP GAO’s Fiscal Year 2006 Performance Plan

Measure Description 

Staff utilization From an annual employee survey, the percentage of people responding favorably to questions on 

our use of staff’s knowledge and skills. 

Leadership From an annual employee survey, the percentage of people responding favorably to questions 

about specific qualities of our managers, such as whether leaders treated staff fairly, made timely 

decisions, demonstrated GAO’s core values, implemented change effectively, and dealt effectively 

with diversity issues. 

Organizational 

climate 

From an annual employee survey, the percentage of people responding favorably to questions on 

teamwork, morale, and overall satisfaction. 

Source: GAO. 

Measuring Our Internal Operations 

Beginning with fiscal year 2006, we plan to add performance measures related to our internal 

operations. Table 4 describes the measures that we plan to use to assess our performance in this 

area. The information for these measures will come from an annual survey of employees’ 

satisfaction with our internal administrative services. Our administrative services are divided into 

two categories. The first service category includes 21 services that help employees get their jobs 

done, such as Internet access, desktop computer equipment, and voice and video communication 

systems. The second category includes another 10 services that affect quality of work life, such as 

assistance related to pay and benefits, building security, and workplace safety and health. Using 

survey responses, we calculate a composite score for each service category that reflects employee 

ratings for (1) satisfaction with the service and (2) importance of the service. We plan to set targets 

for both service categories for fiscal year 2006 after we have completed our analyses of the results of 

our 2004 survey, which was administered at the end of 2004. These targets will be reported in our 

fiscal year 2005 performance and accountability report. 

Table 4: Annual Measures Related to Our Internal Operations 

Measure Description 

Help get job done From an annual employee survey, we calculate a composite score from questions related to how 

well internal processes help employees get their jobs done. The composite score represents how 

employees rated their satisfaction with these services relative to how they rated the importance of 

those services to them. The importance scores and satisfaction levels are both rated on a scale of 

1 (low) to 5 (high). 

Quality of work life From an annual employee survey, we calculate a composite score from questions related to how 

well internal processes impact employees’ quality of work life. The composite score represents how 

employees rated their satisfaction with these services relative to how they rated the importance of 

those services to them. The importance scores and satisfaction levels are both rated on a scale of 

1 (low) to 5 (high). 

Source: GAO. 

Multiyear Performance Goals 

We use two elements in our strategic planning hierarchy—performance goals and key efforts—as 

qualitative indicators of our performance. We ask senior managers to determine whether the 

performance goals established in our strategic plan have been met over a multiyear period. To do 

this, senior managers examine the amount of work conducted and recommendations made for each 

key effort supporting each performance goal. Senior managers also consider any other assistance 

provided to the client or customer that is related to these efforts. These senior executives then judge 
13 GAO-05-776SP GAO’s Fiscal Year 2006 Performance Plan

whether the work completed collectively for all key efforts actually achieved the performance goal. 

Our performance and accountability reports include assessments of our progress in meeting these 

performance goals. 

For all four strategic goals, the multiyear, qualitative performance goals included in our current 

strategic plan describe specific areas of work that we had planned to complete by the end of fiscal 

year 2005. We will assess our progress toward these multiyear, qualitative performance goals at the 

end of fiscal year 2005. However, during fiscal year 2004, we decided to revise our strategic plan 

every 3 years, rather than on a 2-year cycle, which means that we will not set new multiyear 

performance goals until 2007. To accommodate this change, for fiscal year 2006, we plan to continue 

to use the current performance goals as a basis for aligning our work with our strategic goals, but we 

will not assess our progress toward these multiyear performance goals at the end of fiscal year 2006. 

In preparing our fiscal year 2006 budget submission, we made minor revisions that apply to fiscal 

year 2006 for some of these performance goals, mainly in the homeland security and justice areas. 

These revisions are discussed later in this plan. In our next strategic plan update, which will cover 

fiscal years 2007 through 2012, we will establish revised performance goals and key efforts that cover 

fiscal years 2007 through 2009. 

Data Quality 

To assess our performance, we use performance data that are complete and actual (rather than 

projected) for all of our performance measures. The data come from a variety of internal and 

external sources, including our internal accomplishment reporting system, document database, and 

assignment tracking system; staff’s responses to annual Web-based surveys; and the Department of 

Agriculture’s National Finance Center database, which handles payroll and personnel data for many 

agencies, including GAO. 

We believe that the data we use are reliable because we follow multiple procedures to ensure the 

data’s quality. In general, internal data are reviewed and approved by more than one person in GAO 

and by people not associated with the work being reviewed. In addition, our Inspector General 

either annually or periodically (depending on the data) reviews our compliance with the processes 

used to compile performance information. For example, during fiscal year 2003, the Inspector 

General independently tested our process for claiming other benefits and found them to be 

reasonable. Where appropriate, when we identify data limitations, we have implemented steps to 

minimize the impact of these limitations. For example, not every financial benefit that results from 

our work can be readily estimated or documented. Consequently, we do not include those financial 

benefits, which means that our estimate is a conservative one. 

The specific sources of the data for our annual performance measures and multiyear qualitative 

performance goals, procedures for independently verifying and validating these data, and the 

limitations of these data are described in the data verification and validation table that begins on 

page 67 of our performance and accountability report (GAO-05-62SP). This table does not include 

the two new measures for internal operations. We expect to include information on those two 

measures in our fiscal year 2005 performance and accountability report. 
14 GAO-05-776SP GAO’s Fiscal Year 2006 Performance Plan

Our Planned Performance for Fiscal Year 

2006 

On the pages that follow, we present agencywide and goal-level targets for our performance for fiscal 

year 2006. Where applicable, we report revisions to the fiscal year 2005 targets that were presented 

in our fiscal year 2005 performance plan. 

Agencywide Performance and Resources Needed 

While much of our performance is planned, managed, and tracked at the goal level, to gauge our 

collective performance, we set targets for the agency as a whole for all of our annual performance 

measures. Table 5 reflects our agencywide performance during the last 6 fiscal years for these 

measures, where available, along with the agencywide targets for fiscal years 2005 and 2006. 

To achieve our strategic goals and objectives, we must ensure that we have the appropriate human 

capital, fiscal, and other resources to carry out our responsibilities. Consequently, our budget 

request will allow us to achieve our fiscal year 2006 performance targets, which support the 

Congress as outlined in our most recent strategic plan. During fiscal year 2006, we plan to maximize 

the productivity of our workforce and to continue addressing our three major management 

challenges: human capital, information security, and physical security. We will continue to take 

steps to “lead by example” within the federal government in these and other critical management 

areas. 

In developing our fiscal year 2006 budget, we have taken into consideration the overall federal 

budget constraints and the committee’s desire to lead by example. Accordingly, we have requested 

$493.5 million, which represents a modest increase of 4 percent over fiscal year 2005. This increase 

is primarily for mandatory pay costs and price level changes. This budget request will allow us to 

continue to maximize productivity, operate more effectively and efficiently, and maintain the 

progress we have made in technology and other areas, but it does not allow us sufficient funding to 

support a staffing level of 3,269------the staffing level that we requested in previous years. Even as we 

are tempering our budget request, it needs to be acknowledged that there are increasing demands on 

our resources. For example, the number of congressional mandates for studies, such as our reviews 

of executive branch and legislative branch operations, has increased more than 15 percent since 

fiscal year 2000. While we have reduced our planned staffing level for fiscal years 2005 and 2006 in 

order to keep our request modest, we believe that the staffing level we requested in previous years is 

a more optimal staffing level for GAO and would allow us to better meet the needs of the Congress 

and provide the return on investment that both the Congress and the American people expect. We 

will be seeking your commitment and support to provide the funding needed to rebuild our staffing 

levels over the next few fiscal years, especially as we approach a point where we may be able to 

express an opinion on the federal government’s consolidated financial statements. 
15 GAO-05-776SP GAO’s Fiscal Year 2006 Performance Plan

Table 5: Agencywide Annual Performance Results and Targets 

Performance measures 1999 

actual 

2000 

actual

2001 

actual

2002 

actual

2003 

actual

2004 

actual 

2005 

targeta

2006 

target

Results 

Financial benefits 

(billions of dollars) $20.1 $23.2 $26.4 $37.7 $35.4 $44.0 $37.5 $39.0

Other benefits 607 788 799 906 1,043 1,197 1,000 1,050

Past recommendations 

implemented 70% 78% 79% 79% 82% 83% 80% 80%

New products with 

recommendations 33% 39% 44% 53% 55% 63% 55% 55%

Client 

Testimonies 229 263 151 216 189 217 185 210

Timeliness 96% 96% 95% 96% 97% 97% 98% 98%

People 

New hire rateb N/A N/A N/A 96% 98% 98% 97% 97%

Acceptance rateb N/A N/A N/A 81% 72% 72% 75% 75%

Retention rateb 

 Includes retirements N/A 91% 91% 91% 92% 91% 90% 90%

 Excludes retirements N/A 94% 95% 96% 96% 95% 94% 94%

Staff developmentbc N/A N/A N/A 71%d 67%e 70% 72% 74%

Staff utilizationbc N/A N/A N/A 67% 71% 72% 74% 75%

Leadershipbc N/A N/A N/A 75% 78% 79% 80% 80%

Organizational climatebc N/A N/A N/A 67% 71% 74% 75% 75%

Internal operations 

Help get job donef N/A N/A N/A N/A 3. 98 4. 01 N/A TBD

Quality of work lifef N/A N/A N/A N/A 3. 86 3. 96 N/A TBD

Source: GAO. 

a

On the basis of our performance in fiscal year 2004, we increased many of these targets after our fiscal year 2005 

performance plan was issued. Specifically, the targets were increased from $35 billion for financial benefits; from 950 for 

other benefits; from 79 percent for past recommendations implemented; from 50 percent for percentage of products with 

recommendations; from 180 for testimonies; from 70 percent for staff development, staff utilization, and organizational 

climate; and from 75 percent for leadership. In addition, we decided to set targets for retention rate with and without 

retirements; consequently, the 94 percent target for retention rate excluding retirees was not included in the fiscal year 

2005 performance plan. 

b

We set targets for these performance measures for the first time in fiscal year 2005. N/A indicates that the data are not 

available. 

c

These measures are based on employees’ responses to selected questions from an annual survey that we began 

administering in 2002. 

d

This percentage does not include employees’ responses to questions about our computer-based training courses that 

were added to our curriculum of in-house training in April 2004. 

e

This percentage includes employees’ responses to questions about our computer-based training courses. We 

recomputed the fiscal year 2003 number after we had issued our fiscal year 2005 performance plan; the percentage 

decreased from 72 percent as a result. The targets for future years assume that we will continue to include in our survey 

questions about our computer-based training. 

f

These measures are based on employees’ responses to questions from an annual survey that we began administering in 

2003 and are based on a scale of 1 (low) to 5 (high). We will set targets for these performance measures for the first time 

in fiscal year 2006 after we complete our analysis of the results from the 2004 survey. N/A indicates that the data are not 

available or not applicable. TBD indicates that the targets are to be determined. 
16 GAO-05-776SP GAO’s Fiscal Year 2006 Performance Plan

Table 6 summarizes GAO’s requested fiscal year 2006 budgetary resources and the associated human 

capital resources (in terms of full-time equivalent (FTE) positions) by strategic goal. Centrally 

funded administrative services and support costs have been appropriately allocated across the goals. 

Table 6: Fiscal Year 2006 Requested Resources by Strategic Goal 

(Dollars in millions) 

Strategic goal Amount FTEs

Goal 1 

Provide timely, quality service to the Congress and the federal government to address current 

and emerging challenges to the well-being and financial security of the American people. $198 1,287 

Goal 2 

Provide timely, quality service to the Congress and the federal government to respond to 

changing threats and the challenges of global interdependence. 135 877 

Goal 3 

Help transform the federal government’s role and how it does business to meet 21st century 

challenges. 138 900 

Goal 4 

Maximize the value of GAO by being a model federal agency and a world-class professional 

services organization. 23 151 

Total $494 3,215 

Source: GAO. 

In addition to paying for salaries and expenses, we intend to invest resources in addressing our key 

management challenges—human capital, information security, and physical security—which are 

discussed in more depth later in the plan. On the human capital front, to ensure our ability to attract 

and retain high-quality staff, we plan to continue staff recruitment, succession planning, retention, 

and recognition programs. We also plan to continue efforts to update our training curriculum to 

strengthen performance in the competencies contained in our performance management systems, 

address organizational and technical needs, and maximize staff productivity and effectiveness. In 

addition, we will continue efforts to implement new human capital authorities included in legislation 

recently enacted by the Congress. Similarly, we will continue to take steps to ensure that our staff 

have the IT resources needed to perform their work and that those resources are secure from 

internal or external threats. 
17 GAO-05-776SP GAO’s Fiscal Year 2006 Performance Plan

Performance Targets and Resource Needs by Goal 

The following sections describe the strategic objectives of each of our strategic goals. In addition, 

performance targets are presented for goals 1, 2, and 3—our external goals—for the three annual 

measures that we assess at the goal level. For the agencywide measures, each of the teams and units 

is expected to contribute toward meeting the agencywide targets. These are accompanied by the 

resources—in terms of FTEs and requested budgetary dollars—needed for each goal. 

Goal 1 

Provide timely, quality service to the Congress and the federal government to address current and 

emerging challenges to the well-being and financial security of the American people 

Our first strategic goal upholds our mission to support the Congress in carrying out its constitutional 

responsibilities by focusing on work that helps address the current and emerging challenges 

affecting the well-being and financial security of the American people and American communities. 

Our multiyear (fiscal years 2004-2009) strategic objectives under this goal are to provide information 

that will help address 

• the health needs of an aging and diverse population; 

• the education and protection of the nation’s children; 

• the promotion of work opportunities and the protection of workers; 

• a secure retirement for older Americans; 

• an effective system of justice; 

• the promotion of viable communities; 

• responsible stewardship of natural resources and the environment; and 

• a safe, secure, and effective national physical infrastructure. 

These objectives, along with the performance goals and key efforts that support them, are discussed 

fully in our strategic plan, which is available on our Web site at http://www.gao.gov. The work 

supporting these objectives is performed primarily by headquarters and field staff in the following 

teams: Education, Workforce, and Income Security; Financial Markets and Community Investment; 

Health Care; Homeland Security and Justice; Natural Resources and Environment; and Physical 

Infrastructure. Table 7 shows the budgetary and human capital resource allocations for this goal for 

fiscal years 2004 through 2006. 

Table 7: Goal 1’s Resources by Fiscal Year 

Resource type 2004 actual 2005 estimated 2006 requested

Dollars $183,265,000 $190,147,000 $197,573,000

FTEs 1,291 1,287 1,287

Source: GAO. 
18 GAO-05-776SP GAO’s Fiscal Year 2006 Performance Plan

To accomplish our work under these strategic objectives, we plan to conduct engagements, audits, 

analyses, and evaluations of programs at major federal agencies and develop reports and testimonies 

on the efficacy and soundness of those programs. We anticipate that much of our work will be 

initiated in response to congressional responses and mandates and that it will be similar to the work 

we performed during fiscal year 2004, which is highlighted in the box below. 

For the annual performance measures for which we report our progress at the goal level, table 8 

shows, for goal 1, our actual performance for fiscal years 2000 through 2004 and our performance 

targets for fiscal years 2005 and 2006. 

Table 8: Strategic Goal 1’s Annual Performance Results and Targets 

Performance 

measure 

1999 

actual 

2000 

actual

2001 

actual

2002 

actual

2003 

actual

2004 

actual 

2005 

targeta

2006 

target

Financial benefits 

(billions of dollars) $13.8 $14.1 $8.9 $24.1 $23.6 $26.6 $19.6 $19.5

Other benefits 140 182 210 226 217 252 240 255

Testimonies 123 131 73 111 80 85 78 89

Source: GAO. 

a

On the basis of our performance in fiscal year 2004, we revised these targets after our fiscal year 2005 performance plan 

was issued. The targets were increased from $18.8 billion for financial benefits, from 215 for other benefits, and from 74 

for testimonies. 

At the close of fiscal year 2004, we were on track to meet all but one of our performance goals for 

this strategic goal. We were not on track to meet the goal of assessing the administrative efficiency 

Goal 1 Results in Fiscal Year 2004 

Our past work produced $26.6 billion in financial benefits that were predominantly related to work on the Consumer 

Price Index, the Medicare and Medicaid programs, the Department of Housing and Urban Development’s budget 

request for fiscal year 2001, and Department of Defense (DOD) programs. 

Other tangible benefits resulting from our work included 252 actions taken by federal agencies to improve their 

services and operations or by the Congress to make statutory or regulatory changes, including 

• outreach to notify low-income Medicare beneficiaries of the availability of new subsides to assist with drug costs, 

• changes in food stamp program options that will help ease the reporting burden for almost all participating 

households, and 

• shoring up systemic weaknesses and reducing the risks that underground storage tanks will leak and cause 

significant environmental and health risks. 

We made recommendations on 

• airliner cabin air quality, 

• decommissioning nuclear power plants, 

• improved coordination on managing endangered species, 

• federal funding of public television, 

• election-related voting irregularities, and 

• improving the accuracy of responses to policy-oriented inquiries from Medicare providers. 

We testified on topics such as 

• student loan programs, 

• Social Security reform, 

• Medicare spending, 

• private health insurance, 

• farm program payments, and 

• transportation security. 
19 GAO-05-776SP GAO’s Fiscal Year 2006 Performance Plan

and effectiveness of the federal court and prison systems because we did not receive requests to 

perform work in this area and could not undertake self-initiated work because we needed resources 

for work requested by the Congress in other areas. For fiscal year 2006, we are planning to replace 

this performance goal with one on improving the administration of the nation’s election system, a 

goal that better reflects the interests of our congressional clients. 

Goal 2 

Provide timely, quality service to the Congress and the federal government to respond to changing 

security threats and the challenges of global interdependence

The federal government is working to promote foreign policy goals, sound trade polices, and other 

strategies to advance the interests of the United States and its allies while also seeking to anticipate 

and address emerging threats to the nation’s security and economy. Given the importance of these 

efforts, our second strategic goal focuses on helping the Congress and the federal government 

respond to changing security threats and the challenges of global interdependence. Our multiyear 

(fiscal years 2004-2009) strategic objectives under this goal are to support the congressional and 

federal efforts to 

• respond to emerging threats to security, 

• ensure military capabilities and readiness, 

• advance and protect U.S. international interests, and 

• respond to the impact of global market forces on U.S. economic and security interests. 

These objectives, along with the performance goals and key efforts that support them, are discussed 

fully in our strategic plan, which is available on our Web site at http://www.gao.gov. The work 

supporting these objectives is performed primarily by headquarters and field staff in the following 

teams: Acquisition and Sourcing Management, Defense Capabilities and Management, and 

International Affairs and Trade. In addition, the work supporting some performance goals and key 

efforts is performed by headquarters and field staff from the Information Technology, Homeland 

Security and Justice, Financial Markets and Community Investment, and Natural Resources and 

Environment teams. Table 9 shows the budgetary and human capital resource allocations for this 

goal for fiscal years 2004 through 2006. 

Table 9: Goal 2’s Resources by Fiscal Year 

Resource type 2004 actual 2005 estimated 2006 requested

Dollars $123,639,000 $128,283,000 $134,632,000

FTEs 879 877 877

Source: GAO. 
20 GAO-05-776SP GAO’s Fiscal Year 2006 Performance Plan

To accomplish our work under these strategic objectives, we plan to conduct engagements and 

audits that involve fieldwork related to federal programs that will often take us across multiple 

continents, including Europe, Africa, Asia, South America, and North America. As in the past, we 

will develop reports, testimonies, and briefings on our work, often in response to congressional 

requests and mandates. We anticipate that this work will be similar to the work we performed 

during fiscal year 2004, which is highlighted in the box below. 

For the annual performance measures for which we report our progress at the goal level, table 10 

shows, for goal 2, our actual performance for fiscal years 2000 through 2004 and our performance 

targets for fiscal years 2005 and 2006. 

Table 10: Strategic Goal 2’s Annual Performance Results and Targets 

Performance 

measure 

1999 

actual 

2000 

actual

2001 

actual

2002 

actual

2003 

actual

2004 

actual 

2005 

targeta

2006 

target

Financial benefits 

(billions of dollars) $3.0 $5.5 $10.5 $8.4 $7.1 $9.7 $9.4 $9.1

Other benefits 80 129 188 218 273 369 300 275

Testimonies 37 56 34 38 48 70 52 58

Source: GAO. 

a

On the basis of our performance in fiscal year 2004, we revised these targets after our fiscal year 2005 performance plan 

was issued. The target for financial benefits was increased from $9. 2 billion, the target for other benefits was increased 

from 275, and the target for testimonies was increased from 50. 

At the close of fiscal year 2004, we were on target to meet 22 of our 23 performance goals for fiscal 

years 2004 and 2005 for this strategic goal. We were not on track to meet the performance goal of 

Goal 2 Results in Fiscal Year 2004 

The financial benefits reported for this goal in fiscal year 2004 totaled $9.7 billion, exceeding the target of $7.0 billion 

by over 39 percent. Most of the financial benefits (66 percent of the total) were attributable to four accomplishments 

valued at $500 million or more each. These accomplishments stemmed from engagements that improved funding of 

DOD’s activities or reduced costs associated with DOD operations. 

The other tangible benefits reported for goal 2 in fiscal year 2004 included 343 actions taken by federal agencies to 

improve their services and operations in response to our work and another 26 in which information we provided to the 

Congress resulted in statutory or regulatory changes. Among these actions are 

• improving the tracking of in-transit munitions shipments, 

• improving trade advisory committee operations, and 

• clarifying guidance restricting the promotion of tobacco in other countries. 

We made recommendations on 

• continuity-of-operations plans for ensuring the delivery of essential governmental services, 

• preventing foreign countries from obtaining classified spare parts or unclassified items containing military 

technology, and 

• U.S. assistance to Afghanistan. 

We testified on topics such as 

• international broadcasting, 

• use of Reserve forces, 

• defense personnel clearances, 

• unmanned aerial vehicles, 

• terrorist financing, 

• oversight of government-sponsored enterprises, 

• mutual funds, and 

• security at nuclear facilities. 
21 GAO-05-776SP GAO’s Fiscal Year 2006 Performance Plan

identifying opportunities to embed homeland security concepts in ongoing national initiatives 

because our homeland security resources were needed for other work requested by the Congress 

and we did not have resources in the homeland security area to undertake self-initiated work related 

to this performance goal. For fiscal year 2006, we plan to drop this performance goal and 

concentrate our resources on the remaining homeland security efforts. 

Goal 3 

Help transform the federal government’s role and how it does business to meet 21st century 

challenges

Our third strategic goal focuses on the collaborative and integrated elements needed for the federal 

government to achieve results. The work under this goal highlights the intergovernmental 

relationships that are necessary to achieve national goals. Our multiyear (fiscal years 2004-2009) 

strategic objectives under this goal are to 

• reexamine the federal government’s role in achieving evolving national objectives; 

• support the transformation to results-oriented, high-performing government; 

• support congressional oversight of key management challenges and program risks to improve 

federal operations and ensure accountability; and 

• analyze the government’s fiscal position and strengthen approaches for addressing the current 

and projected fiscal gap. 

These objectives, along with the performance goals and key efforts that support them, are discussed 

fully in our strategic plan, which is available on our Web site at http://www.gao.gov. The work 

supporting these objectives is performed primarily by headquarters and field staff from the Applied 

Research and Methods, Financial Management and Assurance, Information Technology, and 

Strategic Issues teams. In addition, the work supporting some performance goals and key efforts is 

performed by headquarters and field staff from the Acquisition and Sourcing Management and 

Natural Resources and Environment teams. This goal also includes our bid protest and 

appropriations law work, which is performed by staff in General Counsel, and our fraud 

investigations, which are conducted by staff from the Financial Management and Assurance team. 

Table 11 shows the budgetary and human capital resource allocations for this goal for fiscal years 

2004 through 2006. 

Table 11: Goal 3’s Resources by Fiscal Year 

Resource type 2004 actual 2005 estimated 2006 requested

Dollars $128,285,000 $133,103,000 $138,162,000

FTEs 903 900 900

Source: GAO. 
22 GAO-05-776SP GAO’s Fiscal Year 2006 Performance Plan

To accomplish our work under these four objectives, we plan to conduct audits, evaluations, and 

analyses in response to congressional requests and to carry out work initiatives under the 

Comptroller General’s authority. As in the past, we will develop reports, testimonies, and briefings 

on our work. We anticipate that this work will be similar to the work we performed during fiscal 

year 2004, which is highlighted in the box below. 

For the annual performance measures for which we report our progress at the goal level, table 12 

shows, for goal 3, our actual performance for fiscal years 2000 through 2004 and our performance 

targets for fiscal years 2005 and 2006. 

Table 12: Strategic Goal 3’s Annual Performance Results and Targets 

Performance 

measure 

1999 

actual 

2000 

actual

2001 

actual

2002 

actual

2003 

actual

2004 

actual 

2005 

targeta

2006 

target

Financial benefits 

(billions of dollars) $4.5 $5.1 $7.0 $5.2 $4.7 $7.6 $8.5 $10.4

Other benefits 414 503 401 462 553 576 460 520

Testimonies 100 105 42 65 56 60 55 63

Source: GAO. 

a

On the basis of our performance in fiscal year 2004, we revised two of these targets after our fiscal year 2005 

performance plan was issued. The target for financial benefits was increased from $8. 0 billion and the target for 

testimonies was decreased from 56. 

At the close of fiscal year 2004, we were on target to meet all of our performance goals for fiscal 

years 2004 and 2005 for this strategic goal. 

Goal 3 Results in Fiscal Year 2004 

The financial benefits reported for this goal in fiscal year 2004 totaled $7.6 billion, exceeding our target of $4.7 billion 

by over 62 percent. Our financial benefits under this goal stemmed from our work on core government business 

processes and governmentwide management reform. 

The other tangible benefits reported for goal 3 in fiscal year 2004 included 553 instances in which agencies’ core 

business processes were improved or governmentwide management reforms were advanced as a result of our work. 

In addition, there were 23 instances in which information we provided resulted in statutory or regulatory changes. The 

larger number of other benefits occurred mainly in our financial management and IT areas, where we tend to make 

multiple, specific recommendations for change to more than one entity. Examples of other benefits under this goal 

were 

• addressing shortfalls in foreign language capabilities, 

• influencing federal acquisition rules, and 

• addressing workforce challenges at the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA). 

We made recommendations on 

• controlling costs of the 2010 Census; 

• improving controls over DOD’s travel cards to decrease losses related to unused airline tickets; and 

• reducing vulnerability to improper, wasteful, and questionable government purchase card transactions. 

We testified on topics such as 

• Army Reserve and Army National Guard pay, 

• tax system abuses by DOD contractors, 

• fraudulent diplomas from diploma mills, 

• federal purchase and travel cards, 

• NASA’s shuttle program, and 

• DOD contract management. 
23 GAO-05-776SP GAO’s Fiscal Year 2006 Performance Plan

Goal 4 

Maximize the value of GAO by being a model federal agency and a world-class professional 

services organization

The focus of our fourth strategic goal is to make GAO a model organization. For us, this means that 

our work is driven by our external clients and internal customers, our managers exhibit the 

characteristics of leadership and management excellence, our employees are devoted to ensuring 

quality in our work process and products through continuous improvement, and our agency is 

regarded by current and potential employees as an excellent place to work. Our multiyear (fiscal 

years 2004-2009) strategic objectives under this goal are to 

• continuously improve client and customer satisfaction and stakeholder relationships; 

• lead strategically to achieve enhanced results; 

• leverage GAO’s institutional knowledge and experience; 

• continuously enhance GAO’s business and management processes; and 

• become a professional services employer of choice. 

These objectives, along with the performance goals and key efforts that support them, are discussed 

fully in our strategic plan, which is available on our Web site at http://www.gao.gov. The work 

supporting these objectives is performed under the direction of the Chief Administrative Office with 

assistance on specific key efforts being provided by staff from the Applied Research and Methods 

team and from offices such as Strategic Planning and External Liaison, Congressional Relations, 

Opportunity and Inclusiveness, Quality and Continuous Improvement, and Public Affairs. Table 13 

shows the budgetary and human capital resource allocations for this goal for fiscal years 2004 

through 2006. 

Table 13: Goal 4’s Resources by Fiscal Year 

Resource type 2004 actual 2005 estimated 2006 requested

Dollars $28,017,000 $23,032,000 $23,182,000

FTEs 151 151 151

Source: GAO. 
24 GAO-05-776SP GAO’s Fiscal Year 2006 Performance Plan

To accomplish our work under these five objectives, we plan to perform internal studies and 

complete projects that further the strategic goal. We anticipate that this work will be similar to the 

work we performed during fiscal year 2004, which is highlighted in the box below. 

At the close of fiscal year 2004, we were on track to meet all but one of the performance goals for 

this strategic goal. We were not on track to meet our performance goal of maximizing the collection, 

use, and retention of essential organizational knowledge. While we have performed substantial work 

for this performance goal, we plan to complete this work after fiscal year 2005. Specifically, our 

work has been slower than we anticipated because anticipated funding was rescinded in fiscal year 

2004 and some essential steps—such as developing prototypes and conducting pilot tests—have 

taken longer than we initially anticipated. We now plan to complete efforts under this performance 

goal during fiscal year 2006. 

Goal 4 Results in Fiscal Year 2004 

• Strengthened communication with our congressional clients by refining and issuing protocols that govern our 

work for the Congress and reflect congressional feedback. 

• Measured congressional satisfaction with our work by administering a client feedback survey to the staff of 

congressional committees and members that requested work resulting in a product. 

• Published GAO’s human capital strategic plan for fiscal years 2004 through 2006 that includes key efforts, 

expectations, measures, and initiatives for improving our human resources. 

• Implemented provisions of the Human Capital Reform Act of 2004 that, among other things, give us permanent 

authority to offer voluntary early retirement opportunities and allow us to create an executive exchange program 

with the private sector. 

• Convened a number of forums, symposia, and other meetings to provide opportunities for an exchange of 

knowledge between accountability and professional organizations. 

• Redesigned our Web site to enhance usability and facilitate access to our information products and services. 

• Implemented numerous initiatives that resulted in more efficient and cost-effective processes, such as our 

Web-based travel and time and attendance systems. 

• Launched a Web-based customer satisfaction survey to get feedback internally on product production and 

other services provided by goal 4. 

• Continued to upgrade IT tools and capabilities. 

• Implemented online access 24 hours a day to more than 900 training courses. 

• Launched a telework program that allows staff to work from home when feasible. 
25 GAO-05-776SP GAO’s Fiscal Year 2006 Performance Plan

Strategies and Means for Achieving Our Goals 

We plan to accomplish our strategic goals primarily by providing the information from our work to 

the Congress and the public in a variety of forms and continuing and strengthening our internal 

operations. For all four strategic goals, the multiyear, qualitative performance goals included in our 

current strategic plan describe specific areas of work that we plan to complete by the end of fiscal 

year 2005. For fiscal year 2006, we plan to continue to use the current performance goals as a basis 

for aligning our work with our strategic goals. In preparing our fiscal year 2006 budget submission, 

we made minor revisions that apply to fiscal year 2006 for some of these performance goals, mainly 

in the homeland security and justice areas. In our next strategic plan update, which will cover fiscal 

years 2007 through 2012, we will establish revised performance goals and key efforts that cover fiscal 

years 2007 through 2009. 

Our strategies also emphasize the importance of two overarching approaches: (1) working with other 

organizations on crosscutting issues and (2) effectively addressing the challenges to achieving our 

agency’s goals and recognizing the internal and external factors that could impair our performance. 

Through these strategies, which have proven successful for us for a number of years, we plan to 

achieve the level of performance that is needed to meet our annual performance measures and our 

multiyear performance goals and that, in turn, will allow us to achieve our strategic goals. 

Strategies for Goals 1, 2, and 3 

Attaining our three external strategic goals (goals 1, 2, and 3) and their related objectives rests, for 

the most part, on providing professional, objective, fact-based, nonpartisan, nonideological, fair, and 

balanced information to support the Congress in carrying out its constitutional responsibilities. We 

develop and present this information in a number of ways, including 

• evaluating federal policies and the performance of agencies; 

• overseeing government operations through financial and other management audits to determine 

whether public funds are spent efficiently, effectively, and in accordance with applicable laws; 

• investigating whether illegal or improper activities are occurring; 

• analyzing the financing for government activities; 

• conducting various constructive engagements in which we work proactively with agencies, when 

appropriate, to provide advice that may assist their efforts toward positive results; 

• providing legal opinions that determine whether agencies are in compliance with applicable laws 

and regulations; 

• conducting policy analyses to assess needed actions and the implications of proposed actions; 

and 

• providing additional assistance to the Congress in support of its oversight and decision-making 

responsibilities. 

Staff from our 13 research, audit, and evaluation teams and General Counsel perform the work that 

supports the three external strategic goals. These staff plan and implement engagements, audits, 

investigations, and other activities that often involve meeting with agency officials and 

representatives of other organizations to gather information. Our work is based on original research 

and analysis, rather than reliance on third-party source materials. Additionally, in conducting our 

work, we have high standards that require an objective approach. This usually means that we take 

responsibility for gathering all the relevant data and, to ensure accuracy and objectivity, more than 

one person attends interviews with agency officials. In addition, travel, both national and 

international, is essential to completing our audit and evaluation work, which must be sufficiently 
26 GAO-05-776SP GAO’s Fiscal Year 2006 Performance Plan

representative in scope and in the number and type of locations covered to ensure the validity of our 

conclusions and recommendations. 

The information we collect and analyze is, more often than not, documented in a product that is 

made available to the public. In some cases, we develop products that contain classified or sensitive 

information that cannot be made available publicly. We generally issue around 1,200 to 1,300 

products each year, including the following: 

• letter reports, which are written in a letter format and are issued with our traditional blue cover; 

• chapter reports, which are written in a chapter format and are also issued with the blue cover; 

• correspondence, which is a written letter that does not have the blue cover; 

• testimony and statements for the record, where the former are presented at a hearing by one or 

more of our senior executives and the latter are submitted for the record; 

• briefing reports, which consist mainly of briefing slides with some explanatory material; and 

• oral briefings, which are usually given directly to congressional staff members. 

Collectively, our products contain information, conclusions, and recommendations that allow us to 

achieve our external strategic goals. 

Another means of ensuring that we are achieving our goals is to examine the impact of our past work 

and use that information to shape our future work. Consequently, we evaluate actions taken by 

federal agencies and the Congress in response to our past recommendations. The results of these 

evaluations are reported in terms of the financial benefits and other benefits that reflect the value of 

our work. We actively monitor the status of our open recommendations—those that remain valid 

but have not yet been implemented—and report our findings annually to the Congress and the public 

(http://www.gao.gov/openrecs.html). We use the results of that analysis to determine the need for 

further work in particular areas. For example, if an agency has not implemented a recommended 

action that we consider to be worthwhile, we may decide to pursue further action with agency 

officials or congressional committees, or we may decide to undertake additional work on the matter. 

Similarly, we will use our biennial high-risk report that was issued in January 2005 to provide a status 

report on major government operations that we consider high risk because they are vulnerable to 

waste, fraud, abuse, and mismanagement or are in need of a broad-based transformation. And we 

will use our report on 21st century issues, which was issued in February 2005, to alert the nations’ 

leaders to current and emerging challenges facing the nation, including the long-range budget 

challenge, the human capital crisis, postal reforms, and the federal government’s financial 

management efforts. These reports are valuable planning tools because they help us to identify 

those areas where our continued efforts are needed to maintain the focus on important policy and 

management issues that the nation faces. 

During fiscal year 2006, we will adjust our processes, as needed, to accommodate changes that stem 

from the conclusions of external peer reviews of our financial and performance audits. For example, 

in a comment letter accompanying the clean opinion report that resulted from the financial audit 

peer review, the auditor included a suggestion for clarifying our quality control policies and 

procedures. We have begun to implement this suggestion. In addition, the review for our 

performance audits—which was led by the Office of the Auditor General of Canada—assessed 

whether our quality assurance policies and procedures were suitably designed and operating 

effectively and resulted in a clean opinion. The April 2005 audit report cited a number of exemplary 

practices at GAO and offered us some suggestions for improvement, including streamlining certain 

requirements for low-risk assignments, a suggestion that we are already working to implement. 
27 GAO-05-776SP GAO’s Fiscal Year 2006 Performance Plan

Strategies for Goal 4 

Our fourth strategic goal, which is an internal one, is under the direction of our Chief Administrative 

Office. This office takes the lead in helping us accomplish our fourth and only internal strategic goal 

with assistance on specific key efforts being provided by staff from the Applied Research and 

Methods team and from offices such as Strategic Planning and External Liaison, Congressional 

Relations, Opportunity and Inclusiveness, Quality and Continuous Improvement, and Public Affairs. 

These units work together and include the teams, as needed, to plan and implement activities that 

will help us remain a model federal agency. 

To attain our fourth strategic goal and the five related objectives, we will build on our groundwork 

efforts of fiscal years 2004 and 2005. In those years we conducted surveys of our congressional 

clients and internal customers to obtain feedback on our products, processes, and services, and 

performed studies and evaluations to identify ways in which to improve them. In fiscal year 2006 we 

will utilize the feedback from our surveys and the results and recommendations of our studies and 

evaluations to implement enhancements to current operations. We intend to measure the success of 

these efforts by conducting additional surveys and comparing their results to the results from prior 

years. 

Among the efforts upon which we will focus in fiscal year 2006 to help us attain the following five 

strategic objectives for goal 4 are 

• Improve client and customer satisfaction and stakeholder relationships by 

• identifying means to communicate our work results more effectively and efficiently using 

enhanced technology and media; 

• applying technology solutions to enhance the quality of timeliness of service; and 

• identifying and implementing ways to increase the accessibility of GAO products to the press, 

the public, and other stakeholders. 

• Lead strategically to achieve enhanced results by 

• continuing our integration effort for planning, budgeting, and performance measurement to 

achieve enhanced results by working with our enterprise architecture staff to align our 

strategic plan, budget, performance plan, workforce plan, and performance and 

accountability reporting processes; 

• enhancing our competency-based performance system, increasing the user-friendliness of the 

system, and providing training to staff in end-of-cycle appraisals; 

• implementing a newly procured financial management system; 

• developing and implementing an IT work management system incorporating IT life cycle, 

enterprise architecture and development methodologies, and other IT management 

processes; and 

• completing implementation of centralized auditing of network servers and devices, refining 

our network monitoring procedures including use of products to automate the detection of 

potentially harmful threats, and implementing planned improvements to our disaster 

recovery operations. 

• Leverage GAO’s institutional knowledge and experience by 

• establishing an electronic records management system infrastructure to support E-audits and 

knowledge repositories, 

• increasing the frequency of our speakers series on 21st Century challenges, 

• implementing an Executive Exchange Program, and 

• hosting the biennial forum of the Intergovernmental Audit Forum. 

• Continuously enhance GAO’s business and management processes by 
28 GAO-05-776SP GAO’s Fiscal Year 2006 Performance Plan

• streamlining and simplifying the engagement management process; 

• revising our annual internal inspection processes to reflect lessons learned from the peer 

review and previous inspections; 

• assessing staff skills in developing and implementing structured interviews; and 

• automating and redesigning our mission and administrative processes and systems, such as 

developing a Web-based suggestion program. 

• Become the professional services employer of choice by 

• evaluating our telework program; 

• providing a streamlined, user-friendly guide to government and nongovernment professional 

development opportunities; 

• expediting and coordinating our new hire process; 

• conceptualizing a development program for new hires at the Band IIA level and implementing 

the program, if warranted; and 

• redesigning the Professional Development Program Web site. 

Collaboration Efforts 

All of our strategic goals benefit from coordinating with other organizations that have similar or 

complementary missions, with experts outside of our organization, and with our own internal 

experts. Consequently, collaborative efforts are a large part of our strategy for achieving our goals. 

For example, we use advisory panels and other bodies to inform our strategic and annual work 

planning. We also initiate and support collaborative national and international audit, technical 

assistance, and other knowledge-sharing efforts. These two types of strategic working relationships 

allow us to extend our institutional knowledge and experience, to leverage our resources, and in turn 

improve our service to the Congress and the American people. 

Our office of Strategic Planning and External Liaison takes the lead and provides strategic focus for 

the work with external partner organizations, while our research, audit, and evaluation teams lead 

the work with most of the issue-specific organizations. As in past years, we will gather information 

and perspectives for our strategic and annual performance planning efforts through a series of 

activities such as forums, advisory boards, panels, and speakers’ series. 

GAO-wide advisory boards and panels support our strategic and annual work planning by alerting 

our managers and staff to issues, trends, and lessons learned across the national and international 

audit community that we should factor into our own work. These groups include 

• the Comptroller General’s Advisory Board, whose 40 members from the public and private 

sectors have broad expertise in areas related to our strategic objectives, from which we obtain 

views on our strategic direction and specific initiatives; 

• the National Intergovernmental Audit Forum, chaired by the Comptroller General, and its 10 

regional intergovernmental audit forums, through which we consult regularly with federal 

inspectors general and state and local auditors; and 

• the Domestic Working Group, composed of the Comptroller General and the heads of 18 federal, 

state, and local audit organizations, which facilitates the exchange of information and 

opportunities for collaboration. 

A number of issue-specific and technical panels will continue to work with us to improve our 

strategic and annual work planning, including the following: 
29 GAO-05-776SP GAO’s Fiscal Year 2006 Performance Plan

• The Advisory Council on Government Auditing Standards provides us guidance on promulgating 

auditing standards. These standards articulate auditors’ responsibilities when examining 

government organizations, programs, activities, or functions and government assistance received 

by contractors, nonprofits, and other nongovernmental organizations. 

• The Accountability Advisory Council, made up of experts in the financial management 

community, advises us on audits of the U.S. government’s consolidated financial statements and 

emerging issues involving financial management and accountability reporting. 

• The Executive Council on Information Management and Technology, whose 19 members are 

experts from the public and private sectors and representatives of related professional 

organizations, help us to identify high-risk and emerging issues in the IT arena. 

• The Comptroller General’s Educators’ Advisory Panel, composed of deans, professors, and other 

academics from prominent universities across the United States, advises us on recruiting, 

retaining, and developing staff and strategic planning matters. 

During fiscal year 2006, we plan to convene various experts from the public, private, and nonprofit 

sectors in a series of forums and panels intended to enhance our understanding of emerging issues 

and to identify opportunities for action. In the past, these activities included forums on metrics, 

means, and mechanisms for achieving high performance in the 21st century public management 

environment; human capital and civil service reform; unsustainable trends that necessitate 

comprehensive and fundamental reforms to control spending and improve value; changing labor 

force dynamics and the role of government policies; and financial literacy. In addition, we plan to 

continue our speakers’ series on Conversations on 21st Century Challenges, wherein prominent 

leaders discuss emerging themes and their implications for public policy. 

We anticipate that our staff will be involved in other collaborative activities during fiscal years 2005 

and 2006 that are like the following activities undertaken during 2004: 

• Conferring with the Private Sector Council, a nonprofit, nonpartisan, public service organization 

committed to helping the federal government improve its efficiency, management, and 

productivity through the cooperative sharing of knowledge. Council members have assisted us 

on a number of engagements. For example, the council assisted a GAO team that is examining 

best practices used by private sector companies to plan for, acquire, and manage 

telecommunications services. Late in fiscal year 2004, the Private Sector Council merged with 

the Partnership for Public Service, which is another of our external partner organizations. 

• Actively participating in five efforts that involved the Domestic Working Group and federal, state, 

and local audit officials and that are aimed at addressing issues regarding access to records, 

grants management, long-term fiscal challenges, information used by water utilities to conduct 

vulnerability assessments, and governance. 

• Leading the effort to develop the National Intergovernmental Audit Forum’s first-ever strategic 

plan, which will help maximize the organization’s effectiveness in promoting good government 

and accountability at all levels of government. The task force working on the plan is composed 

of federal, state, and local auditors and an independent public accountant. The forum adopted a 

strategic plan framework, and it is anticipated that a final plan will be adopted during fiscal year 

2005. 

Internationally, we will continue to participate in the International Organization of Supreme Audit 

Institutions (INTOSAI)—the professional organization of the national audit offices of 184 countries. 

During 2004, we led a 10-nation task force that developed INTOSAI’s 5-year strategic plan—the first 

in INTOSAI’s 50-year history. The plan was unanimously endorsed by INTOSAI’s Governing Board 

and unanimously adopted by the INTOSAI Congress this fall. It provides a blueprint for a major 
30 GAO-05-776SP GAO’s Fiscal Year 2006 Performance Plan

transformation of INTOSAI and a structure and rationale that will facilitate member institutions’ 

strategic engagement in INTOSAI in a way that maximizes contributions while minimizing resources. 

In other work with INTOSAI, we chair the accounting and reporting committee and we are an active 

member of INTOSAI’s auditing standards, internal control standards, and other technical 

committees. We also publish INTOSAI’s quarterly International Journal of Government Auditing

in five languages to further the global understanding of standards, best practices, and technical 

issues. We plan to continue to be similarly involved with INTOSAI’s activities during fiscal year 2006. 

To continue to build capacity in national audit offices around the world, we will conduct an 

international fellows training program during fiscal year 2006 for mid- to senior-level staff from other 

countries. In 2004, 22 fellows from Africa, Asia, Latin America, the Caribbean, and Eastern Europe 

participated in this program and spent about 4 months at GAO learning how we are organized to do 

our work, how we plan work, and what methodologies we use, particularly for performance audits. 

As part of our strategy to promote continuous learning and sustainability once the fellows return to 

their countries, we are working with major donors—such as the World Bank and the U.S. Agency for 

International Development—to identify or support relevant capacity-building projects for the 

institutions in which the fellows work. Also, current and former auditors general and deputy 

auditors general of many nations, including the current chair of INTOSAI, are graduates of this 

program. 

Finally, we coordinate extensively within our own organization on our strategic and annual 

performance planning efforts, as well as on the preparation of our performance and accountability 

reports, in order to take full advantage of the expertise of our staff. Our efforts are completed under 

the overall direction of the Comptroller General and the Chief Operating Officer. We rely on our 

Chief Administrative Officer/Chief Financial Officer and her staff to provide key information, such as 

the resource information that is included in this plan. Her staff also coordinated with others 

throughout the agency to provide the information on goal 4’s results and provided input on other 

efforts dealing with issues that include financial management, budgetary resources, training, and 

security. We obtain input on all aspects of our strategic and annual performance planning and 

reporting efforts from each of our engagement teams and organizational units through their 

respective managing directors, as well as other staff responsible for planning or engagement 

activities in the teams. Staff in our Quality and Continuous Improvement office prepared this plan, 

ensuring, among other things, that it reflects our planned activities for fiscal year 2006. In short, we 

involved virtually every part of GAO and used our internal expertise in our planning and reporting 

efforts. 
31 GAO-05-776SP GAO’s Fiscal Year 2006 Performance Plan

Addressing Management Challenges 

At GAO, management challenges are identified by the Comptroller General and the agency’s senior 

executives through the agency’s strategic planning, management, and budgeting processes. Our 

progress in addressing the challenges is monitored through our annual performance and 

accountability process. Under our strategic goal 4, we establish performance goals focused on each 

of our management challenges, track our progress in completing the key efforts for those 

performance goals quarterly, and report each year on our progress toward meeting the performance 

goals. Each year, we ask our Inspector General’s office to examine management’s assessment of the 

challenges and the agency’s progress in addressing them, and the assessment made by the Inspector 

General’s office can be found in our performance and accountability report in the section entitled 

From the Inspector General. 

For fiscal year 2006, we will continue to address three management challenges—human capital, 

information security, and physical security. While we anticipate that we will always make 

improvements in these areas, at some point, we may decide that they are no longer sufficiently 

critical to be considered major management challenges for us. For now, we anticipate that these 

areas will remain challenging for us for the better part of this decade because they are evolving and 

will require us to continuously identify ways to adapt and improve. Also, the solutions to these 

challenges often can take months or years to design and implement. Nonetheless, we revisit the 

challenges each year and refine them, when appropriate. We will report any changes in the 

challenges as we monitor and report on our progress in addressing the challenges through our 

annual performance and accountability process. The following sections describe our recent and 

planned efforts to address these challenges. 

 

The Human Capital Challenge 

Given our role as a key provider of professional and objective information and analyses to the 

Congress, maintaining the right mix of technical knowledge and expertise as well as general 

analytical skills is vital to achieving our mission. We spend about 80 percent of our resources on our 

people, but without excellent human capital policies and management practices, we could run the 

risk of being unable to meet the expectations of the Congress and the American people. In fiscal 

year 2006, we will continue to focus on strategic transformation as it relates to business processes, 

alignment of staff for greater productivity, and talent acquisition. 

We continue to manage talent and implement flexibilities provided by the GAO Human Capital 

Reform Act of 2004. For example, with assistance from a contractor, we completed a market-based 

compensation study for our analyst community in fiscal year 2005 and plan to implement the 

resulting new pay ranges early in fiscal year 2006. Similarly, we are working with the same 

contractor to perform a market-based compensation study for our administrative and professional 

support staff community this summer and plan to implement the resulting pay ranges when we 

implement them for our analysts. The goal of these studies is to design a competitive, fair, and 

equitable market-based compensation system aligned with the competitive labor markets in which 

we compete for talent. 

 

On the basis of the results of the market-based compensation study performed by a contractor at our 

request, we have initiated a project to restructure our band IIs—the middle band for our analysts. 

The project, which is scheduled to be completed during fiscal year 2006, is being implemented by 

task teams of analysts and specialists under the direction of two senior executive project leaders. 

This project will result in the placement of band II staff into two different pay ranges and will better 

align the roles and responsibilities of the persons in these two ranges in a manner consistent with the 
32 GAO-05-776SP GAO’s Fiscal Year 2006 Performance Plan

market-based study. As with other such initiatives, the approach to this project is designed to 

facilitate interaction between the task teams, the Executive Committee, and the employees who will 

be affected. The latter will be accomplished primarily through listening sessions held by the task 

teams, “town hall” meetings held by the Executive Committee, and a 30-day employee review and 

comment period for each phase of the project. 

To meet challenges associated with recruiting, rewarding, and retaining a highly qualified and highperforming workforce, we will implement a number of the human capital flexibilities authorized by 

the Congress and for which we are drafting, revising, and issuing regulations for comment in fiscal 

year 2005. In addition, we will implement a streamlined, user-friendly guide to government and 

nongovernment professional development opportunities; develop and implement an expedited and 

coordinated new hire process; determine the feasibility of implementing a development program for 

new hires with previous experience; and enhance our competency-based performance systems. 

During fiscal year 2006, we will continue our recruitment efforts, which have proven successful in 

recent years. Our objective is to attract and retain a diverse workforce with the knowledge, skills, 

and abilities to meet the new century’s challenges. As in the past, we expect to hire college 

graduates—including interns—with records of superior academic achievement. We will continue to 

hire graduates from master and doctoral degree programs and plan to use alternative recruiting 

strategies—such as hiring at the bachelor degree level and providing opportunities for postgraduate 

work while working at GAO—in order to help us obtain specific skills and enhance our diversity. We 

will continue to use direct-hire, short-term, and time-limited appointing authorities, such as the 

Visiting Fellows Program, to fill gaps identified during our workforce planning effort. Two of our 

major concerns for fiscal year 2006 are hiring and retaining entry-level staff in the financial auditing 

and information technology occupations. To address these areas, we will expand use of new student 

employment initiatives such as the Student Career Experience Program—an undergraduate co-op 

program—and fall and spring internships in addition to the summer program currently offered. 

To further strengthen the skills, knowledge, and expertise of our workforce, we will significantly 

expand our core analytic skills curricula to provide just-in-time courses, job aids, and performance 

support tools on the desktop. For more experienced staff, we will implement curricula focusing on 

more effectively managing engagements, leading teams, and providing coaching and feedback to 

more junior staff. We will invest in developing the learning infrastructure needed to author and 

deliver Web-based courses as well as to conduct synchronous learning programs for both 

headquarters and field staff. 

In fiscal year 2006, we will complete a study of market-based compensation ranges for our 

administrative professional and support staff positions. We will also be developing criteria and a 

process for placing current senior analyst staff in the appropriate salary ranges as we prepare for full 

implementation of market-based compensation ranges for our analysts and specialists. 

The Information Security Challenge 

Information system security is a critical activity in ensuring our information system assets are safe 

and free from compromise. Our inability to respond to the needs of the Congress due to 

compromised information or information systems is not an acceptable risk for GAO. In light of these 

increasing threats, and in keeping with our goal of being a model federal agency, we have a wide 

range of initiatives under way to strengthen and protect the security of our information systems and 

data, including our financial systems. 

During fiscal year 2006, we will complete implementation of centralized auditing of network servers 

and devices in order to better secure our computing assets within GAO. In addition, we are 
33 GAO-05-776SP GAO’s Fiscal Year 2006 Performance Plan

continually refining our network monitoring procedures to include the use of correlation products to 

automate the detection of potentially harmful threats to the GAO network. Also, planned 

improvements to our disaster recovery operations will provide a smooth transition during a time of 

crisis. As we refine our operational processes and improve our services during fiscal years 2006 and 

2007, we will implement additional technologies to lessen risks to GAO and improve response and 

recovery in the event of a disruption. 

During fiscal years 2006 and 2007, in support of the requirements in the Federal Information Security 

Management Act, we also will act on the results of audits of our security practices and controls that 

are conducted each fiscal year. These assessments are designed to analyze the effectiveness of our 

IT security program and assist management in determining how to best utilize resources to protect 

our information assets and systems. They are critical on-site examinations and analysis of the 

program to ascertain the present program status, to identify potential weaknesses, to determine the 

protection required, and to make recommendations for improvement. 

The Physical Security Challenge 

The challenge to provide a safe and secure work environment for employees remains a constant in 

light of international events that can have a profound impact on the way we conduct business in and 

around the world. Protecting our people and our assets is paramount to agency operations. 

We continue to devote time and resources to the assessment of security operations as we further 

enhance our security posture. For fiscal year 2006, these enhancements and emergency 

preparedness efforts will include completing the Integrated Electronic Security System, which 

includes installing turnstiles at headquarters, implementing smart card technology, and upgrading 

access control and intrusion detection systems for headquarters and field offices. Additional efforts 

involve procuring an emergency notification system; conducting tests, training, and exercises in 

support of our continuity-of-operations plan; updating our emergency preparedness plans and 

documents, such as the Shelter-in-Place plan, the emergency response handbook, and a trifold 

brochure summarizing the Shelter-in-Place plan; holding an annual security fair; and instituting a 

more robust security education and awareness program for the headquarters and field offices. 
34 GAO-05-776SP GAO’s Fiscal Year 2006 Performance Plan

Mitigating External Factors That Could Affect 

Our Performance 

Several external factors could affect the achievement of our performance goals, including the 

amount of resources we receive, shifts in the content and volume of our work, and national and 

international developments. Limitations imposed on our work by other organizations or limitations 

on the ability of other federal agencies to make the improvements we recommend are additional 

factors that could affect the achievement of our goals. 

We are experiencing heavy demand from the Congress for work in a number of subject areas, 

especially in the health care area. Our ability to effectively manage this demand could have an 

impact on our ability to meet our performance targets. We will continue to manage these requests in 

order to minimize any negative impact they may have on our ability to meet the needs of the 

Congress and the American people. Given large current federal budget deficits and the nation’s longrange fiscal imbalance, the Congress is likely to place increasing emphasis on fiscal constraint. 

While it is unclear how GAO will ultimately be affected, it is reasonable to assume that any attempt 

to exercise additional budgetary discipline in the legislative branch will include our agency. As a 

result, while we believe that we submit reasonable and responsible budget requests and we know 

that the return on investment that we generate is unparalleled, we must plan and prepare for the 

possibility of significant and recurring constraints on the resources made available to the agency. In 

addition, because over 80 percent of our budget is composed of people-related costs, any serious 

budget situation will have an impact on our human capital policies and practices. This, in turn, will 

have an impact on our ability to serve the Congress and meet our performance targets. While, as 

noted above, the nature and extent of any such budget constraints cannot be determined at the 

present time, GAO’s executive team is engaged in a range of related planning activities. It is both 

appropriate and prudent for us to engage in such planning. At the same time, we are hopeful that the 

Congress will recognize that performance-based budgeting concepts would support providing 

additional resources to entities with prudent budget requests and proven performance results. If the 

Congress employs such an approach, GAO should be in a good position to continue to provide a high 

rate of return on the resources invested in the agency. 

A growing area for us involves our work on bid protests. As required by law, our General Counsel’s 

office prepares Comptroller General procurement law decisions that resolve protests filed by 

disappointed bidders. These bidders challenge the way individual federal procurements are being 

conducted or how the contracts were awarded. In recent years, we have experienced an increase in 

the number of bid protests that have been filed. A further increase in our workload is likely if federal 

employees or their representatives are granted the right to appeal outsourcing decisions. We will 

continue to monitor our workload in this area to ensure that we meet our statutory responsibilities 

with minimal negative impact on our other work. 

As the Congress focuses on unpredictable events—such as the global threat posed by sophisticated 

terrorist networks, international financial crises, or natural disasters—the mix of work we are asked 

to undertake may change, diverting our resources from some strategic objectives and performance 

goals. We can and do mitigate the impact of these events on the achievement of our goals in various 

ways. For example, we 

• stay abreast of current events and communicate frequently with our congressional clients in 

order to be alert to possibilities that could shift the Congress’s priorities or trigger new priorities; 

• quickly redirect our resources, when appropriate, so that we can deal with major changes as they 

occur; 
35 GAO-05-776SP GAO’s Fiscal Year 2006 Performance Plan

• maintain broad-based staff expertise so that we can readily address emerging needs; and 

• initiate research under the Comptroller General’s authority on a limited number of selected 

topics. 

Another external factor is the extent to which we can obtain access to certain types of information. 

With concerns about operational security being unusually high at home and abroad, we may have 

more difficulty obtaining information and reporting on sensitive issues. Historically, our auditing 

and information gathering have been limited whenever the intelligence community is involved. In 

addition, we have not had the authority to access or inspect records or other materials held by other 

countries or, generally, by the multinational institutions that the United States works with to protect 

its interests. Consequently, our ability to fully assess the progress being made in addressing national 

and homeland security issues may be hampered. Also, we anticipate that more of our reports may be 

subject to classification reviews than in the past, which means that the public dissemination of these 

products may be limited. We plan to work with the Congress to identify both legislative and 

nonlegislative opportunities for strengthening our access authority as necessary and appropriate. 
36 GAO-05-776SP GAO’s Fiscal Year 2006 Performance Plan

Image Sources 

The front cover of this plan uses images and graphics that were not created by GAO. Specifically, 

the scales and Jefferson statue are from Photodisc, and the flag and eagle are from BrandXPictures. 

GAO created the image of the U.S. Capitol. 

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