GPRA is intended to shift the focus of government decision-making, management, and accountability from activities and processes to the results and outcomes achieved by federal programs. New and valuable information on the plans, goals, and strategies of federal agencies has been provided since federal agencies began implementing GPRA. Under GPRA, annual performance plans are to clearly inform the Congress and the public of (1) the annual performance goals for agencies’ major programs and activities, (2) the measures that will be used to gauge performance, (3) the strategies and resources required to achieve the performance goals, and (4) the procedures that will be used to verify and validate performance information. These annual plans, issued soon after transmittal of the president’s budget, provide a direct linkage between an agency’s longer-term goals and mission and day-to-day activities. Annual performance reports are to subsequently report on the degree to which performance goals were met. The issuance of the agencies’ performance reports, due by March 31, represents a new and potentially more substantive phase in the implementation of GPRA—the opportunity to assess federal agencies’ actual performance for the prior fiscal year and to consider what steps are needed to improve performance and reduce costs in the future. OPM’s mission is to support the federal government’s ability to have the best workforce possible to do the best job possible. OPM is to accomplish this mission by leading federal agencies in shaping human resources management systems to effectively recruit, develop, manage, and retain a high-quality and diverse workforce; protecting national values embodied in law, including merit principles and veterans’ preference; serving federal agencies, employees, retirees, their families, and the public through technical assistance, employment information, pay administration, and benefits delivery; and safeguarding employee benefit trust funds. The results of OPM’s efforts largely take place at federal agencies outside of the direct control of OPM. This section discusses our analysis of OPM’s performance in achieving its selected key outcomes and the strategies it has in place, particularly strategic human capital management and information technology, for accomplishing these outcomes. In discussing these outcomes, we have also provided information drawn from our prior work on the extent to which the agency provided assurance that the performance information it is reporting is credible. We cannot assess progress made by OPM in contributing to the outcome that the federal government has an appropriately constituted workforce with the proper skills to carry out its missions. OPM has several goals that relate to this outcome, but none that focus squarely on the degree to which the federal workforce has the right skill mix. Specifically, OPM’s fiscal year 2000 performance report includes goals that “federal human resources management policies and programs are merit-based, mission- focused, and cost effective” and “a model for workforce planning . . . is in place” for use by agencies. OPM’s performance report states that both of these goals were met. OPM states that the first goal was met because it produced a few studies that contributed to human resource policy or program proposals. The second goal was met, according to the OPM fiscal year 2000 performance report, because OPM has provided the workforce planning model to several agencies. This model, and other important steps OPM has taken to support better workforce planning—including developing research tools and launching a website to facilitate information sharing about workforce planning issues—could prove helpful to agencies in addressing their individual strategic human capital challenges. As a next step, OPM needs to measure, for example, how the studies and workforce planning model actually contributed to improved strategic human capital management at the agencies. Specifically, as an intermediate outcome, OPM could measure the number of agencies that were able to identify skill shortages and solutions as a result of using workforce planning. Previously, we have reported that OPM should take a more proactive role in agency workforce planning efforts, and our April 2001 report on expected trends in federal employee retirements further highlights the need for improved workforce planning. Other information indicates that this outcome is not commonly being achieved. Our high-risk series gave many examples of agencies not having the appropriate workforce to carry out its mission. For example, the Department of Energy did not have employees with adequate contract management skills to oversee the clean up of hazardous waste sites, and nursing shortages at Veterans Affairs facilities could put veterans at risk. OPM’s fiscal year 2002 plan contains several strategies that, for the most part, appear to be reasonable. For example, OPM plans to obtain input from agencies on how workforce policies need to be changed and to explore policies on dual compensation and phased retirement to bolster retention of federal employees. Determining whether these strategies are successful will require OPM to develop indicators of whether federal agencies and departments have appropriately skilled workforces and how these strategies are being used to build workforce skills. As is the case with the first outcome, OPM’s performance report does not contain sufficient outcome measures to fully assess the extent to which federal employees are held accountable for their performance. OPM’s performance report contains several goals related to this outcome. For example, OPM is to develop performance-oriented approaches to employee compensation and to provide assistance in developing performance management systems. OPM measures goal achievement by such indicators as the number of workshops offered, the number of performance studies available on the OPM Website, and whether performance management guidance is issued in a timely manner. Other information indicates that much more needs to be done to improve performance management at federal agencies. For example, in our October 2000 report, we noted that surveys we had administered to managers showed that only 26 percent in 1997 and 31 percent in 2000 reported that employees in their agencies had received positive recognition to a great or very great extent for helping agencies accomplish their strategic goals. Also, the Merit Systems Protection Board (MSPB) and we have previously reported that holding employees accountable for their job performance continues to be perceived as a challenge because employees perceive the process as cumbersome. OPM’s plan identifies a variety of strategies for achieving goals that relate to the outcome of evaluating, rewarding, and otherwise holding federal employees accountable for their performance. The strategies call for providing guidance and information to agencies, including information on best practices, as well as working with internal and external stakeholders to identify needed changes in compensation and performance policies and programs. Although the strategies appear reasonable, how they will help to achieve the outcome of holding employees accountable for performance is not always clear. For example, a strategy OPM cited to help achieve its goal of identifying options for performance-oriented approaches to compensation was to maintain comprehensive research on best practices in private and public sector compensation systems and tools that the federal government can use. But OPM offers no explanation of how the use of such systems and tools will aid the federal government in holding employees accountable for their performance. OPM has made mixed progress on the outcome that federal agencies adhere to merit system principles. On the one hand, OPM’s fiscal year 2000 performance report states that OPM’s periodic reviews of agencies have identified no systemic merit principle weaknesses. On the other hand, the results of OPM’s government-wide survey of federal employees conducted in fiscal years 1999 and 2000 indicate that a sizable percentage of employees think that certain merit principles are not being followed. The fiscal year 2000 performance report includes goals related to the overall adherence to merit principles by agencies, including agencies with delegated examining authority. OPM uses a variety of measures to determine if this outcome is being achieved, including (1) the results of merit system reviews of federal agencies, (2) agencies’ satisfaction with the reviews, and (3) the views of federal employees regarding adherence to merit principles. OPM’s report states that the reviews indicated that agencies, including those with delegated examining authority, were adhering to merit principles. According to the performance report, the problems found in OPM’s reviews were not systemic. Once problems were identified in the review, OPM worked with the agency to resolve the problems. In its reviews, OPM also identified best practices and shared them with other agencies. The views of federal employees on adherence to the nine merit system principles, as provided in an OPM survey, indicated that there was no significant change from the fiscal year 1999 survey. OPM’s goal was to increase by two percentage points the percentage of federal employees who believed each of the merit principles were being adhered to by their agencies. There are a variety of factors that influence employees’ responses to this question, including governmentwide economic, cultural, and social conditions. For this reason, OPM expects substantive change in the perceptions of these principles to take place over several years. This year’s survey indicates that a relatively large portion of federal employees believed that employees maintain a high standard of integrity and concern for the public and that employees are protected from improper political influence. But on the other hand less than half believe that employees are protected against reprisal for the lawful disclosure of information or are provided equal pay for equal work and rewarded for excellent performance; and only a little more than half think that employees are managed efficiently and effectively. Similar results were reported in the merit system principles survey conducted by MSPB in 2000. OPM’s fiscal year 2002 performance plan identifies a variety of strategies that are consistent with its current efforts. The current strategies should help OPM achieve its goals as well as contribute to the outcome of ensuring that agencies adhere to the merit system principles. For example, to help ensure that personnel practices are carried out in accordance with these principles, OPM’s strategies include conducting nationwide agency merit system oversight reviews, auditing agencies with delegated examining authority and reviewing reports filed by these agencies to identify any training needs, and reviewing all agency selections for initial career Senior Executive Service appointments for compliance with merit system principles. OPM does not include coordination with MSPB as a strategy for achieving performance goals within its Office of Merit Systems Oversight and Effectiveness—the program office that is responsible for leading the federal government’s efforts in overseeing the merit system.