Strategic Human Capital Management

Why It's High Risk

GAO initially designated strategic human capital management as a high-risk area because of the long-standing lack of leadership of strategic human capital management. While, as discussed below, significant steps have been taken, the area remains high risk because of a need to address current and emerging critical skills gaps that are undermining agencies’ abilities to meet their vital missions. The federal government’s current budget and long-term fiscal pressures underscore the importance of a strategic and efficient approach to the recruitment, hiring, development, and retention of individuals with the needed critical skills.

^ Back to topWhat We Found

In 2001, GAO reported that a consistent approach to the government’s management of its people—its human capital—was the critical missing link in reforming and modernizing the federal government’s management practices. Many agencies faced challenges in key areas, including leadership; strategic human capital planning; acquiring, developing, and retaining staff; and creating results-oriented organizational cultures.

The federal government has made substantial progress in addressing its human capital challenges. For example, Congress provided agencies—individually and across the federal government—with additional authorities and flexibilities to manage the federal workforce. Also, the Office of Personnel Management (OPM) issued guidance on the availability and use of flexibilities and undertook a major initiative to streamline and reform the federal hiring process. Therefore, GAO is narrowing the scope of this high-risk area to focus on the most significant challenges that remain to close current and emerging critical skills gaps. These challenges must be addressed for agencies to effectively and efficiently meet their missions. For example:

• Acquisition management. The shortage of trained acquisition personnel impedes the capacity and capability of agencies such as the Departments of Defense (DOD) and Homeland Security (DHS) to oversee and manage contracts that have become more expensive and increasingly complex. As a result, GAO work has found that the federal government is at risk for significant overcharges and wasteful spending of the hundreds of billions of contract dollars it spends for goods and services each year. GAO has made recommendations in this area to both DOD and DHS.
• In 2009, GAO found that DOD lacked critical information to ensure its acquisition workforce was sufficient to meet its national security mission. As a result, GAO recommended that DOD improve its management and oversight of its acquisition workforce. DOD concurred with the recommendation and noted several efforts to address elements of the recommendation, such as the deployment of a competency assessment of the acquisition workforce to identify gaps and improve training.
• In 2008, GAO recommended to DHS several actions to be taken to better manage its acquisition workforce challenges, including establishing a coordinated planning process across the component agencies within the agency. DHS agreed with our recommendations and is implementing several efforts to address them, including collecting data on the current acquisition workforce and development of a comprehensive implementation plan to execute existing acquisition workforce initiatives.
• Foreign language capabilities. Agencies, such as the Department of State, have persistent shortages of staff with critical language skills and have some foreign language shortfalls in areas of geographic strategic interest. GAO has reported that these skills gaps put diplomatic readiness at risk and could hinder U.S. overseas operations. Therefore, for example, GAO recommended in 2009 that State develop a comprehensive strategic plan that links all of State’s efforts to meet its foreign language requirements, and that includes clearly defined and measurable performance goals and objectives of the language proficiency program. State generally agreed and convened a working group to develop an action plan to address GAO’s recommendations.
  
  Domestically, an agency like the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) can improve its services to limited English proficiency (LEP) communities. GAO recommended in 2010 that agencies, including FEMA, take a variety of steps to ensure that LEP persons can access federal services and programs. DHS agreed with the recommendation to FEMA and stated that it will collaborate with FEMA to determine documents for translation as well as monitoring and evaluating services to the LEP communities.
• Oil and gas management. The Department of the Interior lacks sufficient staff with the critical skills, such as petroleum engineering, needed to process drilling permits, review oil and gas metering systems, and conduct oil and gas production verification inspections, including conducting site inspections and activities to ensure meters are correctly measuring oil and gas. GAO found in 2010 that the lack of skills could result in inaccurate oil and gas measurement and possibly lead to less federal revenue due to inaccurate royalty collections, and contributed to the federal government’s oil and gas management being high-risk. As a result, in 2010, GAO made recommendations, including that Interior take additional steps to attract, train, and retain qualified staff at sufficient levels to ensure an effective inspection program. Interior generally agreed with GAO’s recommendations and has taken several actions and planned others to address the recommendations.
• FAA technician workforce. FAA lacks a longer-term strategy to address the hundreds of technician retirements projected through 2020 and has just begun to assess the skills and competencies its technician workforce will need to maintain its Next Generation technologies. GAO has reported that safe and efficient air travel depends on FAA having technicians with the right skills now and in the future. Also, GAO recommended in 2010 that FAA develop a written technician workforce planning strategy that identifies needed skills and staffing, and a strategic training plan showing how training efforts contribute to performance goals. GAO is awaiting FAA’s response to the recommendation.
• Veterinarians. There is a growing shortage of veterinarians at agencies, such as the Food Safety and Inspection Service, who oversee the slaughter and handling of livestock and poultry. GAO reported in 2009 that this shortage has the potential to place human health, the economy, and our nation's food supply at risk. GAO recommended that agencies, such as USDA and other agencies with food safety responsibilities, conduct assessments of their veterinarian workforces to identify current and future workforce needs, while also taking into consideration training and employee development needs, and that a governmentwide approach be used to address shortcomings. In response, OPM and relevant federal agencies created an interagency forum and developed a strategic workforce plan to begin the process of obtaining a governmentwide understanding of the current status and future needs of the federal veterinary workforce.

^ Back to topWhat Needs to Be Done

Legislative initiatives by Congress and the demonstrated commitment by executive branch officials are helping to address high-risk human capital challenges.

In recent years, as indicated above, GAO has made numerous recommendations to individual agencies to address their specific human capital challenges. At the same time, GAO has also recommended actions that OPM can take to better assist agencies in achieving their strategic workforce planning goals. Resolving human capital high-risk issues will require that agencies continue to both take actions to address their specific challenges and work with OPM and through the Chief Human Capital Officers Council to address critical skills gaps that cut across several

• Planning. Agencies' workforce plans must fully support the highly skilled talent needs of agencies, both now and as those needs evolve to address new mission priorities. These workforce plans must define the root causes of skills gaps, identify effective solutions to skills shortages, and provide the steps necessary to implement solutions.
• Implementation. Agencies' recruitment, hiring, and development strategies must be responsive to changing applicant and workforce needs and expectations, as well as to the increasingly competitive battle for top talent. They must also show the capacity to define and implement corrective measures to narrow skill shortages.
• Measurement and evaluation. Agencies need to measure the effects of key initiatives to address critical skills gaps, evaluate the performance of those initiatives, and make appropriate adjustments. By taking these steps, agencies will improve their ability to monitor and independently validate the effectiveness and sustainability of corrective measure.

^ Back to topKey Reports

Veterinarian Workforce

Oil and Gas Management

Language Access

Human Capital

Foreign Assistance

Federal Aviation Administration

Department of State

Department of Homeland Security

Defense Acquisition Workforce

More Reports