Support the Transition to a More Results-Oriented and Accountable Federal Government

The Strategic Goal and Its Objectives
Performance: FY 2000
Accomplishments: FY 2000
Plans: FY 2001 and 2002
Measures and Targets

As we enter the 21st century, American citizens are increasingly demanding improved government services and better stewardship of public resources. The federal government is adopting the principles of performance-based management in an effort to address these demands. This approach to managing government integrates thinking about organizational structure; program and service delivery strategies; and the use of technology, reliable financial information, and effective human capital strategies into decisions about the results the government intends to achieve.

Many initiatives now under way across government to improve operations and strengthen accountability are being driven by management reforms statutorily established by the Congress in the 1990s. Yet the reforms did not encompass all areas of government management, in particular, human capital strategic planning and management at a governmentwide level.

The reforms that have been adopted have profound implications for what government does (the products and services it delivers), how it is organized, and how it performs. Consequently, government decisionmakers and managers are adopting new ways of thinking, considering different ways of achieving goals, and using new information to guide decisions. At the same time, with budget surpluses now projected for the coming years, the U.S. government faces a new set of challenges, in both the long and near terms, in making budget decisions.

To ensure that we support the transition to a more results-oriented and accountable federal government, we have established four strategic objectives:

analyzing the federal government's long-term and near-term fiscal position, outlook, and options;

strengthening approaches for financing the government and determining accountability for the use of taxpayer dollars;

facilitating governmentwide management and institutional reforms needed to build and sustain high-performing organizations and more effective government; and

recommending economy, efficiency, and effectiveness improvements in federal agency programs.

Fiscal Year 2000

In working toward this Strategic Goal in fiscal year 2000, we exceeded all five of our annual performance targets:

We achieved measurable financial benefits of about $5.1 billion--$100 million more than our target of $5 billion.

We recorded 503 actions taken on our recommendations by executive branch agencies or the Congress to improve government operations or services, again exceeding the target, which was 415 actions.

The implementation rate for the recommendations we made to executive branch agencies 4 years ago was 77 percent, exceeding our target of 74 percent.

We testified 105 times before the Congress on making government more results oriented and accountable, exceeding our target of 85 testimonies.

We made 413 new recommendations to executive branch agencies to further improve their operations and services--well beyond our target of 370 recommendations.

In addition, we expect to meet or exceed all 15 qualitative performance goals by the end of fiscal year 2002. These performance goals are listed in the PDF version of our full-length report.

Examples of our work under Strategic Goal 1 include the following:

Improving SBA's Disaster Loan Program Estimates
Informing Congressional Deliberations on Tax Policy
Implementing the Government Performance and Results Act

Fiscal Years 2001 and 2002

Guided by our final decisions on realigning the agency's structure to the goals in our strategic plan, we allocated 942 full-time equivalent staff to Goal 3. We revised some of our quantitative targets to reflect these decisions, as indicated on the table above, and are on track to meet our quantitative targets for fiscal year 2001. In addition, we revised 1 of our 15 qualitative performance goals to more accurately reflect the scope of work being done under Goal 3.

Looking ahead to fiscal year 2002, we have requested 976 full-time equivalent staff for this goal. The additional staff will be used to increase our emphasis on federal human capital management, government computer security, and analyses of economically significant regulations. Given these resources, we set the following targets:

$5.7 billion in financial benefits,

359 actions taken on our recommendations to improve government operations or services, and

a 75-percent implementation rate for the recommendations we made 4 years ago.

These performance targets will continue to focus our attention on work that provides financial benefits and other improvements in government operations. We also set targets of delivering 67 testimonies and making 352 recommendations to executive agencies, two measures of the value of our work for congressional decision-making and in identifying opportunities for improving federal operations that yield benefits to taxpayers.

Annual Quantitative Performance Measures and Targets, Fiscal Years 1997-2002

																																								1997									1998									1999								2000																		2001								2002
Type														Measure																										Actual									Actual									Actual								Target (a)									Actual									Target								Target
Outcome														Financial benefits (billions)
														Annual																										$8.6									$4.6									$4.5								$5.0									$5.1									$5.25(b)								$5.7
														4-year average																										$5.2									$5.2									$5.7								$5.7									$5.7									$4.86								$5.1
														Other benefits
														Annual																										216									311									414								415									503									342(b)								359
														4-year average																										145									200									274								339									361									393								405
														Recommendations implemented(c)
														4-year implementation rate																										69%									65%									78%								74%									77%									75%								75%
Intermediate outcome														Testimonies
														Annual																										57									96									100								85									105									43(b)								67
														4-year average																										66									75									79								84									90									86								79
														Recommendations made
														Annual																										322									460									335								370									413									343(b)								352
														4-year average																										321									332									355								372									383									388								361

3-Year Qualitative Performance Goals, Fiscal Years 2000-2002

Expect to meet or exceed

Do not expect to meet

Not started

Qualitative

Performance goals: 15

100%

0%

0%

(a) Because GAO did not have a performance plan for fiscal year 2000, the figures in this column were referred to in past documents as "estimates." They served the same function as the targets we now set in our performance plans.

(b) This is a revised target. For the original target, please see GAO's revised final performance plan for fiscal year 2001 (PDF).

(c) This measure gauges the implementation rate of recommendations made 4 years prior to each respective fiscal year.