Recommendation: The Commissioner of the IRS should fully implement the workforce planning initiative, including taking the following actions: (1) conducting enterprise strategy and planning, (2) conducting workforce analysis, (3) creating a workforce plan, (4) implementing the workforce plan, and (5) monitoring and evaluating the results. (Recommendation 1)

Agency: Department of the Treasury: Internal Revenue Service
Status: Open
Priority recommendation

Comments: IRS agreed with this recommendation. As of February 2020, the Internal Revenue Service (IRS) reported it has hired or made final offers to new members of its Workforce Planning branch that will help implement the Workforce Planning initiative. According to IRS, the agency is updating its workforce planning policy, and will establish a workforce plan including an enterprise strategy and initiate related workforce analysis by December 2020. By December 2021, IRS expects to implement the workforce plan and a process to monitor and evaluate the results of the workforce plan. Full implementation of a workforce plan that provides a comprehensive inventory of its current workforce will allow IRS to develop competency and staffing requirements to conduct agency-wide activities associated with identifying and addressing skills gaps.

Recommendation: The Secretary of the Treasury should issue clarifying guidance to IRS about the Integrated Talent Management system, including when the workforce planning and talent management modules will be deployed and available for IRS's use, the functions it will include, and how IRS's existing systems and processes within business divisions and program offices will be affected. (Recommendation 2)

Agency: Department of the Treasury
Status: Open

Comments: Treasury agreed with the recommendation. Treasury stated that it has taken actions to ensure that IRS and all Treasury bureaus have a clear understanding of when the ITM workforce planning module will be available and how it will be used. Treasury stated that they conducted a Workforce Planning offsite in May 2019 to (1) ensure a common understanding of the workforce planning process as it relates to ITM; 2) document the process in preparation of utilizing ITM; and 3) agree on how the agency will accomplish workforce planning in ITM. According to Treasury, goals 1 and 2 were achieved during the offsite and the workforce planning community continues to work on the third goal. Treasury expects to complete the discussion on how to accomplish workforce planning in ITM by the end of calendar year 2019. Treasury's Offices of the Chief Human Capital Officer and the Chief Information Officer are responsible for ensuring effective communication and training are completed as each ITM module is implemented. We will continue to monitor Treasury's progress in implementing this recommendation.

Recommendation: The Commissioner of IRS should ensure the Human Capital Officer improves reporting for its workforce planning initiative in its bi-monthly HRstat information submissions to Treasury. The submissions should include the original implementation schedule, changes to the original schedule, delays in implementation and each of their causes, and IRS's strategy to address the causes of those delays. (Recommendation 3)

Agency: Department of the Treasury: Internal Revenue Service
Status: Open

Comments: IRS agrees with this recommendation. In its recommendation status letter to us, IRS wrote that they will include workforce planning in their bi-monthly HRstat information submissions to Treasury, and will have an approved implementation schedule for the workforce planning initiative by December 2019. IRS identified the Human Capital Officer as the responsible official for addressing this recommendation. We will continue to monitor IRS's progress in implementing this recommendation.

Recommendation: The Commissioner of IRS should ensure the Human Capital Officer and Deputy Commissioner for Services and Enforcement report the results of efforts to close skills gaps among revenue agents, including lessons learned, that may help inform strategies for conducting skills gap assessment efforts for other mission critical occupations. (Recommendation 4)

Agency: Department of the Treasury: Internal Revenue Service
Status: Open

Comments: IRS agrees with this recommendation. In its recommendation status letter to us, IRS provided a timetable for implementation. By January 2021, IRS will initiate use of Integrated Talent Management's (ITM) capability to enable workforce planning and analytics. They are still working through requirements and the implementation plan for using this system. By December 2021, IRS will report the results of efforts to close skills gaps among revenue agents, including lessons learned on an annual basis over the next three fiscal years. IRS identified the Human Capital Officer and Deputy Commissioner for Services and Enforcement as the officials responsible for addressing this recommendation. In our 2019 Duplication, Overlap, and Fragmentation report, we determined implementing this recommendation is needed to address IRS's fragmented human capital activities to improve its strategic workforce planning so it can better meet challenges to achieving its mission. We will continue to monitor IRS's progress in implementing this recommendation.

Recommendation: The Commissioner of IRS should ensure the Human Capital Officer and Deputy Commissioner for Services and Enforcement collaborate to develop a work plan or other mechanism that prioritizes and schedules skills assessments for mission critical occupations at highest risk of skills gaps, such as those identified by Treasury or where key activities have been scaled back, for the purposes of developing a strategy to close the gaps. (Recommendation 5)

Agency: Department of the Treasury: Internal Revenue Service
Status: Open
Priority recommendation

Comments: IRS agreed with the recommendation. As of February 2020, IRS reported that it expects to fully implement this action by June 15, 2020. IRS reported that full implementation of related actions has been delayed due to limited resources. To date, the IRS Human Capital Officer has (1) identified mission critical occupations (MCOs), (2) collaborated with the Employment, Talent and Security (ETS) Division to develop an implementation schedule for the assessments, (3) obtained the Worklife Benefits and Performance Division and ETS Division Directors' approval of the implementation schedule, and (4) published and distributed the schedule. Going forward, the IRS Human Capital Office will coordinate with the Chief Financial Office and the Deputy Commissioner for Services and Enforcement in developing a work plan or other mechanism that prioritizes and schedules skills assessments for mission critical occupations. IRS will also validate its list of 22 positions established in coordination with Treasury. A work plan for addressing MCOs and skills gaps could help IRS identify and close skills gaps on a timely basis. Without such a plan, IRS risks continuing to scale back on mission-critical activities, adding to the existing fragmentation of its human capital planning efforts.

Recommendation: To improve transparency in allocating its limited resources, and to help ensure that its resource allocation decisions are the most effective ones for fulfilling its missions given existing risks, the Commandant of the Coast Guard should document how the risk assessments conducted were used to inform and support its annual asset allocation decisions.

Agency: Department of Homeland Security: United States Coast Guard
Status: Open

Comments: In February 2018, the Coast Guard liaison stated that Coast Guard management made a decision to not to address this recommendation within the annual Strategic Planning Direction (SPD) or Operational Planning Direction (OPD) products as previously planned, but rather within the Standard Operational Planning Process/Global Force Management Process Guide. The liaison further stated that both of these documents are currently under revision and expected to be completed by March 31, 2018. On October 11, 2018, the Coast Guard liaison stated that The Standard Operational Planning Process/Global Force Management Instruction is in routing for edits, comment, and final approval. The new estimated completion date is the 2nd quarter of FY 2019. GAO sent an inquiry to the Coast Guard on April 24, 2019 and is awaiting a reply. On March 30, 2020, the Coast Guard liaison informed GAO that the update to the Standard Operational Planning Process (SOPP)/Global Force Management (GFM) Instruction, which includes the addition and test of Strategic Priorities Planning Guidance and the new Coast Guard Force Allocation Matrix, was further delayed due to recent discussions of changing to a 2-year SOPP planning cycle to align with the Department of Defense Global Force Management process. This change would further require an update of the SOPP/GFM Instruction. The COVID-19 crisis as well as the need to finalize the Strategic Planning Direction by June 2020 are also factors in this delay. New Estimated Completion Date (ECD): June 30, 2021.

Recommendation: To ensure that high priority mission activities are fully supported with the appropriate number of staff possessing the requisite mix of skills and abilities, the Commandant of the Coast Guard should develop a systematic process that prioritizes manpower requirements analyses for units that are the most critical for achieving mission needs.

Agency: Department of Homeland Security: United States Coast Guard
Status: Open

Comments: On December 14, 2016, the Coast Guard noted that it submitted two FY 2019 Resource Proposals to staff and equip the Manpower Requirements Determination Division to conduct the analysis as described in the recommendation. In April, 2016, the Coast Guard liaison stated that, resources permitting, the Coast Guard is to address the following steps: (1) Validate the "unit-type" list so that it encompasses the vast majority of active duty and civilian billets in a logical framework that can be readily analyzed, review/update the list as changes (e.g., asset mix, organizations) occur. (2) Develop the requirements for the envisioned Manpower Analysis & Simulation Tool (MAST). (3) Prioritize unit list according to strategic alignment and risk assessment (4) Conduct the manpower requirements analyses (MRA) in accordance with established priorities. As of August 2020, the Coast Guard reported it had not implemented the actions. Specifically, the Coast Guard reported that in response to GAO's February 2020 modernization report (GAO-20-223, rec#2), it was developing new guidance for executing the manpower requirement determination process. Officials told us that the new guidance would include a systematic process for prioritizing manpower analysis. In this way, the actions for implementing the GAO-20-223 recommendation may also serve to meet the intent of the recommendation for GAO-16-379. Officials told us the Coast Guard estimated implementing the actions by December 31, 2020.

Recommendation: To improve the strategic allocation of assets, the Commandant of the Coast Guard should incorporate field unit input, such as information on assets' actual performance from Operational Performance Assessment Reports and Planning Assessments, to inform more realistic asset allocation decisions--in addition to asset performance capacities currently used--in the annual Strategic Planning Directions to more effectively communicate strategic intent to field units.

Agency: Department of Homeland Security: United States Coast Guard
Status: Open

Comments: In February 2018, the Coast Guard liaison stated that Coast Guard management made a decision to not to address this recommendation within the annual Strategic Planning Direction (SPD) or Operational Planning Direction (OPD) products as previously planned, but rather within the Standard Operational Planning Process/Global Force Management Process Guide. The liaison further stated these documents are under revision and expected to be completed by March 31, 2018. On October 11, 2018, the Coast Guard liaison stated that The Standard Operational Planning Process/Global Force Management Instruction is in routing for edits, comment, and final approval. The new estimated completion date is the 2nd quarter of FY 2019. GAO sent an inquiry to the Coast Guard on April 24, 2019 asking for an update. On March 30, 2020, the Coast Guard liaison informed GAO that the update to the SOPP/GFM Instruction, which includes the addition and test of Strategic Priorities Planning Guidance and the new Coast Guard Force Allocation Matrix, was further delayed due to recent discussions of changing to a 2-year SOPP planning cycle to align with the Department of Defense Global Force Management process. The liaison stated that the COVID-19 crisis as well as the need to finalize the Strategic Planning Direction by June 2020 are also factors in this delay. The new estimated completion date for this recommendation is June 30, 2021.