Recommendation: The Under Secretary for Management should ensure that the Office of Program Accountability and Risk Management and component heads execute the Component Acquisition Executive nomination and designation process consistently, as described in its guidance. This should include nominating and designating Component Acquisition Executives to oversee all acquisition programs. (Recommendation 1)

Agency: Department of Homeland Security
Status: Open

Comments: When we confirm what actions the agency has taken in response to this recommendation, we will provide updated information.

Recommendation: The Under Secretary for Management should ensure that the Component Acquisition Executives that are responsible for oversight of acquisition programs comply with Department of Homeland Security direction to complete Component Acquisition Executive support staffing plans. (Recommendation 2)

Agency: Department of Homeland Security
Status: Open

Comments: When we confirm what actions the agency has taken in response to this recommendation, we will provide updated information.

Recommendation: The Under Secretary for Management should identify, in policy or guidance, the expertise that constitutes critical acquisition positions for effective Component Acquisition Executive oversight. (Recommendation 3)

Agency: Department of Homeland Security
Status: Open

Comments: When we confirm what actions the agency has taken in response to this recommendation, we will provide updated information.

Recommendation: The Under Secretary for Management should direct the Office of Program Accountability and Risk Management to establish a time frame for completing its assessment of the Investment Evaluation, Submission, and Tracking (INVEST) system data fields for which the Component Acquisition Executive certification is necessary, based on current use and reporting requirements, and take appropriate actions based on the results. (Recommendation 4)

Agency: Department of Homeland Security
Status: Open

Comments: When we confirm what actions the agency has taken in response to this recommendation, we will provide updated information.

Recommendation: The Secretary of Defense should ensure that the Director of the Defense Civilian Personnel Advisory Service reports the results of the assessment of employee perceptions of modifications to term and temporary appointments to the Congress and GAO.

Agency: Department of Defense
Status: Open

Comments: The Department of Defense (DOD) concurred with our recommendation. We will continue to follow-up with DOD on the status of this recommendation.

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: The Chair of the EEOC should develop a timeline to complete the planned effort to clean Integrated Mission System data for a one-year period and add missing industry code data. (Recommendation 1)

Agency: Equal Employment Opportunity Commission
Status: Open

Comments: As part of an effort to overhaul its IMS data system, EEOC has begun developing an Employer Master List that will provide a source of employer information, including industry codes, but EEOC told us that it has not yet completed this effort. It anticipates this system will be more fully developed by spring 2020. It is important for EEOC to collect sufficient information through its Employer Master List and use it to analyze charge data by industry.

Recommendation: The Director of OFCCP should analyze internal process data from closed evaluations to better understand the cause of delays that occur during compliance evaluations and make changes accordingly. (Recommendation 2)

Agency: Department of Labor: Office of Federal Contract Compliance Programs
Status: Open

Comments: In June 2019, OFCCP officials reported that OFCCP's procedures outlined in the Active Case Enforcement Directive (DIR 2011-01) caused delays in case closures, but OFCCP did not indicate that this conclusion resulted from the recommended analysis of internal process data from closed evaluations. OFCCP officials reported that the agency's aged case rate-defined as a case which is open for more than 730 days and has not been referred for further enforcement-has dropped from 27.7 percent in fiscal year 2017 to 20.9 percent in fiscal year 2019. However, it did not report on changes in case outcomes. In September 2019, OFCCP officials told us they continue to look for ways to address delays with effective policies that make the agency more efficient. We maintain that OFCCP should determine the root causes of delays based on data analysis of actual evaluations to demonstrate that its policy changes are accurately targeting the causes of these delays.

Recommendation: The Director of OFCCP should assess the quality of the methods used by OFCCP to incorporate consideration of disparities by industry into its process for selecting contractor establishments for compliance evaluation. It should use the results of this assessment in finalizing its procedures for identifying contractor establishments at greatest risk of noncompliance. (Recommendation 4)

Agency: Department of Labor: Office of Federal Contract Compliance Programs
Status: Open

Comments: In its agency response to our November 2017 report, OFCCP officials reported that the agency was exploring the use of U.S. Census Bureau and administrative data to refine its selection process to focus on industries with a greater likelihood of noncompliance. In January 2019, DOL officials reported that DOL had revised its scheduling methodology to include industries with the highest rates of violations. OFCCP published the scheduling list in March 2019 and its field offices started scheduling cases in May 2019. OFCCP stated it will continue to monitor results from this revised scheduling methodology to determine its effectiveness. It will be important for OFCCP to refine these methods based on its experiences with them. This new process is a step toward focusing efforts on industries at greater risk of potential noncompliance with nondiscrimination or affirmative action requirements. We will consider closing this recommendation when these efforts are complete.

Recommendation: The Director of OFCCP should evaluate the current approach used for identifying entities for compliance review and determine whether modifications are needed to reflect current workplace structures and locations or to ensure that subcontractors are included. (Recommendation 5)

Agency: Department of Labor: Office of Federal Contract Compliance Programs
Status: Open

Comments: In fiscal year 2019, OFCCP evaluated its current approach for identifying subcontractors for review. OFCCP stated that the current approach does not reliably include subcontractors in the pool from which contractors are scheduled because there is no government or public database that captures the complete universe of subcontractors and other important data. In June 2019, OFCCP submitted revisions to its process to the Office of Management and Budget (OMB) for approval. We will consider closing this recommendation when these efforts are complete.

Recommendation: The Director of OFCCP should evaluate the Functional Affirmative Action Program to assess its usefulness as an effective alternative to an establishment-based program, and determine what improvements, if any, could be made to better encourage contractor participation. (Recommendation 6)

Agency: Department of Labor: Office of Federal Contract Compliance Programs
Status: Open

Comments: OFCCP has taken steps to encourage contractors to use the FAAP program without fully evaluating it as an alternative to the establishment-based program. Evaluating the FAAP could help OFCCP improve its ability to achieve its objectives and may provide broader insight for OFCCP's overall enforcement approach. We will consider closing this recommendation when these efforts are complete.

Recommendation: The Associate Director of Merit System Accountability and Compliance should ensure that OPM's finalized records schedule on retaining conversion case files specifically lists all documentation that must be saved in its case files. (Recommendation 1)

Agency: Office of Personnel Management
Status: Open

Comments: In response to our recommendation, OPM drafted a retention schedule for its pre-appointment review case files. As of June 2019, according to OPM, National Archives and Records Administration (NARA) was in the process of reviewing the draft retention schedule. Once NARA approves and OPM finalizes the schedule, OPM will be better able to maintain complete documentation to justify conversion request decisions and ensure such documentation is available for subsequent review. On July 8, 2020, OPM informed us it is getting closer to fully responding to this recommendation and providing us with appropriate documentation to support is efforts.

Recommendation: To enhance information available to operational unit managers, the Secretary of Commerce should direct the director of NOAA's WFMO to ensure that complete information on hiring requests is routinely communicated to NWS managers throughout the three phases of the hiring process, such as by supporting the development of improved tracking and reporting capabilities in the planned new Commerce-wide data system.

Agency: Department of Commerce
Status: Open

Comments: The agency agreed with our recommendation. As of June 2020, the agency had taken some action, but had not fully implemented it. We will update this recommendation's status as we receive more information.

Recommendation: To help strengthen the government's ability to compete in the labor market for top talent, and to improve the federal hiring process, the Director of OPM, in conjunction with the CHCO Council, should use this information to determine whether opportunities exist to refine, consolidate, eliminate, or expand agency-specific authorities to other agencies and implement changes where OPM is authorized, including seeking presidential authorization (as necessary) in order to do so. In cases where legislation would be necessary to implement changes, OPM should work with the CHCO Council to develop legislative proposals.

Agency: Office of Personnel Management
Status: Open
Priority recommendation

Comments: OPM agreed with this recommendation and has taken actions to address it since GAO's August 2016 report. In April 2019, OPM issued final regulations implementing changes to direct hire authority to provide certain agencies with the ability to hire urgently needed information technology professionals more quickly. It also plans to provide in-person support to the Chief Human Capital Office council, Chief Information Officers Council, and human resources professionals and managers on how to use this new authority. In its fiscal year 2021 Congressional Budget Justification released on February 10, 2020, OPM noted that it was seeking to improve hiring by using flexibilities that exist within current authority. These include, for example, noncompetitive term-limited appointments of highly qualified experts, expansion of term/temporary hiring authorities, and limited noncompetitive hiring of students and recent graduates. However, some of these plans were initially introduced in the prior year's justification and progress continues to be unclear. Additionally, OPM said that it is currently reassessing administration priorities and was unable to provide further updates. While OPM has made some progress in this area, it will be important for the agency to prioritize and follow through on its planned actions to streamline hiring authorities. Expanding access to hiring authorities found to be highly efficient and effective while eliminating those found to be less effective would help simplify and improve the federal hiring process.

Recommendation: To help ensure HHS has reliable data on SGEs not serving on federal boards, the Secretary of HHS should take steps to improve the reliability of data on SGEs not serving on boards. For example, the agency could reconcile human capital data with general counsel and ethics office data, or issue clarifying guidance to human capital staff on appropriately identifying SGEs in human capital databases.

Agency: Department of Health and Human Services
Status: Open

Comments: In October 2016, HHS submitted its action plan to address GAO's recommendations. At that time, HHS stated the agency was reviewing its internal policies and procedures related to the hiring of special government employees not serving on boards to identify policy options that might improve data reliability. In January 2017, the Office of Government Ethics issued its Ethics Program Review of HHS and commented on ongoing and planned efforts by HHS to address challenges associated with identifying Special Government Employees who do not serve on federal advisory committees. Ongoing efforts include internal coordination between the Office of General Counsel-Ethics Division and human resource officials to implement new requirements based on 5 CFR part 2638. We are following up with HHS to determine the status of actions on the new requirements. As of September 2019, HHS has not responded to our requests for an update on their actions to respond to this recommendation. In May 2020, HHS noted that its Office of Human Resources has been responding to the COVID-19 pandemic and therefore has not been able to provide an update on this recommendation. HHS expects to provide us with an update in July 2020. We contacted the agency for an update and are awaiting a response as of September 1, 2020.

Recommendation: To address weaknesses in DCOE's strategic plan, the Secretary of Defense, through the Director of TMA, should direct the DCOE director to revisit and revise as necessary the organization's goals for completing statutorily required responsibilities.

Agency: Department of Defense
Status: Open

Comments: As of July 2017, DOD officials have not implemented this recommendation. GAO considers it to be open. We will update the status of this recommendation when we receive additional information.

Recommendation: To address weaknesses in DCOE's strategic plan, the Secretary of Defense, through the Director of TMA, should direct the DCOE director to require the directorates to align their day-to-day activities to support DCOE's mission and goals.

Agency: Department of Defense
Status: Open

Comments: As of July 2017, DOD officials have not implemented this recommendation. GAO considers it to be open. We will update the status of this recommendation when we receive additional information.

Recommendation: To address weaknesses in DCOE's strategic plan, the Secretary of Defense, through the Director of TMA, should direct the DCOE director to improve the performance measures in the plan to enable DCOE to determine if achievement of each measure fully supports attainment of its associated goal.

Agency: Department of Defense
Status: Open

Comments: As of July 2017, DOD officials have not implemented this recommendation. GAO considers it to be open. We will update the status of this recommendation when we receive additional information.

Recommendation: To ensure that DCOE obligations are properly classified and recorded in accordance with OMB guidance, the Secretary of Defense, through the Office of the Assistant Secretary of Defense (Health Affairs) (ASD(HA)), should direct TMA to develop written procedures with detailed steps to be performed for ensuring proper classification and recording of obligations in TMA's financial management systems.

Agency: Department of Defense
Status: Open

Comments: As of July 2017, DOD officials have not implemented this recommendation. GAO considers it to be open. We will update the status of this recommendation when we receive additional information.

Recommendation: To ensure that DCOE obligations are properly classified and recorded in accordance with OMB guidance, the Secretary of Defense, through the ASD(HA), should direct TMA to assign responsibility for updating and maintaining procedural guidance and systems codes to assure consistency with annual OMB guidance.

Agency: Department of Defense
Status: Open

Comments: As of July 2017, DOD officials have not implemented this recommendation. GAO considers it to be open. We will update the status of this recommendation when we receive additional information.