GAO Performance Plan: Fiscal Year 2006 (01-JUN-05, GAO-05-776SP).
This report presents the General Accounting Office's (GAO)
Performance Plan for Fiscal Year 2006. In the spirit of the
Government Performance and Results Act, this annual plan informs
the Congress and the American people about what we expect to
accomplish on their behalf in the coming fiscal year. It sets
forth our plan to make progress toward achieving our strategic
goals for serving the Congress and the American people. The plan
is based on our strategic plan for 2004 to 2009, which was
prepared in consultation with members of the Congress and other
key stakeholders and was issued in March 2004.
-------------------------Indexing Terms-------------------------
REPORTNUM: GAO-05-776SP
ACCNO: A26678
TITLE: GAO Performance Plan: Fiscal Year 2006
DATE: 06/01/2005
SUBJECT: Agency missions
Appropriations
Data integrity
Financial analysis
Human capital
Human capital management
Information security
Performance measures
Physical security
Strategic planning
Computer security
Counterterrorism
Education
Health care costs
Homeland security
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GAO-05-776SP
lan
Fiscal Year 2006
U.S. GOVERNMENT ACCOUNTABILITY OFFICE
SERVING THE CONGRESS AND THE NATION
Contents
Comptroller General's Letter
...........................................................................................................................3
About GAO
.........................................................................................................................................................4
Mission...................................................................................................................................................4
Strategic
Goals......................................................................................................................................5
Organizational
Structure......................................................................................................................7
How We Measure Our
Performance................................................................................................................9
Annual Performance
Measures...........................................................................................................9
Measuring the Results of Our Work
....................................................................................10
Measuring Client
Service......................................................................................................11
Measuring the Management of Our People
........................................................................11
Measuring Our Internal
Operations.....................................................................................12
Multiyear Performance Goals
...........................................................................................................12
Data
Quality.........................................................................................................................................13
Our Planned Performance for Fiscal Year
2006...........................................................................................14
Agencywide Performance and Resources Needed
........................................................................14
Performance Targets and Resource Needs by
Goal.......................................................................17
Goal 1
....................................................................................................................................17
Goal 2
....................................................................................................................................19
Goal 3
....................................................................................................................................21
Goal 4
....................................................................................................................................23
Strategies and Means for Achieving Our Goals
...........................................................................................25
Strategies for Goals 1, 2, and
3..........................................................................................................25
Strategies for Goal
4...........................................................................................................................27
Collaboration Efforts
.........................................................................................................................28
Addressing Management
Challenges.............................................................................................................31
The Human Capital Challenge
..........................................................................................................31
The Information Security Challenge
................................................................................................32
The Physical Security Challenge
......................................................................................................33
Mitigating External Factors That Could Affect Our Performance
............................................................34
Image
Sources..................................................................................................................................................36
Obtaining Copies of GAO
Products...............................................................................................................36
GAO-05-776SP GAO's Fiscal Year 2006 Performance Plan
Abbreviations
DOD Department of Defense
FTE full-time equivalent
GAO Government Accountability Office
INTOSAI International Organization of Supreme Audit Institutions
IT information technology
NASA National Aeronautics and Space Administration
This is a work of the U.S. government and is not subject to copyright
protection in the United States.
It may be reproduced and distributed in its entirety without further
permission from GAO. However,
because this work may contain copyrighted images or other material,
permission from the copyright
holder may be necessary if you wish to reproduce this material separately.
Comptroller General's Letter
June 2005
I am pleased to present the Government Accountability Office's (GAO)
Performance Plan for Fiscal Year 2006. In the spirit of the Government
Performance and Results Act, this annual plan informs the Congress and the
American people about what we expect to accomplish on their behalf in the
coming fiscal year. It sets forth our plan to make progress toward
achieving our strategic goals for serving the Congress and the American
people. The plan is based on our strategic plan for 2004 to 2009, which
was prepared in consultation with members of the Congress and other key
stakeholders and was issued in March 2004.
This performance plan takes into account that historically the vast
majority of our engagement resources are devoted to congressional mandates
and requests for our work. As such, this plan includes work related to
long-standing national challenges, such as the educational needs of the
nation's children, the long-term viability of Social Security and
Medicare, the rising cost of health care and the millions of Americans who
are uninsured, the vulnerability to sabotage of the government's computer
systems, and national defense and homeland security issues. At the same
time, we plan to invest a small percentage of our engagement resources in
important discretionary work to identify and help the Congress address the
emerging issues that may affect the nation's future, such as managing the
large and growing long-term fiscal imbalance facing the nation.
Consequently, the plan reflects a variety of changes and challenges. In
addition, this plan describes the total resources needed to accomplish our
work-information that may be useful for appropriations and oversight by
the Congress as well as informative for the American public.
Fiscal year 2006 promises to be a challenging year for us, especially
given increasing budgetary constraints and increasing demands for our
services. Nonetheless, I believe that our planned work will, as in past
years, result in an excellent return on the taxpayers' investment in us.
If you have any questions or comments on this plan, please contact Gene
Dodaro, Chief Operating Officer, at (202) 512-5600 or [email protected] or
Sallyanne Harper, Chief Financial Officer, at (202) 512-5800 or
[email protected].
David M. Walker Comptroller General of the United States
About GAO
GAO is an independent, nonpartisan, professional services agency in the
legislative branch of the federal government. Commonly known as the
"investigative arm of the Congress" or the "congressional watchdog," we
examine how taxpayer dollars are spent and advise lawmakers and agency
heads on ways to make government work better. As a legislative branch
agency, we differ in some ways from executive branch agencies. We are, for
instance, exempt from many laws applicable to the executive branch.
However, we hold ourselves to the spirit of many of these laws, including
the Government Performance and Results Act of 1993.1 Accordingly, this
performance plan for fiscal year 2006 supplies what we consider to be
information that is at least equivalent to that supplied by executive
branch agencies in their annual performance plans.
Mission
Our mission is to support the Congress in meeting its constitutional
responsibilities and to help improve the performance and ensure the
accountability of the federal government for the benefit of the American
people. The strategies and means that we use to accomplish this mission
are described in the following pages. In short, we accomplish our mission
by providing reliable information and informed analysis to the Congress,
to federal agencies, and to the public; and we recommend improvements,
when appropriate, on a wide variety of issues. The three core values that
are shown below-accountability, integrity, and reliability-form the basis
for all of our work, regardless of its origin.
Core Values
Accountability Integrity R e liability
We help the Congress oversee
federal programs and We set high standards We at GAO want our
operations to ensure for ourselves in the work to be viewed by
accountability to the conduct of GAO's work. the Congress and the
American people. GAO's Our agency takes a American public as
analysts, auditors, lawyers, professional, reliable. We produce
economists, information objective, fact-based, high-quality
technology specialists, nonpartisan, reports, testimony,
investigators, and other nonideological, fair, briefings, legal
multidisciplinary and balanced approach opinions, and other
professionals seek to enhance to all activities. products and
the economy, efficiency, Integrity is the services that are
effectiveness, and foundation of timely, accurate,
credibility of the federal reputation, and the GAO useful, clear, and
government both in fact and approach to work candid.
in the eyes of the American ensures both.
people.
1The Government Performance and Results Act seeks to improve public
confidence in federal agency performance by requiring that federally
funded agencies develop and implement an accountability system based on
performance measurement, including setting goals and objectives and
measuring progress toward achieving them.
Strategic Goals
To accomplish our mission, we use a strategic planning and management
process that is based on a hierarchy of four elements (see fig. 1),
beginning at the highest level with the following four strategic goals:
o Strategic Goal 1: Provide Timely, Quality Service to the Congress and
the Federal Government to Address Current and Emerging Challenges to the
Well-Being and Financial Security of the American People
o Strategic Goal 2: Provide Timely, Quality Service to the Congress and
the Federal Government to Respond to Changing Security Threats and the
Challenges of Global Interdependence
o Strategic Goal 3: Help Transform the Federal Government's Role and How
It Does Business to Meet 21st Century Challenges
o Strategic Goal 4: Maximize the Value of GAO by Being a Model Federal
Agency and a World-Class Professional Services Organization
Figure 1: GAO's Strategic Planning Hierarchy
Our work is primarily aligned under the first three strategic goals, which
span both domestic and international issues that affect the lives of all
Americans as well as the issues specific to governance that influence how
well the nation's current and future interests are served by the U.S.
government. The fourth goal is our only internal one and is aimed at
maximizing our productivity through such efforts as steady investments in
information technology (IT); ensuring the safety and security of our
people, information, and assets; pursuing human capital transformation;
and leveraging our knowledge and experience. We revisit the focus and
appropriateness of these four strategic goals each time that we update our
strategic plan.
The four strategic goals are supported by strategic objectives, which are
in turn supported by and achieved through numerous performance goals and
key efforts. Our strategic planning framework, which lists the strategic
objectives under each goal, is depicted on the next page. Complete
descriptions of the steps in our strategic planning and management process
are included in our strategic plan for fiscal years 2004 through 2009,
which is available on our Web site at http://www.gao.gov. This site also
provides access to our annual performance plans since fiscal year 1999 and
our performance and accountability reports since fiscal year 2001.
Organizational Structure
As the Comptroller General of the United States, David M. Walker is the
head of GAO and is serving a
15-year term that began in November 1998. Three other executives join
Comptroller General Walker
to form GAO's Executive Committee; these executives are Chief Operating
Officer Gene L. Dodaro,
Chief Administrative Officer/Chief Financial Officer Sallyanne Harper, and
General Counsel
Anthony H. Gamboa.
To achieve our strategic goals, our staff is organized as shown in figure
2. For the most part, our 13
research, audit, and evaluation teams perform the work that supports
strategic goals 1, 2, and 3-our
three external strategic goals-with several of the teams working in
support of more than one
strategic goal. Senior executives in charge of the teams manage a mix of
engagements to ensure that
the Congress's need for information on quickly emerging issues is met as
we also continue longer
term work efforts that flow from our strategic plan. To effectively serve
the Congress with a finite
set of resources, senior managers consult with our congressional clients
and determine the timing
and priority of engagements for which they are responsible. As described
below, General Counsel
supports the work of all of our teams. In addition, the Applied Research
and Methods team assists
the other teams on matters requiring expertise in areas such as economics,
research design, and
statistical analysis. And staff in many offices such as Strategic Planning
and External Liaison,
Congressional Relations, Opportunity and Inclusiveness, Quality and
Continuous Improvement,
Public Affairs, and the Chief Administrative Office support the efforts of
the teams. This
collaborative process, which we refer to as matrixing, increases our
effectiveness, flexibility, and
efficiency in using our expertise and resources to meet congressional
needs on complex issues.
General Counsel is structured organizationally along subject matter lines
to facilitate the delivery of
legal services. This structure allows General Counsel to (1) provide legal
support to GAO and its
audit teams concerning all matters related to their work and (2) produce
legal decisions and
opinions for the Comptroller General. Specifically, the Goal 1, Goal 2,
and Goal 3 groups in General
Counsel are organized to provide each of the audit teams with a
corresponding team of attorneys
dedicated to supporting each team's needs for legal services. In addition,
these groups prepare
advisory opinions to committees and members of the Congress on agency
adherence to laws
applicable to their programs and activities. General Counsel's Legal
Services group provides in
house support to GAO's management on a wide array of human capital matters
and initiatives and on
information management and acquisition matters and defends the agency in
administrative and
judicial forums. Finally, attorneys in the Procurement Law and the Budget
and Appropriations Law
groups prepare administrative decisions and opinions adjudicating protests
to the award of
government contracts or opining on the availability and use of
appropriated funds.
For strategic goal 4-our fourth and only internal strategic goal-staff in
our Chief Administrative
Office take the lead. They are assisted on specific key efforts by the
Applied Research and Methods
team and by staff offices such as Strategic Planning and External Liaison,
Congressional Relations,
Opportunity and Inclusiveness, Quality and Continuous Improvement, and
Public Affairs. In
addition, attorneys in General Counsel, primarily in the Legal Services
group, provide legal support
for goal 4 efforts.
Throughout GAO, we maintain a workforce of highly trained professionals
with degrees in many
academic disciplines, including accounting, law, engineering, public and
business administration,
economics, and the social and physical sciences. About three-quarters of
our approximately 3,200
employees are based at our headquarters in Washington, D.C.; the rest are
deployed in 11 field
offices across the country. Specifically, we have offices in Atlanta,
Boston, Chicago, Dallas, Dayton,
Denver, Huntsville, Los Angeles, Norfolk, San Francisco, and Seattle.
Staff in these field offices are
aligned with our research, audit, and evaluation teams and perform work in
tandem with our headquarters staff in support of our external strategic
goals.
Figure 2: Organizational Structure
o Provide audit and other legal support services for all goals and staff
offices
o Manage GAO's bid protest and appropriations law work
Source: GAO.
Provide timely, quality service to the Congress and the federal government
to address current and emerging challenges to the wellbeing and financial
security of the American people
o Education, Workforce, and Income Security
o Financial Markets and Community Investment
o Health Care
o Homeland Security and Justice
o Natural Resources and Environment
o Physical Infrastructure
Provide timely, quality service to the Congress and the federal government
to respond to changing security threats and the challenges of global
interdependence
o Acquisition and Sourcing Management
o Defense Capabilities and Management
o International Affairs and Trade
Help transform the federal government's role and how it does business to
meet 21st century challenges
o Applied Research and Methods
o Financial Management and Assurance
- Forensic Audits and Special Investigations
o Information Technology
o Strategic Issues
- Federal Budget and Intergovernmental Relations
Maximize the value of GAO by being a model federal agency and a
world-class professional services organization
o Controller
o Human Capital Office
- Chief Human Capital Officer
o Information Systems and Technology Services
- Chief Information Officer
o Knowledge Services
- Chief Knowledge Services Officer
o Professional Development Program
Note: General Counsel's structure largely mirrors the agency's goal
structure, and attorneys who are assigned to goals work with the teams on
specific engagements. Thus, the dotted lines in this figure indicate
General Counsel's support of or advisory relationship with the goals and
teams rather than a direct reporting relationship.
How We Measure Our Performance
We measure our performance using annual quantitative performance measures
and multiyear qualitative performance goals. Together, these indicators
help us to determine how well we are meeting the needs of the Congress and
maximizing our value as a world-class organization.
Annual Performance Measures
For several years, we have assessed our performance annually using
quantitative performance measures that are related to our work results and
the usefulness of those results to our primary client-the Congress.
Recently, we have expanded our focus to include a more balanced set of
performance measures. Consequently, the measures that we plan to use
during fiscal year 2006 reflect our mission and strategic goals for
serving the Congress and focus on four key areas: results,
2
clients, people, and internal operations.
o Results. Focusing on results and the effectiveness of the processes
needed to achieve them is fundamental to accomplishing our mission. To
assess our results, we measure financial benefits, other (nonfinancial)
benefits, recommendations implemented, and percentage of new products
3
with recommendations.
o Clients. Our strategy in this area draws upon a variety of data
sources to obtain information on the services we are providing to our
congressional clients. To judge how well we are serving our clients, we
measure the number of times we are asked to present expert testimony at
congressional hearings as well as our timeliness in delivering products to
the Congress.
o People. As our most important asset, our people define our character
and capacity to perform. A variety of data sources, including an internal
survey, provide information to help us measure how well we are attracting
and retaining high-quality staff and how well we are developing,
supporting, using, and leading staff.
o Internal operations. Our mission and people are supported by our
internal administrative services, including information management,
building management, knowledge services, human capital, financial
management, and other services. Through an internal customer satisfaction
survey, we gather information on how well our internal operations help
employees get their jobs done or improve employees' quality of work life.
Examples of surveyed services include providing secure Internet access and
voice communication systems, performance management, and benefits
information and assistance.
2In addition, we have begun to explore measures that could help us assess
how well we develop mutually beneficial relationships with other
accountability organizations. Such partnerships are important because they
(1) create opportunities for collaboration and cooperation that help all
organizations involved address common challenges and enhance their ability
to improve government operations and serve the public better, (2) allow us
and other organizations to make meaningful changes in our internal
accountability processes and policies, and (3) allow us to better leverage
available resources. See GAO's Performance and Accountability Report,
Fiscal Year 2004 (GAO-05-62SP) for more information on the partnerships we
have established.
3As announced in our performance and accountability report for fiscal year
2004, beginning in fiscal year 2005, we will stop reporting on the number
of new recommendations made. We created this measure to provide
performance information related to recommendations. Subsequently, we added
a measure for the percentage of new products with recommendations. We now
feel that it alone is a sufficient measure to ensure that our work results
in beneficial recommendations. However, we will continue to monitor the
number of new recommendations made to ensure that teams supporting
strategic goals 1 through 3 continue to plan and complete engagements that
result in recommendations-the basis for our financial and other benefits
for the American people.
To establish targets for these measures, we examined what we have been
able to achieve in the past and the external factors that influence our
work (those factors are discussed in the section of this report called
Strategies and Means for Achieving Our Goals). The teams and offices that
are directly engaged in the work discussed their views of what must be
accomplished in the upcoming fiscal year with our top executives, who then
established targets for the performance measures. Once approved by the
Comptroller General, the targets became final and are presented in this
annual performance plan. We may adjust these targets after they are
initially published when our past performance, expected future work, or
level of funding provided warrant doing so. If changes are made, we
include the modified targets in later documents, such as a performance and
accountability report, and annotate them as having been modified.
Measuring the Results of Our Work
We use four of our annual measures to assess our efforts to provide the
kind of information and recommendations that will lead to benefits for the
American people. These measures are briefly described in table 1.
Table 1: Annual Measures of the Results of Our Work Measure Description
Financial benefits Benefits to the federal government that can be
estimated in dollar terms (e.g., decreased costs, increased revenues, or
monetary revenues made available for other purposes) that result in
improved services to the public, improved statutes or regulations, or
improved government business operations that occurred as a result of work
that we completed over the past several years.
Other benefits Benefits to the federal government that cannot be
estimated in dollar terms that result in improved services to the public,
improved statutes or regulations, or improved government business
operations that occurred as a result of work that we completed over the
past several years.
Past Of the recommendations made 4 fiscal years prior to the current
fiscal year, the percentage of
recommendations recommendations that were implemented.
implemented
Percentage of Of the written products issued in the fiscal year, the
percentage that included at least one products with recommendation. Not
all products that we issue during the fiscal year contain recommendations-
recommendations some provide the Congress with policy options or are
purely informational.
Source: GAO.
For financial benefits and other benefits we first set targets for the
agency as a whole and then we set targets for each of the external
goals-that is, goals 1, 2, and 3-so that the sum of the targets for the
goals equals the agencywide targets. For past recommendations implemented
and percentage of products with recommendations, we set targets and report
performance for the agency as a whole because we want our performance on
these measures to be consistent across goals. We track our performance by
strategic goal in order to understand why we meet or do not meet the
agencywide target. We also use this information to provide feedback to our
teams on the extent to which they are contributing to the overall target
and to help them identify areas in which they need to improve.
Financial benefits and other benefits provide quantitative and qualitative
information, respectively, on the outcomes or results that have been
achieved from our work. They often represent outcomes that occurred over a
period of several years. The remaining measures are intermediate outcomes
in that they often lead to achieving outcomes that are ultimately captured
in our financial or other benefits.
Measuring Client Service
We use two performance measures-the number of testimonies and the
timeliness of our products- as indicators of how well we are meeting our
clients' needs (see table 2). We consider requests to present testimony as
an indicator that our clients believe our work can add value to the
congressional decision-making process. We set a target at the agencywide
level for the number of testimonies and then assign a portion of the
testimonies as a target for each of the external goals- that is, goals 1,
2, and 3-based on their expected contribution to the agencywide total. As
in measuring the results of our work, we track our progress on this
measure at the goal level in order to understand why we met or did not
meet the agencywide target.
Table 2: Annual Measures of Client Service
Measure Description
Testimonies The number of hearings at which we presented testimony.
Timeliness Of the products issued in the fiscal year, the percentage that
were issued by the date agreed upon with the client or, for work initiated
under the Comptroller General's authority, by the date agreed to
internally.
Source: GAO.
We also believe that our ability to provide products by the agreed-upon
date means that we have met the clients' needs for providing information
in time for it to be of value to them. We set agencywide targets for
timeliness because we want our performance on these measures to be
consistent across goals. We use this information to provide feedback to
our teams on the extent to which they are contributing to the overall
target and to help them identify areas in which they need to improve.
Measuring the Management of Our People
Our most important asset is our people, and they determine our capacity to
perform. Therefore, we hold our managers accountable for performance
measures that will help us determine how well we are attracting,
retaining, using, investing in, and leading our human resources. Table 3
describes the measures that we plan to use to assess our performance in
this area. We set targets for these measures at the agencywide level. The
information needed for these measures comes from a variety of sources,
including the Department of Agriculture's National Finance Center
database-which handles payroll and personnel data for GAO and other
agencies-and an annual confidential survey of employees.
Table 3: Annual Measures Related to Our People Measure Description
New hire rate The ratio of the number of people hired to the number we
planned to hire.
Acceptance rate The ratio of the number of applicants accepting offers to
the number of offers made.
Retention rate The ratio of the number of people who did not leave GAO
during the fiscal year to the average number of people on board during the
year. (Retention rate is the inverse of attrition rate.) We present two
calculations of retention rate-one that includes retirees in the attrition
rate and another that excludes retirees from that calculation.
Staff development From an annual employee survey, the percentage of
people responding favorably to questions on internal, external, and
on-the-job training.
Measure Description
Staff utilization From an annual employee survey, the percentage of
people responding favorably to questions on our use of staff's knowledge
and skills.
Leadership From an annual employee survey, the percentage of people
responding favorably to questions about specific qualities of our
managers, such as whether leaders treated staff fairly, made timely
decisions, demonstrated GAO's core values, implemented change effectively,
and dealt effectively with diversity issues.
Organizational From an annual employee survey, the percentage of people
responding favorably to questions on climate teamwork, morale, and overall
satisfaction.
Source: GAO.
Measuring Our Internal Operations
Beginning with fiscal year 2006, we plan to add performance measures
related to our internal operations. Table 4 describes the measures that we
plan to use to assess our performance in this area. The information for
these measures will come from an annual survey of employees' satisfaction
with our internal administrative services. Our administrative services are
divided into two categories. The first service category includes 21
services that help employees get their jobs done, such as Internet access,
desktop computer equipment, and voice and video communication systems. The
second category includes another 10 services that affect quality of work
life, such as assistance related to pay and benefits, building security,
and workplace safety and health. Using survey responses, we calculate a
composite score for each service category that reflects employee ratings
for (1) satisfaction with the service and (2) importance of the service.
We plan to set targets for both service categories for fiscal year 2006
after we have completed our analyses of the results of our 2004 survey,
which was administered at the end of 2004. These targets will be reported
in our fiscal year 2005 performance and accountability report.
Table 4: Annual Measures Related to Our Internal Operations Measure Description
Help get job done From an annual employee survey, we calculate a
composite score from questions related to how well internal processes help
employees get their jobs done. The composite score represents how
employees rated their satisfaction with these services relative to how
they rated the importance of those services to them. The importance scores
and satisfaction levels are both rated on a scale of 1 (low) to 5 (high).
Quality of work life From an annual employee survey, we calculate a
composite score from questions related to how well internal processes
impact employees' quality of work life. The composite score represents how
employees rated their satisfaction with these services relative to how
they rated the importance of those services to them. The importance scores
and satisfaction levels are both rated on a scale of 1 (low) to 5 (high).
Source: GAO.
Multiyear Performance Goals
We use two elements in our strategic planning hierarchy-performance goals
and key efforts-as qualitative indicators of our performance. We ask
senior managers to determine whether the performance goals established in
our strategic plan have been met over a multiyear period. To do this,
senior managers examine the amount of work conducted and recommendations
made for each key effort supporting each performance goal. Senior managers
also consider any other assistance provided to the client or customer that
is related to these efforts. These senior executives then judge
whether the work completed collectively for all key efforts actually
achieved the performance goal. Our performance and accountability reports
include assessments of our progress in meeting these performance goals.
For all four strategic goals, the multiyear, qualitative performance goals
included in our current strategic plan describe specific areas of work
that we had planned to complete by the end of fiscal year 2005. We will
assess our progress toward these multiyear, qualitative performance goals
at the end of fiscal year 2005. However, during fiscal year 2004, we
decided to revise our strategic plan every 3 years, rather than on a
2-year cycle, which means that we will not set new multiyear performance
goals until 2007. To accommodate this change, for fiscal year 2006, we
plan to continue to use the current performance goals as a basis for
aligning our work with our strategic goals, but we will not assess our
progress toward these multiyear performance goals at the end of fiscal
year 2006. In preparing our fiscal year 2006 budget submission, we made
minor revisions that apply to fiscal year 2006 for some of these
performance goals, mainly in the homeland security and justice areas.
These revisions are discussed later in this plan. In our next strategic
plan update, which will cover fiscal years 2007 through 2012, we will
establish revised performance goals and key efforts that cover fiscal
years 2007 through 2009.
Data Quality
To assess our performance, we use performance data that are complete and
actual (rather than projected) for all of our performance measures. The
data come from a variety of internal and external sources, including our
internal accomplishment reporting system, document database, and
assignment tracking system; staff's responses to annual Web-based surveys;
and the Department of Agriculture's National Finance Center database,
which handles payroll and personnel data for many agencies, including GAO.
We believe that the data we use are reliable because we follow multiple
procedures to ensure the data's quality. In general, internal data are
reviewed and approved by more than one person in GAO and by people not
associated with the work being reviewed. In addition, our Inspector
General either annually or periodically (depending on the data) reviews
our compliance with the processes used to compile performance information.
For example, during fiscal year 2003, the Inspector General independently
tested our process for claiming other benefits and found them to be
reasonable. Where appropriate, when we identify data limitations, we have
implemented steps to minimize the impact of these limitations. For
example, not every financial benefit that results from our work can be
readily estimated or documented. Consequently, we do not include those
financial benefits, which means that our estimate is a conservative one.
The specific sources of the data for our annual performance measures and
multiyear qualitative performance goals, procedures for independently
verifying and validating these data, and the limitations of these data are
described in the data verification and validation table that begins on
page 67 of our performance and accountability report (GAO-05-62SP). This
table does not include the two new measures for internal operations. We
expect to include information on those two measures in our fiscal year
2005 performance and accountability report.
Our Planned Performance for Fiscal Year 2006
On the pages that follow, we present agencywide and goal-level targets for
our performance for fiscal year 2006. Where applicable, we report
revisions to the fiscal year 2005 targets that were presented in our
fiscal year 2005 performance plan.
Agencywide Performance and Resources Needed
While much of our performance is planned, managed, and tracked at the goal
level, to gauge our collective performance, we set targets for the agency
as a whole for all of our annual performance measures. Table 5 reflects
our agencywide performance during the last 6 fiscal years for these
measures, where available, along with the agencywide targets for fiscal
years 2005 and 2006.
To achieve our strategic goals and objectives, we must ensure that we have
the appropriate human capital, fiscal, and other resources to carry out
our responsibilities. Consequently, our budget request will allow us to
achieve our fiscal year 2006 performance targets, which support the
Congress as outlined in our most recent strategic plan. During fiscal year
2006, we plan to maximize the productivity of our workforce and to
continue addressing our three major management challenges: human capital,
information security, and physical security. We will continue to take
steps to "lead by example" within the federal government in these and
other critical management areas.
In developing our fiscal year 2006 budget, we have taken into
consideration the overall federal budget constraints and the committee's
desire to lead by example. Accordingly, we have requested $493.5 million,
which represents a modest increase of 4 percent over fiscal year 2005.
This increase is primarily for mandatory pay costs and price level
changes. This budget request will allow us to continue to maximize
productivity, operate more effectively and efficiently, and maintain the
progress we have made in technology and other areas, but it does not allow
us sufficient funding to support a staffing level of 3,269------the
staffing level that we requested in previous years. Even as we are
tempering our budget request, it needs to be acknowledged that there are
increasing demands on our resources. For example, the number of
congressional mandates for studies, such as our reviews of executive
branch and legislative branch operations, has increased more than 15
percent since fiscal year 2000. While we have reduced our planned staffing
level for fiscal years 2005 and 2006 in order to keep our request modest,
we believe that the staffing level we requested in previous years is a
more optimal staffing level for GAO and would allow us to better meet the
needs of the Congress and provide the return on investment that both the
Congress and the American people expect. We will be seeking your
commitment and support to provide the funding needed to rebuild our
staffing levels over the next few fiscal years, especially as we approach
a point where we may be able to express an opinion on the federal
government's consolidated financial statements.
Table 5: Agencywide Annual Performance Results and Targets
1999 2000 2001 2002 2003 2004 2005 2006Performance measures actual actual
actual actual actual actual targeta target
Results
Financial benefits
$20.1 $23.2 $26.4 $37.7 $35.4 $44.0 $37.5 $39.0(billions of dollars)
Other benefits 607 788 799 906 1,043 1,197 1,000 1,050
Past recommendations implemented 70% 78% 79% 79% 82% 83% 80% 80%
New products with recommendations 33% 39% 44% 53% 55% 63% 55% 55%
Client
Testimonies 229 263 151 216 189 217 185
Timeliness 96% 96% 95% 96% 97% 97% 98% 98%
People
New hire rateb N/A N/A N/A 96% 98% 98% 97% 97%
Acceptance rateb N/A N/A N/A 81% 72% 72% 75% 75%
Retention rateb Internal operations
Includes retirements N/A 91% 91% 91% 92% 91% 90% 90%
Excludes retirements N/A 94% 95% 96% 96% 95% 94% 94%
Staff developmentbc N/A N/A N/A 71%d 67%e 70% 72% 74%
bcStaff utilization N/A N/A N/A 67% 71% 72% 74% 75%
bcLeadership N/A N/A N/A 75% 78% 79% 80% 80%
Organizational climatebc N/A N/A N/A 67% 71% 74% 75% 75%
f
Help get job done N/A N/A N/A N/A 3. 98 4. 01 N/A TBD
Quality of work lifef N/A N/A N/A N/A 3. 86 3. 96 N/A TBD
Source: GAO.
aOn the basis of our performance in fiscal year 2004, we increased many of
these targets after our fiscal year 2005 performance plan was issued.
Specifically, the targets were increased from $35 billion for financial
benefits; from 950 for other benefits; from 79 percent for past
recommendations implemented; from 50 percent for percentage of products
with recommendations; from 180 for testimonies; from 70 percent for staff
development, staff utilization, and organizational climate; and from 75
percent for leadership. In addition, we decided to set targets for
retention rate with and without retirements; consequently, the 94 percent
target for retention rate excluding retirees was not included in the
fiscal year 2005 performance plan.
bWe set targets for these performance measures for the first time in
fiscal year 2005. N/A indicates that the data are not available.
cThese measures are based on employees' responses to selected questions
from an annual survey that we began administering in 2002.
dThis percentage does not include employees' responses to questions about
our computer-based training courses that were added to our curriculum of
in-house training in April 2004.
eThis percentage includes employees' responses to questions about our
computer-based training courses. We recomputed the fiscal year 2003 number
after we had issued our fiscal year 2005 performance plan; the percentage
decreased from 72 percent as a result. The targets for future years assume
that we will continue to include in our survey questions about our
computer-based training.
fThese measures are based on employees' responses to questions from an
annual survey that we began administering in 2003 and are based on a scale
of 1 (low) to 5 (high). We will set targets for these performance measures
for the first time in fiscal year 2006 after we complete our analysis of
the results from the 2004 survey. N/A indicates that the data are not
available or not applicable. TBD indicates that the targets are to be
determined.
Table 6 summarizes GAO's requested fiscal year 2006 budgetary resources
and the associated human capital resources (in terms of full-time
equivalent (FTE) positions) by strategic goal. Centrally funded
administrative services and support costs have been appropriately
allocated across the goals.
Table 6: Fiscal Year 2006 Requested Resources by Strategic Goal
(Dollars in millions) Source: GAO.
Strategic goal Amount FTEs
Goal 1
Provide timely, quality service to the Congress and the
federal government to address current
and emerging challenges to the well-being and financial $198 1,287
security of the American people.
Goal 2
Provide timely, quality service to the Congress and the
federal government to respond to
changing threats and the challenges of global 135 877
interdependence.
Goal 3
Help transform the federal government's role and how it does
business to meet 21st century
challenges. 138 900
Goal 4
Maximize the value of GAO by being a model federal agency and
a world-class professional
services organization. 23 151
Total $494 3,215
In addition to paying for salaries and expenses, we intend to invest
resources in addressing our key management challenges-human capital,
information security, and physical security-which are discussed in more
depth later in the plan. On the human capital front, to ensure our ability
to attract and retain high-quality staff, we plan to continue staff
recruitment, succession planning, retention, and recognition programs. We
also plan to continue efforts to update our training curriculum to
strengthen performance in the competencies contained in our performance
management systems, address organizational and technical needs, and
maximize staff productivity and effectiveness. In addition, we will
continue efforts to implement new human capital authorities included in
legislation recently enacted by the Congress. Similarly, we will continue
to take steps to ensure that our staff have the IT resources needed to
perform their work and that those resources are secure from internal or
external threats.
Performance Targets and Resource Needs by Goal
The following sections describe the strategic objectives of each of our
strategic goals. In addition, performance targets are presented for goals
1, 2, and 3-our external goals-for the three annual measures that we
assess at the goal level. For the agencywide measures, each of the teams
and units is expected to contribute toward meeting the agencywide targets.
These are accompanied by the resources-in terms of FTEs and requested
budgetary dollars-needed for each goal.
Goal 1
Provide timely, quality service to the Congress and the federal government
to address current and emerging challenges to the well-being and financial
security of the American people
Our first strategic goal upholds our mission to support the Congress in
carrying out its constitutional responsibilities by focusing on work that
helps address the current and emerging challenges affecting the well-being
and financial security of the American people and American communities.
Our multiyear (fiscal years 2004-2009) strategic objectives under this
goal are to provide information that will help address
o the health needs of an aging and diverse population;
o the education and protection of the nation's children;
o the promotion of work opportunities and the protection of workers;
o a secure retirement for older Americans;
o an effective system of justice;
o the promotion of viable communities;
o responsible stewardship of natural resources and the environment; and
o a safe, secure, and effective national physical infrastructure.
These objectives, along with the performance goals and key efforts that
support them, are discussed fully in our strategic plan, which is
available on our Web site at http://www.gao.gov. The work supporting these
objectives is performed primarily by headquarters and field staff in the
following teams: Education, Workforce, and Income Security; Financial
Markets and Community Investment; Health Care; Homeland Security and
Justice; Natural Resources and Environment; and Physical Infrastructure.
Table 7 shows the budgetary and human capital resource allocations for
this goal for fiscal years 2004 through 2006.
Table 7: Goal 1's Resources by Fiscal Year Resource type 2004 actual 2005
estimated 2006 requested
Dollars $183,265,000 $190,147,000 $197,573,000
FTEs 1,291 1,287 1,287
Source: GAO.
To accomplish our work under these strategic objectives, we plan to
conduct engagements, audits, analyses, and evaluations of programs at
major federal agencies and develop reports and testimonies on the efficacy
and soundness of those programs. We anticipate that much of our work will
be initiated in response to congressional responses and mandates and that
it will be similar to the work we performed during fiscal year 2004, which
is highlighted in the box below.
Goal 1 Results in Fiscal Year 2004
Our past work produced $26.6 billion in financial benefits that were
predominantly related to work on the Consumer
Price Index, the Medicare and Medicaid programs, the Department of Housing
and Urban Development's budget
request for fiscal year 2001, and Department of Defense (DOD) programs.
Other tangible benefits resulting from our work included 252 actions taken
by federal agencies to improve their
services and operations or by the Congress to make statutory or regulatory
changes, including
o outreach to notify low-income Medicare beneficiaries of the
availability of new subsides to assist with drug costs,
o changes in food stamp program options that will help ease the
reporting burden for almost all participating households, and
o shoring up systemic weaknesses and reducing the risks that underground
storage tanks will leak and cause significant environmental and health
risks.
We made recommendations on
o airliner cabin air quality,
o decommissioning nuclear power plants,
o improved coordination on managing endangered species,
o federal funding of public television,
o election-related voting irregularities, and
o improving the accuracy of responses to policy-oriented inquiries from
Medicare providers.
We testified on topics such as
o student loan programs,
o Social Security reform,
o Medicare spending,
o private health insurance,
o farm program payments, and
o transportation security.
For the annual performance measures for which we report our progress at
the goal level, table 8 shows, for goal 1, our actual performance for
fiscal years 2000 through 2004 and our performance targets for fiscal
years 2005 and 2006.
Table 8: Strategic Goal 1's Annual Performance Results and Targets
Performance 1999 2000 2001 2002 2003 2004 2005 2006
measure actual actual actual actual actual actual targeta target
Financial
benefits
(billions of $13.8 $14.1 $8.9 $24.1 $23.6 $26.6 $19.6 $19.5
dollars)
Other benefits 140 182 210 226 217 252 240 255
Testimonies 123 131 73 111 80 85 78 89
Source: GAO.
aOn the basis of our performance in fiscal year 2004, we revised these
targets after our fiscal year 2005 performance plan was issued. The
targets were increased from $18.8 billion for financial benefits, from 215
for other benefits, and from 74 for testimonies.
At the close of fiscal year 2004, we were on track to meet all but one of
our performance goals for this strategic goal. We were not on track to
meet the goal of assessing the administrative efficiency
and effectiveness of the federal court and prison systems because we did
not receive requests to perform work in this area and could not undertake
self-initiated work because we needed resources for work requested by the
Congress in other areas. For fiscal year 2006, we are planning to replace
this performance goal with one on improving the administration of the
nation's election system, a goal that better reflects the interests of our
congressional clients.
Goal 2
Provide timely, quality service to the Congress and the federal government
to respond to changing security threats and the challenges of global
interdependence
The federal government is working to promote foreign policy goals, sound
trade polices, and other strategies to advance the interests of the United
States and its allies while also seeking to anticipate and address
emerging threats to the nation's security and economy. Given the
importance of these efforts, our second strategic goal focuses on helping
the Congress and the federal government respond to changing security
threats and the challenges of global interdependence. Our multiyear
(fiscal years 2004-2009) strategic objectives under this goal are to
support the congressional and federal efforts to
o respond to emerging threats to security,
o ensure military capabilities and readiness,
o advance and protect U.S. international interests, and
o respond to the impact of global market forces on U.S. economic and
security interests.
These objectives, along with the performance goals and key efforts that
support them, are discussed fully in our strategic plan, which is
available on our Web site at http://www.gao.gov. The work supporting these
objectives is performed primarily by headquarters and field staff in the
following teams: Acquisition and Sourcing Management, Defense Capabilities
and Management, and International Affairs and Trade. In addition, the work
supporting some performance goals and key
efforts is performed by headquarters and field staff from the Information
Technology, Homeland Security and Justice, Financial Markets and Community
Investment, and Natural Resources and Environment teams. Table 9 shows the
budgetary and human capital resource allocations for this goal for fiscal
years 2004 through 2006.
Table 9: Goal 2's Resources by Fiscal Year Resource type 2004 actual 2005
estimated 2006 requested
Dollars $123,639,000 $128,283,000 $134,632,000
FTEs 879 877
Source: GAO.
To accomplish our work under these strategic objectives, we plan to
conduct engagements and audits that involve fieldwork related to federal
programs that will often take us across multiple continents, including
Europe, Africa, Asia, South America, and North America. As in the past, we
will develop reports, testimonies, and briefings on our work, often in
response to congressional requests and mandates. We anticipate that this
work will be similar to the work we performed during fiscal year 2004,
which is highlighted in the box below.
Goal 2 Results in Fiscal Year 2004
The financial benefits reported for this goal in fiscal year 2004 totaled
$9.7 billion, exceeding the target of $7.0 billion by over 39 percent.
Most of the financial benefits (66 percent of the total) were attributable
to four accomplishments valued at $500 million or more each. These
accomplishments stemmed from engagements that improved funding of DOD's
activities or reduced costs associated with DOD operations.
The other tangible benefits reported for goal 2 in fiscal year 2004
included 343 actions taken by federal agencies to improve their services
and operations in response to our work and another 26 in which information
we provided to the Congress resulted in statutory or regulatory changes.
Among these actions are
o improving the tracking of in-transit munitions shipments,
o improving trade advisory committee operations, and
o clarifying guidance restricting the promotion of tobacco in other
countries.
We made recommendations on
o continuity-of-operations plans for ensuring the delivery of essential
governmental services,
o preventing foreign countries from obtaining classified spare parts or
unclassified items containing military technology, and
o U.S. assistance to Afghanistan.
We testified on topics such as
o international broadcasting,
o use of Reserve forces,
o defense personnel clearances,
o unmanned aerial vehicles,
o terrorist financing,
o oversight of government-sponsored enterprises,
o mutual funds, and
o security at nuclear facilities.
For the annual performance measures for which we report our progress at
the goal level, table 10 shows, for goal 2, our actual performance for
fiscal years 2000 through 2004 and our performance targets for fiscal
years 2005 and 2006.
Table 10: Strategic Goal 2's Annual Performance Results and Targets
(billions Other
Performance 1999 2000 2001 2002 2003 2004 2005 2006 measure actual actual actual actual actual actual targeta target Financial of $3.0 $5.5 $10.5 $8.4 $7.1 $9.7 $9.4 $9.1 benefits 80 129 188 218 273 369 300 275
benefits dollars) Testimonies 37 56 34 38 48 70 52 58
Source: GAO.
aOn the basis of our performance in fiscal year 2004, we revised these
targets after our fiscal year 2005 performance plan was issued. The target
for financial benefits was increased from $9. 2 billion, the target for
other benefits was increased from 275, and the target for testimonies was
increased from 50.
At the close of fiscal year 2004, we were on target to meet 22 of our 23
performance goals for fiscal years 2004 and 2005 for this strategic goal.
We were not on track to meet the performance goal of
identifying opportunities to embed homeland security concepts in ongoing
national initiatives because our homeland security resources were needed
for other work requested by the Congress and we did not have resources in
the homeland security area to undertake self-initiated work related to
this performance goal. For fiscal year 2006, we plan to drop this
performance goal and concentrate our resources on the remaining homeland
security efforts.
Goal 3
Help transform the federal government's role and how it does business to
meet 21st century challenges
Our third strategic goal focuses on the collaborative and integrated
elements needed for the federal government to achieve results. The work
under this goal highlights the intergovernmental relationships that are
necessary to achieve national goals. Our multiyear (fiscal years
2004-2009) strategic objectives under this goal are to
o reexamine the federal government's role in achieving evolving national
objectives;
o support the transformation to results-oriented, high-performing
government;
o support congressional oversight of key management challenges and
program risks to improve federal operations and ensure accountability; and
o analyze the government's fiscal position and strengthen approaches for
addressing the current and projected fiscal gap.
These objectives, along with the performance goals and key efforts that
support them, are discussed fully in our strategic plan, which is
available on our Web site at http://www.gao.gov. The work supporting these
objectives is performed primarily by headquarters and field staff from the
Applied Research and Methods, Financial Management and Assurance,
Information Technology, and Strategic Issues teams. In addition, the work
supporting some performance goals and key efforts is performed by
headquarters and field staff from the Acquisition and Sourcing Management
and Natural Resources and Environment teams. This goal also includes our
bid protest and appropriations law work, which is performed by staff in
General Counsel, and our fraud investigations, which are conducted by
staff from the Financial Management and Assurance team. Table 11 shows the
budgetary and human capital resource allocations for this goal for fiscal
years 2004 through 2006.
Table 11: Goal 3's Resources by Fiscal Year Resource type 2004 actual 2005
estimated 2006 requested
Dollars $128,285,000 $133,103,000 $138,162,000
FTEs 903 900
Source: GAO.
To accomplish our work under these four objectives, we plan to conduct
audits, evaluations, and analyses in response to congressional requests
and to carry out work initiatives under the Comptroller General's
authority. As in the past, we will develop reports, testimonies, and
briefings on our work. We anticipate that this work will be similar to the
work we performed during fiscal year 2004, which is highlighted in the box
below.
Goal 3 Results in Fiscal Year 2004
The financial benefits reported for this goal in fiscal year 2004 totaled
$7.6 billion, exceeding our target of $4.7 billion by over 62 percent. Our
financial benefits under this goal stemmed from our work on core
government business processes and governmentwide management reform.
The other tangible benefits reported for goal 3 in fiscal year 2004
included 553 instances in which agencies' core business processes were
improved or governmentwide management reforms were advanced as a result of
our work. In addition, there were 23 instances in which information we
provided resulted in statutory or regulatory changes. The larger number of
other benefits occurred mainly in our financial management and IT areas,
where we tend to make multiple, specific recommendations for change to
more than one entity. Examples of other benefits under this goal were
o addressing shortfalls in foreign language capabilities,
o influencing federal acquisition rules, and
o addressing workforce challenges at the National Aeronautics and Space
Administration (NASA).
We made recommendations on
o controlling costs of the 2010 Census;
o improving controls over DOD's travel cards to decrease losses related
to unused airline tickets; and
o reducing vulnerability to improper, wasteful, and questionable
government purchase card transactions.
We testified on topics such as
o Army Reserve and Army National Guard pay,
o tax system abuses by DOD contractors,
o fraudulent diplomas from diploma mills,
o federal purchase and travel cards,
o NASA's shuttle program, and
o DOD contract management.
For the annual performance measures for which we report our progress at
the goal level, table 12 shows, for goal 3, our actual performance for
fiscal years 2000 through 2004 and our performance targets for fiscal
years 2005 and 2006.
Table 12: Strategic Goal 3's Annual Performance Results and Targets
(billions Other
Performance 1999 2000 2001 2002 2003 2004 2005 2006 measure actual actual actual actual actual actual targeta target Financial of $4.5 $5.1 $7.0 $5.2 $4.7 $7.6 $8.5 $10.4 benefits 414 503 401 462 553 576 460 520
benefits dollars) Testimonies 100 105 42 65 56 60 55 63
Source: GAO.
aOn the basis of our performance in fiscal year 2004, we revised two of
these targets after our fiscal year 2005 performance plan was issued. The
target for financial benefits was increased from $8. 0 billion and the
target for testimonies was decreased from 56.
At the close of fiscal year 2004, we were on target to meet all of our
performance goals for fiscal years 2004 and 2005 for this strategic goal.
Goal 4
Maximize the value of GAO by being a model federal agency and a
world-class professional services organization
The focus of our fourth strategic goal is to make GAO a model
organization. For us, this means that our work is driven by our external
clients and internal customers, our managers exhibit the characteristics
of leadership and management excellence, our employees are devoted to
ensuring quality in our work process and products through continuous
improvement, and our agency is regarded by current and potential employees
as an excellent place to work. Our multiyear (fiscal years 2004-2009)
strategic objectives under this goal are to
o continuously improve client and customer satisfaction and stakeholder
relationships;
o lead strategically to achieve enhanced results;
o leverage GAO's institutional knowledge and experience;
o continuously enhance GAO's business and management processes; and
o become a professional services employer of choice.
These objectives, along with the performance goals and key efforts that
support them, are discussed fully in our strategic plan, which is
available on our Web site at http://www.gao.gov. The work supporting these
objectives is performed under the direction of the Chief Administrative
Office with assistance on specific key efforts being provided by staff
from the Applied Research and Methods team and from offices such as
Strategic Planning and External Liaison, Congressional Relations,
Opportunity and Inclusiveness, Quality and Continuous Improvement, and
Public Affairs. Table 13 shows the budgetary and human capital resource
allocations for this goal for fiscal years 2004 through 2006.
Table 13: Goal 4's Resources by Fiscal Year Resource type 2004 actual 2005
estimated 2006 requested
Dollars $28,017,000 $23,032,000 $23,182,000
FTEs 151 151
Source: GAO.
To accomplish our work under these five objectives, we plan to perform
internal studies and complete projects that further the strategic goal. We
anticipate that this work will be similar to the work we performed during
fiscal year 2004, which is highlighted in the box below.
Goal 4 Results in Fiscal Year 2004
o Strengthened communication with our congressional clients by refining
and issuing protocols that govern our work for the Congress and reflect
congressional feedback.
o Measured congressional satisfaction with our work by administering a
client feedback survey to the staff of congressional committees and
members that requested work resulting in a product.
o Published GAO's human capital strategic plan for fiscal years 2004
through 2006 that includes key efforts, expectations, measures, and
initiatives for improving our human resources.
o Implemented provisions of the Human Capital Reform Act of 2004 that,
among other things, give us permanent authority to offer voluntary early
retirement opportunities and allow us to create an executive exchange
program with the private sector.
o Convened a number of forums, symposia, and other meetings to provide
opportunities for an exchange of knowledge between accountability and
professional organizations.
o Redesigned our Web site to enhance usability and facilitate access to
our information products and services.
o Implemented numerous initiatives that resulted in more efficient and
cost-effective processes, such as our Web-based travel and time and
attendance systems.
o Launched a Web-based customer satisfaction survey to get feedback
internally on product production and other services provided by goal 4.
o Continued to upgrade IT tools and capabilities.
o Implemented online access 24 hours a day to more than 900 training
courses.
o Launched a telework program that allows staff to work from home when
feasible.
At the close of fiscal year 2004, we were on track to meet all but one of
the performance goals for this strategic goal. We were not on track to
meet our performance goal of maximizing the collection, use, and retention
of essential organizational knowledge. While we have performed substantial
work for this performance goal, we plan to complete this work after fiscal
year 2005. Specifically, our work has been slower than we anticipated
because anticipated funding was rescinded in fiscal year 2004 and some
essential steps-such as developing prototypes and conducting pilot
tests-have taken longer than we initially anticipated. We now plan to
complete efforts under this performance goal during fiscal year 2006.
Strategies and Means for Achieving Our Goals
We plan to accomplish our strategic goals primarily by providing the
information from our work to the Congress and the public in a variety of
forms and continuing and strengthening our internal operations. For all
four strategic goals, the multiyear, qualitative performance goals
included in our current strategic plan describe specific areas of work
that we plan to complete by the end of fiscal year 2005. For fiscal year
2006, we plan to continue to use the current performance goals as a basis
for aligning our work with our strategic goals. In preparing our fiscal
year 2006 budget submission, we made minor revisions that apply to fiscal
year 2006 for some of these performance goals, mainly in the homeland
security and justice areas. In our next strategic plan update, which will
cover fiscal years 2007 through 2012, we will establish revised
performance goals and key efforts that cover fiscal years 2007 through
2009.
Our strategies also emphasize the importance of two overarching
approaches: (1) working with other organizations on crosscutting issues
and (2) effectively addressing the challenges to achieving our agency's
goals and recognizing the internal and external factors that could impair
our performance. Through these strategies, which have proven successful
for us for a number of years, we plan to achieve the level of performance
that is needed to meet our annual performance measures and our multiyear
performance goals and that, in turn, will allow us to achieve our
strategic goals.
Strategies for Goals 1, 2, and 3
Attaining our three external strategic goals (goals 1, 2, and 3) and their
related objectives rests, for the most part, on providing professional,
objective, fact-based, nonpartisan, nonideological, fair, and balanced
information to support the Congress in carrying out its constitutional
responsibilities. We develop and present this information in a number of
ways, including
o evaluating federal policies and the performance of agencies;
o overseeing government operations through financial and other
management audits to determine whether public funds are spent efficiently,
effectively, and in accordance with applicable laws;
o investigating whether illegal or improper activities are occurring;
o analyzing the financing for government activities;
o conducting various constructive engagements in which we work
proactively with agencies, when appropriate, to provide advice that may
assist their efforts toward positive results;
o providing legal opinions that determine whether agencies are in
compliance with applicable laws and regulations;
o conducting policy analyses to assess needed actions and the
implications of proposed actions; and
o providing additional assistance to the Congress in support of its
oversight and decision-making responsibilities.
Staff from our 13 research, audit, and evaluation teams and General
Counsel perform the work that supports the three external strategic goals.
These staff plan and implement engagements, audits, investigations, and
other activities that often involve meeting with agency officials and
representatives of other organizations to gather information. Our work is
based on original research and analysis, rather than reliance on
third-party source materials. Additionally, in conducting our work, we
have high standards that require an objective approach. This usually means
that we take responsibility for gathering all the relevant data and, to
ensure accuracy and objectivity, more than one person attends interviews
with agency officials. In addition, travel, both national and
international, is essential to completing our audit and evaluation work,
which must be sufficiently
representative in scope and in the number and type of locations covered to
ensure the validity of our conclusions and recommendations.
The information we collect and analyze is, more often than not, documented
in a product that is made available to the public. In some cases, we
develop products that contain classified or sensitive information that
cannot be made available publicly. We generally issue around 1,200 to
1,300 products each year, including the following:
o letter reports, which are written in a letter format and are issued
with our traditional blue cover;
o chapter reports, which are written in a chapter format and are also
issued with the blue cover;
o correspondence, which is a written letter that does not have the blue
cover;
o testimony and statements for the record, where the former are
presented at a hearing by one or more of our senior executives and the
latter are submitted for the record;
o briefing reports, which consist mainly of briefing slides with some
explanatory material; and o oral briefings, which are usually given
directly to congressional staff members.
Collectively, our products contain information, conclusions, and
recommendations that allow us to achieve our external strategic goals.
Another means of ensuring that we are achieving our goals is to examine
the impact of our past work and use that information to shape our future
work. Consequently, we evaluate actions taken by federal agencies and the
Congress in response to our past recommendations. The results of these
evaluations are reported in terms of the financial benefits and other
benefits that reflect the value of our work. We actively monitor the
status of our open recommendations-those that remain valid but have not
yet been implemented-and report our findings annually to the Congress and
the public (http://www.gao.gov/openrecs.html). We use the results of that
analysis to determine the need for further work in particular areas. For
example, if an agency has not implemented a recommended action that we
consider to be worthwhile, we may decide to pursue further action with
agency officials or congressional committees, or we may decide to
undertake additional work on the matter. Similarly, we will use our
biennial high-risk report that was issued in January 2005 to provide a
status report on major government operations that we consider high risk
because they are vulnerable to waste, fraud, abuse, and mismanagement or
are in need of a broad-based transformation. And we will use our report on
21st century issues, which was issued in February 2005, to alert the
nations' leaders to current and emerging challenges facing the nation,
including the long-range budget challenge, the human capital crisis,
postal reforms, and the federal government's financial management efforts.
These reports are valuable planning tools because they help us to identify
those areas where our continued efforts are needed to maintain the focus
on important policy and management issues that the nation faces.
During fiscal year 2006, we will adjust our processes, as needed, to
accommodate changes that stem from the conclusions of external peer
reviews of our financial and performance audits. For example, in a comment
letter accompanying the clean opinion report that resulted from the
financial audit peer review, the auditor included a suggestion for
clarifying our quality control policies and procedures. We have begun to
implement this suggestion. In addition, the review for our performance
audits-which was led by the Office of the Auditor General of
Canada-assessed whether our quality assurance policies and procedures were
suitably designed and operating effectively and resulted in a clean
opinion. The April 2005 audit report cited a number of exemplary practices
at GAO and offered us some suggestions for improvement, including
streamlining certain requirements for low-risk assignments, a suggestion
that we are already working to implement.
Strategies for Goal 4
Our fourth strategic goal, which is an internal one, is under the
direction of our Chief Administrative Office. This office takes the lead
in helping us accomplish our fourth and only internal strategic goal with
assistance on specific key efforts being provided by staff from the
Applied Research and Methods team and from offices such as Strategic
Planning and External Liaison, Congressional Relations, Opportunity and
Inclusiveness, Quality and Continuous Improvement, and Public Affairs.
These units work together and include the teams, as needed, to plan and
implement activities that will help us remain a model federal agency.
To attain our fourth strategic goal and the five related objectives, we
will build on our groundwork efforts of fiscal years 2004 and 2005. In
those years we conducted surveys of our congressional clients and internal
customers to obtain feedback on our products, processes, and services, and
performed studies and evaluations to identify ways in which to improve
them. In fiscal year 2006 we will utilize the feedback from our surveys
and the results and recommendations of our studies and evaluations to
implement enhancements to current operations. We intend to measure the
success of these efforts by conducting additional surveys and comparing
their results to the results from prior years.
Among the efforts upon which we will focus in fiscal year 2006 to help us
attain the following five strategic objectives for goal 4 are
o Improve client and customer satisfaction and stakeholder relationships
by
o identifying means to communicate our work results more effectively and
efficiently using enhanced technology and media;
o applying technology solutions to enhance the quality of timeliness of
service; and
o identifying and implementing ways to increase the accessibility of GAO
products to the press, the public, and other stakeholders.
o Lead strategically to achieve enhanced results by
o continuing our integration effort for planning, budgeting, and
performance measurement to achieve enhanced results by working with our
enterprise architecture staff to align our strategic plan, budget,
performance plan, workforce plan, and performance and accountability
reporting processes;
o enhancing our competency-based performance system, increasing the
user-friendliness of the system, and providing training to staff in
end-of-cycle appraisals;
o implementing a newly procured financial management system;
o developing and implementing an IT work management system incorporating
IT life cycle, enterprise architecture and development methodologies, and
other IT management processes; and
o completing implementation of centralized auditing of network servers
and devices, refining our network monitoring procedures including use of
products to automate the detection of potentially harmful threats, and
implementing planned improvements to our disaster recovery operations.
o Leverage GAO's institutional knowledge and experience by
o establishing an electronic records management system infrastructure to
support E-audits and knowledge repositories,
o increasing the frequency of our speakers series on 21st Century
challenges,
o implementing an Executive Exchange Program, and
o hosting the biennial forum of the Intergovernmental Audit Forum.
o Continuously enhance GAO's business and management processes by
o streamlining and simplifying the engagement management process;
o revising our annual internal inspection processes to reflect lessons
learned from the peer review and previous inspections;
o assessing staff skills in developing and implementing structured
interviews; and
o automating and redesigning our mission and administrative processes
and systems, such as developing a Web-based suggestion program.
o Become the professional services employer of choice by
o evaluating our telework program;
o providing a streamlined, user-friendly guide to government and
nongovernment professional development opportunities;
o expediting and coordinating our new hire process;
o conceptualizing a development program for new hires at the Band IIA
level and implementing the program, if warranted; and
o redesigning the Professional Development Program Web site.
Collaboration Efforts
All of our strategic goals benefit from coordinating with other
organizations that have similar or complementary missions, with experts
outside of our organization, and with our own internal experts.
Consequently, collaborative efforts are a large part of our strategy for
achieving our goals. For example, we use advisory panels and other bodies
to inform our strategic and annual work planning. We also initiate and
support collaborative national and international audit, technical
assistance, and other knowledge-sharing efforts. These two types of
strategic working relationships allow us to extend our institutional
knowledge and experience, to leverage our resources, and in turn improve
our service to the Congress and the American people.
Our office of Strategic Planning and External Liaison takes the lead and
provides strategic focus for the work with external partner organizations,
while our research, audit, and evaluation teams lead the work with most of
the issue-specific organizations. As in past years, we will gather
information and perspectives for our strategic and annual performance
planning efforts through a series of activities such as forums, advisory
boards, panels, and speakers' series.
GAO-wide advisory boards and panels support our strategic and annual work
planning by alerting our managers and staff to issues, trends, and lessons
learned across the national and international audit community that we
should factor into our own work. These groups include
o the Comptroller General's Advisory Board, whose 40 members from the
public and private sectors have broad expertise in areas related to our
strategic objectives, from which we obtain views on our strategic
direction and specific initiatives;
o the National Intergovernmental Audit Forum, chaired by the Comptroller
General, and its 10 regional intergovernmental audit forums, through which
we consult regularly with federal inspectors general and state and local
auditors; and
o the Domestic Working Group, composed of the Comptroller General and
the heads of 18 federal, state, and local audit organizations, which
facilitates the exchange of information and opportunities for
collaboration.
A number of issue-specific and technical panels will continue to work with
us to improve our strategic and annual work planning, including the
following:
o The Advisory Council on Government Auditing Standards provides us
guidance on promulgating auditing standards. These standards articulate
auditors' responsibilities when examining government organizations,
programs, activities, or functions and government assistance received by
contractors, nonprofits, and other nongovernmental organizations.
o The Accountability Advisory Council, made up of experts in the
financial management community, advises us on audits of the U.S.
government's consolidated financial statements and emerging issues
involving financial management and accountability reporting.
o The Executive Council on Information Management and Technology, whose
19 members are experts from the public and private sectors and
representatives of related professional organizations, help us to identify
high-risk and emerging issues in the IT arena.
o The Comptroller General's Educators' Advisory Panel, composed of
deans, professors, and other academics from prominent universities across
the United States, advises us on recruiting, retaining, and developing
staff and strategic planning matters.
During fiscal year 2006, we plan to convene various experts from the
public, private, and nonprofit sectors in a series of forums and panels
intended to enhance our understanding of emerging issues and to identify
opportunities for action. In the past, these activities included forums on
metrics, means, and mechanisms for achieving high performance in the 21st
century public management environment; human capital and civil service
reform; unsustainable trends that necessitate comprehensive and
fundamental reforms to control spending and improve value; changing labor
force dynamics and the role of government policies; and financial
literacy. In addition, we plan to continue our speakers' series on
Conversations on 21st Century Challenges, wherein prominent leaders
discuss emerging themes and their implications for public policy.
We anticipate that our staff will be involved in other collaborative
activities during fiscal years 2005 and 2006 that are like the following
activities undertaken during 2004:
o Conferring with the Private Sector Council, a nonprofit, nonpartisan,
public service organization committed to helping the federal government
improve its efficiency, management, and productivity through the
cooperative sharing of knowledge. Council members have assisted us on a
number of engagements. For example, the council assisted a GAO team that
is examining best practices used by private sector companies to plan for,
acquire, and manage telecommunications services. Late in fiscal year 2004,
the Private Sector Council merged with the Partnership for Public Service,
which is another of our external partner organizations.
o Actively participating in five efforts that involved the Domestic
Working Group and federal, state, and local audit officials and that are
aimed at addressing issues regarding access to records, grants management,
long-term fiscal challenges, information used by water utilities to
conduct vulnerability assessments, and governance.
o Leading the effort to develop the National Intergovernmental Audit
Forum's first-ever strategic plan, which will help maximize the
organization's effectiveness in promoting good government and
accountability at all levels of government. The task force working on the
plan is composed of federal, state, and local auditors and an independent
public accountant. The forum adopted a strategic plan framework, and it is
anticipated that a final plan will be adopted during fiscal year 2005.
Internationally, we will continue to participate in the International
Organization of Supreme Audit Institutions (INTOSAI)-the professional
organization of the national audit offices of 184 countries. During 2004,
we led a 10-nation task force that developed INTOSAI's 5-year strategic
plan-the first in INTOSAI's 50-year history. The plan was unanimously
endorsed by INTOSAI's Governing Board and unanimously adopted by the
INTOSAI Congress this fall. It provides a blueprint for a major
transformation of INTOSAI and a structure and rationale that will
facilitate member institutions' strategic engagement in INTOSAI in a way
that maximizes contributions while minimizing resources. In other work
with INTOSAI, we chair the accounting and reporting committee and we are
an active member of INTOSAI's auditing standards, internal control
standards, and other technical committees. We also publish INTOSAI's
quarterly International Journal of Government Auditing in five languages
to further the global understanding of standards, best practices, and
technical issues. We plan to continue to be similarly involved with
INTOSAI's activities during fiscal year 2006.
To continue to build capacity in national audit offices around the world,
we will conduct an international fellows training program during fiscal
year 2006 for mid-to senior-level staff from other countries. In 2004, 22
fellows from Africa, Asia, Latin America, the Caribbean, and Eastern
Europe participated in this program and spent about 4 months at GAO
learning how we are organized to do our work, how we plan work, and what
methodologies we use, particularly for performance audits. As part of our
strategy to promote continuous learning and sustainability once the
fellows return to their countries, we are working with major donors-such
as the World Bank and the U.S. Agency for International Development-to
identify or support relevant capacity-building projects for the
institutions in which the fellows work. Also, current and former auditors
general and deputy auditors general of many nations, including the current
chair of INTOSAI, are graduates of this program.
Finally, we coordinate extensively within our own organization on our
strategic and annual performance planning efforts, as well as on the
preparation of our performance and accountability reports, in order to
take full advantage of the expertise of our staff. Our efforts are
completed under the overall direction of the Comptroller General and the
Chief Operating Officer. We rely on our Chief Administrative Officer/Chief
Financial Officer and her staff to provide key information, such as the
resource information that is included in this plan. Her staff also
coordinated with others throughout the agency to provide the information
on goal 4's results and provided input on other efforts dealing with
issues that include financial management, budgetary resources, training,
and security. We obtain input on all aspects of our strategic and annual
performance planning and reporting efforts from each of our engagement
teams and organizational units through their respective managing
directors, as well as other staff responsible for planning or engagement
activities in the teams. Staff in our Quality and Continuous Improvement
office prepared this plan, ensuring, among other things, that it reflects
our planned activities for fiscal year 2006. In short, we involved
virtually every part of GAO and used our internal expertise in our
planning and reporting efforts.
Addressing Management Challenges
At GAO, management challenges are identified by the Comptroller General
and the agency's senior executives through the agency's strategic
planning, management, and budgeting processes. Our progress in addressing
the challenges is monitored through our annual performance and
accountability process. Under our strategic goal 4, we establish
performance goals focused on each of our management challenges, track our
progress in completing the key efforts for those performance goals
quarterly, and report each year on our progress toward meeting the
performance goals. Each year, we ask our Inspector General's office to
examine management's assessment of the challenges and the agency's
progress in addressing them, and the assessment made by the Inspector
General's office can be found in our performance and accountability report
in the section entitled From the Inspector General.
For fiscal year 2006, we will continue to address three management
challenges-human capital, information security, and physical security.
While we anticipate that we will always make improvements in these areas,
at some point, we may decide that they are no longer sufficiently critical
to be considered major management challenges for us. For now, we
anticipate that these areas will remain challenging for us for the better
part of this decade because they are evolving and will require us to
continuously identify ways to adapt and improve. Also, the solutions to
these challenges often can take months or years to design and implement.
Nonetheless, we revisit the challenges each year and refine them, when
appropriate. We will report any changes in the challenges as we monitor
and report on our progress in addressing the challenges through our annual
performance and accountability process. The following sections describe
our recent and planned efforts to address these challenges.
The Human Capital Challenge
Given our role as a key provider of professional and objective information
and analyses to the Congress, maintaining the right mix of technical
knowledge and expertise as well as general analytical skills is vital to
achieving our mission. We spend about 80 percent of our resources on our
people, but without excellent human capital policies and management
practices, we could run the risk of being unable to meet the expectations
of the Congress and the American people. In fiscal year 2006, we will
continue to focus on strategic transformation as it relates to business
processes, alignment of staff for greater productivity, and talent
acquisition.
We continue to manage talent and implement flexibilities provided by the
GAO Human Capital Reform Act of 2004. For example, with assistance from a
contractor, we completed a market-based compensation study for our analyst
community in fiscal year 2005 and plan to implement the resulting new pay
ranges early in fiscal year 2006. Similarly, we are working with the same
contractor to perform a market-based compensation study for our
administrative and professional support staff community this summer and
plan to implement the resulting pay ranges when we implement them for our
analysts. The goal of these studies is to design a competitive, fair, and
equitable market-based compensation system aligned with the competitive
labor markets in which we compete for talent.
On the basis of the results of the market-based compensation study
performed by a contractor at our request, we have initiated a project to
restructure our band IIs-the middle band for our analysts. The project,
which is scheduled to be completed during fiscal year 2006, is being
implemented by task teams of analysts and specialists under the direction
of two senior executive project leaders. This project will result in the
placement of band II staff into two different pay ranges and will better
align the roles and responsibilities of the persons in these two ranges in
a manner consistent with the
market-based study. As with other such initiatives, the approach to this
project is designed to facilitate interaction between the task teams, the
Executive Committee, and the employees who will be affected. The latter
will be accomplished primarily through listening sessions held by the task
teams, "town hall" meetings held by the Executive Committee, and a 30-day
employee review and comment period for each phase of the project.
To meet challenges associated with recruiting, rewarding, and retaining a
highly qualified and highperforming workforce, we will implement a number
of the human capital flexibilities authorized by the Congress and for
which we are drafting, revising, and issuing regulations for comment in
fiscal year 2005. In addition, we will implement a streamlined,
user-friendly guide to government and nongovernment professional
development opportunities; develop and implement an expedited and
coordinated new hire process; determine the feasibility of implementing a
development program for new hires with previous experience; and enhance
our competency-based performance systems.
During fiscal year 2006, we will continue our recruitment efforts, which
have proven successful in recent years. Our objective is to attract and
retain a diverse workforce with the knowledge, skills, and abilities to
meet the new century's challenges. As in the past, we expect to hire
college graduates-including interns-with records of superior academic
achievement. We will continue to hire graduates from master and doctoral
degree programs and plan to use alternative recruiting strategies-such as
hiring at the bachelor degree level and providing opportunities for
postgraduate work while working at GAO-in order to help us obtain specific
skills and enhance our diversity. We will continue to use direct-hire,
short-term, and time-limited appointing authorities, such as the Visiting
Fellows Program, to fill gaps identified during our workforce planning
effort. Two of our major concerns for fiscal year 2006 are hiring and
retaining entry-level staff in the financial auditing and information
technology occupations. To address these areas, we will expand use of new
student employment initiatives such as the Student Career Experience
Program-an undergraduate co-op program-and fall and spring internships in
addition to the summer program currently offered.
To further strengthen the skills, knowledge, and expertise of our
workforce, we will significantly expand our core analytic skills curricula
to provide just-in-time courses, job aids, and performance support tools
on the desktop. For more experienced staff, we will implement curricula
focusing on more effectively managing engagements, leading teams, and
providing coaching and feedback to more junior staff. We will invest in
developing the learning infrastructure needed to author and deliver
Web-based courses as well as to conduct synchronous learning programs for
both headquarters and field staff.
In fiscal year 2006, we will complete a study of market-based compensation
ranges for our administrative professional and support staff positions. We
will also be developing criteria and a process for placing current senior
analyst staff in the appropriate salary ranges as we prepare for full
implementation of market-based compensation ranges for our analysts and
specialists.
The Information Security Challenge
Information system security is a critical activity in ensuring our
information system assets are safe and free from compromise. Our inability
to respond to the needs of the Congress due to compromised information or
information systems is not an acceptable risk for GAO. In light of these
increasing threats, and in keeping with our goal of being a model federal
agency, we have a wide range of initiatives under way to strengthen and
protect the security of our information systems and data, including our
financial systems.
During fiscal year 2006, we will complete implementation of centralized
auditing of network servers and devices in order to better secure our
computing assets within GAO. In addition, we are
continually refining our network monitoring procedures to include the use
of correlation products to automate the detection of potentially harmful
threats to the GAO network. Also, planned improvements to our disaster
recovery operations will provide a smooth transition during a time of
crisis. As we refine our operational processes and improve our services
during fiscal years 2006 and 2007, we will implement additional
technologies to lessen risks to GAO and improve response and recovery in
the event of a disruption.
During fiscal years 2006 and 2007, in support of the requirements in the
Federal Information Security Management Act, we also will act on the
results of audits of our security practices and controls that are
conducted each fiscal year. These assessments are designed to analyze the
effectiveness of our IT security program and assist management in
determining how to best utilize resources to protect our information
assets and systems. They are critical on-site examinations and analysis of
the program to ascertain the present program status, to identify potential
weaknesses, to determine the protection required, and to make
recommendations for improvement.
The Physical Security Challenge
The challenge to provide a safe and secure work environment for employees
remains a constant in light of international events that can have a
profound impact on the way we conduct business in and around the world.
Protecting our people and our assets is paramount to agency operations.
We continue to devote time and resources to the assessment of security
operations as we further enhance our security posture. For fiscal year
2006, these enhancements and emergency preparedness efforts will include
completing the Integrated Electronic Security System, which includes
installing turnstiles at headquarters, implementing smart card technology,
and upgrading access control and intrusion detection systems for
headquarters and field offices. Additional efforts involve procuring an
emergency notification system; conducting tests, training, and exercises
in support of our continuity-of-operations plan; updating our emergency
preparedness plans and documents, such as the Shelter-in-Place plan, the
emergency response handbook, and a trifold brochure summarizing the
Shelter-in-Place plan; holding an annual security fair; and instituting a
more robust security education and awareness program for the headquarters
and field offices.
Mitigating External Factors That Could Affect Our Performance
Several external factors could affect the achievement of our performance
goals, including the amount of resources we receive, shifts in the content
and volume of our work, and national and international developments.
Limitations imposed on our work by other organizations or limitations on
the ability of other federal agencies to make the improvements we
recommend are additional factors that could affect the achievement of our
goals.
We are experiencing heavy demand from the Congress for work in a number of
subject areas, especially in the health care area. Our ability to
effectively manage this demand could have an impact on our ability to meet
our performance targets. We will continue to manage these requests in
order to minimize any negative impact they may have on our ability to meet
the needs of the Congress and the American people. Given large current
federal budget deficits and the nation's longrange fiscal imbalance, the
Congress is likely to place increasing emphasis on fiscal constraint.
While it is unclear how GAO will ultimately be affected, it is reasonable
to assume that any attempt to exercise additional budgetary discipline in
the legislative branch will include our agency. As a result, while we
believe that we submit reasonable and responsible budget requests and we
know that the return on investment that we generate is unparalleled, we
must plan and prepare for the possibility of significant and recurring
constraints on the resources made available to the agency. In addition,
because over 80 percent of our budget is composed of people-related costs,
any serious budget situation will have an impact on our human capital
policies and practices. This, in turn, will have an impact on our ability
to serve the Congress and meet our performance targets. While, as noted
above, the nature and extent of any such budget constraints cannot be
determined at the present time, GAO's executive team is engaged in a range
of related planning activities. It is both appropriate and prudent for us
to engage in such planning. At the same time, we are hopeful that the
Congress will recognize that performance-based budgeting concepts would
support providing additional resources to entities with prudent budget
requests and proven performance results. If the Congress employs such an
approach, GAO should be in a good position to continue to provide a high
rate of return on the resources invested in the agency.
A growing area for us involves our work on bid protests. As required by
law, our General Counsel's office prepares Comptroller General procurement
law decisions that resolve protests filed by disappointed bidders. These
bidders challenge the way individual federal procurements are being
conducted or how the contracts were awarded. In recent years, we have
experienced an increase in the number of bid protests that have been
filed. A further increase in our workload is likely if federal employees
or their representatives are granted the right to appeal outsourcing
decisions. We will continue to monitor our workload in this area to ensure
that we meet our statutory responsibilities with minimal negative impact
on our other work.
As the Congress focuses on unpredictable events-such as the global threat
posed by sophisticated terrorist networks, international financial crises,
or natural disasters-the mix of work we are asked to undertake may change,
diverting our resources from some strategic objectives and performance
goals. We can and do mitigate the impact of these events on the
achievement of our goals in various ways. For example, we
o stay abreast of current events and communicate frequently with our
congressional clients in order to be alert to possibilities that could
shift the Congress's priorities or trigger new priorities;
o quickly redirect our resources, when appropriate, so that we can deal
with major changes as they occur;
o maintain broad-based staff expertise so that we can readily address
emerging needs; and
o initiate research under the Comptroller General's authority on a
limited number of selected topics.
Another external factor is the extent to which we can obtain access to
certain types of information. With concerns about operational security
being unusually high at home and abroad, we may have more difficulty
obtaining information and reporting on sensitive issues. Historically, our
auditing and information gathering have been limited whenever the
intelligence community is involved. In addition, we have not had the
authority to access or inspect records or other materials held by other
countries or, generally, by the multinational institutions that the United
States works with to protect its interests. Consequently, our ability to
fully assess the progress being made in addressing national and homeland
security issues may be hampered. Also, we anticipate that more of our
reports may be subject to classification reviews than in the past, which
means that the public dissemination of these products may be limited. We
plan to work with the Congress to identify both legislative and
nonlegislative opportunities for strengthening our access authority as
necessary and appropriate.
Image Sources
The front cover of this plan uses images and graphics that were not
created by GAO. Specifically, the scales and Jefferson statue are from
Photodisc, and the flag and eagle are from BrandXPictures. GAO created the
image of the U.S. Capitol.
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