U.S. Government Accountability Office: Human Capital Initiatives
and Additional Legislative Authorities (13-MAR-08, GAO-08-573T).
Today's testimony discusses several important topics: (1)
provisions of H.R. 3268, the GAO Act, that would bolster our
ability to attract and retain a highly skilled and diverse
workforce needed to serve the Congress and provide for
operational improvements and administrative efficiencies; (2)
steps we are taking to establish and maintain a constructive
working relationship with the GAO Employees Organization,
International Federation of Professional and Technical Engineers
(IFPTE); and (3) my commitment to ensure fair and equitable
treatment for all segments of our diverse workforce, as
reinforced by our commissioning of a study of various performance
assessment issues related to African-American Analysts at GAO.
-------------------------Indexing Terms-------------------------
REPORTNUM: GAO-08-573T
ACCNO: A81303
TITLE: U.S. Government Accountability Office: Human Capital
Initiatives and Additional Legislative Authorities
DATE: 03/13/2008
SUBJECT: Diversity management
Employee development
Employee incentives
Employee promotions
Employee relations
Employee retention
Federal employees
Government employees
Human capital
Human capital management
Human capital planning
Human capital policies
Staff utilization
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GAO-08-573T
This is the accessible text file for GAO report number GAO-08-573T
entitled 'U.S. Government Accountability: Human Capital Initiatives and
Additional Legislative Authorities' which was released on March 17,
2008.
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Testimony:
Before the Subcommittee on Federal Workforce, Postal Service, and the
District of Columbia, Committee on Oversight and Government Reform,
House of Representatives:
United States Government Accountability Office:
GAO:
For Release on Delivery Expected at 2:00 p.m. EDT:
Thursday, March 13, 2008:
U.S. Government Accountability Office:
Human Capital Initiatives and Additional Legislative Authorities:
Statement of Gene L. Dodaro, Acting Comptroller General of the United
States:
GAO-08-573T:
Chairman Davis and Members of the Subcommittee:
I appreciate the opportunity to appear before you today to discuss
several important topics:
* provisions of H.R. 3268, the GAO Act, that would bolster our ability
to attract and retain a highly skilled and diverse workforce needed to
serve the Congress and provide for operational improvements and
administrative efficiencies;
* steps we are taking to establish and maintain a constructive working
relationship with the GAO Employees Organization, International
Federation of Professional and Technical Engineers (IFPTE); and:
* my commitment to ensure fair and equitable treatment for all segments
of our diverse workforce, as reinforced by our commissioning of a study
of various performance assessment issues related to African-American
Analysts at GAO.[Footnote 1]
Importance of GAO Act Provisions:
The GAO Act contains several distinct and critical components. A number
of provisions are designed to benefit our employees and to provide a
means to continue to attract, retain, and reward a top-flight
workforce, while other provisions are aimed at helping us improve our
operations and increase administrative efficiencies. We ask for your
support of these measures and have outlined each of them below.
Human Capital and Compensation Provisions:
* Permit the GS-15 statutory cap to rise to the Executive Level III:
Our pay surveys indicated that certain higher-level economists,
attorneys, management positions, and specialists would warrant salaries
above GS-15, step 10. This authority would enable GAO to compensate
these skilled professionals and managers up to Executive Level III when
justified, thus aiding GAO in its recruitment and retention efforts.
This authority is similar to flexibilities exercised by other agencies.
For example, the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation and other
agencies concerned with financial matters are not subject to the GS-15
cap. The Departments of Defense and Homeland Security likewise have the
ability to pay their staff more than this limit. If this authority is
granted, GAO would use its increased pay flexibility only when
justified by pay surveys or other compensation data.
* Allow GAO to incur recruiting expenses for meals and related
expenses:
GAO's work requires skilled professionals for whom GAO must compete
with leading private sector and public organizations. GAO would like
the ability to incur recruiting expenditures for meals and related
expenses. This small, but important, step would enhance GAO's effort to
attract top talent. At this time, both the Department of Defense for
recruiting military members (10 U.S.C �520c) and the Coast Guard (14
U.S.C. �468) have similar provisions. We would use this authority
frugally.
* Achieve equal footing regarding voluntary separation incentive
payments (VSIP):
The law authorizing GAO to provide VSIPs requires GAO to make a
substantial payment to the retirement fund--no less than 45 percent of
an employee's final basic pay--which renders the flexibility virtually
unusable. This contrasts with the flexibility given to the executive
branch for VSIPs. While the Department of Defense has agency-specific
VSIP authority, and executive branch agencies--with Office of Personnel
Management (OPM) approval--have general VSIP authority, in both
instances the statutory authority for these programs does not require
any payments to the retirement fund for the granting of a VSIP.
Removing this requirement would put GAO on an equal footing with other
agencies, make VSIPs more practical, and provide an important
flexibility to help GAO reshape its workforce should such authority
become necessary.
* Include performance-based bonuses in calculating non-Senior Executive
Service and non-Senior Level employees' "high-three" average salary for
retirement purposes:
GAO's performance-based compensation system provides a nonpermanent
bonus component for some of our employees. As our employees have
pointed out, under current law, they do not get credit for these
bonuses when OPM calculates their "high-three" average salary for
retirement purposes. The GAO Act would remedy the situation by
directing that bonuses be included in the "high-three" calculation.
This provision does not apply to Senior Executive Service (SES) and
Senior Level employees.
Related Compensation Proposals:
Before turning to provisions in the GAO Act related to operational
improvements and administrative efficiencies, let me address two
important proposals related to employee compensation that--while not
included in H.R. 3268--have been under discussion as well.
* Adopting a "floor guarantee" for future annual pay adjustments:
We support the adoption of a "floor guarantee" provision for future
annual pay adjustments. We first raised a similar concept with Members
of the Subcommittee last May.[Footnote 2] Just last month, our
negotiating team introduced the idea to the GAO Employees Organization,
IFPTE, which agreed to adopt a floor guarantee as part of the agreement
governing 2008 pay adjustments. We were pleased to reach a prompt
agreement and believe the floor guarantee reasonably balances our
commitment to performance-based pay with an appropriate degree of
predictability and equity for all GAO employees.
A statutorily based floor guarantee would provide GAO employees with
greater certainty about future salary increases and ensure at least pay
parity with the executive branch. We support the floor guarantee
approach because we believe it will preserve the incentives and rewards
of GAO's performance-based compensation system, while ensuring--
subject to the conditions explained below--that GAO employees receive
an annual increase in their permanent pay that is at least equal to GS
across-the-board increase for each locality area.
The floor guarantee would ensure that all employees performing at the
"meets expectations" level or better would receive an annual adjustment
to their basic rate that is at least equal to the total annual increase
under the General Schedule (GS) system for the employees' geographic
area.[Footnote 3] The only exceptions would be employees (1) receiving
ratings below the "meets expectations" level, (2) participating in
development programs under which they receive performance reviews and
permanent merit pay increases more than once a year, (3) occupying
positions covered by the Federal Wage System, or (4) occupying SES or
Senior Level positions.
The floor guarantee would be implemented in the following manner. We
would continue to apply the system we implemented in 2006, as
authorized by GAO's 2004 legislation. Thus, we first would determine
for each employee the amount of GAO's annual adjustment and performance-
based compensation, which includes both permanent merit pay adjustments
and any nonpermanent bonuses. Then, if the sum of the employee's annual
adjustment and permanent merit pay is less than the increase the
employee would have received under the annual adjustment to the GS in
the employee's geographic area, we would increase the employee's
permanent pay to equal the increase that would have been received under
the annual adjustment to the GS system that year. If an employee
receives an additional adjustment as a result of the floor guarantee,
the additional amount would be deducted from any bonus an employee
would have received.
* Addressing prior pay decisions:
We understand that consideration has been given to including a
legislative provision that would compensate GAO employees who did not
receive the full base pay increases of 2.6 percent in 2006 and 2.4
percent in 2007. At the invitation of subcommittee staff, we have
engaged in fruitful discussions about a reasonable and practical
approach should the Congress decide to accomplish this objective
legislatively. We appreciate the subcommittee's willingness to consider
providing GAO with the necessary legal and funding authorities to
address this issue. Resolution of this matter would be helpful and
would permit us to move forward on other important human capital
initiatives.
Operational Improvements and Administrative Efficiencies:
The GAO Act also contains a number of provisions to promote operational
improvements and efficiencies. These include establishing a statutory
Inspector General at GAO, providing the Congress with more information
on the level of executive branch cooperation received by GAO in the
conduct of our work, authorizing reimbursement for certain financial
audits, allowing GAO more flexibility in administering oaths, receiving
gifts that do not impair our independence, and clarifying financial
disclosure requirements.
* Establish a statutory inspector general:
The GAO Act would replace our current inspector general (IG) position
with a statutory position. GAO supports the IG concept and
administratively has created an IG who performs many of the roles of
the statutory IGs. GAO's statutory IG would be similar to the statutory
IGs in the other legislative branch agencies. Although appointed by the
heads of their respective agencies (or by the Capitol Police Board, in
the case of the Capitol Police IG), these statutory IGs are provided
with independence and autonomy from the heads of their agencies. They
conduct and supervise audits and investigations, and they endeavor to
prevent and detect fraud and abuse in their agencies' programs and
operations. This is the model followed in H.R. 3268 for GAO's statutory
IG.
* Report on executive branch cooperation:
Although the Comptroller General has certain statutory mechanisms
available to aid in conducting GAO audits and investigations, voluntary
cooperation of agency officers and employees of audited agencies is
essential to the efficiency of GAO's work. The GAO Act includes two new
reporting requirements to provide more transparency related to the
level of cooperation GAO is receiving from audited agencies. The first
would require an annual report card on the overall cooperation of
federal agencies in all aspects of GAO's work, including any
unreasonable delays in making personnel available for interviews,
providing written answers to questions, granting access to records,
providing timely comments on draft reports, and responding
appropriately to report recommendations. The second reporting
requirement would require that the Comptroller General inform the
Congress as soon as practicable regarding specific impediments, such as
when an agency or other entity does not make personnel available for
interviews or does not provide written answers to questions.
* Obtain reimbursement of certain financial audit costs:
The GAO Act also includes a provision to enable GAO to be reimbursed
for the financial audits it performs that, in the first instance, are
the specific responsibility of an executive branch agency. Since 1997,
the Comptroller General has elected to exercise his statutory
discretion to audit the financial statements of the Internal Revenue
Service and the Schedule of Federal Debt, issued by the Bureau of the
Public Debt, in lieu of the Treasury IG or an independent Certified
Public Accountant hired by the IG. As a result, the Department of the
Treasury has received these audit services at no cost and without
reimbursing GAO. This legislation would require, beginning in fiscal
year 2009, any executive branch agency covered by the Chief Financial
Officers Act (CFO Act) and Accountability for Tax Dollars Act for which
GAO elects to audit financial statements or related schedules to
reimburse the Comptroller General for the cost of performing such
audits. Such payment would be consistent with the principle that
agencies should pay for financial statement audit services, as they
otherwise must when the audit is conducted by their IGs or independent
contracted auditors. This principle already has been applied to
reimbursements made to GAO by the Securities and Exchange Commission
and the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation, as well as other
government corporations for financial statement audits conducted by GAO
under separate legal authorities.
* Provide GAO with greater flexibilities in administering oaths:
Currently, the Comptroller General is authorized to administer oaths to
witnesses when auditing and settling accounts. Although in 1921, when
the Congress established GAO, auditing and settling accounts
represented the bulk of our work, that is not the case today. The
Comptroller General has been called upon to perform many other audit,
investigative, and adjudicative roles for the Congress. These roles
periodically raise situations involving, for example, potential
criminal or ethical violations, or conflicting testimony or assertions
of material and sensitive subjects. In such situations, the ability to
administer oaths would be a useful and important tool for the
Comptroller General to accomplish his work for the Congress. The new
authority is not expected to be widely used or to have broad impact.
* Give GAO the same gift authority as other agencies:
Under the GAO Act, the Comptroller General would receive the same
authority presently available to many agency heads to aid them in
accomplishing their mission. Specifically, the Comptroller General
would be authorized to accept and dispose of gifts given for the
purpose of aiding and facilitating the work of the office. To implement
this authority, we would promulgate regulations to ensure that no
conflict or appearance of a conflict would arise when accepting any
gifts.
* Clarify financial disclosure requirements:
GAO is seeking a revision to the law regarding the financial disclosure
requirements of its employees to address an unintended result of GAO's
revised pay system that vastly increased the number of employees who
must file a public financial disclosure report. Under GAO's new pay
system, GAO employees no longer receive severable locality pay
adjustments, as compensation differences in local markets are already
taken into account in setting the pay ranges for GAO's various
locations. The inability to exclude amounts formerly attributable to
locality pay has roughly doubled the number of GAO employees who must
file a public disclosure report. This amendment would remedy this
situation by deducting these amounts from employees' annual rate of pay
for purposes of determining who must file a public financial disclosure
report. This would substantially reduce administrative burden while
assuring that GAO's senior employees remain required to file a public
financial disclosure report. The employees who no longer would be
required to file a public report would still be required to file a
confidential financial disclosure report for review within GAO under
GAO's ethics rules.
Remaining Provisions:
In the draft bill that we transmitted to the committee last July, there
were a number of provisions related to the Office of the Comptroller
General and the positions of Comptroller General and Deputy Comptroller
General. These provisions are also contained in the GAO Act, as
introduced by Chairman Waxman. While we recognize the prerogative of
the Congress to address these issues, we believe they should now be
placed in abeyance pending confirmation of a new Comptroller General.
Establishing and Maintaining Constructive Union Relationships:
As you know, on September 19, 2007, our Band I and Band II Analysts,
Auditors, Specialists, and Investigators voted to be represented by the
International Federation of Professional and Technical Engineers
(IFPTE) for the purpose of bargaining with GAO management on various
terms and conditions of employment. GAO management is committed to
working constructively with employee union representatives to forge a
positive labor-management relationship.
Since September, GAO management has taken a variety of steps to ensure
it is following applicable labor relations laws and has the resources
in place to work effectively and productively in this new union
environment. Our efforts have involved:
* postponing work on several initiatives regarding our current
performance and pay programs;
* delivering specialized labor-management relations training to our
Band III, Band III-equivalent, SES, and Senior Level staff;
* establishing a new Workforce Relations Center within our Human
Capital Office that is responsible for providing employee relations and
labor relations advice and services to GAO management and leadership;
* hiring a Workforce Relations Center director, who also serves as our
chief negotiator in collective bargaining deliberations.
* In addition, we routinely notify union representatives of meetings
that may qualify as formal discussions, so that a representative of the
GAO Employees Organization, IFPTE, can attend the meeting. We also
regularly provide the GAO Employees Organization, IFPTE, with
information about projects involving changes to terms and conditions of
employment over which the union has the right to bargain.
As mentioned earlier, we were pleased that GAO and the GAO Employees
Organization, IFPTE, reached a prompt agreement on 2008 pay
adjustments. The agreement was overwhelmingly ratified by bargaining
unit members on February 14, 2008, and we have applied the agreed-upon
approach to the 2008 adjustments to all GAO staff, with the exception
of the SES and Senior-Level staff, regardless of whether they are
represented by the union. The agreement embodies the floor guarantee
described earlier in this statement.
Pursuing Our Commitment to Diversity and Fair Treatment for All Staff:
Recruiting, rewarding, and retaining a high-performing diverse
workforce is critical if GAO is to successfully carry out its mission
in support of the Congress. As you know, an effective GAO requires a
first-rate workforce that is representative of our society and steeped
in a wide variety of disciplines that can gather the facts and develop
innovative solutions to both old and new problems challenging the
federal government.
Meeting these challenges requires top leadership commitment, sustained
effort, and a focus on continuous improvement. For example, we enhanced
our professional development programs for entry level staff; initiated
a formal agencywide mentoring program; and continue our strong support
for flexible work schedules and teleworking to help GAO employees
balance the demands of work and home. GAO's two most recent testimonies
before this subcommittee outlined many other support measures and
safeguards in place to help ensure fair and equitable treatment of all
employees.[Footnote 4]
As circumstances warrant, we also are committed to studying areas in
depth where we have reason to believe that actions and improvements are
needed. One such example is GAO's decision in August 2007 to contract
with the Ivy Planning Group (Ivy) for an independent assessment of
differences in the averages of African-American Analysts' performance
compared with white Analysts and to provide the Ivy team with complete
access to relevant data and staff. Shortly after the contract award, we
provided Ivy with all requested data on appraisals; employee
demographics; employee education and skills; and information on GAO's
performance management, pay, development, and recruitment programs.
Further, in response to additional Ivy requests after they conducted
employee and management interviews and focus groups, we provided
information related to hires and separations, employee feedback scores,
and exit survey results.
We tasked Ivy with reviewing African-American and white Analysts'
performance appraisal data from 2002 through 2006--which was the data
available at the time Ivy's study began. In addition, we charged Ivy
with assessing and comparing the skills, assignments, engagement roles,
training, educational attainment, and recruiting practices at GAO for
African-American and white Analysts, as well as with identifying best
practices internally and externally that might enhance GAO's
performance management systems and assist us in reducing any gaps. Ivy
has been asked to recommend further steps that GAO can take to ensure
fair, consistent, and nondiscriminatory application of GAO's
performance management system.
Ivy has not yet finished its analysis and is not scheduled to issue a
final report until April 2008. We are looking forward to receiving the
final report and its recommendations. We will keep this subcommittee
and other interested parties informed as we address the recommendations
contained in this final report.
As we implement necessary improvements to address this issue, as well
as others, we are fortunate to have a solid foundation upon which to
build. For example, while we missed a few of the targets we
established, our employee feedback survey scores, as shown in appendix
I, for our "people" measures on staff development, staff utilization,
leadership, and organizational climate have remained relatively stable
even in a period of significant change. Further, we are proud that GAO
was named second among large agencies across the federal government in
the 2007 ranking of best places to work, which was issued by the
Partnership for Public Service and the Institute for the Study of
Public Policy Implementation at American University. In addition, when
results were analyzed by demographic groups, GAO ranked second among
female, African-American, and Hispanic employees.
This overall positive work environment is one of many reasons GAO's
dedicated and talented workforce is able to effectively serve the
Congress and produce solid results for the American people.[Footnote 5]
Last fiscal year, our work contributed to hundreds of improvements in
government operations and benefits, as well as $45.9 billion in
financial benefits or a $94 return for every dollar the Congress
invested in us. We also contributed to over 270 congressional hearings
and provided hundreds of valuable products to assist the Congress on
topics as wide ranging as food safety, border patrol, and tax
compliance.
In closing, I want to reiterate our appreciation for the subcommittee's
consideration of these legislative proposals to strengthen GAO. We look
forward to continuing our constructive dialogue with the subcommittee
on these and other issues in the future. Thank you for the opportunity
to share our views. Mr. Chairman, I would be pleased to answer any
questions that you or other Members of the Subcommittee may have at
this time.
[End of section]
Appendix I: Agencywide Summary of Annual Measures and Targets:
Performance measure: Results: Financial benefits: (dollars in
billions);
2003: actual: $35.4;
2004: actual: $44.0;
2005: actual: $39.6;
2006: actual: $51.0;
2007: target: $40.0;
2007: actual: $45.9;
Met/: not met: Met;
2008: target: $40.0[A].
Performance measure: Results: Nonfinancial benefits;
2003: actual: 1,043;
2004: actual: 1,197;
2005: actual: 1,409;
2006: actual: 1,342;
2007: target: 1,100;
2007: actual: 1,354;
Met/: not met: Met;
2008: target: 1,150.
Performance measure: Results: Past recommendations implemented;
2003: actual: 82%;
2004: actual: 83%;
2005: actual: 85%;
2006: actual: 82%;
2007: target: 80%;
2007: actual: 82%;
Met/: not met: Met;
2008: target: 80%.
Performance measure: Results: New products with recommendations;
2003: actual: 55%;
2004: actual: 63%;
2005: actual: 63%;
2006: actual: 65%;
2007: target: 60%;
2007: actual: 66%;
Met/: not met: Met;
2008: target: 60%.
Performance measure: Client: Testimonies;
2003: actual: 189;
2004: actual: 217;
2005: actual: 179;
2006: actual: 240;
2007: target: 185;
2007: actual: 276;
Met/: not met: Met;
2008: target: 220.
Performance measure: Client: Timeliness[B];
2003: actual: N/A[C];
2004: actual: 89%;
2005: actual: 90%;
2006: actual: 92%;
2007: target: 95%;
2007: actual: 94%;
Met/: not met: Not met;
2008: target: 95%.
Performance measure: People: New hire rate;
2003: actual: 98%;
2004: actual: 98%;
2005: actual: 94%;
2006: actual: 94%;
2007: target: 95%;
2007: actual: 96%;
Met/: not met: Met;
2008: target: 95%.
Performance measure: People: Acceptance rate;
2003: actual: 72%;
2004: actual: 72%;
2005: actual: 71%;
2006: actual: 70%;
2007: target: 72%;
2007: actual: 72%;
Met/: not met: Met;
2008: target: 72%.
Performance measure: Retention rate: With retirements;
2003: actual: 92%;
2004: actual: 90%;
2005: actual: 90%;
2006: actual: 90%;
2007: target: 90%;
2007: actual: 90%;
Met/: not met: Met;
2008: target: 90%.
Performance measure: Retention rate: Without retirements;
2003: actual: 96%;
2004: actual: 95%;
2005: actual: 94%;
2006: actual: 94%;
2007: target: 94%;
2007: actual: 94%;
Met/: not met: Met;
2008: target: 94%.
Performance measure: Retention rate: Staff development;
2003: actual: 67%;
2004: actual: 70%;
2005: actual: 72%;
2006: actual: 76%;
2007: target: 75%;
2007: actual: 76%;
Met/: not met: Met;
2008: target: 76%.
Performance measure: Retention rate: Staff utilization[D];
2003: actual: 71%;
2004: actual: 72%;
2005: actual: 75%;
2006: actual: 75%;
2007: target: 78%;
2007: actual: 73%;
Met/: not met: Not met;
2008: target: 75%[E].
Performance measure: Retention rate: Leadership;
2003: actual: 78%;
2004: actual: 79%;
2005: actual: 80%;
2006: actual: 79%;
2007: target: 80%;
2007: actual: 79%;
Met/: not met: Not met;
2008: target: 80%.
Performance measure: Retention rate: Organizational climate;
2003: actual: 71%;
2004: actual: 74%;
2005: actual: 76%;
2006: actual: 73%;
2007: target: 76%;
2007: actual: 74%;
Met/: not met: Not met;
2008: target: 75%[F].
Performance measure: Internal operations: Help get job done;
2003: actual: 3.98;
2004: actual: 4.01;
2005: actual: 4.10;
2006: actual: 4.10;
2007: target: 4.00;
2007: actual: 4.05;
Met/: not met: Met;
2008: target: 4.00.
Performance measure: Internal operations: Quality of work life;
2003: actual: 3.86;
2004: actual: 3.96;
2005: actual: 3.98;
2006: actual: 4.00;
2007: target: 4.00;
2007: actual: 3.98;
Met/: not met: Not met;
2008: target: 4.00.
Source: GAO.
Notes: Information explaining all of the measures included in this
table appears in GAO Performance and Accountability Report, Fiscal Year
2007, GAO-08-1SP (Washington, D.C.: Nov. 15, 2007)--see the Data
Quality and Program Evaluations section in Part II.
[A] Our fiscal year 2008 target for financial benefits differs from the
target we reported for this measure in our fiscal year 2008 performance
budget in January 2007. Specifically, we decreased our financial
benefits target by $1.5 billion based on (1) our assessment of our past
recommendations that were likely to be implemented in fiscal 2008 by
federal agencies and the Congress and (2) the impact that our
constrained budget might have had on the work that leads to financial
benefits.
[B] Since fiscal year 2004, we have collected data from our client
feedback survey on the quality and timeliness of our products, and in
fiscal year 2006, we began to use the independent feedback from this
survey as a basis for determining our timeliness.
[C] N/A indicates that the data are not applicable because we did not
collect it from our client feedback survey this period.
[D] Our employee feedback survey asks staff how often the following
occurred in the last 12 months: (1)my job made good use of my skills,
(2) GAO provided me with opportunities to do challenging work, and (3)
in general, I was utilized effectively.
[E] Our fiscal year 2008 target for staff utilization differs from the
target we reported for this measure in our fiscal year 2008 performance
budget in January 2007. We lowered the staff utilization target by 3
percentage points because we determined that, based on our past
performance, the target was unrealistic, and we reset it at a level
that is still challenging but more likely to be achieved.
[F] Our fiscal year 2008 target for organizational climate differs from
the target we reported for this measure in our fiscal year 2008
performance budget in January 2007. We decreased the organizational
climate target by 1 percentage point because we determined that based
on our past performance, the target was unrealistic, and we reset it at
a level that is still challenging but more likely to be achieved.
[End of table]
Footnotes:
[1] The study comprises Analysts; Auditors; and Specialists, such as
Economists and Information Technology Specialists, who perform GAO's
audit and investigatory work.
[2] GAO, U.S. Government Accountability Office: Status of GAO's Human
Capital Transformation Efforts, Statement of David M. Walker,
Comptroller General of the United States, GAO-07-872T (Washington,
D.C.: May 22, 2007).
[3] This would be in accordance with U.S. Code, Title 5, Part III,
Subpart D, Chapter 53, Subchapter 1.
[4] GAO-07-872T; and GAO, Human Capital: Building Diversity in GAO's
Senior Executive Service, Statement of Ronald A. Stroman, Managing
Director, Office of Opportunity and Inclusiveness, GAO-08-275T
(Washington, D.C.: Nov. 13, 2007).
[5] GAO, Performance and Accountability Report, Fiscal Year 2007, GAO-
08-1SP (Washington, D.C.: Nov. 15, 2007).
GAO's Mission:
The Government Accountability Office, the audit, evaluation and
investigative arm of Congress, exists to support Congress in meeting
its constitutional responsibilities and to help improve the performance
and accountability of the federal government for the American people.
GAO examines the use of public funds; evaluates federal programs and
policies; and provides analyses, recommendations, and other assistance
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