The Office of Personnel Management has identified innovative ways to ensure federal employee performance but hasn’t done a great job of communicating those practices to agencies, according to a Nov. 20 Government Accountability Office report.
“OPM provides guidance and opportunities for agencies to share promising practices on performance management; however, some of this information is not easily accessible on its performance management website,” the report said.
”In addition, OPM does not leverage its leadership position to formally identify and share emerging performance management research and innovation with agencies. As a result, agencies, and therefore their employees, may not benefit from the best information available.”
The report cited consistently negative responses to questions about performance management on the Federal Employee Viewpoint Survey as reason for needed improvement across the federal government.
“Of the four agencies with among the highest average scores for the performance management phases (Bureau of Labor Statistics, Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, Drug Enforcement Administration, and Office of the Comptroller of the Currency), GAO identified practices that may contribute to improved performance management including strong organizational culture and dedication to mission; use of FEVS and other survey data; and a focus on training,” the report said.
And while OPM hosts forums and meetings to facilitate sharing those practices that improve employee performance management, the report found that there was no formal process in place for agencies to independently share experiences and lessons learned.
Improving performance management across the government has been a major priority of the Trump administration, though efforts to make poor performers easier to fire and to change the employee benefits system have met with stringent opposition.
GAO recommended that OPM develop processes for regularly updating its performance management website with all available best practices, develop a method for agencies to share their own best practices with each other and create a means of identifying and sharing the most emerging research in performance management with agencies.
OPM agreed with the report’s findings and recommendations.
Jessie Bur covers federal IT and management.
