Human Capital Legislative Proposals to NASA's Fiscal Year 2003 Authorization Bill
Gao ID: GAO-03-264R November 15, 2002GAO reviewed several issues relating to the National Aeronautics and Space Administration's (NASA) workforce and management challenges. These issues are associated with NASA's proposed legislative provisions for additional flexibilities and authorities to help it address its human capital challenge. GAO found that agencies must ensure that their strategic human capital plans are results-oriented and data-driven. This includes developing appropriate information on the number and location of employees and their key competences and skills, as well as data on the profile of the workforce, and performance goals and measures for human capital approaches. NASA's legislative proposal for streamlined demonstration and alternative personnel system authority would provide a mechanism for converting a successful demonstration project, upon approval by the Office of Personnel Management (OPM), to a permanent alternative personnel system, without the need for special legislation and without any limitation on the number of employees that would be covered by the project as is under current authority. Human capital systems should have appropriate transparency and adequate safeguards in order to help ensure that it is efficient, effective, credible, and equitable.
GAO-03-264R, Human Capital Legislative Proposals to NASA's Fiscal Year 2003 Authorization Bill
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November 15, 2002:
The Honorable Dana Rohrabacher:
Chairman:
The Honorable Bart Gordon:
Ranking Minority Member:
Subcommittee on Space and Aeronautics:
Committee on Science:
House of Representatives:
Subject: Human Capital Legislative Proposals to NASA‘s Fiscal Year 2003
Authorization Bill:
You asked us to provide additional comments on several issues relating
to the July 18, 2002, hearing held by your Subcommittee on the National
Aeronautics and Space Administration‘s workforce and management
challenges. Basically, these issues are associated with NASA‘s proposed
legislative provisions for additional flexibilities and authorities to
help it address its human capital challenge. I am pleased to submit the
following comments for your consideration.
1. You and the NASA Administrator recognized that it would require five
to seven years for NASA to transform its workforce and meet the goals
of its Strategic Human Capital Implementation Plan. Does NASA‘s
Strategic Human Capital Implementation Plan include an appropriate set
of goals and a sound strategy for addressing NASA‘s human capital
challenges? Do you have any recommendations that would strengthen this
plan?
Because our work has not entailed a detailed analysis of NASA‘s
Strategic Human Capital Implementation Plan, we are not in a position
to report on the appropriateness and soundness of the goals and
strategies at this time.[Footnote 1] However, in response to your
question, we observe that NASA‘s Strategic Human Capital Implementation
Plan contains a number of goals and strategies, as well as specific
improvement initiatives that the agency is implementing or is committed
to implementing. The goals, strategies, and improvement initiatives are
organized under five human capital pillars. Furthermore, the plan
contains milestones for achieving the improvement initiatives and
metrics for assessing their progress.
Until recently, NASA‘s Strategic Human Capital Plan and companion
Strategic Human Capital Implementation Plan were in draft form and were
being reviewed by the Office of Management and Budget (OMB) and the
Office of Personnel Management (OPM). OMB and OPM approved those plans
subsequent to the Subcommittee‘s hearing--in August 2002. According to
NASA, it developed its plans based on OMB‘s scorecard of human capital
standards, OPM‘s scorecard of supporting human capital dimensions, and
our human capital model.[Footnote 2] The pillars and goals are
described below.
Table 1: NASA‘s Strategic Human Capital Plan Pillars and Goals:
Pillar: Strategic Alignment; ; NASA aligns human capital to support the
vision
and accomplish the agency‘s mission and goals.; Goal: (1) The agency is
well
structured organizationally and matches its workforce and workload to
support its mission in a safe, effective, and efficient way.; (2)
Employees understand how what they do and how they do them in support
of overall agency goals.; (3) Human resources activities clearly,
effectively, and efficiently support and enable the agency‘s mission..
Pillar: Strategic Competencies; ; NASA recruits, acquires, and retains
a
diverse workforce with world-class capabilities in strategic
competencies needed for all components of its mission.; Goal: (4) The
agency
knows the competencies it needs and the workforce is concentrated in
those competencies.; (5) NASA recruits, acquires, and retains world-
class employees in the essential competencies..
Pillar: Learning; ; NASA promotes a knowledge-sharing culture and a
climate of
openness, continuous learning, and improvement.; Goal: (6) NASA has a
climate
of open sharing of relevant knowledge to facilitate best practices,
promote personal and professional growth, and avoid failures.; (7) NASA
actively collects, shares, and utilizes best practices from its
successes and lessons learned from its failures..
Pillar: Performance Culture; ; NASA creates a culture that focuses on
results,
motivates employees to perform, and ensures fairness in the workplace.;
(8) NASA fosters an inclusive climate where employees are valued and
treated fairly and with respect, and they feel empowered to make
meaningful, relevant, and fulfilling contributions.; Goal: (9) Equal
opportunity and diversity are utilized and valued for their
contribution to the agency‘s mission.; (10) The NASA rewards and
recognition system acknowledges high-level performance and encourages
the behaviors the agency desires in individuals and groups..
Pillar: Leadership; ; NASA ensures it has leaders who are adaptable;
who
inspire, motivate, and guide others toward goals; who mentor and
challenge the workforce; and who demonstrate high standards of honesty,
integrity, trust, openness, and respect.; Goal: (11) NASA recruits,
selects,
hires, and retains a diverse, high performing cadre of leaders who are
nurtured through training and development opportunities.; (12) Leaders
are held accountable for overall performance, at the individual and
organizational levels, in maintaining high standards of honesty,
integrity, safety and equal opportunity principles..
[End of table]
Source: NASA.
One of the things that I pointed out at the Subcommittee‘s July 2002
hearing that agencies must do to successfully address their human
capital challenges is to ensure that their strategic human capital
plans are results-oriented and data-driven. This includes developing
appropriate information on the number and location of employees and
their key competencies and skills, as well as data on the profile of
the workforce, and performance goals and measures for human capital
approaches. Further, this data must be used effectively to develop
strategies that continually ensure that agencies have the right mix of
employees to meet their future needs. A key to success in this area
will also be NASA‘s ability to implement its new financial management
system, because it will encompass the integrated workforce planning and
analysis system that NASA includes as an improvement initiative in its
Strategic Human Capital Plan and plans to implement in 2005. The
workforce planning and analysis system is expected to track the
distribution of NASA‘s workforce across programs, capture critical
competencies and skills, determine management and leadership depth, and
facilitate gap analyses. Currently, NASA has limited capability for
personnel tracking and planning, particularly on an agencywide or
programwide basis. Based on the numerous initiatives NASA will need to
undertake, transforming the agency will likely require a multi-year
implementation period.
2. How effectively is NASA using existing authorities to meet its
human:
capital goals?
3. Do you have any recommendations for how NASA can more fully utilize
the existing authorities?
4. If fully utilized, are the existing authorities sufficient to meet
NASA‘s goals? If not, what goals cannot be met without new or expanded
authorities?
5. Which proposed new or expanded authorities, if any, are required if
NASA is to meet its human capital goals?
Our work associated with NASA‘s human capital challenge has focused
primarily on following up on the agency‘s actions to respond to its
shuttle program workforce challenges. At this time, without having
performed a more detailed analysis of NASA‘s human capital plans, we
are not in a position to assess NASA‘s use of existing authorities, the
sufficiency of those authorities, and their relationship to its agency-
wide human capital goals.
However, we will soon issue a report on human capital flexibilities
that could be of significant use to the Subcommittee as it considers
NASA‘s request for additional authorities and flexibilities to recruit,
train, and retain critical skills. The report emphasizes that federal
agencies should first identify and use the flexibilities available
under existing laws and regulations. If additional flexibilities are
desired, agencies should develop sound business cases to justify the
need for the additional authorities. In this regard, the report
discusses agency and union officials‘ views on the most effective
flexibilities for managing their workforces and additional
flexibilities that would be most helpful in managing their workforces.
It also identifies key practices that agencies should implement to use
human capital flexibilities effectively.
According to interviews we held with agency officials at numerous
federal organizations and union representatives of several national
organizations, work-life programs, such as alternative and flexible
work schedules, transit subsidies, child care assistance, and employee
assistance programs, are among the most effective human capital
flexibilities available in federal agencies for managing the workforce
to achieve agency missions and accomplish agency goals. These
flexibilities--all of which are currently available to NASA--are
effective because they serve as important recruitment and retention
tools as employees weigh the balance between their work life and
leisure time. In addition, agency and union officials frequently cited
monetary recruitment and retention incentives, including recruitment
and relocation bonuses for hard-to-fill positions; special hiring
authorities, such as limited term appointments and student employment
and outstanding scholar programs; and incentive awards to employees for
superior job performance and specific accomplishments, including cash
and time-off awards.
Categories of additional flexibilities suggested by the officials that
would be the most helpful in managing the workforce, if authorized,
include (1) more flexible classification and pay approaches, (2)
greater flexibility to streamline and improve the federal hiring
process, (3) increased flexibility in addressing employees‘ poor job
performance, (4) additional workforce restructuring options, and (5)
expanded flexibility in acquiring and retaining temporary employees.
These suggestions would provide a starting point for executive branch
decision makers and Congress to consider as they seek to reform federal
human capital policies and practices. Key aspects of these additional
authorities are included in various legislative initiatives under
consideration by Congress. In other cases, however, additional analyses
may be needed to ensure that any new authorities are granted and
implemented consistent with a focus on program results, merit, and
other important federal employment goals.
Our forthcoming report also emphasizes the importance of effectively
implementing human capital flexibilities, noting that by more
effectively using flexibilities, agencies would be in a better position
to manage their workforces, ensure accountability, and transform their
cultures to address current and emerging demands. To ensure the most
effective use of human capital flexibilities, it is important that
agencies:
* plan strategically and make targeted investments;
* ensure stakeholder input in developing policies and procedures;
* educate managers and employees on the availability and use of
flexibilities;
* streamline and improve administrative processes;
* build transparency and accountability into the system; and:
* change the organizational culture.
With regard to NASA, we plan to periodically monitor the agency‘s human
capital planning and implementation efforts and report to Congress as
appropriate. We will be pleased to meet with the Subcommittee in this
regard.
6. What meaningful objectives and measurable goals would you recommend
to track progress over the next five years as NASA implements its human
capital plans?
It might be better to address this question in terms of the supporting
metrics in the human capital plans that NASA has established for
assessing its human capital goals. NASA‘s human capital plans refer to
a hierarchy of metrics to assess the agency‘s progress toward achieving
its goals. The plans state that the highest level of metrics are those
’critical few“ that NASA‘s senior management and stakeholders care most
about and have identified as most appropriate for incorporation into
the agency‘s Government Performance and Results Act-related annual
performance and reporting process. Two specific metrics, which the
plans state cover a number of goals, have been identified as critical
to helping NASA assess its progress toward achieving its human capital
aims and assisting it in analyzing root causes of problems and issues.
Recognizing that we have not performed a detailed analysis of NASA‘s
human capital plans, these metrics seem meaningful and reasonable to
track over the next 5 to 7 years. However, this does not suggest that
NASA‘s commitment to achieving the remaining human capital goals and
measures in its human capital plans should be lessened or that the
remaining
goals and measures should not be tracked. The two critical metrics are:
(1) NASA‘s progress in closing gaps in critical competencies. Using
this metric, NASA will be able to determine, on an agencywide basis,
whether the gap between the strategic competencies it has and those it
needs is no greater than 10 percent by the end of fiscal year 2004 and
that, within the same period, no gaps exist in those competencies
identified as ’mission critical.“ Thereafter, NASA will reduce the
strategic competencies gap to no more than 5 percent within 2 years and
maintain at that level, except there will be essentially no gaps in
competencies identified as mission critical.
(2) Alignment of NASA‘s human capital strategy with its mission, goals,
and organizational objectives. This metric will allow NASA to determine
whether it is achieving an overall combined score that is in the top 10
percent of all scores governmentwide on the OPM-administered
governmentwide survey. This metric will assess NASA‘s performance
relative to whether (a) people have the resources they need to perform
their jobs, (b) the performance management system is effective in
identifying poor performance and taking steps to improve performance,
(c) awards and recognition programs incentivize and reward the
behaviors the agency wants to foster, (d) the workforce has adequate
opportunities for learning and improvement, and (e) NASA fosters an
environment of inclusiveness.
According to NASA‘s Strategic Human Capital Implementation Plan, the
results of the two critical metrics will serve as guideposts for
evaluating the overall health of NASA‘s human capital management
effort. NASA believes that they cover directly or indirectly agency
progress in addressing all of the areas of concern expressed by
internal and external parties regarding the agency‘s workforce,
including:
* identifying and managing competencies needed to carry out the mission
and eliminating gaps in mission critical competencies;
* succession planning;
* strategically using existing personnel tools, flexibilities, and
technologies;
* differentiating between high and low performers through appropriate
incentives and awards and merit-based human resources management; and:
* appropriately considering skill mix, technology, electronic
government, and competitive sourcing.
7. Could NASA meet its goals solely through the use of the proposed
alternative personnel system demonstration authority? Are there risks
associated with solely using the demonstration authority? Would this
present any special challenges for congressional oversight?
NASA‘s legislative proposal for streamlined demonstration and
alternative personnel system authority would provide a mechanism for
converting a successful demonstration project,[Footnote 3] upon
approval by OPM, to a permanent alternative personnel system, without
the need for special legislation and without any limitation on the
number of employees that would be covered by the project as is under
current authority. It is our understanding that the NASA Administrator
believes that it would be difficult for the agency to meet its goals
solely through the use of this proposal. He testified at the July 2002
hearing that the legislative provisions when taken individually would
only help NASA deal with its human capital strategic threats to a
limited degree. The Administrator stated that when taken together as an
integrated package, the provisions would form a strong nucleus in
support of NASA‘s Strategic Human Capital Plan and the President‘s
Management Agenda and would enable NASA to avert a serious human
capital crisis.
Without having fully analyzed this proposal in relation to NASA‘s
unique human capital needs, it is difficult at this time to state
whether NASA could meet its goals solely through the use of the
proposed alternative personnel system demonstration authority. Also, to
identify the risks associated with solely using the demonstration
authority would require an assessment of the pros and cons of using
such an option, particularly if it means bypassing Congress in creating
permanent alternative personnel systems and allowing OPM approval
without the need for special legislation as proposed by NASA. However,
a number of federal agencies have taken advantage of options provided
by Congress to test or implement innovative human capital policies,
programs, and practices that operate outside the framework of title 5,
United States Code, and regulations under this title, as evidenced by a
recent study by The Partnership for Public Service.[Footnote 4] The
study notes that in most cases these innovations have proven successful
in improving the agencies‘ ability to attract, motivate, or retain a
highly qualified workforce while still adhering to the basic principles
of a merit-based system. Many of the successful practices were
developed through the use of OPM demonstration projects. Pay banding is
an approach that has been successfully used in a number of federal
organizations, including GAO. It provides the flexibility to offer
greater competitive starting salaries and rewards to high-performing
employees with financial incentives. As I testified before the National
Commission on the Public Service in July 2002, Congress may wish to
explore the benefits of providing OPM additional flexibility that would
enable it to grant governmentwide authority for all agencies to use
broadbanding for certain critical occupations and/or allowing agencies
to apply to OPM for broadbanding authority for their specific critical
occupations. Agencies should be required to demonstrate to OPM‘s
satisfaction that they have modern, effective, and validated
performance management systems before they are allowed to use
broadbanding. However, the prerogative of congressional oversight must
be maintained.
8. Could adopting NASA-specific provisions as opposed to taking a
government-wide approach lead to a situation wherein scientific and
engineering personnel leave other agencies to take advantage of
incentives and flexibilities granted to NASA? If so, what would need
to be done to prevent such a situation from developing?
When individual agencies are provided flexibilities to address their
own strategic human capital needs, it can create a change in the
competitive balance for selected personnel. The significance of any
related impact would depend on the nature of the flexibilities granted
to the agency. For example, expedited hiring authority or early-out and
buy-out authority would not have the same impact as higher compensation
level authority. Importantly, most federal workers make their
employment decisions based on the nature of the job, the mission of the
agency, the difference they can make, and the environment within an
agency.
Any potential competitive imbalance could be mitigated by limiting the
number, amounts and/or term of certain individual flexibilities.
Alternatively, governmentwide flexibility could be provided in certain
areas (e.g., limited-term appointment authority for early-out and buy-
out authority and additional compensation authority for selected highly
skilled and competitive occupations and positions). This would serve to
help level the playing field for attracting and retaining top talent
among federal agencies.
9. NASA workforce restructuring is being pursued as part of a ’results-
oriented“ management strategy. However, what constitutes a desired
result typically is a function of the policies being pursued by
whatever Administration is in power. The civil service system was
established to help insulate the federal workforce from politics. How
do we ensure that the proposed NASA legislative provisions don‘t weaken
civil service protections and lead to increased politicization of the
workforce?
The federal government‘s existing human capital policies and procedures
are based largely on a workforce and labor market that existed in the
1950s. Much has changed in the past 50 plus years and the federal
government‘s human capital strategies must be modernized if it is to
attract, retain, and motivate top talent in the 21st century. This
should include basing federal employment decisions more on the skills,
knowledge, and performance of individuals rather than the passage of
time and the rate of inflation. However, certain policies should be
retained in order to prevent the politicization of the career civil
service and to promote certain national goals and policies (e.g.,
veteran‘s preference, inclusiveness). Importantly, any human capital
system should have appropriate transparency and adequate safeguards
(e.g., appeal rights for employees) in order to help ensure that it is
efficient, effective, credible, and equitable.
We conducted our work in accordance with generally accepted government
auditing standards.
We are sending copies of this report to other interested congressional
committees. In addition, the report will be available at no charge on
the GAO Web site at http://www.gao.gov. If you have any questions about
this report or need additional information, please contact Allen Li,
Director, Acquisition and Sourcing Management, at (202) 512-4841. Key
contributors to this report were Cristina Chaplain, Jerry Herley,
Shirley Johnson, and Edward Stephenson.
David M. Walker:
Comptroller General of the United States:
Signed by David M. Walker:
FOOTNOTES
[1] The focus of our work to date has been following up on NASA‘s
actions to respond to its shuttle program workforce challenges.
[2] U.S. General Accounting Office, A Model of Strategic Human Capital
Management, GAO-02-373SP (Washington, D.C.: Mar. 15, 2002).
[3] A demonstration project is a project conducted by OPM, or under its
supervision, to determine whether a specified change in personnel
management policies or procedures would result in improved federal
personnel management (5 U.S.C. 4701(a) (4). Demonstration projects are
conducted directly by OPM or jointly by OPM and the agency or
organization. Under title 5, OPM is permitted to waive certain
provisions and regulations under this title to enable agencies or
organizations to conduct demonstration projects by experimenting with
new and innovative systems (5 U.S.C. 4703 (a).
[4] The Partnership for Public Service, Homeland Security: Winning the
War For Talent To Win The War On Terror (July 31, 2002).
