Finally, a Name!

The six initiatives were announced back in July with little fanfare, but today’s memo provides high level visibility and press that “review our approach to performance management, detail our strategies and key initiatives, and describe the early progress we have achieved.” 

In a follow up memo, Zients says that progress on performance will be through a web dashboard called performance.gov which will be used to “inform regular, data-driven reviews.”  But it is currently only open to government employees.  It will be open to the public, as well, starting later this year.  In the meanwhile, here’s a snapshot of the six initiatives:

1. Driving agency top priorities.  Agency leaders have cumulatively identified 128 high priority performance goals.  Each goal has a designated “goal leader” and are to be completed in 12 to 24 months.  Progress will be tracked quarterly.  In addition, OMB is focusing efforts on improving key citizen programs.  The focus is on agencies with the most interaction with the public, where they will set clear service standards and defined metrics to be tracked via a “customer service dashboard.”  In addition, OMB is investing $100 million to conduct new program evaluations to find which programs work and which don’t.
2. Cutting waste.  OMB conducted “line-by-line” reviews to identify programs that are out-of-date, don’t work, or are duplicative.  In FY 2010 and FY 2011, OMB says it identified $20 billion in such programs.  OMB also set a goal of reducing improper payments by $50 billion by 2012, and a goal of $3 billion in cost savings by removing excess and surplus property.
3. Reforming contracting.  The President is following through on his campaign commitment to save $40 billion in contracting annually and reducing the use of high-risk contracts.  Each agency has a goal of reducing dollars obligated via high-risk contracts “by implementing sound contracting procedures.”  OM B is also working with agencies to “pool the Federal government’s buying power” for common-use items such as copy paper in order to receive discounts.  OMB also is budgeting $158 million for civilian agencies to build the capacity of their acquisition workforce to better manage contracts.
4. Closing the IT gap.  OMB is leading efforts to “fundamentally change the way the Federal Government managers IT projects” by monitoring the performance of existing projects via the IT Dashboard as well as “TechStat Sessions” to review plans for troubled projects.  Dozens of projects have been halted or redirected.  The lessons from these sessions will be pulled together to serve as guidelines for other agencies.  In addition, agencies are beginning to adopt more efficient technologies, such as cloud computing and consolidating data centers.  Also, OMB places a continued emphasis on enhancing federal cybersecurity.
5. Promoting accountability and innovation through open government.  The Obama administration places emphasis on strengthening accountability through transparency.  In addition to data.gov, the administration has created PaymentAccuracy.gov as well as Recovery.gov, and is expanding USASpending.gov.  It is promoting innovation through greater participation from employees, via its SAVE Award program.  It is casting a wide net for ideas via the use of challenges and prizes, such as its challenge.gov initiative.
6. Attracting and motivating top talent.  The Office of Personnel Management (OPM) is leading the President’s improved hiring initiative as well as undertaking efforts to engage and retain top talent.  In addition to using a governmentwide Employee Viewpoint Survey, it created the National Council on Federal Labor-Management Relations.  Ending with a nod toward the senior executives, the memo notes a recently-launched effort to identify and implement best practices in SES recruitment, appraisal, and development.