To cope with the effects of downsizing, agencies should refocus their missions, reengineer work processes and build and maintain employee skills, according to a recent GAO study on the effects of downsizing.
Managers, the report (GGD-98-46) argued, must also keep the lines of communication open and listen to employee input.
GAO studied offices in five departments that between 1993 and 1996 had been downsized by 12 percent or more. Those agencies included: the Department of Housing and Urban Development's Office of Housing, the Interior Department's Bureau of Reclamation, the General Services Administration's Public Buildings Service, NASA's Kennedy Space Center and the Office of Personnel Management's Investigations Service.
The Investigations Service was downsized by 61 percent, the Public Buildings Service by 21 percent, the Bureau of Reclamation by 20 percent, and HUD's Office of Housing and the space center by 16 percent each.
Officials at the five offices were "generally able to maintain performance and fulfill the requirements of their missions" despite the relatively large personnel cuts they endured, the report said.
Officials noted, however, that without taking special precautions, their performance levels would not have been maintained.
Under the guidance of their parent agencies, all five offices refocused their missions to deal with the effects of job cuts.
NASA, for example, shifted its focus from operations, which it believed could be conducted more efficiently by private vendors, to its primary mission, research and development.
OPM created U.S. Investigations Services Inc., to do the background investigations work the agency's Investigation Service previously provided to other agencies.
The five offices also reengineered their work processes. Changes included everything from consolidating functions into fewer locations to modernizing data processing systems, the report said.
HUD's Office of Housing consolidated single family housing activities from 17 field offices into one home ownership center, which officials said helped reduce processing time.
The offices also took steps to ensure they had the skilled workforces needed to maintain performance in a downsized environment. Some offices retrained employees for additional responsibilities, while others consolidated expertise in fewer locations.
Officials at the offices believed the actions taken to maintain performance were successful, but some of their customers disagreed.
GAO interviewed seven randomly selected Bureau of Reclamation customers and only one was satisfied with the agency's service. Of five Office of Housing customers interviewed, three were not satisfied. However, none of the customers interviewed blamed their disatisfaction on downsizing.
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