GAO says personnel reform must be governmentwide
Though the watchdog agency praised recent human capital reform efforts, it contends that some agencies are too far ahead of the pack.
The Government Accountability Office said Monday that significant success with human capital reform has been achieved, but that federal personnel officials must ensure that progress is applied consistently across all agencies.
"We are fast approaching the point where 'standard governmentwide' human capital policies are neither standard nor governmentwide," GAO said in a recent report (GAO-040976T). "We believe that human capital reform should avoid further fragmentation within the civil service, ensure reasonable consistency within the overall civilian workforce, and help maintain a reasonably level playing field among federal agencies in competing for top talent."
According to GAO, some agencies are far ahead of the pack, such as the Homeland Security and Defense departments. When Congress created DHS, lawmakers granted broad powers to shape the personnel system with a focus on performance pay, workforce flexibility and a streamlined appeals process. Last year, lawmakers also allowed the Pentagon to reshape its civilian workforce along many of the same guidelines.
GAO officials did not suggest slowing the pace of reform at Defense or DHS, but rather speeding reform elsewhere.
"It would be both prudent and preferable to employ a governmentwide approach," the report said. "Employing this approach is not intended to delay any individual agency's efforts, but rather to accelerate needed human capital reform throughout the federal government in a manner that ensures reasonable consistency within the overall civilian workforce."
In February, a panel of civil service experts made similar recommendations, calling on Congress to step in and control the reform process or be faced with a patchwork of personnel and payroll systems.
"Have we opened the door to each agency doing its own thing?" asked panel member Leon Panetta, who served as Office of Management and Budget chief in the Clinton administration. "What's going to happen--mark my words--everybody is going to go cut their own deal" with Congress.