Forecasting Government’s Biggest Risks for 2016

Every year, inspectors general across the federal government summarize the top management challenges their agencies face in the coming years. In an analysis of the most recent reports, Grant Thornton tallied the challenges the federal government will face as a whole in 2016.

The unanimity of inspectors general believe cybersecurity poses a significant risk to government. Other top-level concerns include financial management, IT management, improper payments and acquisition management.

This isn’t surprising, says Carlos Otal, Managing Partner at Grant Thornton’s Global Public Sector. What is noteworthy, he says, is the Obama administration’s transparency about these looming challenges, especially as it enters the eleventh hour. And this year’s election and subsequent transition present their own unique complications.

Once elected, the new administration must prepare to carry on the progress its predecessor made in the management space, says Office of Management and Budget (OMB) Controller David Mader. By the same token, outgoing leaders should make that transition as easy on their successors as possible.

But the risks outlined in the survey are in line with plans and protocols already set in motion by OMB and the Government Accountability Office (GAO). Good government — i.e. efficient government — transcends politics, Otal says.

“Whether they would acknowledge it or not, everybody’s working toward the same things,” he says. “And I don’t think any of it is something an agency would stop doing because of an administration change.”

Although feds generally share the same goals, the path to implementation can be contentious within agencies, especially when progress affects long-held, often historically successful processes.

“I think it’s human nature that people become concerned,” Mader says. New requirements, technology, and business processes meant to move government forward meet resistance because feds are not eager to gamble away familiar, reliable practices. But Mader says the secret is showing people that proposed changes don’t threaten productivity — they boost it. “Looking at [change] as a positive, I think, will allow people to embrace it more readily,” he says.

Otal says the path to positivity is twofold: first, get them thinking about good government broadly, not just within their own agency; second, involve them in the solution. By demonstrating the successes of recent structural or operational changes, agency leaders can turn skeptics into advocates.

Effective change management also depends on the government’s ability to accommodate the younger workforce. 

“Flexibility and adaptability are key,” Otal says — especially for young people entering the job market. Millennial workers are interested in a diversity of experiences, and providing these opportunities is essential to retention, he says. While some job tracks are more rigid and specialized than others, such as aerospace engineering, others require broader skill sets, and the federal government should seek to allow for increased mobility across the enterprise wherever it can to attract young workers.

The report sheds light on challenges that will continue to exist this year and in the next administration, but those charged with facing them should not ignore the value of small improvements.

“Every dollar we save in operations is another dollar that can go to mission function to actually support citizens,” Mader says.

Mader and Otal explain in depth how to confront key management challenges and changes in this recent viewcast with Government Executive.

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