JUNE 2015

BRIDGING MISSION AND MANAGEMENT a about this report series

This report is intended to be the first in a series on the state of federal management from the perspective of those senior officials most accountable for results: the government’s chief operating officers and other equivalent top management officials. The goal of this series is to document the state of federal management from the perspectives of the leaders ultimately in charge— the agency COOs. The Partnership and Booz Allen’s plan is to periodically interview the COOs of the federal government’s 24 executive departments and agencies.

In this inaugural report, we explore in depth the evolving role of COOs, in addition to what they see as government’s top management priorities and challenges. Throughout the series, we intend to interview these leaders about their priorities and challenges, their successes and their lessons learned, and the reforms they are leading—or need—to strengthen government management and performance.

The Partnership for Public Service is a nonprofit, nonpartisan organization that believes good government starts with good people. We help government serve the needs of all Americans by strengthening the civil service and the systems that support it. We pursue this goal by: • Providing assistance to federal agencies to improve their management and operations, and to strengthen their leadership capacity • Conducting outreach to college campuses and job seekers to promote public service • Identifying and celebrating government’s successes so they can be replicated across government • Advocating for needed legislative and regulatory reforms to strengthen the civil service • Generating research on, and effective responses to, the workforce challenges facing our federal government • Enhancing public understanding of the valuable work civil servants perform

Booz Allen Hamilton is a leading provider of management consulting, technology, and engineering services to the US government in defense, intelligence, and civil markets, and to major corporations and not-for-profit organizations. Booz Allen is headquartered in McLean, Virginia, employs more than 22,000 people, and had revenue of $5.48 billion for the 12 months ended March 31, 2014. In 2014, Booz Allen celebrated its 100th anniversary year. To learn more, visit www.boozallen.com. (NYSE: BAH).

b PARTNERSHIP FOR PUBLIC SERVICE | BOOZ ALLEN HAMILTON EXECUTIVE SUMMARY

Federal agencies cannot successfully implement and ex- to broader policy and program goals. Those who helped ecute government policy and program priorities—from shape the COO role in government, as well as many who launching a satellite to delivering a tax refund—without have held the position, argue that this is the real pur- strong internal management and organizational capac- pose of the COO: to ensure that policies, programs and ity. Chief operating officers are responsible for bringing mission-support functions are all aligned to execute the together all elements of their agencies to accomplish key agency’s mission. Based on our interviews that “execu- priorities. That is no easy task. tion” aspect of the COO’s role is still evolving, for reasons For this to happen, agencies need a COO with the abil- that we will explore in the pages that follow. ity, authority and insight to integrate the efforts of policy The goal of our study was to understand the cur- and program leaders—the mission side of an agency— rent state of federal management from the perspectives with those of staff functions that support that mission. of the leaders who are ultimately in charge of shaping it. We believe this integration is the essential responsibility To do so, we had to first understand the nature of their of the government COO, a position most often assigned roles and responsibilities. To achieve these two goals, the to a department’s deputy secretary or agency equivalent. Partnership for Public Service and Booz Allen Hamilton This executive needs to be able to operate above the de- conducted in-depth interviews with 23 COOs or other partment’s or agency’s various policy, operating and sup- senior leaders with comparable responsibilities in major port divisions, and ensure that these divisions are man- federal agencies and departments. We also interviewed aged in a way that leads to high performance. senior OMB officials—those with government-wide man- COOs can drive an administration’s policy and pro- agement responsibilities—and convened a roundtable of gram goals. During our research interviews, we found former COOs and other top government officials to get many who serve this role. Many COOs also focus on the their views on our findings and recommendations. operational side of an agency, overseeing day-to-day pro- Interviews revealed that the COO role lacks clarity gram delivery and driving mission-support functions and consistency across government. Because the position such as information technology, human resources, fi- is relatively new and not well defined in statute, there is nancial management and acquisition. But COOs are also little in the form of government-wide guidance about the uniquely positioned to ensure that the agency’s mission- roles and responsibilities of COOs. As a result, the posi- support functions are integrated with and contributing tion has not been strongly institutionalized. The scope

BRIDGING MISSION AND MANAGEMENT 1 and reach of a COO’s responsibilities varies greatly across departments and agencies, and even within individual agencies over time. Additionally, we learned that there are both advantages and disadvan- tages to having political appointees serve as COOs. Many executives cited the clout and connections that political appointees enjoy as being critical to op- erating effectively as COO. However, appointees often have short tenures, so they inevitably face steep learning curves in absorbing everything they need to know to drive change in their agencies. When it comes to their management challenges and priorities, our con- versations with COOs revealed that they are trying diligently to improve the performance of their respective agencies, as well as government as a whole, even though their roles varied significantly from one agency to the next. They all recognize that their challenges are complex, deeply entrenched and wide- spread, and successfully addressing them is a Herculean task, even for gov- ernment’s top executives. COOs reported that they are making progress, but acknowledge that they still have a long road ahead to improve management and drive performance, with a number of major challenges:

• Challenge 1: Broken human capital systems cause cascading problems in almost every agency. • Challenge 2: Duplicative and uncoordinated management systems across department and agency subcomponents hinder the mission and lead to waste. • Challenge 3: Mission-support functions are often slow to innovate and adapt to changing technologies and mission priorities. • Challenge 4: Government-wide management initiatives have great poten- tial but currently lack practical impact.

COOs can serve as the crucial bridge between mission and management by ensuring that mission-support functions are integrated and aligned with mis- sion-critical policy and program objectives. However, for the COO to be suc- cessful, the role needs to be more clearly defined and institutionalized. COOs should have the resources, authority, top-level support and flexibility neces- sary to direct policy, program and mission-support priorities to optimize per- formance. They should also be held accountable for results. The following are select recommendations that government leaders can implement to make this happen.

The president should: • Demonstrate commitment to high performance and results by nominat- ing individuals to fill COO roles who have substantial management expe- rience and skills. • Establish a clear management agenda early in the administration that builds off successful reforms of previous administrations, sets new man- agement and performance goals where appropriate, and holds COOs ac- countable for progress through performance contracts.

Congress should: • Enact civil service reform to enable departments and agencies to realize their full policy and program performance potential.

2 PARTNERSHIP FOR PUBLIC SERVICE | BOOZ ALLEN HAMILTON • Codify the President’s Management Council, which allows COOs to coordi- nate across agencies; institutionalize its scope of responsibility; and give it the authority, staff and resources necessary to drive government-wide manage- ment improvements. • Prioritize management experience and skills when confirming COOs and act quickly to minimize vacancies in this vital role.

The Office of Management andB udget should: • Issue guidance on the duties and responsibilities of COOs to ensure greater clarity and consistency in the role across government. • Strengthen the PMC to better support COOs and drive management reforms by providing a collaborative forum for tackling government-wide challenges. • Provide COOs with clear direction and support for strengthening government management and performance, and hold them accountable. • Establish general qualifications requirements for political appointees to be nominated for COO positions to ensure that these officials have the experi- ence and expertise needed to do the job, and direct OPM to do the same for career civil servants selected for COO positions.

COOs and other agency leaders should: • Eliminate department- or agency-level rules and procedures that perpetuate inefficiencies in mission-support functions. • Develop internal policies outlining the COO’s duties and responsibilities which clearly define the COO’s role in ensuring that mission-support func- tions enable the execution of program and policy goals. • Assign career leaders to senior management positions that support the COO.

BRIDGING MISSION AND MANAGEMENT 3 INTRODUCTION

Government leaders manage extremely large and com- HHS distributes more than $330 billion a year in grants plex organizations with critical missions that range from and direct payments to organizations and individuals safeguarding our borders to improving our schools to across the country.8 Even a smaller agency like the De- protecting us from natural disasters, disease and threats partment of Education distributes more than $40 billion to our national security. annually in grants and direct payments.9 In comparison, For example, to keep our nation secure the Depart- the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation, one of the largest ment of Defense1 and Department of Homeland Security2 foundations in the world, distributes approximately $3 employ almost one million civilian employees, more than billion a year in grants.10 many of our largest multinational companies like Coca- The federal government’s chief operating officers Cola (129,000 employees3) and Google (40,000 employ- are the top leaders responsible for ensuring that these ees4) combined. The DHS workforce is dispersed across complex organizations are well-managed and operating the country and around the globe. It is organized into 16 effectively to execute their programs and achieve their major subcomponents that execute vastly different mis- goals. When they are successful, their agencies can ac- sions such as ensuring border security, responding to di- complish amazing things. sasters, protecting the president, enforcing immigration For example, NASA’s landing of the Curiosity rover laws and securing the nation’s transportation systems. on Mars in 2012 was more than just a stunning scientific The budget of DHS totals more than $60 billion,5 roughly success—it was an organization-wide achievement. Bril- twice the budget of the state of New Jersey.6 liant scientists and engineers working for NASA and the At the Department of Health and Human Services, contractors that support it were front and center in the leaders manage a workforce of 62,000 employees, includ- effort, and they deserve to be, but they could not have ing doctors, epidemiologists, scientists and engineers.7 landed Curiosity 154 million miles from Earth on their own. NASA’s human resources professionals and manag- ers identified and hired the staff needed to execute this 1 U.S. Department of Defense. Retrieved from http://1.usa.gov/1FiKhDB daunting task. Acquisition and IT employees ensured 2 U.S. Department of Homeland Security. Retrieved from http://1.usa. that NASA had the technology and contractor support gov/1EBc2AT needed to complete the mission. Financial management 3 Coca-Cola 2014 Annual Report. Retrieved from http://bit.ly/1H1Nvq2 experts provided the information needed to manage the 4 Google. Retrieved from http://bit.ly/1QGve8R project and make budgeting decisions. 5 U.S. Department of Homeland Security. Budget-in-Brief Fiscal Year 2014. Retrieved from http://bit.ly/1QGve8R 6 State of New Jersey. The Fiscal Year 2014 Budget Summary. Re- 8 Retrieved from usaspending.gov trieved from http://bit.ly/1Hc8XuY 9 Ibid. 7 Data from FedScope (fedscope.opm.gov) for full-time, non-seasonal, 10 Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation 2013 Annual Report. Retrieved permanent employees. from http://bit.ly/1JFDh1v

4 PARTNERSHIP FOR PUBLIC SERVICE | BOOZ ALLEN HAMILTON Unfortunately, recent history In this report, we explore the role of COOs in integrating and aligning two critical aspects of their also provides examples of govern- agencies to drive performance and execute their missions. ment initiatives that floundered because agencies lacked the basic organizational capacity to execute their missions. For example, the troubled launch of healthcare.gov in 2013 was largely due to antiquated informa- Mission Mission support/management tion technology systems, interagency The COO’s responsibility for achieving The COO’s responsibility, often supported by stovepipes and limited capacity to ef- an agency’s overall policy and program an assistant secretary for management or fectively select and oversee contrac- objectives, whether they be landing a rover chief management officer, for management tors. A 2014 scandal involving falsi- on Mars, implementing a new tax law or functions such as human capital, IT, acquisition, fielding a new weapons system. financial management and budgeting, and fied wait times for veterans seeking organizational performance management. medical treatment was in part due to poor talent management and flawed accountability systems. To accomplish their missions, encing a sacrificial goat that was fed management from the perspective agencies need COOs who can inte- to a hungry Tyrannosaurus rex. of government’s top management grate the efforts of policy and pro- These executives have vast officials. gram leaders with those of staff and demanding responsibilities. As The COOs were chosen for in- functions that support the mission. noted, the majority of government’s terviews because these officials are We believe this integration is the COOs serve as deputy secretar- uniquely positioned to integrate and essential responsibility for the gov- ies and, in that capacity, set policy, align their agency’s mission-support ernment COO, a position most often spearhead high-profile programs, functions with its program and pol- assigned to a department’s deputy deal with external stakeholders, icy objectives, and to ensure that secretary or agency equivalent. oversee organizational performance their agencies successfully execute This executive needs to function management and serve as the alter- their missions. We sought to un- above the organization’s policy, op- ego of the secretary. derstand the role COOs play in an erating and support divisions, and While COOs have enormous agency; to identify COOs’ top man- ensure that the agency is managed and complex duties, there is little agement priorities and challenges; in a coordinated way that leads to formal guidance about the position and to capture the reforms they are high performance. in law, regulation or policy. Though leading to strengthen their agencies. Unfortunately, the lofty poten- Congress established the role in law The leaders interviewed in- tial of this role stands in contrast to through the Government Perfor- cluded department-level deputy the reality of running a large govern- mance and Results Modernization secretaries and deputy administra- ment agency. COOs are charged with Act of 2010, little direction exists tors, who often hold the COO title, the thankless task of tackling every- about the specific duties and re- as well as assistant secretaries for thing from complex, long-standing sponsibilities of COOs. The result is management, who support depu- and deeply ingrained management that this important position has not ties in overseeing management and problems, to the successful execu- been well-institutionalized or con- mission-support. tion of new program and policy goals. sistently defined across government. The interviews were conducted “[A COO gets] no credit when things To explore this relatively new from October 2014 through January go well, and all the blame when they and critical role and its profound 2015. Each individual was asked a don’t. It is not much fun or glamor- implications for government man- set of open- and closed-ended ques- ous,” said one COO. agement, the Partnership for Public tions (see Appendix Two) regarding Despite the high rank of the Service and Booz Allen Hamilton their top management priorities and position, one deputy secretary and conducted in-depth interviews with how those link with mission-critical chief management officer described 23 COOs or other senior leaders goals, the progress their agencies are the intimidating and treacherous na- with comparable responsibilities in making in key mission-support func- ture of the job. “When I ask former major federal agencies and depart- tions, and the roles and responsibili- deputy secretaries, ‘What’s the job ments. This report is intended to ties of the COO at their agencies. To description?’ they say, ‘See the teth- be the first in a continuing series encourage candid conversations, in- ered goat in Jurassic Park,’” refer- that examines the state of federal terviews were not for attribution. All

BRIDGING MISSION AND MANAGEMENT 5 of the direct quotes in this report are agement means much more than really is,” the COO said. of interview participants who are simply “keeping the trains running.” Similarly, one former agency not identified by name. Mission-support functions are a leader described an organization In addition, in January 2015, we means to an end—that end being the that struggled with serious chal- conducted an invitation-only round- execution of agency goals. “We need lenges despite its well-functioning table on the state of federal manage- functions like IT and HR to be good internal operations: “The agency ment with 12 former federal COOs to service the agency, not to be good gets a clean audit, the technology and senior management officials. for their own sake,” said one COO. runs well and the human capital sys- The purpose of the roundtable was It is that integration and align- tem is fine, yet the organization is to solicit their candid, post-service ment—between mission and man- replete with inherent management views on the nature of the COO po- agement—that makes the COO’s job failures that were more mission- sition, as well as the current state of so critical. In some cases, mission- centric and programmatic in nature.” federal management, and to compare support functions might be operat- The COO is uniquely positioned to their assessments with the views of ing well but still might not effectively link an agency’s policy and program officials currently in public service. support the goals of the organiza- operations with its various support The participants were seasoned gov- tion. “You can have operational ex- functions, and to ensure that they ernment management experts with cellence that can be genuinely about are aligned and integrated. experience leading a wide range of the operations of an agency, but it is Unfortunately, mission-support agencies. They brought a wealth of separated from policy goals,” said functions often receive sufficient knowledge and unique perspectives one interviewee. One reason for this investment and attention only in on how COOs can help agencies disconnect, according to several in- response to a major failure. As one improve performance by integrat- terviewees, is that mission-support interviewee said: “Although a well- ing and aligning mission-support functions often focus on carrying functioning and well-managed de- functions with program and policy out a specific process or procedure, partment is important for success, goals. Their insights helped guide rather than the end goal or outcome. most members of the Cabinet will our recommendations and inform For example, one COO ex- be more focused on their policy and our report. A list of participants plained that although his agency has regulatory goals. A poorly function- from that roundtable is included in an effective and precise financial ing department will be recognized, Appendix Three. management system, staff some- but the legacy is ultimately about times get bogged down with details policies, programs and initiatives.” The importance of bridging rather than focus on supporting the By working to bridge management mission and management mission. The COO said: “We get a and mission, COOs can help address To successfully implement programs, clean audit. The challenge here is this problem and ensure that agen- policies and services, federal agen- that we’ve got to get past counting cies build organizational capacity cies need mission-support functions and get back to managing.” As an needed to accomplish their goals. like human resources to find the example, the COO described a pro- right talent, acquisition to purchase cess in which staff were attempting needed tools or services, financial to identify unspent funds at the end management to understand budget of a budget cycle. For one project, and spending, and an enabling IT in- employees took the time to locate a frastructure that supports virtually single penny of unspent funds, then every aspect of an agency. went through the process to trans- Efficient and well-run mission- fer that penny to another project to support functions are essential to be used by the end of the fiscal year. a well-managed agency, but that is “If we are managing all the minutiae, only the first step. Effective man- we lose sight of what management

6 PARTNERSHIP FOR PUBLIC SERVICE | BOOZ ALLEN HAMILTON Findings

PAGE 10 The COO role lacks clarity and consistency across government

PAGE 12 There are advantages and disadvantages to having a politically appointed COO

PAGE 14 COOs report moderate management progress, but some areas lag and could be better integrated with the mission

PAGE 18 COOs are tackling challenges to strengthen management and improve performance in their agencies

PAGE 18 Broken human capital systems cause cascading problems in almost every agency

PAGE 20 Duplicative and uncoordinated management systems across department and agency subcomponents hinder the mission and lead to waste

PAGE 22 Mission-support functions are often slow to innovate and Challenges adapt to changing technologies and mission priorities

PAGE 24 Government-wide management initiatives have great potential but currently lack practical impact

BRIDGING MISSION AND MANAGEMENT 7 Background on the role of the federal chief operating officer

The chief operating officer position was originally envisioned as a way to help government agencies address systemic and long-standing performance and management challenges.

As part of the National Performance Review, a 1993 presidential memorandum di- rected agencies to establish COOs responsible for overall organization management and performance.11 While subsequent administrations issued similar directives, the COO position was not yet established in law. In 2002, a panel of experts convened by the Government Accountability Office identified several ways in which a more clearly defined and empowered COO could help strengthen an agency.12 According to the GAO report, a COO could elevate attention on important man- agement issues, which traditionally take a back seat to high-profile policy priorities when it comes to the limited time and attention of senior leaders. A COO also could help integrate management efforts across the agency by coordinating the efforts of other management officials, such as the chief financial officer, chief human capital officer and chief information officer. Finally, a GAO roundtable suggested that a well- defined COO position could institutionalize management improvement efforts and en- sure sustained focus on reforms that may require years to fully take root. As part of the Government Performance and Results Modernization Act of 2010, Congress codified the COO position and assigned it to the deputy head of the agency, or the equivalent. It did not, however, specify detailed job requirements or qualifications. The GPRA Modernization Act outlined broad responsibilities for COOs, including improving performance management, overseeing efforts to improve their agencies’ management functions, and coordinating with other leaders such as the chief financial officer, the chief human capital officer, the chief acquisition officer, the chief informa- tion officer and the performance improvement officer. In 2014, the Office of Management and Budget further clarified some COO re- sponsibilities in Circular A-1113 specifically regarding performance management. For example, COOs are required to set clear and ambitious goals to improve results and re- duce costs; assign and empower senior officials to lead these goals; conduct quarterly reviews to accelerate progress; identify and implement actions to improve results and reduce waste; ensure transparency of performance information; and instill a culture of performance and efficiency in their agencies. While many COOs have additional responsibilities through their role as the deputy secretary, how their COO duties fit within the broader context of their jobs is often murky. The result is that this important position in government has not been clearly defined or institutionalized.

11 The White House. Implementing Management Reform in the Executive Branch [Presidential Memorandum 10-01-93], October 1, 1993. Washington, DC. 12 Government Accountability Office, Highlights of a GAO Roundtable: The Chief Operating Officer Concept: A Potential Strategy to Address Federal Governance Challenges, GAO-03-192SP (October 2002), http://1.usa. gov/1JHGZty 13 Office of Management and Budget, Circular No. A-11 Part 6: Strategic Plans, Annual Performance Plans, Performance Reviews, and Annual Program Performance Reports, July 2013, http://1.usa.gov/1dpgOfc

8 PARTNERSHIP FOR PUBLIC SERVICE | BOOZ ALLEN HAMILTON A profile of current federal chief operating officers

The Partnership reviewed publically available biographical information of individuals who held the COO title in 23 major federal departments and agencies in February 2015. These individuals sometimes varied from the agency representative interviewed for this report.

Of the 23 federal chief operating officers...

POSITION TENURE AS COO

16 MONTHS 18 are the deputy secretary or equivalent average COO tenure at the time of interviews The remaining agencies have created a COO position separate from the deputy, or have another senior leader acting as COO because the deputy position is currently vacant.

3 YEARS* 2.5 YEARS** 19 are politically appointed average tenure for average tenure for

17 are nominated by the president deputy secretaries in the political appointees and confirmed by the Senate Obama administration in the G. W. Bush and 2 are politically appointed Clinton administrations but not Senate-confirmed

are career members of 4 the Senior Executive Service PRIOR EXPERIENCE

Several COOs had not previously held positions focused on the management and mission-support functions of a large enterprise. These individuals have had careers mostly focused on politics, policy or law.

had over 2 years of experience working 15 in the agency prior to becoming COO

9 of the 15 had over 5 years of experience working in the agency prior to becoming COO

*The Partnership estimated the average tenure for all acting and confirmed deputy secretaries at CFO Act agencies during the Obama administration as of February 2015 using biographical information primarily found at www.leadershipdirectories.com. have held leadership positions in multiple **O’Connell, A. J. Waiting for Leadership. April 21, 2010, http://ampr.gs/1K4O5JN 20 sectors and different levels of government

BRIDGING MISSION AND MANAGEMENT 9 Finding One The COO role lacks clarity and consistency across government

While the deputy secretary or deputy agency head for- COO title and concentrates mostly, if not exclusively, on mally holds the chief operating officer title in most agen- running the mission-support functions, such as human cies, how the role is implemented and where COOs focus capital, information technology, acquisition and finan- their attention varies greatly across agencies and even cial management. One deputy said: “Previously there had within a particular agency over time. not really been a COO operating here. However, I focus Many interviewees highlighted the importance of mostly on operations. It’s what I came here to do.” the COO’s role in integrating mission-support functions In other agencies, the deputy serves as COO but del- with program and policy objectives, to ensure that agen- egates almost all mission-support oversight to another cies are executing their goals. One former official said: senior official, such as the assistant secretary or under- “The COO can not only be seen as making sure that the secretary for management, and focuses exclusively on trains are moving on time. We need integration. And the program and policy priorities. “Our deputy secretary is deputy is in the best position to synthesize.” However, more like the chief policy officer,” said one interviewee. our research found that the COO role has not been imple- In agencies where the deputy holds the COO title but mented consistently across government, especially with is not involved in mission-support oversight, there may regard to integrating mission-support functions with be confusion about who the COO is or whether one even policy and program objectives. exists. As one interviewee explained: “We don’t really have a COO as I would regard such person from my time The COO role varies across agencies in the private sector. Nor do we have a COO like some of In most agencies, the deputy secretary holds the COO the other federal agencies.” title and splits time between overseeing policy and pro- A few of the agencies have taken unique approaches. gram formulation, and managing mission-support func- NASA and the Office of Personnel Management created tions. Under this model, the deputy may focus on select a career COO position that is separate from the agency’s policy and/or mission-support issues, often dictated by deputy. The Nuclear Regulatory Commission has an ex- the deputy’s personal interests, background and the prior- ecutive director for operations who is a career employee. ities of the head of the agency. The deputy then delegates And the State Department established two deputy posi- oversight of other policy, program or mission-support ar- tions—a deputy for management who acts as the COO eas to another senior official. and a deputy for policy; State also has a career Under In a few agencies, the deputy secretary holds the Secretary for Management.

10 PARTNERSHIP FOR PUBLIC SERVICE | BOOZ ALLEN HAMILTON The COO role may change mission-support responsibilities within an agency over time away from the deputy was driven by “If you want to The COO role also varies considerably that person’s busy schedule. “The pri- within the same agency over time, de- mary motivating factor was that the institutionalize pending on the styles and desires of deputy secretary had a lot to do,” said its senior leadership. For example, a one interviewee. “Management and something, you deputy who focuses more on policy operations could be handled at the and less on mission-support responsi- undersecretary level. Even though it have to transcend bilities may leave the agency and the seems like responsibility is moving successor may elect to take the oppo- down, you’re moving it to someone the individual site approach. Rather than stepping who has time to spend on it.” into a preexisting and clearly defined However, other interviewees personalities role, most COOs reported shaping noted that it is invaluable to have the their role once they began, primar- deputy’s voice and authority over and skills of ily through conversations with their both policy and program areas and agency heads. mission-support functions to encour- the people who One interviewee described the age alignment across all facets of the challenges associated with a COO organization. happen to be in role that is not well defined. “When I first took this job, there was a COO in Institutionalizing the those roles.” place, but I think it’s fair to say there COO position FORMER COO were no policies or processes,” said A majority of former COOs and man- the executive. “It was a title with no agement experts who attended our actual duties. If I were to leave to- roundtable on the state of federal day and a new person came in, there management expressed the need would be a free-for-all. There would for more formal guidance about be a lot of folks who would forget the COO position. One former COO quickly what we are trying to do. If I strongly asserted: “We need greater was in this role for three to five years, clarity on what is the role of the then it becomes institutionalized.” COO; there’s no uniformity. In mu- Additional guidance also would nicipal government, it’s very clear strengthen the selection process Mission vs. mission-support and it’s in statute. I had more au- for COOs by identifying important responsibilities thority as a [local government offi- qualifications, and by providing Most of those interviewed agreed cial] than the secretary had over his the president and Congress with a that deputy secretaries need to be as agency. So what is a COO? Deputy framework to ensure that they nom- invested in strengthening their agen- secretary responsibilities are statu- inate and confirm individuals with cies’ mission-support functions as torily very small. It says they are first the skills needed to address gov- they might be in overseeing policy assistant to the secretary and really ernment’s management and perfor- and program execution, because nothing else.” mance challenges. of the influence and authority they Clarification of COO roles and While our roundtable of former hold. One challenge associated with responsibilities would help estab- COOs largely agreed that more guid- delegating all mission-support re- lish continuity in the position within ance on the position is needed, a few sponsibilities to someone below the agencies over time and minimize research interviewees cautioned that deputy, such as an assistant sec- shocks that come during inevitable guidance should not be overly pre- retary for management, is that in- transitions in leadership, according scriptive. They noted that the COO’s dividual typically does not have to interviewees. As one former COO responsibilities may change because the authority to engage and direct noted, “If you want to institution- of the important role he or she plays agency program and policy leaders, alize something, you have to tran- in complementing the talents and which limits integration between scend the individual personalities background of the agency’s secretary. mission-support and program goals. and skills of the people who happen “It will boil down to what kind of skills Deputies already take on vast leader- to be in those roles. You’re never each individual brings,” said one ship responsibilities and inevitably going to completely transcend that, interviewee. In other words, there delegate certain tasks. A few inter- but clarity of what those roles are in needs to be a balance between greater viewees said the decision to move statute can help.” clarity and sufficient flexibility.

BRIDGING MISSION AND MANAGEMENT 11 finding two There are advantages and disadvantages to having a politically appointed COO

Federal chief operating officers are accomplished, sea- individual is best positioned to drive the execution of soned leaders who are dedicated to making government mission and mission-support functions. They argued that work well. However, they reported facing steep learning most deputy secretaries need to be political appointees curves in their efforts to drive mission and management because of the real and perceived authority that comes improvements. For example, several COOs did not have with that position, and to ensure alignment with the ad- extensive experience in the agency that they were lead- ministration’s priorities. ing, and a few had limited experience overseeing mission- In our COO interviews, a few executives also noted support functions in large and complex organizations. value in politically appointed COOs who can bring These are common challenges for high-level politi- fresh perspectives and experiences from outside the cal appointees. However, participants in our roundtable agency. of former COOs and management experts largely agreed However, some interviewees touted the benefits that the advantages of having a political appointee as of placing a career civil servant in the COO role, such COO outweighed the disadvantages. While our roundta- as ensuring continuity of management reforms across ble was largely composed of former political appointees, administrations. “It makes sense for the COO to be a ca- they made a strong case for the benefits of politically ap- reer person for continuity reasons. The top career person pointed COOs. is better able to implement policies and procedures than someone who is not as familiar with [the agency],” said Advantages and disadvantages one career COO. However, this individual acknowledged of a political appointee as COO some disadvantages. “I’m not even allowed to go to cer- Our roundtable participants cited the clout and connec- tain meetings because I’m not political,” he said. tions that political appointees enjoy as critical to oper- A few agencies have politically appointed COOs who ating effectively as a COO. “You need that gravitas and were previously career employees, providing them with sense of authority that comes with [political appoint- a deep understanding of the organization as well as the ments],” said one former COO. Roundtable participants advantages of a political appointment. noted that in some agencies a career COO would struggle to exert influence over politically appointed management Addressing the challenges of short officials, such as chief financial officers. tenure and steep learning curves The group also largely believed that the COO posi- Most COOs are focused on addressing some of govern- tion should be held by the deputy secretary because that ment’s deeply entrenched challenges, such as strengthen-

12 PARTNERSHIP FOR PUBLIC SERVICE | BOOZ ALLEN HAMILTON “Continuity doesn’t derive from you cannot imagine. It would be a very “You need that and your ability to live beyond the steep learning curve.” eight years you might have. It re- Responsibility for ensuring that gravitas and sides in the strength of leadership COOs have the skills and experi- built with members of the Senior ence needed for the position lies sense of authority Executive Service, who are going to with the president, who nominates be the real leaders.” candidates, and the Senate, which that comes Another challenge stems from confirms them. Several interviewees the fact that several COOs had lim- noted that members of Congress and with [political ited experience overseeing mission- the administration should give more support functions in large and com- weight to management experience appointments].” plex organizations, which left many when nominating and confirming FORMER COO feeling like they were “drinking COOs. As one former Office of Man- from a fire hose” in absorbing every- agement and Budget official noted: thing they need to know. “If it’s really important for agencies While many COOs said that their and government to work well, it has leadership skills are transferable, a to start with the president.” few noted the steep learning curves they faced in managing a large federal agency for the first time. As one COO explained: “Most of us who come into this job have had no formal manage- ment training at all. I have ‘Manag- ing for Dummies’ somewhere in my office. Most of us have succeeded in ing employee engagement, reducing the past because we were very good IT duplication and creating cultures at politics or policy, but not because of performance. They see tackling we were good managers. I can count these management issues as essen- only one or two colleagues with solid “Continuity tial to accomplishing the mission. management experience. Managing However, as political appointees, a big budget, IT and succession plan- doesn’t derive few will be in their positions long ning are things most of us haven’t enough to see their agencies reach done. Many of us are dropped into from [your these goals. For example, several this job and told to manage these COOs said that they are overseeing huge departments and we just don’t ability] to live large consolidations of IT, human know what to do.” resources and financial management In addition, a few COOs noted beyond the eight systems—processes that can span the importance of having strong ex- multiple administrations. Similarly, perience with and knowledge of the years you might most COOs said they are focused on agency they are leading. While most improving employee engagement, had worked in the agency they were have. It resides which may involve long-term cul- managing, only nine of 23 had five tural changes. or more years of experience in that in the strength of To address this reality, COOs agency over the course of their ca- highlighted the importance of en- reers. Some felt that lengthy experi- leadership built suring that they have lasting and ence in the agency was not critical. beneficial effects on their agencies. However, one COO who had spent with members For example, one former executive most of his career at his agency noted that the strong relationships said: “I can’t imagine someone being of the SES, who between COOs and the agency’s ca- dropped in from outside the agency reer leadership can provide COOs and being able to succeed. It’s know- are going to be with institutional knowledge and ing the structure of the organization, strengthen the sustainability of knowing who to call, knowing his- the real leaders.” their reforms. This former COO said, tory, laws and controversies. I just FORMER COO

BRIDGING MISSION AND MANAGEMENT 13 Finding three COOs report moderate management progress, but some areas lag and could be better integrated with the mission

Chief operating officers have strong views on the cur- provider would help solve long-term financial manage- rent state of management in their agencies and over- ment weaknesses. all report that they have made moderate progress to- COOs also saw progress in tying budget decisions to ward improving their mission-support functions and performance and strategic priorities. For example, one aligning them to enable program and policy goals. But executive described implementing a financial manage- they also acknowledge that many challenges remain. ment dashboard that ties his agency’s budget to its stra- tegic plan by tracking spending by goals, rather than by COOs report solid progress in financial management offices. He said this new dashboard helps leaders make and organizational performance management better budgeting decisions. When asked the extent to which their agencies had For most COOs, the biggest financial management made progress toward meeting top management pri- challenge was not related to internal agency weak- orities, financial management and performance man- nesses, but dealing with the uncertainty resulting from agement were the areas in which COOs reported the recent short-term budget commitments from Con- most success. gress. COOs noted that budget uncertainty prevents About two-thirds of those interviewed reported agencies from strategically planning for the future, “great” or “very great” progress toward achieving their appropriately funding long-term programs and confi- financial management priorities. For example, several dently making investments. agencies that previously struggled to achieve clean au- Organizational performance management was an- dit opinions recently did so. COOs cited strong leader- other area in which COOs believed their agencies were ship from their chief financial officers as well as -suc improving, with about half reporting “great” or “very cessful implementation of new financial management great” progress. Agencies have taken great strides in systems as keys to success. Other executives were opti- developing cultures where program performance mistic that transitions in progress to a shared services data informs decisions, according to interviewees.

14 PARTNERSHIP FOR PUBLIC SERVICE | BOOZ ALLEN HAMILTON COOs also are seeing progress in COOs see less progress quisition workforces through bet- linking performance data to the in acquisition, human ter training and hiring. A few noted budget process. Several agencies capital and technology that their agencies struggle to hire have merged these two portfolios The executives were divided on the talented acquisition staff who can so that one leader oversees both progress they saw in acquisition. ensure compliance with the restric- performance management and About a third cited “very little” or “lit- tive Federal Acquisition Regulations budgeting activities. tle” progress toward meeting acquisi- but who also have the creativity to The primary performance man- tion priorities, with a third claiming maximize the regulation’s few flex- agement concern for COOs was not “moderate” progress and a third cit- ibilities to buy needed goods and insufficient performance data, but ing “great” or “very great” progress. services. getting the right data to support de- Those who reported improve- Only about a quarter of COOs cisions. They said data around out- ment referenced increasing their reported substantial progress to- comes, as opposed to outputs, was agencies’ buying power through ward achieving their human capital the most valuable, but also the hard- strategic sourcing, bulk purchasing priorities. This is especially prob- est to come by. One COO noted: “Our and better coordination between lematic given that human capital performance measures often are not acquisition offices. Many of the was their most commonly cited top helpful in driving decisions and con- COOs cited improving buying power management priority. COOs listed sidering changes in strategy.” How- by reorganizing their acquisition several challenges impeding prog- ever, a few cited progress in this area. offices around the commodity be- ress, including restrictive and out- For example, one described how his ing acquired, such as IT equipment, dated civil service laws, obstacles to agency’s performance management professional services or lab supplies, effectively deal with poor perform- system had traditionally focused rather than around the structure of ers, insufficient succession plan- on easy-to-obtain measures like the the agency, such as field offices and ning given pending retirements, and number of individuals served, but subcomponents. challenges around attracting new was now using measures that better Many COOs who were dissatis- leaders into federal service. How capture the effects of programs on fied with their acquisition functions COOs are tackling these challenges people’s lives. saw a need to strengthen their ac- is discussed in depth later in this re- port (see page 18). Respondents also noted limited success in achieving IT priorities, with less than a third citing “great” FIGURE 1 or “very great” progress. One barrier Over the past two years, to what extent has your agency made progress toward was insufficient IT infrastructure in- meeting its top priorities in each of the management areas listed below? vestments. One agency, for example, received only 20 percent of the IT Very little/little Moderate Great/very great funding it requested from Congress. Many COOs also were concerned with ineffective IT acquisition pro- Human Capital 18.2% 59.1% 22.7% cesses. For example, one described being hamstrung by a poorly written 10-year contract that manages the Technology 14.3% 57.1% 28.6% entire department’s IT infrastruc- ture. This COO said it is impossible to determine whether poor progress Acquisition 22.7% 36.4% 40.9% is a result of underperforming em- ployees or of contract restrictions. Performance 14.3% 33.3% 52.4% Many of the executives also were concerned about the ability of Financial their agencies to meet rising cyber- Management 13.6% 22.7% 63.6% security threats, and worry they are and Budgeting unable to hire the experts necessary to keep them secure. Their concern % 20 40 60 80 100 is supported by our April 2015 re- Totals may not equal 100% due to rounding. port, “Cyber In-Security II: Closing

BRIDGING MISSION AND MANAGEMENT 15 the Federal Talent Gap,” which con- firms that the federal government has Chief operating officerS’ Top management Priorities fallen behind in the race for highly COOs were asked about their top priorities for strengthening five mission-support functions in qualified cybersecurity experts. their agencies. The following summarizes the most commonly cited priorities in each category. Nevertheless, some interview- ees reported progress on IT goals. Several COOs described successfully transitioning to cloud and mobile technology, reducing IT duplica- tion and moving toward paperless processes. One COO explained that every point of access to the Internet represents a potential vulnerability. The COO’s agency used to have more Human Capital Technology than 100 access points, but is now • Improving recruiting and hiring • Enhancing cybersecurity against down to three. Another department systems to draw mission-critical growing threats by strengthening agency is in the middle of a consolidation talent and attract millennials. infrastructure and hiring cyber talent. process, having successfully com- • Planning for pending retirements • Recruiting and retaining highly bined 300 data centers into 60 with and building a leadership pipeline. qualified IT/cyber experts. the goal of eventually merging into • Strengthening employee engagement • Updating technology to better only three. According to interview- and morale by bolstering supervisory support the mission. ees, these improvements have saved skills and acting on feedback • Consolidating IT systems across taxpayers money, streamlined busi- from employees regarding how to agency subcomponents to reduce improve the work environment. ness processes and decreased the duplication and save money. • Filling senior leadership likelihood of cybersecurity breaches. vacancies and empowering the Across agencies, COOs cited next generation of leaders. many similar management priori- • Dealing with poor performers within the ties and challenges (see graphic). context of restrictive civil service laws. For example, issues like bolstering employee engagement, improving cy- bersecurity and reducing IT duplica- tion were priorities for almost every- one. However, COOs varied greatly in their assessments of the quality of their agencies’ mission-support func- tions, and how integrated these func- tions were with their missions. While a few COOs said their agencies operate with state-of-the- art technology, others reported being “shocked” by the grave state of their agencies’ IT infrastructure. COOs also reported a wide range of quality in their financial management systems. One COO explained that his agency’s financial management systems could not produce the basic data that lead- ers need to track spending and make budgetary decisions. Others said their systems could track spending down to the penny.

16 PARTNERSHIP FOR PUBLIC SERVICE | BOOZ ALLEN HAMILTON Acquisition Financial Management Performance Management and Budgeting • Using strategic sourcing to maximize • Pushing leaders to measure agency buying power and get the • Overseeing budgeting and outcomes rather than outputs. best products and services. planning decisions in an • Using performance data to make • Reforming acquisition systems to uncertain financial landscape. strategic budget decisions. be faster, more agile and responsive • Strengthening financial management • Demonstrating to employees to rapidly changing technology. systems to achieve clean audit opinions. that their work is vital to agency • Hiring and cultivating talented • Reducing improper payments, goals by connecting day-to- acquisition professionals. waste, fraud and abuse. day tasks to the mission. • Creating cultures in which employees feel comfortable discussing challenges without fear of repercussion.

BRIDGING MISSION AND MANAGEMENT 17 Finding Four COOs are tackling challenges to strengthen management and improve performance in their agencies

When it comes to their management challenges and priorities, our conversa- tions with chief operating officers revealed that they are trying diligently to improve the performance of their respective agencies, as well as government as a whole, even though their roles vary significantly across agencies. They all rec- ognize that their challenges are complex, deeply entrenched and widespread, and successfully addressing them is a Herculean task, even for government’s top executives. Whatever their role, COOs reported that they are making prog- ress, but they acknowledge that they still have a long road ahead to improve management and drive performance, with a number of major challenges.

CHALLENGE 1 Broken human capital systems cause cascading problems in almost every agency

COOs cited dedicated and talented employees as being the key to overcoming both mission and management challenges. For example, one interviewee attributed success in achieving a clean audit to a strong financial management team led by a chief financial officer who analyzed and attacked deficiencies. “We put a big system in place, but it wasn’t as much the system as the leadership. “Challenges in It takes people, not systems,” he said. However, when virtually every COO reports that the federal government’s human capital human capital system is broken, the missions of their agencies are likely to suffer. For example, COOs said their agencies cannot address cybersecurity often lead to issues if they struggle to attract and hire qualified IT experts. “Challenges in human capital often lead to challenges in all our other management areas in challenges in the end,” said one COO. COOs reported that they are driving efforts to address systemic human all our other capital issues, including ineffective hiring and recruitment systems, lengthy senior leadership vacancies, declining employee engagement and challenges management dealing with poor performers. The majority of COOs reported that strength- ening human capital is their top management priority. However, given that areas in the end.” many of these problems can be traced to an antiquated, broken civil service coo interviewee system, they felt their efforts can only get them so far.

18 PARTNERSHIP FOR PUBLIC SERVICE | BOOZ ALLEN HAMILTON Recruiting and hiring ficult to attract the most qualified Employee engagement “The ability to hire employees af- candidates. “We can’t hire out of Most COOs were deeply concerned fects the agency’s mission more colleges and universities [because about the declining morale of their than anything else,” said one inter- the private sector] can offer you a workforce, as measured by the Fed- viewee. COOs are working to repair job [immediately] when it takes us eral Employee Viewpoint Survey recruiting and hiring processes that months to hire. The shame is that and the Best Places to Work in the they see as broken, but believe they there’s a talent pool, we just can’t get Federal Government®14 rankings, and are restricted from doing so by civil to it,” said one COO. cited both external and internal fac- service laws. “We need more hir- A handful of COOs believed that tors as driving this trend. Externally, ing agility to be able to reshape our hiring problems are particularly acute interviewees point to budget cuts, workforce and hire for new skill sets, for senior-level candidates, which furloughs, the partial government and we don’t have the flexibilities leads to long-term leadership vacan- shutdown in 2013, and an overall we need because of the civil service cies. It takes one interviewee’s de- hostility toward the federal work- rules and limitations. We have lev- partment an average of nine months force in Congress and the media as eraged to the hilt every hiring flex- to hire Senior Executive Service seriously damaging morale. ibility we can find, but that is still candidates. Another said: “We just However, COOs also cited not enough to be able to get the right confirmed our first CFO in two years. internal factors as hurting em- skills,” said one interviewee. The CIO has only been here for three ployee engagement. Several noted For example, one agency has months. It’s really problematic to run that employee training has not been working to quickly hire more an agency [this way]. It’s paralyzing.” been properly prioritized and pro- administrative law judges to meet According to several interviewees, tected as agencies have responded increased demand for its services. temporary leaders filling positions to budget reductions. This find- The agency hoped to hire 200 new during vacancies are often uncom- ing is supported by a Government judges in 2014 to meet this need fortable making strategic decisions Accountability Office report that re- and had the budget to do so, but was necessary to address long-standing vealed that 19 of 24 major agencies only able to hire 70 because of the management challenges. restricted employee training in re- government’s slow hiring processes Some senior leadership vacan- sponse to sequestration.15 and delays in coordinating with the cies are exacerbated by the lengthy COOs also cited the need to Office of Personnel Management. presidential nomination and con- strengthen the leadership and mana- Since the agency lost approximately firmation process. One COO, who gerial skills of their career executives 100 judges to attrition in 2014, it now had been temporarily filling the role as a means of improving employee has even less capacity to meet citi- for much longer than expected be- engagement. A few COOs pointed to zen needs. cause of delays in the confirmation data indicating that employees feel Most COOs also believe that process, highlighted the challenges agency leaders do not actively listen hiring processes are too slow, cit- associated with approaching such a to and address their concerns.16 ing long lag times between posting complex job without a clear under- Some COOs are leading efforts and filling positions. Slow hiring standing of how long you have. “It’s to improve employee engagement has been especially problematic for hard to plan a trip if you don’t know but for many these efforts have yet to agencies emerging from extended whether you are driving two miles or produce tangible results in measures hiring freezes as a result of the 200 miles,” said the COO. such as the FEVS and the Best Place across-the-board budget cuts due to To address hiring and recruit- sequestration, forcing many COOs ing problems COOs are conducting 14 The Partnership for Public Service pub- to make difficult choices regarding strategic workforce planning, lead- lishes Best Places to Work in the Federal Gov- allocating scarce resources between ing efforts to use hiring flexibilities ernment® each year based on Federal Employ- mission areas and mission-support for critical positions and launching ee Viewpoint Survey results obtained from the functions. COOs at these agencies re- pilot programs to speed the hiring Office of Personnel Management. ported losing many mission-critical process. For example, one agency 15 Government Accountability Office, 2013 Sequestration: Agencies Reduced Some Servic- employees who cannot be replaced streamlined its hiring process by es and Investments, While Taking Certain Ac- quickly. “We had to throw the hir- staging certain vetting activities tions to Mitigate Effects, GAO-14-244 (March ing machine into reverse [because of simultaneously rather than sequen- 2014), http://1.usa.gov/1BgXTs4 sequestration] and restarting it has tially. Additionally, a few COOs are 16 Question 41 on the Federal Employee been excruciating,” said one COO. transitioning their hiring systems to Viewpoint Survey states: “I believe the results of this survey will be used to make my agency a The length and complexity of shared services providers that can better place to work.” In 2014, the government- the hiring process also makes it dif- manage the process more effectively. wide score was 33.6 percent.

BRIDGING MISSION AND MANAGEMENT 19 priorities. “We spend a lot of time ad- 15). One reason is that COOs feel they “People ask why dressing the 1 percent that are awful cannot sufficiently address human as opposed to driving the 99 percent capital challenges under the current I can’t fix the who are fantastic or otherwise show civil service laws and regulations. For promise,” said one COO. According to example, COOs cite the current gov- hiring process interviewees, the inability to deal with ernment job classification and candi- poor performers has a negative impact date selection processes dictated by here. It’s because on an agency’s mission because inef- Title 5 of the U.S. Code as seriously fective or misbehaving employees can inhibiting their ability to reform and the whole remain in their positions for months streamline hiring systems to get the or years. This dynamic can be very de- talent they need. Similarly, they feel government is moralizing to the employees who are that Title 5 does not give agencies the performing well. ability to effectively deal with poor broken ... it’s a performers. The need for reform “We’ve made some progress, but government- Despite the importance that COOs not nearly enough,” said one inter- place on improving human capital, viewee. “People ask why I can’t fix wide problem.” this was the management category in the hiring process here. It’s because INTERVIEWEE which they said their agencies have the whole government is broken. It’s made the least progress during the not an [agency-specific] problem; past two years (see Figure 1 on page it’s a government-wide problem.”

CHALLENGE 2

to Work index. They cited several Duplicative and uncoordinated management systems across activities to address this challenge department and agency subcomponents hinder the mission in which they were personally in- and lead to waste volved, including examining FEVS and Best Places to Work data to COOs are leading their organizations through financially turbulent times. Dur- identify the causes of declining mo- ing the past few years, many agencies have been asked to improve their programs rale; leading town hall meetings to and services while weathering large and indiscriminate budget cuts driven by solicit input from employees about sequestration. COOs had to get creative, and saw coordination and consolida- improving the workplace; oversee- tion of management systems across their organizational subcomponents as a ing efforts to connect employees’ huge source of potential savings. “The agency is so federated that we waste bil- day-to-day work to the broader lions of dollars in purchasing. Vendors like it when we’re incoherent because mission of the agency; ensuring they make more money,” said one interviewee. However, efforts to centralize that supervisors receive leadership and coordinate are often met with resistance from leaders of subcomponents. training; and holding managers ac- countable for their employees’ en- Driving integration gagement levels. The vast majority of executives recognized that to operate cost-effectively their subcomponents must act as an integrated enterprise. They reported sig- Dealing with poor performers nificant cost savings and improved coordination through efforts like creating Executives noted that challenges deal- department-wide HR systems, reducing IT duplication, outsourcing support ing with poorly performing employ- functions to shared services providers, and better synchronizing acquisition ees were damaging agency effective- efforts to maximize volume discounts. ness and serving as a distraction from For example, one COO cited substantial reductions in overhead costs accomplishing the mission. The diffi- through a successful consolidation of mission-support functions across cult and time-intensive process to re- agency subcomponents. This consolidation involved changing the leadership move or discipline an employee often structure of the organization. The chief information officers of agency sub- prevents managers from taking appro- components now report to the department-level CIO rather than to the head priate actions. And those who pursue of that subcomponent. According to the COO, consolidation reduced costs action must take time away from other by eliminating redundant positions and improved the consistent execution

20 PARTNERSHIP FOR PUBLIC SERVICE | BOOZ ALLEN HAMILTON of policies and processes across the Several COOs described simi- some, are best for the organization organization. lar struggles with subcomponents overall. “You need the right level of Another executive reported the as impeding progress toward bet- leadership engagement to get them successful implementation of a de- ter integration. A few noted that on board,” said one COO. “At the end partment-wide system that houses the current federated structure of of the day leaders need the fortitude multiple mission-support functions their agencies’ management func- to tell them ‘You’re going to do this.’ such as financial management, ac- tions was the result of past failures It has to happen. We are spending quisition and travel. This system al- of centralized management systems millions of dollars on systems that lows leaders to view financial data to provide excellent services to sub- are getting limited use.” According across department bureaus, gener- components. Additionally, consoli- to interviewees, this is an example ate reports for Congress and identify dation efforts often require subcom- of why a deputy secretary (as COO) potential cost savings. ponent leaders to relinquish control needs to drive integration and man- One COO described how a suc- and may require them to accept a agement reforms. Other manage- cessful IT consolidation did more solution or service that is more stan- ment leaders, such as an assistant than just save money—it contributed dardized rather than fully tailored to secretary for management, often do to other agency priorities such as im- their needs. Since many large sub- not have the formal authority to di- proved cybersecurity. “There were components receive appropriations rect agency subcomponents. 160 data centers when I got here. Five directly from Congress, some COOs email systems. That’s worse than ri- have limited ability to require their diculous. I’ve never seen an enterprise participation in consolidation or this small with more than one email coordination efforts. system. There’s absolutely no reason To overcome this challenge, for it. We had somewhere close to 150 COOs are providing incentives to access points to the Internet. Every agency subcomponents and demon- single place at which you access the strating the value of better integra- Internet is a vulnerability. We’re down tion, but also using their authority to to three trusted internet connections meet occasional resistance. now. We made progress there.” COOs, for example, noted the importance of clearly demonstrat- Overcoming the barriers ing the value and savings that agency to integration divisions will enjoy through better Other COOs were focused on integration. “The department sub- adopting an enterprise approach components need to see the benefits to management functions but were of centralization if headquarters ex- encountering more barriers and pects them to participate,” said one seeing slower progress. One inter- interviewee. Some COOs focused viewee said: “Authority for human on engaging subcomponent staff capital has been spread through- early in coordination efforts and out the department. As a result, we giving them leadership roles in the “The department have a number of real human capital implementation. One COO, who had problems. We have 17 service cen- previously been the head of a large subcomponents ters for human capital and have the subcomponent, said he felt he was second-highest cost of human capi- just being “handed an invoice” for need to see tal in the government. It costs about department-wide IT initiatives on $6,000 per person per year. Our ser- which he had no input. Now, as the the benefits of vicing ratio [the ratio of HR employ- department-level COO, he is playing ees and contractors to total staff ] is a more proactive role encouraging centralization about 1 to 30 [instead of 1 to 60, the input and collaboration from sub- government median].” This COO component leaders when making if headquarters was leading a consolidation of those investment decisions. 17 services centers into five but men- Finally, the executives said expects them tioned that the effort was being met that strong leadership is necessary with considerable resistance from to bring all parties on board with to participate.” department subcomponents. decisions that, while unpopular to coo interviewee

BRIDGING MISSION AND MANAGEMENT 21 CHALLENGE 3 Mission-support functions are often slow to innovate and adapt to changing technologies and mission priorities

Federal agencies operate in rapidly changing environments. Many COOs A few COOs were more optimis- noted substantial shifts in their agencies’ priorities during the past few years, tic about their agencies’ ability to which often resulted from external factors such as the creation of new tech- quickly adopt new technologies. For nologies, the passage of new laws or regulations, or the rise of new threats and example, one agency has success- opportunities. Because shifts in an agency’s goals and priorities often require fully transitioned its email systems adjustments to its internal operations, COOs were focused on getting their to cloud technology, and is provid- mission-support functions to quickly adapt and innovate. ing support to others that wish to do Although COOs were focused on building cultures of innovation to make so. This COO described how host- their agencies more agile and responsive to a changing world, they noted that the ing email in the cloud allowed one traditionally risk-averse nature of government is a difficult obstacle to overcome. agency to maintain contact with staff abroad despite an uprising in The challenge of adapting to a changing world the country that would have previ- COOs reported that this challenge is most apparent in their IT functions. Agen- ously disrupted communications. cies struggle to keep up with the pace of evolving technology, and some COOs Several COOs are encourag- worry that their agencies are falling woefully behind the private sector. For ex- ing innovations to their agencies’ ample, one interviewee highlighted the successful consolidation of two brick- acquisition processes, which have and-mortar data centers, but noted that many other organizations are moving traditionally been rigid and slow to to the cloud. Another COO described successfully moving his agency away from change. A few COOs reported that paper-based processes toward electronic processes, but noted this shift hap- the technology purchased by their pened years ago for most organizations. agencies was often out-of-date by the Similarly, one COO said: “Bad IT is hurting critical mission elements of time it arrived because the acquisi- the agency in that it is difficult for people to collaborate across the system. tion process was so long and cumber- We can’t maximize productivity with antiquated systems.” Another COO ex- some. One COO said: “We’re trying pressed frustration that Congress provided only one-fifth of the IT budget the to move to a more nimble process so agency requested. “Two-thirds of our workforce is in the field and they do not we don’t engage in 10-year contracts have the basic tools necessary to do their jobs,” he said. This leader described where by the time we deploy we are shadowing an employee in the field who was equipped with a large, unwieldy Flinstonian.” Another COO reported laptop into which she painstakingly entered data that could have been more the need to make leadership changes quickly and accurately gathered by the scanning technology that exists on in his acquisition shop. He said that most mobile devices. previous acquisition leaders were too

Accelerating Innovation AT the Department of Transportation

Every Day Counts is an initiative of the De- Bridge sliding is one example from a va- tion that changed the way edges of highway partment of Transportation’s Federal High- riety of accelerated bridge construction tech- pavements are constructed to decrease fatal way Administration designed to surface and niques that has transformed the process for crashes. Without Safety Edge, errant driv- implement innovative ideas that will posi- replacing bridges. Previously, in order to re- ers that drift off the road may have difficulty tively impact American citizens. FHWA part- place a bridge, contractors would put detours recovering due to the steep vertical drop-off ners with state, local and tribal governments in place, tear down an old bridge and build that can form at the pavement edge. By grad- as well as the private sector to identify and the new bridge. This process took 18 to 24 ing the edge of highways to 30 degrees with rapidly deploy proven but underutilized in- months. Now, construction crews can build a the Safety Edge, drivers can more easily and novations to speed the completion of trans- new bridge next to an old bridge, then detour smoothly transition their vehicles back to the portation projects, enhance safety, reduce traffic for a weekend while they slide the new road. Due to FHWA’s efforts, nearly all state congestion and improve environmental sus- bridge into place. Since the formal launch of departments of transportation have used tainability. By creating a permanent office, the EDC in 2010, transportation agencies across Safety Edge, constructing well over 1,200 Center for Accelerating Innovation, to lead the the country have designed or constructed projects with this safety treatment to date. work, FHWA has institutionalized an effective more than 2,500 replacement bridges using process for identifying and implementing accelerated bridge construction technologies. innovations within the highway community. Safety Edge™ is another EDC innova-

22 PARTNERSHIP FOR PUBLIC SERVICE | BOOZ ALLEN HAMILTON risk-averse and hesitant to consider “The biggest challenge is the unpre- expectations regarding where risk- new ways of doing business, which dictability of our funding. If you give taking is appropriate. He noted that made it difficult for the agency to -ac us sustained, predictable funding, we failure is acceptable in some aspects quire essential new technologies. can deliver,” the COO said. of their work, like attempting to im- COOs also were focused on prove a business process, but it is not transforming human capital prac- Fostering innovation acceptable in other areas where hu- tices to adjust to changing condi- Many COOs were determined to in- man life may be at risk. tions. For example, one executive still cultures of innovation to help Many COOs discussed initiatives described challenges responding their agencies adapt to change. How- to solicit ideas from staff and other to shifting workforce demograph- ever, they noted that the traditionally partners. Several described virtual ics. Sixty percent of employees at risk-averse nature of government is suggestion boxes in which employ- the COO’s agency are more than 50 a major barrier and that innovation ees submit new ideas that are voted years old, and only around 7 per- and risk-taking are not traditionally on and ranked by other staff, with the cent are under 30. As the agency’s rewarded. One interviewee discussed most popular proposals considered workforce skews older and toward the challenge for political executives by leadership for implementation. higher grade levels, the personnel who want to encourage innovation, Others discussed efforts to partner costs rise and there is little room for but recognize that breaking from with outside stakeholders, such as younger employees to move up the the government’s risk-averse cul- state and local governments and the leadership ladder, according to this ture could cost them their jobs. “The private sector, to identify and imple- COO. To mitigate this trend, leader- successes of innovation are never ment innovations that would im- ship prioritized entry-level hiring enough to offset the downsides of prove their programs and services through the government’s Path- innovation,” he said. “In baseball, (see Accelerating Innovation at the ways Programs, which provides em- three out of 10 is great. In government, Department of Transportation on ployment opportunities for recent that gets you fired. In some cases, nine page 22). A few executives touted in- graduates and internships for stu- out of 10 might get you fired.” novation awards programs as helpful dents. In 2014, hiring managers at COOs are using several strate- in celebrating successes and encour- this agency reviewed 400 Pathways gies to instill cultures of innovation aging staff to take appropriate risks. applications, but found only one and risk-taking. These strategies in- candidate they considered qualified. clude providing support and encour- The problem, according to the COO, agement from senior leadership for is poorly designed minimum qualifi- innovation; launching initiatives to cation standards that fail to properly identify and implement innovations assess and screen candidates. from agency staff and other partners; “The successes Drastic shifts in the budget land- and celebrating successful innova- scape also present a huge financial tions through awards programs. of innovation are management challenge to which Strong leaders who are willing agencies must respond and adapt. to encourage and reward risk-taking never enough While several COOs said insufficient are critical to encouraging creativity, funding is an issue, most described according to COOs. Employees need to offset the budget uncertainty as more damaging to be rewarded for successful inno- than budget cuts. “You cannot run a vations, but just as importantly they downsides of business one continuing resolution at need to know that they will not face a time. It doesn’t make sense,” said one negative consequences for taking innovation ... In COO. Another COO said that a previ- calculated risks that do not succeed. ous long-term funding commitment “I’m trying to create an environment baseball, three out from Congress allowed the agency to where it’s okay to take a risk and hire additional staff and significantly make a mistake,” said one COO. “If of 10 is great. In reduce a backlog. Current budget you do, I will be a buffer. I don’t want uncertainty means that the agency innovation and creativity stifled be- government, that cannot create a long-term staffing cause they get crucified for failing.” plan needed to make progress on the One interviewee mentioned gets you fired.” same backlog, which has reemerged. that leaders need to establish clear COO Interviewee

BRIDGING MANAGEMENT AND MISSION 23 Challenge 4 Government-wide management initiatives have great potential but currently lack practical impact

Many management challenges, such as improving customer service or pre- While COOs saw great potential venting cyber attacks, cross traditional agency boundaries and cannot be for the PMA and PMC, many struggle solved by individual agencies. These challenges require a government-wide to translate these efforts into practi- approach, as we discuss in a previous report, “Building the Enterprise.” To cal impact at their agencies. For ex- improve interagency collaboration, COOs serve on the President’s Manage- ample, one COO described the man- ment Council and help to execute the President’s Management Agenda. They agement agenda as having “so much also play an important role in implementing the Government Performance promise, but so little follow through.” and Results Modernization Act of 2010, which seeks to better coordinate and Several COOs noted a tendency for standardize organizational performance management across government. the administration to include too COOs saw great promise and potential in government-wide management many priorities in the management initiatives, but often struggled to translate these efforts into practical impact agenda, and to frequently change in their agencies. them. This dynamic has limited the usefulness of the agenda and even The President’s Management Agenda and Council created confusion about its content. The PMA and PMC address government-wide management challenges by “I don’t know what the PMA is. It improving coordination and collaboration across agencies. The president is constantly changing and there is communicates his management priorities through a management agenda in- no sustained attention. It is also not cluded in the budget. Chaired by the deputy director for management at the backed up with any money,” said one Office of Management and Budget, the PMC gathers senior management -of COO. Noting that the management ficials, including the deputy secretaries from all executive branch agencies. council often tries to address too The council meets periodically to advise the president and OMB on govern- many topics in a short period of time, ment reform initiatives, provide performance and management leadership one deputy secretary said: “Some- throughout the executive branch, and oversee the implementation of govern- times it seems like a shotgun blast of ment-wide management priorities. ideas. Another odd thing is that there A majority of COOs see value in the PMA and PMC, and believe these is not a recognition of how long it efforts have been moderately effective in addressing the government’s man- takes to change. It would be better to agement challenges (see Figure 2). For example, COOs reported that the PMA pick fewer items and do them more has been useful in helping agencies understand the administration’s top man- effectively than picking everything agement priorities and focusing agency leaders on important issues. “It sends and hoping something sticks.” a message that management matters,” said one COO. A couple COOs noted Some also noted that the pri- that when an agency priority aligns with priorities in the management agenda, orities established in the manage- it is easier to get resources and attention dedicated to that issue. ment agenda do not always resonate Many interviewees said that PMC meetings are a valuable opportunity or connect with their agencies’ top for deputy secretaries to exchange ideas, and collaborate with and learn goals. Additionally, OMB has very from their peers. They also noted that the PMC has been especially helpful limited staff and resources to sup- in quickly getting leaders across government on the same page during rapid port agencies in implementing the response situations, such as dealing with serious cybersecurity threats. management agenda. Several executives expressed frustration at a lack of coordination between the “management” and the The President’s Management Agenda “budget” sections of OMB, which re- The purpose of the President’s Management Agenda is to improve management practices, sults in mixed messages and confu- systems and capacity across government by focusing leaders from different agencies on the sion. For example, the management same priorities. Many presidential administrations have created management agendas; the staff may direct agencies to address a current agenda is guided by four pillars: efficiency, effectiveness, economic growth, and peo- management weakness, but the agen- ple and culture. A few current priorities outlined in the agenda include improving IT delivery, cy’s budget examiner is not involved strengthening customer service and shrinking the federal real property footprint. or consulted, making it difficult to get funding to support the effort.

24 PARTNERSHIP FOR PUBLIC SERVICE | BOOZ ALLEN HAMILTON FIGURE 2 of a compliance exercise than a To what extent have each of the following efforts been effective in addressing driver of performance, with only government-wide management challenges? 20 percent saying that it has helped address government-wide man- Very little/little Moderate Great/very great agement challenges to a “great” or “very great” extent. A few COOs ex- pressed concern that a narrow focus GPRA Modernization 40.0% 40.0% 20.0% on achieving performance targets Act provides incentives for agencies to

President’s set only goals that they know they Management 15.0% 60.0% 25.0% can achieve. One COO lamented: Agenda “People are just better at goal setting,

President’s so goal achieving isn’t a challenge.” Management 11.1% 55.6% 33.3% While all the executives valued Council good performance information, a few were focused on better prioritiz- % 20 40 60 80 100 ing performance measures in their departments. One COO seeking to prioritize performance information estimated that more than 500 mea- sures are reported to his office each Benchmarks: A PMA success story average, and surfaced ideas for re- quarter, with thousands more being Despite these challenges, many lead- ducing those costs. One COO said tracked across the department. “We ers praised a recent cross-govern- that even though some of the metrics fall into the trap of measuring for the ment benchmarking initiative, led were not directly comparable (e.g., sake of measuring,” said another COO. by OMB and the General Services this agency included certain costs Despite having a plethora of per- Administration and supported by in their calculations that others did formance measures, several COOs the PMC, as having strong practi- not), benchmarking has still been noted that they did not always have cal impact. Working with leaders of valuable because it helps agency the right data needed to make deci- 24 major agencies, OMB and GSA leaders ask better questions and sions. To address this issue, COOs gathered and analyzed data about drive performance improvements. are encouraging agency leaders the cost of mission-support func- to track outcomes, such as a posi- tions such as the cost per email The challenge of implementing tive impact on individuals’ lives as user, the amount of square feet per the GPRA Modernization Act a result of the program, rather than employee and the ratio of human COOs also discussed their views on track outputs, such as the number resources spending to overall budget. the Government Performance and of individuals served. They said that The information was then shared Results Modernization Act, the 2010 robust outcome data is what they with agency leaders, allowing them law that seeks to strengthen perfor- need for decision making. to compare the cost of their internal mance management in government. Though COOs generally said administrative and support services Under the GPRA Modernization the GPRA Modernization Act had across agency subcomponents and Act, agencies are required to, among limited impact in helping them with other federal agencies. other things, gather and track per- strengthen their agencies, many re- COOs described this bench- formance data related to their goals, ported performance management as marking project as a worthwhile and COOs are charged with oversee- an area where they had made signifi- exercise. They said the data revealed ing many of their agencies’ perfor- cant progress in the past two years. agencies and subcomponents in mance management efforts. which administrative costs are dras- Many interviewees saw the tically higher than the government GPRA Modernization Act as more

BRIDGING MISSION AND MANAGEMENT 25 26 PARTNERSHIP FOR PUBLIC SERVICE | BOOZ ALLEN HAMILTON CONCLUSIONS AND RECOMMENDATIONS

Our federal government has vital and lofty goals: bolster the economy, protect the environment, safeguard our borders, reduce poverty and protect our national se- curity, to name just a few. Chief operating officers are dedicated and passionate about achieving these goals, but they cannot do so if their agencies’ mission-sup- port functions are not helping them to effectively execute policies and programs. COOs can serve as the bridge between management and the mission, ensuring that mission-support functions are integrated with mission-critical goals, and that agencies are positioned to deliver results. For this vital role to be effective, COOs cannot exist “in title or name only.” This research identified a nascent vision for the COO role as an agency’s “inte- grator-in-chief,” ensuring that all aspects of an agency work as a coordinated enterprise toward common goals. This vision should be more fully and consis- tently embraced and operationalized. The position needs to be more clearly de- fined and institutionalized throughout government. COOs should be given the au- thority, resources, support and flexibility necessary to improve management and performance, and they need to be held accountable for results. We recommend that government leaders take the following steps to make this happen.

The president should: • Demonstrate a commitment to high performance and results by nominating individuals to fill COO roles who have substantial management experience and skills. COOs can play a critical role in ensuring that the administration’s high-priority programs and policies are effectively implemented. To do so, they must have both deep program and policy expertise and experience in leading the functions of large and complex organizations. Several current COOs do not have significant management and mission-support experience, instead having careers focused on areas such as policy, politics or law. • Establish a clear management agenda early in the administration that builds off successful reforms of previous administrations, sets new management and performance goals where appropriate, and holds COOs accountable for prog- ress through performance contracts. Although effective management should be a priority that transcends political parties, new administrations often aban- don the previous management agenda and start from scratch at great cost. The management agenda should also provide COOs with clear and transpar- ent targets for improving agency performance, and should be used to hold COOs accountable for progress toward these goals.

BRIDGING MISSION AND MANAGEMENT 27 Congress should: • Enact civil service reform to enable departments and agencies to realize their full policy and program performance potential. Many COOs noted that they can do only so much to fix their agencies’ human capital problems; they are hamstrung by outdated and ineffective civil service laws. In a previous report, we established a comprehensive framework for reforming the civil service.17 Many COOs said reforms proposed in that report, such as reworking laws that govern hiring and the process for dealing with poorly performing employees, would help ensure they have the talent needed to accomplish their missions. While Congress has recently enacted laws to reform other management func- tions such as IT and organizational performance management, human capital reform has been absent. • Codify the President’s Management Council; institutionalize its scope of responsibility; and give it the authority, staff and resources necessary to drive government-wide management improvements. The council is an important tool to coordinate management reforms across government, and Congress should establish it in law to ensure it continues in future adminis- trations. Congress could strengthen the council by further clarifying its broad responsibilities, the results for which it is accountable, and by providing fund- ing for staff to support the council. • Minimize budget uncertainty for agencies. Some degree of budget uncertainty from year to year is inevitable. However, Congress’ recent practice of adopt- ing months-long continuing resolutions to fund the government has made the long-term planning necessary to address government’s management chal- lenges practically impossible. Congress needs to reestablish normalcy in the budget process and provide agencies with a clear picture of the funding levels they can expect. • Prioritize management experience and skills when confirming COOs, and act quickly to minimize vacancies in this vital role. During the confirmation pro- cess, Congress should probe candidates’ experience managing and driving re- sults in large, complex organizations. Congress also should act quickly on the president’s nominations to help ensure that these critical positions are not left vacant for long stretches.

The Office of Management andB udget should: • Issue guidance on the duties and responsibilities of COOs to ensure greater clarity and consistency in the role across government. The Government Per- formance and Results Modernization Act of 2010 and OMB Circular A-11 pro- vide only limited clarification as to the responsibilities of COOs, and focus mostly on their role in performance management. Further guidance is needed about their responsibilities for overseeing mission-support functions and in- tegrating management reforms with program and policy goals. While agen- cies should have the flexibility to shape the position in a way that best meets their needs, OMB could provide more guidance as to the basic responsibilities and expectations of COOs government-wide. • In collaboration with the General Services Administration, strengthen the PMC to better support COOs and drive management reforms by providing

17 Partnership for Public Service and Booz Allen Hamilton, A New Civil Service Framework, April 2014.

28 PARTNERSHIP FOR PUBLIC SERVICE | BOOZ ALLEN HAMILTON a collaborative forum for tackling government-wide challenges. PMC meet- ings should provide COOs with a collaborative forum in which they can share best practices and adopt an enterprise approach to tackling government-wide challenges. The PMC can help advance the president’s management agenda, and OMB should maintain a long-term focus on a small number of manage- ment goals, rather than overwhelm COOs with a large number of frequently shifting priorities. OMB also can strengthen the PMC by providing it with additional staff. • Provide COOs with clear direction and support for strengthening govern- ment management performance, and hold them accountable. COOs and other agency leadership need sufficient support and resources to implement the administration’s management priorities. The president’s budget should in- clude funding to help agencies implement management priorities; a provision in the most recent budget allowing agencies to transfer up to $15 million to support cross-agency priority goals is a promising step. OMB (on behalf of the president) should also establish individual performance contracts with COOs holding them accountable for executing the President’s Management Agenda, their agency and cross-agency priority goals, and other management reforms. • Strengthen coordination between OMB’s management and budget staff. The management side of OMB, which currently has a very small staff, cannot effectively implement the president’s management agenda on its own. OMB budget examiners, who are the primary points of contact for agencies, should coordinate with management staff and be deeply involved in overseeing agency implementation of the management agenda. This would strengthen OMB’s capacity to assist agencies, and would ensure clarity and consistency in OMB’s interactions with agency staff. • Establish general qualifications requirements for political appointees to be nominated for COO positions to ensure that these officials have the experi- ence and expertise needed to do the job and direct OPM to do the same for career civil servants selected for COO positions. In addition to establishing qualifications, OMB’s deputy director for management should work closely with the Presidential Personnel Office in recruiting and selecting COO candi- dates that have experience running large and complex organizations.

COOs and other agency leaders should: • Eliminate department- or agency-level rules and procedures that perpetu- ate inefficiencies in mission-support functions. COOs can root out ineffective agency-level rules and policies that create “self-inflicted wounds” and weaken mission-support functions. Some COOs have sped their agencies’ hiring sys- tems by overseeing efforts to streamline internal processes, for example by holding vetting activities simultaneously rather than sequentially. Support from the COO can lead to quick traction on reforms that are needed, but may have been slow to take root. • Elevate their efforts to improve human capital systems. Noting that people are their most important asset, many COOs listed improving their agencies’ hu- man capital systems as their top management priority. Unfortunately, COOs also identified human capital as the management area in which they are mak- ing the least progress. Although COOs report sustained and personal involve- ment in priorities such as improving employee engagement, morale in many agencies continues to fall. While COOs need comprehensive civil service re- form to fully reach their goals, they can take many actions within current limi-

BRIDGING MISSION AND MANAGEMENT 29 tations. For example, they can prioritize training to build management skills in new supervisors, and include targets for increasing employee engagement and satisfaction in leaders’ performance plans. • Develop internal policies outlining the COO’s duties and responsibilities. The COO role varies greatly within agencies over time. Given the frequent turnover in this position, agencies should clearly define the responsibilities of their COOs to ensure that the role is not reinvented each time leadership changes. Agency leaders should clearly understand the COO’s role in integrat- ing management reforms with policy and program objectives. Clarifying the role will promote better continuity between COOs and will encourage a con- sistent focus in addressing long-term management challenges. • Assign career leaders to senior management positions that support the COO. The typically short tenures of COOs, and most political appointees, makes it difficult to address long-term management challenges. Agencies can establish continuity of management by assigning career leaders to senior management positions that support the COO. For example, they could create a deputy COO position held by a career executive, or fill other key management positions, such as the assistant secretary for management, with career leaders. • Take an enterprise-based approach to managing their agencies. Several COOs noted that the federated and disconnected nature of their agencies resulted in billions of dollars of waste and limited coordination. While some COOs reported success in coordinating agency subcomponents, several noted that their agencies still had a long way to go. Department-level executives and sub- component leaders should work together to identify opportunities for coor- dination and cooperation. In a previous report, “Building the Enterprise,” we identified strategies for improving integration and coordination both within and across agencies.18 Leaders should also look beyond their departments and consider actions like moving mission-support functions to a government- wide shared services provider. • Support innovation and appropriate risk-taking. All government leaders say they want employees to innovate, but not all of them create environments in which innovation and risk-taking are rewarded. Agency leaders must do more than simply solicit ideas from employees and celebrate successful innovations. They need to demonstrate that employees who take calculated risks to im- prove their agencies will not be punished if those experiments fail. Leaders can also hold themselves accountable for improving their agencies’ results on measures of innovation, such as the Best Places to Work Innovation Index.

18 Partnership for Public Service and Booz Allen Hamilton, Building the Enterprise: Nine Strategies for a More Integrated, Effective Government, August 2013.

30 PARTNERSHIP FOR PUBLIC SERVICE | BOOZ ALLEN HAMILTON Appendix ONE Cross-Agency Priority Goals

The administration is required by law to issue cross-agency priority goals as a means of focusing on a limited number of presidential priority areas where implementation requires collaboration among agencies. The eight goals listed below, available in more detail on performance.gov, reflect management priorities of the Obama administration to increase government efficiency and effectiveness.

Management category

Customer Service Open Data Deliver world-class customer services to citizens by mak- Fuel entrepreneurship and innovation and improve gov- ing it faster and easier for individuals and businesses to ernment efficiency and effectiveness by unlocking the complete transactions and have a positive experience value of government data and adopting management with government. approaches that promote interoperability and openness of this data. Smarter IT Delivery Improve outcomes and customer satisfaction with fed- Lab-to-Market eral services through smarter IT delivery and stronger Increase the economic impact of federally funded re- agency accountability for success. search and development by accelerating and improving the transfer of new technologies from the laboratory to Strategic Sourcing the commercial marketplace. Expand the use of high-quality, high-value strategic sourcing solutions in order to improve the government’s People and Culture buying power and reduce contract duplication. Innovate by unlocking the full potential of the workforce we have today and building the workforce we need for Shared Services tomorrow. Strategically expand high-quality, high-value shared ser- vices to improve performance and efficiency throughout government.

Benchmark and Improve Mission-Support Operations Improve administrative efficiency and increase the adop- tion of effective management practices by establishing cost and quality benchmarks of mission-support operations and giving agency decision-makers better data to compare options, allocate resources and improve processes.

BRIDGING MISSION AND MANAGEMENT 31 Appendix TWO Interview Questions

Discussion questions

• As COO, what are your top management priorities for • How did the department/agency leaders create an your department/agency over the next two years in environment that made these innovations possible? the management areas listed below? How do these How did they incentivize, identify, implement and management priorities link to the execution and sustain these innovations? implementation of your agency’s program and policy priorities? • How do you balance your time and attention be- tween management issues (e.g., human capital, IT, fi- FF Human Capital nancial management) and other responsibilities (e.g., FF Technology program policy formulation, acting as a liaison with external stakeholders)? Approximately what per- FF Acquisition centage of your time do you spend on management FF Financial Management and Budgeting issues versus other responsibilities?

FF Performance • When you began as COO, did you largely shape and define your roles and responsibilities, or was there • What are the top challenges or barriers to achieving a preexisting structure for the COO role that you these management priorities? What actions are you stepped into? taking to address those challenges?

• What are the top two or three recent innovations at your department/agency of which you are most proud?

32 PARTNERSHIP FOR PUBLIC SERVICE | BOOZ ALLEN HAMILTON Closed-ended questions

Please use this scale to answer the following questions.

Very little extent Moderate extent Very great extent

1 2 3 4 5

1. To what extent has your agency made progress over the past two years toward meeting its top priorities in each of the management areas listed below?

• Human Capital • Technology • Acquisition • Financial Management and Budgeting • Performance

2. To what extent have you had the support and resources that you needed in the following areas?

• Talent • Technology • Budget

3. To what extent do you have the performance data you need to effectively oversee and manage your agency’s performance?

4. To what extent have each of the following efforts been effective in addressing government-wide management challenges?

• The President’s Management Agenda • The President’s Management Council • GPRA Modernization Act (Agency Priority Goals, Cross-Agency Priority Goals, Quarterly Performance Reviews, Strategic Objective Reviews)

BRIDGING MISSION AND MANAGEMENT 33 Appendix THREE Contributors, interviewees or survey participants

Bruce H. Andrews Hari Kalla Deputy Secretary Director, Center for Accelerating Innovation U.S. Department of Commerce Federal Highway Administration Angela Bailey U.S. Department of Transportation Chief Operating Officer Helen R. Kanovsky Office of Personnel Management Former Acting Deputy Secretary, U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development Dustin Brown Current General Counsel, U.S. Department of Housing and Deputy Assistant Director for Management Urban Development Office of Management and Budget Patrick F. Kennedy Ruby D. Burrell Undersecretary for Management Chief Strategic Officer U.S. Department of State U.S. Social Security Administration David M. Klaus Beth Cobert Deputy Under Secretary for Management and Deputy Director for Management Performance Office of Management and Budget U.S. Department of Energy Nani A. Coloretti Robert M. Lightfoot, Jr. Former Assistant Secretary for Management, U.S. Associate Administrator Department of the Treasury National Aeronautics and Space Administration Current Deputy Secretary, U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development Lee J. Lofthus Assistant Attorney General for Administration Carolyn W. Colvin U.S. Department of Justice Acting Commissioner U.S. Social Security Administration Christopher P. Lu Deputy Secretary Katherine Currie U.S. Department of Labor Advisor to the Assistant Secretary for Policy, Management and Budget Alejandro Mayorkas U.S. Department of the Interior Deputy Secretary U.S. Department of Homeland Security Lisa Danzig Associate Director of Performance and Personnel Elizabeth McGrath Office of Management and Budget Former Deputy Chief Management Officer, U.S. Department of Defense Chip Fulghum Currently with Deloitte Consulting LLP Acting Deputy Under Secretary for Management and Chief Financial Officer A. Stanley Meiburg U.S. Department of Homeland Security Acting Deputy Administrator U.S. Environmental Protection Agency Nanci Gelb Acting Assistant Administrator for the Office of Victor Mendez Administration and Resource Management Deputy Secretary U.S. Environmental Protection Agency U.S. Department of Transportation Ned Holland Vince Micone Assistant Secretary for Administration Chief of Staff, Office of the Under Secretary for Management U.S. Department of Health and Human Services U.S. Department of Homeland Security Rhett Jeppson Gregory L. Parham Former Associate Administrator and Acting Chief Assistant Secretary for Administration Operating Officer, U.S. Small Business Administration U.S. Department of Agriculture Current Principal Deputy Director, U.S. Mint

34 PARTNERSHIP FOR PUBLIC SERVICE | BOOZ ALLEN HAMILTON Denise Turner Roth Clay Johnson, III Acting Administrator Former Deputy Director for Management, Office of U.S. General Services Administration Management and Budget Kristen Sarri John Porcari Principal Deputy Assistant Secretary for Policy, Former Deputy Secretary, U.S. Department of Management and Budget Transportation U.S. Department of the Interior Currently with Parsons Brinckerhoff, Inc. Mark Satorius Lynn Scarlett Executive Director for Operations Former Deputy Secretary, U.S. Department of the Interior U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission Currently with Bracy Tucker Brown & Valanzano James H. Shelton, III Robert Shea Former Deputy Secretary Former Associate Director for OMB Administration and U.S. Department of Education Government Performance, Office of Management and Budget Margaret Sullivan Former Chief of Staff and Acting Chief Operating Officer, Currently with Grant Thornton U.S. Agency for International Development Tevi David Troy Former Deputy Secretary, U.S. Department of Health and David Tillotson, III Human Services Acting Deputy Chief Management Officer Currently with Hudson Institute, Inc. U.S. Department of Defense Danny Werfel Former Acting Commissioner and Deputy Commissioner, participants in a ROUNDTABLE of Internal Revenue Service former federal executives Former Controller, Office of Management and Budget Rafael Borrás Currently with The Boston Consulting Group Former Under Secretary for Management, U.S. Department of Homeland Security Currently with A.T. Kearney, Inc. Michèle Flournoy Former Under Secretary of Defense for Policy, U.S. Department of Defense Currently with Center for a New American Security Stephen Galvan Former Acting Deputy Administrator, U.S. Small Business Administration Currently with Galvan & Associates W. Scott Gould Former Deputy Secretary, U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs Currently with The Boston Consulting Group Charles Grimes Former Chief Operating Officer, Office of Personnel Management Robert Hale Former Under Secretary (Comptroller) and Chief Financial Officer, U.S. Department of Defense Currently with Booz Allen Hamilton, Inc.

BRIDGING MISSION AND MANAGEMENT 35 Appendix FOUR PROJECT TEAM

PARTNERSHIP FOR PUBLIC SERVICE Eric Keller, Senior Research Manager and Project Lead Emily Connelly, Research Associate

Mallory Barg Bulman, Managing Editor for Research Bob Cohen, Writer/Editor Judy England-Joseph, Strategic Advisor Bevin Johnson, Creative Director Audrey Pfund, Associate Design Manager Lara Shane, Vice President for Research and Communications Max Stier, President and CEO Lillie Wade, Associate

Booz allen hamilton

Principal Contributors Ronald Sanders, Vice President and Fellow Ben Marglin, Principal Zarak Khan, Associate Marcella M. McClatchey, Associate Colin Walsh, Senior Consultant

Executive Sponsors Lloyd Howell, Executive Vice President and Group Lead Judi Dotson, Executive Vice President Michael Isman, Vice President

The Partnership for Public Service’s work, including this report, would not be possible without the generous support of corporations, foundations and individuals who share our commitment to more effective government. Corporations that support our research and thought leadership provide financial support and valuable expertise on a wide array of government management issues. By enlisting a diverse group of donors, the Partnership ensures that no single person, entity or industry can unduly influence our organizational body of research. The Partnership is actively committed to transparency about all of our funding relationships and retains editorial control over all its thought leadership.

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