Appendix A-10:Office of Human Resources and EEO (OHREEO)

FY 2000 Performance Report
Goal & Performance Indicators Checklist

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OPM STRATEGIC PLAN GOAL V

ESTABLISH OPM AS A LEADER IN CREATING AND MAINTAINING A SOUND, DIVERSE, AND COOPERATIVE WORK ENVIRONEMENT.

OHREEO Goal 1-- M

Diverse applicant pools are recruited to meet our future workforce needs and training and development opportunities are provided to meet our workforce and succession plans.

This goal was established under Strategic Goal V to promote a diverse and competent workforce that works to accomplish the agency’s strategic goals. There are three indicators to assess whether or not this goal is achieved. Each of the indicators under this goal was identified as equally important to achieving this goal. We met this goal by improving the diversity of our workforce and providing developmental opportunities to our employees.

M Improve the recruitment of Hispanics in the OPM workforce. [Critical indicator]

Welfare-to-Work Initiative -- We coordinated an 8-week training program for all Worker Trainees selected under the Welfare-to-Work program. The curriculum included classroom and on-the-job training designed to assist these employees in developing or enhancing skills needed to succeed in the OPM workplace.

IT Migration Training -- OHREEO provided training to every OPM employee in Microsoft Word and Microsoft Outlook, as a part of the upgrading of the OPM standard software package. Experienced spreadsheet users also were trained in the use of Microsoft Excel. This training supported the Computer Literacy Core Competency (OPM Core Competency Training and Development Model).

Core Competency Training -- In support of our Agencywide core competency model, we provided numerous centrally-funded training opportunities, including:

Computer Literacy -- Introduction to the Internet, Introduction to Windows 95, and Microsoft Word 97 for WordPerfect Users

Customer Service Core Competency -- Problem Solving, Service Excellence, and Telephone Service Skills

Leadership -- Basic Communication Skills, Building Self Esteem, Climbing the Ladder of Success, Mentoring for Success, Personal and Professional Empowerment, Positive Approaches to Difficult People, Professionalism, Stress Management, Supercharge Your Career, Telephone Service Skills, Time Management, and the 13th Annual Issues Seminar for Secretaries and Administrative Support Personnel

Organizational Change -- The Challenge of Change

Career Resources Center -- Usage figures indicate that employees continue to use the Center regularly for career resources information. The Center logged more than 1500 employee visits in FY 2000.

Centrally Funded Leadership Development Programs -- We coordinated the competitive nomination and selection process for OPM employees’ participation in a variety of leadership development programs, including OPM’s Federal Executive Institute and Management Development Centers, and programs at the USDA Graduate School (such as the Executive Potential Program, Executive Development Program for Mid-Level Employees, and the New Leaders Program). Participation in this program supports our leadership succession planning efforts in that it helps strengthen leadership talent at all levels throughout the agency.

OHREEO Goal 2 -- M

The administrative costs of HR systems are reduced and customer service satisfaction increases.

This goal was established to ensure that the HR services we provide are managed efficiently and in a manner that meets or exceeds customer needs. There are three indicators to assess the accomplishment of this goal. Of these, the first indicator was identified as most critical for achieving the goal. We met this goal by increasing customer satisfaction levels and sustaining high levels of accuracy and quality.

M Improve the overall quality of personnel services and adherence to merit principles. [Critical indicator]

This is the critical measure because it documents customer satisfaction levels as well as the levels of efficiency and quality of the personnel actions we process.

The FY 2000 target was to maintain accuracy at 96%.

M Improve the cost effectiveness of staffing operations.

This indicator was incorrectly listed under Goal 1 in FY 1999. We reduced the time it takes from the date a recruitment request is received in our office to the date that we issue a ranked list of candidates by an average of 17 days.

We implemented several new efficiencies to improve administrative processes:

Job application database -- contains information on job applicants for all vacancy announcements. This enables us to more efficiently respond to applicants’ requests for information and provides a mechanism for tracking applications. It also automates the process for generating letters to applicants to inform them that their application was received, whether or not they were referred for further consideration, etc. This creates a significant efficiency in that it enables our support staff to devote their time to other important work and helps reduce the number of inquiries we receive from candidates who do not receive a timely notification of the status of their application.

Personnel actions tracking systems -- allows us to electronically track the status of all personnel actions requested by OPM managers and supervisors. This enables us to efficiently respond to inquiries from management and employees, and helps eliminate mislocated personnel actions and ensure that all actions are processed in a timely manner.

M The costs per employee associated with administration of HR processes will decrease.

We continue to provide HR services at a cost significantly below the Governmentwide and private sector averages.

Note: Current research and trend data reveals that HR costs have remained relatively flat in recent years. This is likely due to the fact the world of HR is evolving as HR is shifting dramatically from administrative management activities to more critical tasks centered around employee selection, retention, development, and decision support. The tight labor market has created new challenges for employers, and has required increased investments in recruitment, selection, and retention processes (average investments in these processes have doubled in recent years). Though HR functional costs have remained relatively flat overall, this is commonly considered less a product of inefficiencies and more a reflection of the growing importance of HR in an extremely competitive labor market. Therefore, this indicator is not an accurate or reliable measure of success and will be dropped in FY 2001.

OHREEO Goal 3 -- M

OPM employees are helped to achieve top performance, productivity, and job satisfaction.

This goal was established under Strategic Goal V to improve OPM’s work environment, thereby improving employee satisfaction, which in turn, enhances employee performance. There are five indicators to assess whether this goal was achieved (one indicator was dropped in FY 1999, as explained below). Of these, the second indicator was identified as most critical for assessing goal achievement. While this is the first year we have used a survey to gather multi-dimensional measures that provide baseline data, we also compared our employee survey results to external survey data. These data show that employee satisfaction rates within OPM are significantly higher than the Governmentwide average, as described below; accordingly, we met this goal.

D More performance problems and conflict situations are being addressed and successfully resolved.

This indicator has been dropped effective FY 1999 because it does not report information directly related to accomplishment of the goal. Performance problems and conflict situations are often resolved informally with limited intervention.

The following new indicator more accurately measures success in this area.

M Employees indicate a high degree of satisfaction with their jobs, as measured through an OPM-wide employee survey. [Critical indicator]

This is the critical indicator because it contains multi-dimensional measures that reflect overall employee satisfaction. Our FY 2000 Customer Service Survey contained the following group of indicators of employee satisfaction (baseline data):

% of positive responses

77% of our employees indicated that they felt valued
76% of our employees felt that OPM’s work environment, policies, and family friendly programs support their work/life responsibilities
75% of employees felt that they have access to the training and developmental opportunities needed to do their jobs
78% were satisfied with their job overall

A national survey of Federal employees in FY 2000 showed that 73% of our employees indicated that OPM supports family/personal life responsibilities, compared to only 65% Governmentwide. Sixty-six percent of OPM employees indicated that they are satisfied with their jobs, compared to only 63% Governmentwide.

M Improved labor-management relations.

A national survey of Federal employees included the following question for OPM employees:

We revitalized our Partnership Council with representatives from both of our union locals. We coordinated the development of a Labor-Management Strategic Plan by OPM management and the representatives of OPM’s bargaining unit employees. The Plan represents a vision of labor-management relations that is shared by both labor and management, and acknowledges that such a vision must be formed by the goals articulated in the OPM Strategic Plan.

We coordinated a partnership training retreat to provide a setting in which management and labor could review past events, provide mutual feedback, and develop plans to enhance partnership at OPM.

OHREEO provided Alternative Dispute Resolution training to all OPM supervisors and managers, and the presidents of our two locals at our Annual Strategic Leadership Summit in March 2000.

We coordinated the activities of management and our local unions in implementing a childcare assistance program for lower income employees.

We conducted Partnership/Basic Labor-Management Relations training for new supervisors and union representatives of Local 2450 at our Boyers, PA, site. The training provided supervisors and union officials with a common understanding of partnership, and the basics of the Federal labor relations program. The training covered the rights and responsibilities of both management and the union under the Federal program, as well as a discussion of the reasons for, and key concepts of, partnership, and how partnership can be a foundation for more effective organizational performance. By better understanding what their rights and responsibilities are under the labor relations program and understanding that these rights and responsibilities are not diminished by partnership, both parties can feel more comfortable in working in partnership.

M Improved service to OPM employees regarding benefits.

Leave and Earning statements were made available to OPM employees online via Employee Express. Employees can now view and print current and recent statements from their computers.

OHREEO hired a Benefits Assistant to help support our Benefits Officer in responding to requests for retirement annuity estimates, answering benefits questions, and orchestrating Thrift Savings Plan (TSP) and health benefits open seasons.

The FY 2000 goal was to maintain timeliness at 90% or above, significantly above the Governmentwide average of 80%. We will continue to monitor this activity to prevent further erosion in the figure.

We conducted four sessions of a Financial Planning/Retirement Seminar for employees at our Boyers, PA, site. Feedback from participants consistently indicated that people found the seminars to be well-presented and useful to them in making plans for the future.

In FY 2000, 100% of participants in our retirement seminars indicated that they were satisfied with the content and format of the sessions we presented; this is an increase over our FY 1999 satisfaction rate of 98%.

M Improved customer service to employees and managers who work in locations that do not have onsite HR staff by increasing access to information and training for employees.

We funded and coordinated a variety of independent study courses for field employees, enabling them to participate in self-paced study and training from remote locations.

OHREEO conducted an onsite service visit to the San Juan, PR, Service Center, and we are currently scheduling onsite visits to three additional Service Centers. We also conducted multiple visits to OPM’s Pittsburgh Teleservice Center. Site visits allow us to gain a better understanding of local issues, cultures, and environment, present complex information in person, and develop personal relationships with our customers that are impossible to develop via phone or email. Onsite visits are important to our customers because they reinforce the fact that we care about them as customers, allow them the opportunity to discuss the HR and benefits issues in depth, and help them develop the HR strategies necessary to effectively meet their organizational and strategic needs.

M Improved customer service for employees in the Central Office.

Our internal customer satisfaction survey showed improved customer satisfaction from 69% in FY 1998 to 70% in FY 2000.

OHREEO Goal 4 -- N

All individual performance plans are linked to agency strategic goals and to the FY 2000 Performance Plan.

This goal was established under Strategic Goal V to ensure that all employees understand the linkage between their individual performance and the overall ability of the agency to accomplish our strategic goals. There are two indicators to assess whether this goal is achieved. Of these, the first indicator was identified at the beginning of the year as most critical for achieving the goal. Since we did not fully meet this indicator, we failed to meet the overall goal.

In FY 2001, we will work with managers and our unions to ensure that any remaining employee performance plans are aligned with the agency strategic plan.

N All (100%) performance plans are linked to the OPM Strategic Plan and the FY 2000 OPM Performance Plan. [Critical indicator]

This is the critical indicator because it is the only absolute indicator of success in this goal as stated. We have made significant progress on this goal — approximately 90% of individual performance plans were aligned with the Strategic Plan and the Performance Plan by the end of the fiscal year. The remaining performance plans require more work and may require negotiation with our unions, which should be completed during the next rating cycle.

M Most OPM organizations have also aligned their incentive awards programs and their training programs to the strategic goals.

The Director’s Award program is aligned with the agency’s strategic goals. We plan on working with our unions to implement a new form that will require managers to document the relationship of the award nomination to specific strategic goal accomplishment.

Alignment of training programs is difficult to measure directly. However, if an employee’s individual performance plan is aligned to the strategic goals, and the performance plan is used as a basis for making decisions about performance improvement, including participation in training, etc., then our training programs are presumably aligned to the strategic goals.