FY 2001 Performance and Accountability Report Homepage Annual Performance Goals and Results Performance for FY 2001 Goals and Objectives —     Strategic Goal I     Strategic Goal II     Strategic Goal III     Strategic Goal IV     Corporate      Management      Strategies and      Internal Goals Completeness and Reliability of Performance Data

 

Annual Performance Goals and Results

Performance for FY 2001 Goals and Objectives

Corporate Management Strategies and Internal Goals

OPM recognizes that it cannot accomplish its program goals and outcomes without properly managing the agency's internal resources. These resources include the nearly 3,000 well-trained, diverse, and motivated people working at OPM, information technology systems and infrastructure, and financial management systems. Thus, the agency established goals for each of these critical areas and has maintained a cooperative and consultative relationship with the Office of the Inspector General regarding the oversight of these resources. During FY 2001, the agency met 28 of the 30 performance goals in this regard.

Information Technology Management Strategy: OPM's Information Technology (IT) processes and infrastructure meet the evolving technology needs of OPM's program offices and the mandates of the Clinger-Cohen Act.

IT operational support and services, are provided in an efficient and effective manner, meet customer requirements, and facilitate program offices achieving strategic goals.

A sound and integrated agencywide IT architecture provides a standards-based, interoperable and secure technology environment that meets OPM staff needs.

Our mission-critical systems, infrastructure and information are protected by a robust IT security program.

An information resources management program is in place that meets the requirements of the Paperwork Reduction Act, Freedom of Information Act and the Privacy Act and ensures OPM's critical records are safeguarded.

Continuing improvements to our IT capital planning, control and development process are implemented to assure optimal decisions on technology investments and the efficient and effective design and operation of the IT systems that achieve our strategic goals.

OPM achieved this corporate management strategy by completing the realignment of agencywide IT support services and centralizing most IT operational support. This included increasing the number and skill levels of contractors responsible for responding to Help Desk inquiries and establishing a three-tier system for responding to problems in order to facilitate rapid escalation of issues when necessary to support mission-critical functions. The agency also instituted a weekly Help Desk Forum open to all staff to address IT support issues and scheduled recurring meetings with program office managers to assess its performance. In addition, OPM crafted a Service Management Agreement between its Office of the Chief Information Officer and the customer organizations it serves that sets performance standards for a wide variety of IT support activities.

The Network Management Center (NMC) is responsible for the agencywide management of its local and wide area network IT infrastructure, including the connection of all IT devices to the network and the installation of software on those devices. This centralized approach ensures that only approved hardware and software are procured and added to the network.

During the year OPM developed a new computer security policy that enhanced its IT security program. The agency's IT security was extensively reviewed by an outside auditor and by the Office of the Inspector General. These reviews uncovered no material weaknesses.

All major IT initiatives and proposals are reviewed by technical staff for architectural compliance before funds are committed. These projects follow rigorous project management and development methodologies. OPM has developed an agencywide system development life cycle methodology. The pilot for this system is currently on schedule and on budget.

Human Resources Management Strategy: OPM can recruit, develop, and maintain the highly skilled and diverse workforce necessary to accomplish our current and future strategic goals with efficiency and innovation.

OPM manages its workforce strategically and aligns its human resources in a manner that best supports accomplishment of the agency's strategic goals.

Recruitment and staffing strategies are based on workforce planning information and facilitate the hiring of a diverse, capable, and flexible workforce.

Innovative employee education and training programs and practices cultivate a workforce that is flexible, optimally trained, and capable of adapting to changing technology.

OPM's work environment attracts, retains, and satisfies employees and managers.

OHREEO uses the best available technology for personnel data, processing, and recordkeeping to provide fast, accurate, and efficient human resources services.

OPM's work environment promotes and values diversity, and is free from unlawful discrimination.

OPM achieved this corporate management strategy by following through on action items that enable us to have the human capital we need to accomplish our mission, goals, and objectives. The agency established a cross-organizational taskforce to develop an action plan for managing leadership succession. The taskforce recommended nearly 20 action items that form the basis for an overall agency succession plan. However, since several of these items have significant resource implications, the agency has delayed implementing them until the current leadership can review them.

In the area of recruitment and staffing, OPM implemented new automated staffing software to streamline staffing processes and established a Delegated Examining Unit in order to facilitate a more efficient and cost effective method of filling positions within the agency. These actions lead to cost savings of $102,000 by issuing 102 job certificates in-house rather than purchasing these services from outside sources. The agency also reduced the average time it takes to issue candidate referrals from 58 days in FY 1999, to 53 days in FY 2000 and 45 days in FY 2001.

In the area of employee training and development, OPM met all but one critical indicator which called for a core curriculum for supervisory /management training to be in place. Nonetheless, significant progress was made in this area by securing training slots for "Introduction to Supervision" so all new supervisors and select aspiring supervisors can receive this important training.

The most significant accomplishment, however, is the effort to lay the groundwork for a new OPM Virtual University. The OPM Virtual University enables OPM employees access to thousands of online training courses. We piloted the University to 250 OPM employees, and we plan to expand the program in FY 2002.

In addition, OPM improved its work environment by expanding the use of certain family friendly flexibilities which, among other things, resulted in almost 30% of OPM employees participating in telecommuting on a scheduled or ad-hoc basis. The agency also promoted other family friendly options, such as nursing mothers' lactation facilities, family-medical leave entitlements, alternative work schedules, and health and wellness programs. Following the events of September 11, OPM's Employee Assistance Program offered counseling sessions to help employees deal with the emotional aftermath of the attacks and coordinated a "special solicitation" of OPM employees that resulted in nearly $10,000 in donations to charities associated with relief efforts.

Finally, OPM took action to identify and reduce/eliminate barriers to increasing representation and advancement of minorities, women, and people with disabilities, and developed EEO Special Emphasis Programs that enhance cultural awareness. These efforts increased the minority representation among key underrepresented groups.

OPM Workforce Minority Representation
Ethnic Group	FY 1998 Baseline	FY 1999 Results	FY 2000 Results	FY 2001 Results
Hispanic	2.90%	3.30%	3.70%	3.90%
Asian/Pacific Islander	1.25%	1.22%	1.52%	2.00%
American Indian/Alaska Native	0.33%	0.43%	0.54%	0.60%

Financial Management Strategy: OPM's financial management systems operate with effective internal controls and no material weaknesses to maintain the integrity of OPM's appropriated and reimbursable funds and the employee benefits trust funds. Timely and accurate integrated financial management support and reporting is provided to OPM programs to assist them in meeting their strategic goals and objectives.

Prepare financial statements by the statutory due date and earn an unqualified audit opinion on the OPM financial statements.

Modernize OPM's administrative financial management systems.

 

Financial management support and reporting is provided to ensure OPM's core functions can meet their goals and objectives.

OPM achieved this corporate management strategy by preparing and issuing financial statements by the statutory due date of March 1, 2001, and earning an unqualified audit opinion on the agency's consolidated financial statements. The agency implemented the GSA cross-servicing initiative for the automated payroll/labor distribution functions, established a data warehouse of financial and procurement data covering FY 1991 to the present, and awarded a contract for a new core accounting system which took effect at the beginning of FY 2002.

Performance Indicators	FY 1998	FY 1999	FY 2000	FY 2001 Target	FY 2001 Result
Timeliness of Payments	90%	91%	94%	98%	97%
Accounts Receivable Delinquency	49%	38%	N/A	22%	12%
Identify and Research Cash Accounts Differences with Treasury	>180 days	90 days	30 days	30 days	30 days

Agency space planning supports program office strategic goals.

 

Provide quality procurement services to OPM's program offices.

 

Improve mail management services to reduce postage and shipping costs.

 

Local voice telecommunications services are improved.

 

Systems and environments are improved to increase agency efficiency.

 

Administration and OPM policy objectives are fulfilled.

OPM met all but the last of these six annual goals. The agency developed a unified space plan that is tied to organizational strategic plans and based on integrated workforce management principles. It continued to monitor and review component rent charges, which led to a reduction in charges at our Macon, GA, facility of $500,000.

The increased usage of purchase cards in lieu of purchase orders resulted in a savings of more than $2.3 million in FY 2001. The agency continued to encourage expanded usage of the cards at training sessions for contracting officers, card holders, and approving officials in February and July. The increased use of "pre-sorting" substantially reduced mailing charges. Also, annual telephone line inventories have reduced costs and corrected billing errors. A new visual messaging system has been established, allowing telephone messages to appear on employee computer screens on a need-to-have basis.

Purchase Card Usage
	FY 1999 Results	FY 2000 Results	FY 2001 Results
Purchase Card Transactions	15,699	19,229	35,507
Administrative Savings ($66 per transaction)	$844,135	$1,269,114	$2,343,462
Pre-sort Discounts
	FY 1999 Results	FY 2000 Results	FY 2001 Target
Mail Eligible for Pre-sort Discount	15%	18%	37%
Total Savings	$36,414	$43,190	$68,833
Telephone Line Inventories
	FY 1999 Results	FY 2000 Results	FY 2001 Results
Lines Eliminated	85	130	432
Savings	$15,000	$20,000	$101,800

OPM has improved building security by creating an automated key-tracking system that tracks keys issued to individuals and those maintained by the security staff, and stores a record of everyone to whom a key has ever been issued. It is reducing energy costs by retrofitting overhead light fixtures throughout the building and replacing aging air conditioning equipment.

The agency made substantial progress in revising and updating the agency Continuity of Operation plan, trained all employees on implementation procedures, and conducted numerous tests on components of the plan.

One of OPM's largest contracts, for background investigations, was recompeted and again awarded to US Investigations Services in July 2001. This company was previously reported as a small business, but, with the new award, they are now a large business. This fact, in addition to a large increase in the number of background investigations performed in the last quarter of FY 2001, greatly increased the agency's total contract dollars that went into the large business category. This precluded OPM from meeting the FY 2001 small business contracting target.

Provide expert legal services to program and senior officials within the Office of Personnel Management, other agencies, Federal employees, and the public.

In addition to reviewing all of the regulatory documents related to human resources issues and Federal civil service laws, OPM helped develop governmentwide guidance and model plans to support the effort to bring people with disabilities into the Federal workforce. The agency was involved in major ongoing cases involving the Administrative Law Judge examination, the proper use of prior discipline in adverse actions, and the application of reduction-in-force regulations and procedures to medical professionals.

Human resources management assistance and information is provided to Federal agencies, the media, and the general public.

OPM's normal press outreach was expanded to include minority and labor publications. The agency issued approximately 90 press releases, and responded to approximately 1,000 media calls. Following the September 11, 2001, attack, media calls and responses climbed to an unprecedented level. Marketing and outreach multiplied to include expansion of contacts. OPM introduced a new film showcasing the work of the SES corps as a key step in enhancing the image of the public service.

The OPM Web site continued to provide information to the bulk of customers, stakeholders and partners. It logged in more than 250,000 unique users per week and an average of over six million site-wide hits per week. In a survey of HR Directors, 97% described the Web site as convenient, 91% as user-friendly, and 100% felt it contained relevant information.

Improve OPM's implementation of the Government Performance and Results Act (GPRA).

OPM has taken specific steps to improve the implementation of the Results Act. The agency's activities to implement the Results Act are led by a single executive under the leadership of the CFO, and delivered by a working group composed of representatives from each of the program and staff offices. OPM improved its performance measurement program in FY 2001 as it continued implementing the new Corporate Measurement Framework which was created in FY 2000 and introduced in the revised Strategic Plan for FY 2000-2005 (September 2000). The agency plans to have it fully implemented by the end of FY 2003. As a part of this initiative, OPM improved how we stated our annual performance goals and objectives in the FY 2002 annual plan. These were cited by the GAO as an improvement in their review of OPM's GPRA activities, saying "OPM clearly recognizes the strategic challenges it faces, has committed to responding to them, and has important initiatives underway in that regard." The agency has carried this action further for the FY 2003 Annual Performance Plan by creating a more focused set of goals and a more targeted list of useful measures.

In its fall 2001 analysis of "Accountability Reporting Trends and Techniques," designed to share its assessment of best practices, KPMG cited OPM's FY 2001 Performance and Accountability Report for providing a summary chart that identified the status of performance goals under each agency strategic goal. This innovation was introduced in FY 2001.

On a broader note, in FY 2001 the agency began work with the HRMC and a private sector consortium to identify better human capital measures to assess the impact of human resources management, both governmentwide and within specific agencies. These measures will be incorporated into its future performance reports and annual plans. OPM is developing a unified governmentwide survey to assess and provide comparison data on agency human capital actions as a part of this effort; the survey will be administered in FY 2002.

A broad range of qualified applicants are attracted to the White House Fellows program in order to spread the benefits of this leadership development and public service opportunity to remarkable men and women of all backgrounds and professions throughout the U.S.

The selection process is efficient and fair.

 

The management of the fellowship program can be replicated by new staff in anticipation of a change in Administration.

There was a dramatic increase in the number of applicants in FY 2001, from 242 to 547. This resulted from an expanded effort to involve alumni of the program in the recruitment process. OPM also expanded the Web site to include a downloadable application form.

Shape the Administration's direction on Federal human resources policy issues.

 

Guidance and assistance is provided to agency management and to Congress in the development of human resources management policies and programs to promote a merit-based and cost-effective Federal service and the optimum balance of consistency and agency-specific flexibilities.

The Administration cleared six legislative proposals as part of the President's "Freedom to Manage" Initiative that were included in the "Managerial Flexibility Act of 2001" which was transmitted to Congress at the start of FY 2002.

Independent oversight of agency programs, operations, functions, and activities is provided.

 

Assist and work with our customers and stakeholders in a spirit of cooperation.

 

Fraud against OPM programs is detected and prevented.

The return on investment on OIG activities improved, from $11 per dollar spent in FY 2000 to $25 in FY 2001. This is due to an increase in actual recoveries plus management commitment to collect findings. This ensures that the integrity of the merit-based civil service and employee benefits is protected.

Audits Conducted	FY 1999 Results	FY 2000 Results	FY 2001 Target	FY 2001 Actual
Insurance Audit Reports Issued	54	68	65	81
CFC Audit Reports	4	8	15	23
Performance Audits	6	4	8	8
Dollars Saved	FY 1999 Results	FY 2000 Results	FY 2001 Target	FY 2001 Actual
Positive Financial Impact	$51.9 m	$105.2 m	$100 m	$242.1 m
Return on Investment (per $1 spent)	$6	$11	$10	$25

The number of material weaknesses dropped from 11 in FY 1999 to 5 in FY 2000, and none in FY 2001.

	FY 1999 Results	FY 2000 Results	FY 2001 Target	FY 2001 Actual
Material Weaknesses Identified	11	5	0	0
Determinations by program offices that concur with FEHBP audit findings	74%	72%	74%	85%
Issues Addressed by Quality Improvement Teams	9	10	11	13
Indictments	13	15	15	28
Convictions	14	15	17	22
Common Rule Debarments	2,743	2,706	3,900	4,032

 

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