Survey finds managers aren't using Results Act measures

Federal managers aren't using the performance information that agencies are required to diligently track under the 1993 Government Performance and Results Act (GPRA), according to a new survey from the General Accounting Office (GAO).

The 1993 Results Act aimed to improve federal management, but GAO's study found that federal managers rarely use the information contained in the Act's required plans and reports. The law requires agencies to set performance goals each year and then report on whether they met those goals.

For the study, "Managing For Results: Federal Managers' View Show Need for Ensuring Top Leadership Skills" (GAO-01-127), GAO surveyed 2,500 federal managers about their views on performance and management issues. The same survey was administered to federal managers in 1997.

According to GAO, federal managers have not made much progress in managing for results since 1997.

"It appears that there has been some stagnation or retrenchment in managers' perceptions," the report found. "About 53 percent of managers perceived a strong commitment to achieving results to a great or very great extent in 2000, while 57 percent has this perception in 1997-not a statistically significant change."

While more managers are compiling the information mandated under GPRA, fewer are using the information to enhance or improve performance than was reported three years earlier, the survey found.

"The significant reduction in the reported use of performance information in making most of these critical management decisions is disturbing," the report said. "It suggests that efforts to increase the focus on results and the use of performance information are not penetrating the federal bureaucracy."

GAO pointed out that manager's attitudes are critical to the use of performance plan data-simply collecting the information is not enough. "The benefit of collecting performance information is only fully realized when this information is actually used by managers," the report said.

In both the 1997 and 2000 surveys, only 16 percent of program managers reported that management changes were based on results-driven performance plans, according to GAO.

Describing the results from both surveys as "discouraging," GAO concluded that more work remains before the use of results-oriented performance information becomes the norm in federal government.