Jacquelyn Martin/AP

Watchdog Highlights High Priority Workforce Issues Plaguing OPM

The federal government’s HR agency lags far behind other departments in addressing issues on GAO’s high-risk list.

Government auditors warned the Office of Personnel Management this week of a number of outstanding issues that could, if left unresolved, impede the agency’s ability to manage the federal workforce and ensure agencies can effectively recruit and retain employees.

The Government Accountability Office issued a report Wednesday highlighting outstanding recommendations it has  made to OPM in recent years related to issues on the watchdog's biennial high-risk list, including human capital management, the security clearance process and protecting employees’ personal information.

In a letter to Acting OPM Director Margaret Weichert, Comptroller General Gene Dodaro noted that the agency lags far behind its counterparts in addressing recommendations from GAO.

“In November 2018, we reported that on a governmentwide basis 77 percent of our recommendations made four years ago were implemented,” Dodaro wrote. “OPM’s recommendation implementation rate was about 38 percent. As of 2019, OPM had 89 open recommendations.”

Dodaro wrote that the agency still must do more to address skill gaps in mission critical areas, and suggested that OPM should consult with the Office of Management and Budget as well as chief human capital officers across government to collect governmentwide staffing and competency data and set up metrics to close those gaps. And it must work to implement its own report to help agencies fulfill their mission.

“Our May 2014 report recommended that OPM and the [Chief Human Capital Officer] Council explore the feasibility of expanded use of enterprise solutions to more efficiently and effectively address shared or government-wide human capital challenges,” Dodaro wrote. “To fully address this recommendation, OPM needs to take further action, such as implementing aspects of the Federal Workforce Priorities Report related to enterprise solutions and implementing initiatives to support enterprise solutions already underway.”

GAO also stressed that OPM must do more to modernize the classification system as part of the General Schedule pay scale and make hiring and special pay authorities outside of that system more effective. Although the agency has developed a study for one series within the General Schedule system, analysts said OPM must do significantly more outreach with stakeholders as it moves forward.

“OPM still needs to work in conjunction with key stakeholders such as OMB and unions; complete its review of studies and lessons learned; and if warranted, develop a legislative proposal to make the GS system’s design and implementation more consistent with the attributes of a modern, effective classification system,” GAO wrote.

OPM has been working for years to upgrade its IT controls, but as of last December, much of the agency was unable to provide evidence of its progress.

“In January 2018, OPM provided documentation supporting its security control assessments, but this information did not demonstrate that the agency was ensuring comprehensive testing of technical controls,” GAO wrote. “We requested further evidence showing assessment results and OPM’s reviews of testing procedures. In December 2018, OPM told us it plans to provide this information by spring 2019.”

Additionally, Dodaro wrote that OPM needs to do more to support efforts to train managers and executives on performance management so that they can more easily address instances of employee misconduct.

“OPM needs to build on its existing efforts to disseminate lessons learned by considering additional [performance management] practices from other sources,” he wrote. “OPM also needs to take steps to help agencies improve the training they provide supervisors and managers on addressing misconduct . . . OPM needs to implement a process to update its performance management website, create a mechanism for agencies to share lessons learned, and share innovations in performance management with agencies.”

X
This website uses cookies to enhance user experience and to analyze performance and traffic on our website. We also share information about your use of our site with our social media, advertising and analytics partners. Learn More / Do Not Sell My Personal Information
Accept Cookies
X
Cookie Preferences Cookie List

Do Not Sell My Personal Information

When you visit our website, we store cookies on your browser to collect information. The information collected might relate to you, your preferences or your device, and is mostly used to make the site work as you expect it to and to provide a more personalized web experience. However, you can choose not to allow certain types of cookies, which may impact your experience of the site and the services we are able to offer. Click on the different category headings to find out more and change our default settings according to your preference. You cannot opt-out of our First Party Strictly Necessary Cookies as they are deployed in order to ensure the proper functioning of our website (such as prompting the cookie banner and remembering your settings, to log into your account, to redirect you when you log out, etc.). For more information about the First and Third Party Cookies used please follow this link.

Allow All Cookies

Manage Consent Preferences

Strictly Necessary Cookies - Always Active

We do not allow you to opt-out of our certain cookies, as they are necessary to ensure the proper functioning of our website (such as prompting our cookie banner and remembering your privacy choices) and/or to monitor site performance. These cookies are not used in a way that constitutes a “sale” of your data under the CCPA. You can set your browser to block or alert you about these cookies, but some parts of the site will not work as intended if you do so. You can usually find these settings in the Options or Preferences menu of your browser. Visit www.allaboutcookies.org to learn more.

Sale of Personal Data, Targeting & Social Media Cookies

Under the California Consumer Privacy Act, you have the right to opt-out of the sale of your personal information to third parties. These cookies collect information for analytics and to personalize your experience with targeted ads. You may exercise your right to opt out of the sale of personal information by using this toggle switch. If you opt out we will not be able to offer you personalised ads and will not hand over your personal information to any third parties. Additionally, you may contact our legal department for further clarification about your rights as a California consumer by using this Exercise My Rights link

If you have enabled privacy controls on your browser (such as a plugin), we have to take that as a valid request to opt-out. Therefore we would not be able to track your activity through the web. This may affect our ability to personalize ads according to your preferences.

Targeting cookies may be set through our site by our advertising partners. They may be used by those companies to build a profile of your interests and show you relevant adverts on other sites. They do not store directly personal information, but are based on uniquely identifying your browser and internet device. If you do not allow these cookies, you will experience less targeted advertising.

Social media cookies are set by a range of social media services that we have added to the site to enable you to share our content with your friends and networks. They are capable of tracking your browser across other sites and building up a profile of your interests. This may impact the content and messages you see on other websites you visit. If you do not allow these cookies you may not be able to use or see these sharing tools.

If you want to opt out of all of our lead reports and lists, please submit a privacy request at our Do Not Sell page.

Save Settings
Cookie Preferences Cookie List

Cookie List

A cookie is a small piece of data (text file) that a website – when visited by a user – asks your browser to store on your device in order to remember information about you, such as your language preference or login information. Those cookies are set by us and called first-party cookies. We also use third-party cookies – which are cookies from a domain different than the domain of the website you are visiting – for our advertising and marketing efforts. More specifically, we use cookies and other tracking technologies for the following purposes:

Strictly Necessary Cookies

We do not allow you to opt-out of our certain cookies, as they are necessary to ensure the proper functioning of our website (such as prompting our cookie banner and remembering your privacy choices) and/or to monitor site performance. These cookies are not used in a way that constitutes a “sale” of your data under the CCPA. You can set your browser to block or alert you about these cookies, but some parts of the site will not work as intended if you do so. You can usually find these settings in the Options or Preferences menu of your browser. Visit www.allaboutcookies.org to learn more.

Functional Cookies

We do not allow you to opt-out of our certain cookies, as they are necessary to ensure the proper functioning of our website (such as prompting our cookie banner and remembering your privacy choices) and/or to monitor site performance. These cookies are not used in a way that constitutes a “sale” of your data under the CCPA. You can set your browser to block or alert you about these cookies, but some parts of the site will not work as intended if you do so. You can usually find these settings in the Options or Preferences menu of your browser. Visit www.allaboutcookies.org to learn more.

Performance Cookies

We do not allow you to opt-out of our certain cookies, as they are necessary to ensure the proper functioning of our website (such as prompting our cookie banner and remembering your privacy choices) and/or to monitor site performance. These cookies are not used in a way that constitutes a “sale” of your data under the CCPA. You can set your browser to block or alert you about these cookies, but some parts of the site will not work as intended if you do so. You can usually find these settings in the Options or Preferences menu of your browser. Visit www.allaboutcookies.org to learn more.

Sale of Personal Data

We also use cookies to personalize your experience on our websites, including by determining the most relevant content and advertisements to show you, and to monitor site traffic and performance, so that we may improve our websites and your experience. You may opt out of our use of such cookies (and the associated “sale” of your Personal Information) by using this toggle switch. You will still see some advertising, regardless of your selection. Because we do not track you across different devices, browsers and GEMG properties, your selection will take effect only on this browser, this device and this website.

Social Media Cookies

We also use cookies to personalize your experience on our websites, including by determining the most relevant content and advertisements to show you, and to monitor site traffic and performance, so that we may improve our websites and your experience. You may opt out of our use of such cookies (and the associated “sale” of your Personal Information) by using this toggle switch. You will still see some advertising, regardless of your selection. Because we do not track you across different devices, browsers and GEMG properties, your selection will take effect only on this browser, this device and this website.

Targeting Cookies

We also use cookies to personalize your experience on our websites, including by determining the most relevant content and advertisements to show you, and to monitor site traffic and performance, so that we may improve our websites and your experience. You may opt out of our use of such cookies (and the associated “sale” of your Personal Information) by using this toggle switch. You will still see some advertising, regardless of your selection. Because we do not track you across different devices, browsers and GEMG properties, your selection will take effect only on this browser, this device and this website.