Three agencies earn top management awards

The Defense and Treasury departments and the Environmental Protection Agency have received the federal government's top award for excellence in management.

"I am very glad to be here tonight to honor the achievements of hard-working and proud federal employees," said acting Office of Personnel Management Director Michael Hager, during a Thursday night ceremony at the National Museum of Women in the Arts. "Their contributions are something we can turn to as examples of the best of federal government."

The Presidential Awards for Management Excellence are nonmonetary and recognize agencies for creative management programs. Two Defense agencies and the Treasury Department won 2008 awards for innovative and exemplary practices, and EPA captured the honor for overall management.

The Office of the Assistant Secretary of Defense for Health Affairs earned kudos for its Computer/Electronic Accommodations Program, which provides assistive technology and support to disabled federal employees governmentwide. The office has created a groundbreaking system, eCAP, that allows federal employees to do everything from completing a skills assessment to submitting requests for adaptive technology through a single portal. Program director Dinah Cohen said the award was a victory for advocates of making the federal government a more open and accessible employer.

"I think this award states a few things," she said. "One, disability employment is an important part of agencies' management agenda and human capital….Two, accommodations and accessibility are smart business practices and good for all employees as we become an aging workforce. Three, the return on investment is huge."

Treasury also was recognized for e-government work. Specifically, the award honored the development of the department's Budget Formulation and Execution Manager, a tool that integrates complex budget calculations and performance measurements.

Defense's second award went to the Office of the Assistant Secretary of the Army for the Military Housing Privatization Initiative, which has expanded the number of residences available to service members by 15,000 and allowed for renovations of 12,000 more homes, at a cost that was $7 billion lower than initial estimates.

EPA won plaudits for fostering a "results-oriented performance culture throughout the organization," OPM wrote in a program booklet for the awards ceremony. "A rigorous performance management framework provides consistent and unifying terminology; 'bottom-up' improvement initiatives; outcome-focused measures; and increased transparency."

In particular, EPA's Performance Management Council, a group of senior executives and regional officials that provides advice on incorporating performance management systems in the agency's work; its Program Analysis Division, which focuses on improving program outcomes; and EPAStat, a system that brings together federal, state and tribal efforts in a single performance management program, helped the agency earn its top marks.