4.4: Stewardship
Be a Responsible Steward of GAO’s Human, Information, Fiscal, Technological, and Physical Resources Other Information:
Proactively addressing operational and management requirements is essential to maintain excellence in internal operations:
GAO will continue to enhance its already strong internal control program by increasing its focus on risk and making the control
program an integral part of planning, budgeting, management, accounting, and internal auditing activities. GAO has embraced
federal “greening” initiatives to contribute to federal efforts to increase energy-efficiency and prevent environmental degradation,
among other things. The safety and security of GAO’s employees and their environment is also of paramount importance, especially
in light of domestic and international events and technological changes. Specifically, the agency will continue to take action
to ensure the personal safety of staff, asset protection, and continuity of agency operations. GAO will also step up efforts
to conduct privacy impact assessments and other actions necessary to ensure that information on individuals in its systems,
databases, and other records is adequately protected. Business operations: To continue to be a leading-practices agency, it
is essential that GAO’s business operations are efficient and effective and that agency systems provide the data needed to
inform timely decisions. (See fig. 45.) To meet this goal, GAO is in the process of implementing a number of new core business
systems: The agency will take steps to fully use the capabilities of the shared service provider of its financial system to
ensure integration across all business operations and to improve data integrity, efficiency of operations, and financial decision
making. Completing initial deployment of the agency’s new travel and human-resource systems is also important to reduce administrative
burdens on mission and support staff, improve processing times, increase transaction accuracy, and support timely decision
making. Leveraging technology to improve remaining manual processes will also help reduce workloads and increase program-efficiency
when tracking international requests and correspondence and obtaining passports and visas. In light of the many new responsibilities
placed on the agency in fiscal year 2009 and the need to shift resources quickly, identifying requirements and technical solutions
for an integrated workforce planning and budgeting system will also be a priority. Administrative functions: Consistent management
of and cohesive policies and practices for key administrative functions are important for effective agency leadership and
management: To ensure it can meet its most pressing needs, GAO will develop a human-capital governance structure that requires
senior managers to be involved in key decisions. GAO will continue to enhance its budgeting and workforce-planning processes
and capabilities to ensure maximum flexibility in responding to changing and emerging needs and requirements. GAO will strengthen
its strategic planning process so that it reinforces management’s long-term vision for the organization and provides a line
of sight for all employees. GAO will institutionalize processes for sharing the considerable knowledge and expertise of its
analysts to improve internal operations and to “walk the talk,” ensuring that GAO practices are consistent with recommendations
made to other agencies. GAO will institutionalize practices for using various internal communication methods to ensure that
a strategic and consistent approach is applied across the agency. In addition, to ensure agency needs are effectively met,
GAO will revisit how it uses its headquarters workspace in light of changing factors, such as new entrants into its workforce,
greater use of matrixed work teams, expanded teleworking, and the agency’s rotational development program. Employee organizations:
As a knowledgebased people organization, GAO embraces the full engagement of all employees. In 2007, GAO Band I and Band II
analysts, auditors, specialists, and investigators, and staff in the Professional Development Program, elected to be represented
by a union and established GAO Employees’ Organization, IFPTE, Local 1921. In 2008, GAO and IFPTE, Local 1921, reached an
interim collective bargaining agreement. GAO is committed to continuing to work constructively with IFPTE, Local 1921, to
finalize and implement a master term collective bargaining agreement. In addition, GAO has a number of employee organizations
that represent various minority groups and other populations at GAO. These various employee organizations—including IFPTE,
Local 1921; the Employee Advisory Council; and the Diversity Advisory Council—are the primary mechanisms for fostering collaboration
and open communication between GAO management and staff. GAO management works cooperatively with employee organizations to
obtain employee comments, concerns, and potential solutions regarding GAO policies, procedures, and practices. To ensure GAO
continues to be a responsible steward of the agency’s human, information, fiscal, technological, and physical resources, GAO
has established the following performance goals and key efforts:
Indicator(s):
|
