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legislative reform to occur, and in this sense, human capital management remains the
missing link in the federal management framework. I believe, however, that
comprehensive federal human capital legislative reform will eventually occur. One
indication of the gathering momentum is the fact that OMB, OPM, and Congress all have
taken steps in the past year to underscore the importance of strategic human capital
management, and that some individual agencies have begun to better address their
specific human capital challenges.
Mr. Chairman, we believe that Congress will eventually want to address human capital
legislative reforms similar to those discussed in your recent report-reforms in such key
areas as improving the federal hiring system, providing more flexible pay approaches,
enhancing career development and training, and improving employee accountability.
However, we also believe that federal agency leaders cannot afford to wait for these
kinds of legislative reforms to arrive. Their first priority must be to provide the
leadership and take administrative steps to improve their human capital management
using the authorities already available under existing laws and regulations. This will not
only benefit their agencies, but give decisionmakers in the executive branch and
Congress a better understanding of what works and what does not, and allow them to
draw lessons from these experiences to build an eventual consensus for the needed
comprehensive legislative reforms.
Our view is that the vast majority of the needed improvements in human capital
management could be achieved if federal agencies took a more strategic and
performance-based approach to managing their workforces-for example, performing
effective workforce planning, developing performance goals and measures to address
their workforce challenges, and linking employee performance to results. Agency
leaders need to commit their organizations to valuing and investing in their employees,
empowering and providing them the tools to do their best, and implementing the modern
performance management and incentives systems needed to focus their efforts on
achieving agency missions and goals. What is needed is leadership, vision, commitment,
persistence, and accountability.
Now that strategic human capital management has been added to the list of high-risk
areas, it is logical to ask what needs to occur for it to be removed. The answer is two-
fold. First, the key players in the human capital area-agency leaders, OMB, OPM, and
Congress-need to play their parts in effectuating meaningful and lasting change. Just as
modern performance management principles have been brought to federal financial
management, information technology management, and strategic planning/performance
measurement, they must also be brought to federal human capital management. Second,
we will need to see measurable and sustainable improvements in the economy,
efficiency, and effectiveness with which the government as a whole and the individual
agencies manage their workforces to achieve their missions and goals.
Before I outline some of the challenges that led to our designation of strategic human
capital management as a governmentwide high-risk area, and some of the steps thatGAO-01-357T
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United States. General Accounting Office. Human Capital: Meeting the Governmentwide High-Risk Challenge, text, February 1, 2001; Washington D.C.. (https://digital.library.unt.edu/ark:/67531/metadc289517/m1/4/: accessed April 23, 2024), University of North Texas Libraries, UNT Digital Library, https://digital.library.unt.edu; crediting UNT Libraries Government Documents Department.