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STATE OF THE PUBLIC SERVICE
STATE O F T H E P U B LI C S E RV I C E CO N FE R E N C E
R E P O RT OF PROCE E DI NGS
j u N E 2007
The Partnership for Public Service is a nonprofit organization that works to revitalize federal government
by inspiring a new generation to serve and by transforming the way government works.
STAT E OF TH E Pu B LIC S E RVICE CON F E R E NCE | R E PO RT OF PRO C E E D I N G S
e xecut ive summary After a rich discussion in which the participants re-
Americans need effective government now more than sponded to a “strawman” proposal, the group concluded
ever. Yet, too often, we don’t know how capable, or that the indicator system should measure six essential
incapable, our government is until it fails spectacularly “pillars” of an effective government:
as it did in its response to Hurricane Katrina. We need 1. The right talent — Is government getting not only
a measurement system for the health of our government the best people, but also the right talent with the
that provides greater transparency, or else we are likely skills and abilities to help agencies achieve their
to have this experience repeated again and again. goals?
One area where new measurement tools are most 2. An engaged workforce — Is the federal workforce
needed is the state of our federal civil service. Good engaged and using its abilities to deliver results?
government starts with good people. But we currently
lack a comprehensive system of metrics to tell us if our 3. Strong leadership — Are senior government lead-
government has the right people with the right skills to ers inspiring and empowering workers to perform
get the work of the American people done right. One of at their best?
the few leading measurements of our civil service that 4. Public support — Does the public support our
does actually exist is cause for great concern: The federal government and do top job candidates view the
workforce is significantly older than the overall U.S. federal government as an employer of choice?
labor pool. As baby boomers begin to retire in the next
5. Systems and structures — Is the federal govern-
few years, our government will face the biggest exodus
ment’s infrastructure enabling or inhibiting workers
of experienced talent in history.
from doing their jobs well?
In an effort to better understand the health of our civil
6. High performance — How well are federal work-
service, the Partnership for Public Service convened the
ers doing their job of delivering services to the
State of the Public Service Conference on June 29-30,
American people, and promoting and implement-
2006. Sponsored and co-hosted by the Rockefeller
ing policies that strengthen our nation?
Brothers Fund at its Pocantico, New York Conference
Center, the conference brought together experts from
In breakout sessions, participants identified possible
the government, private sector, nonprofit and academic
metrics within each pillar. Some metrics already exist
worlds to explore how to create a set of national indica-
and others need to be created. The group concluded
tors for the health of the federal workforce.
that a preliminary report on the State of the Public
The Partnership greatly appreciates the support of the Service, based largely on existing data, can and should
Rockefeller Brothers Fund and the commitment of the be released in 2008. There was also agreement that for
prestigious group of participants (listed in appendix I) any indicator system to be meaningful, it has to be
who devoted two days to an intensive discussion of repeatable over time and overseen by an independent,
performance metrics in government. The group agreed credible organization with a long-term commitment to
that such a measurement system is necessary and, most the project.
significantly, reached consensus about what the core ele-
This report summarizes the conference discussions and
ments of an indicator system to measure the health of
provides additional background information about
our civil service should be.
indicator systems and the use of metrics in the federal
government. The Partnership hopes that the findings
and ideas coming out of the forum and captured in this
report will serve as the foundation of a new indicator
system that will enable federal leaders to manage their
workforces proactively, instead of waiting for the next
failure to tell us where the problems are.
PA RT N E R S H I P F O R P u B LIC S E RVICE
REPORT OF PROCEEDING S
i ntro duct ion prestigious group of participants, who devoted the bet-
Imagine you have a car that keeps running out of gas ter part of two days engaging in an intensive discussion
at the worst possible time. Imagine that very same car of performance metrics in government.
didn’t have a gas gauge to tell you that you had a fuel This report summarizes the conference discussions and
problem. To put an end to these breakdowns, what conclusions, including ideas about the greatest challeng-
would you do? That’s easy. You would get a new gas es facing our civil service, potential metrics and how to
gauge! move the State of the Public Service project forward.
In many ways, this scenario parallels the state of our Now is the time to undertake the State of the Public
federal government. Over the past few years, our federal Service effort. Not only does a civil service without a
government has fallen into a pattern where it doesn’t measurement system make about as much sense as a
learn how effective, or ineffective, it is until something car without a gas gauge, but an unprecedented number
breaks down. That was true with Enron, Worldcom of experienced federal workers will soon retire. This
and the accounting scandals. It was true with Hurricane presents an enormous challenge — but is also a once-
Katrina. One of the main reasons agencies keep getting in-a-generation opportunity to revitalize our federal
blindsided is a lack of meaningful measurements to service. We need to build this indicator system now so
tell us how healthy, or unhealthy, our federal agencies that our federal policymakers can make the informed
are. Basically, much of the federal government is a car decisions necessary to build a federal service that the
heading out on a long road trip without a working gas public deserves and the times demand.
gauge. So what does the federal government need to do?
That’s easy. Get a gas gauge that works.
OVE RVI E w OF TH E F E DE RA L wO Rk FO R CE
The figurative gas gauge proposed in this paper is a
comprehensive indicator system to measure the health As an entry-point to this discussion on revitalizing our
of our federal government. More specifically, we need a government service, it is important to understand the
measurement system for the quality of our federal civil general makeup of the current federal workforce.
service. Why the civil service? Because good govern-
ment starts with good people. The Government Ac- As of December 2006, the federal government em-
countability Office articulated this point succinctly ployed 1.85 million civil servants. A good example of
when it wrote, “The people working for government are the U.S. government’s importance in the national labor
the most important asset in addressing the emerging market is illustrated in a 2004 study by the National
challenges facing the nation.” Association of Colleges and Employers of the nation’s
top ten entry-level employers. Four of the top ten were
In an effort to make this indicator system for our federal government agencies: The Federal Bureau of Investiga-
workforce a reality, the Partnership for Public Service tion ranked third, the U.S. Citizenship and Immigra-
convened the State of the Public Service Conference tion Services fourth, the Social Security Administration
on June 29-30, 2006. The event was co-hosted by the sixth and U.S. Customs and Border Protection tenth.
Rockefeller Brothers Fund at its Pocantico, New York Companies such as Lockheed Martin and Boeing,
Conference Center. The conference brought together which work closely with government, also ranked in the
experts from the government, private sector, nonprofit top ten.
and academic worlds to explore how to create a set of
national indicators for the health of the federal work- Contrary to conventional wisdom, more than four out
force. These indicators must be widely accepted as of five federal employees (86 percent) actually work
relevant, outcome-oriented and useful in driving change outside the Washington, D.C. area. The biggest con-
and shaping policy. An indicator system can, by its very centrations of federal jobs outside of the capital are in
nature, facilitate an increasingly effective, productive Norfolk-Newport News, Virginia; Baltimore; Philadel-
and energized federal workforce. phia; Atlanta and San Diego. The states with the most
federal jobs are California, Virginia, Texas, Maryland
The Partnership greatly appreciates the support of the and Florida.
Rockefeller Brothers Fund and the commitment of the
STAT E OF TH E Pu B LIC S E RVICE CON F E R E NCE | R E PO RT OF PRO C E E D I N G S
Federal employees work in 15 cabinet-level agencies; Another compelling reason is the old adage that “what
20 large independent agencies (defined as having more gets measured, gets changed, and what doesn’t, remains
than 1,000 employees); and 41 small agencies (fewer the same” still holds true. And when it comes to the
than 1,000 employees). The departments of Defense federal workforce, not enough gets fully measured, and
and Veterans Affairs employ the largest number of too many problems remain unchanged. As New York
permanent civilian federal workers — 611,395 and University’s Paul Light put it, “The ultimate measure
211,365, respectively. of the health of the federal civil service is whether its
employer cares enough to conduct more than the oc-
As in the private sector, the federal workforce is getting
casional cursory checkup. By that measure the federal
older. However, the problem is more acute in the federal
workforce is not healthy at all.”
government. Nearly 60 percent of federal employees are
over age 45, compared to 40 percent in the private sec- There is not a total lack of information about the federal
tor. The graying federal workforce is also an imbalanced government’s human capital needs. There is actually
workforce. Whereas three-fifths of civil servants are age plenty of data available on the federal workforce, but
45 or older, only three percent of the federal workforce this information is not systematically organized, evalu-
is 25 or younger. ated and disseminated in a meaningful way to all of
the key audiences. An indicator system for our federal
The federal workforce is diverse racially and ethnically.
workforce is the logical solution to this problem.
Sixty-nine percent of federal workers are white; seven-
teen percent are African-American, seven percent are The value of indicator systems as effective tools to drive
Hispanic, five percent are Asian/Pacific Islander, and reform has been widely documented. In November
two percent are Native American. 2004, the U.S. Government Accountability Office
(GAO) released a comprehensive report on the use of
The federal workforce is also highly skilled, and the
indicator systems at the national, state and local levels.
average federal salary is $62,000. Eighty-nine percent
The report outlines how indicator systems have been
is white collar. Eleven percent of the federal workforce
instrumental in driving improvements in areas such as
is also composed of managers and supervisors. Twenty-
the economy, education, health and the environment.
two percent of federal employees have “veteran’s prefer-
ence.” More specifically, the report details a number of ways in
which indicator systems appear to be driving change.
Despite some of the federal government’s successes, it
still faces major challenges. Although the United States Enhancing collaboration
population continues to grow, the federal workforce has Indicator systems have helped break down
increased by only 88,000 employees since September detrimental barriers between organizations. In
of 2001. There were 234,000 new hires to the federal Chicago, authority over the region’s transportation
government in 2005, but only 30 percent of them policy was fragmented among multiple state and
joined the full-time permanent workforce. These addi- local entities. After an indicator system quantified
tions were offset by the 232,000 employees who left the the area’s current and projected traffic congestion
federal government in 2005, with 90,000 quitting and problems and the need for holistic solutions, a
62,000 retiring. Almost half of those who left govern- multi-jurisdictional task force was created that has
ment were full-time permanent employees. More attri- transformed transportation planning in the region,
tion is sure to come, as it is currently projected that the helping to establish a more coherent regional
looming retirement wave will peak around 2010. system.
Promoting accountability to drive action
T H E VA Lu E O F A N I N D I C ATO R SyST E m TO PRO m OT E Indicator systems are used to assess whether or
A N E F F E C T I V E F E D E R A L wO R kF O R C E not organizations are achieving stated goals and
to highlight instances where progress is not being
This report’s introduction highlights how government made. The European Union (EU) measures and
sometimes fails, with Hurricane Katrina as one critical compares how well member nations meet certain
example, without warning. However, that situation is economic, environmental and social goals. After the
just one example of why we need an indicator system EU reported that Spain was lagging other countries
to identify where we need to take action to improve the in its efforts to reduce social disparities among
performance of the federal government workforce, and men and women, Spanish officials implemented
the federal government itself.
PA RT N E R S H I P F O R P u B LIC S E RVICE
new policies to help raise employment rates among Repeatable
women. Longitudinal data ultimately tells stakeholders
which way the arrow is moving and drives change.
Informing decision-making
Ensuring that the indicators are repeatable
Both public and private organizations use indicator
over time will provide longitudinal data and a
systems to make better-informed policy decisions.
mechanism for holding people accountable for
The Boston Indicators Project is providing
results. It will also distinguish this project from
data used extensively by local foundations and
previous efforts. One of the goals of this project is
government to inform spending decisions. For
to create a State of the Public Service report to be
example, based on needs identified by the Boston
released in 2008. This report is intended to be the
project, a foundation awarded a major grant to
most comprehensive report card to date on the
improve housing in Boston’s Roxbury section.
health of our civil service. But, follow-up research
While government officials are increasingly using indi- must also systemically and periodically update
cator systems, it appears that no government has fully these results, or the report will suffer the same
implemented a comprehensive set of measurements fate of previous efforts, most notably the Volcker
for its civilian workforce. Considering that an effective Commission of 1989 and its 2003 follow up, both
workforce is the most important ingredient of an ef- of which only briefly drew attention to the “silent
fective government, this is not only surprising, but it is crisis” in our federal workforce.
increasingly unacceptable. Comparable
Much of the data available about the federal
workforce lacks meaning because it lacks context.
CO R E PR I N C I P LE S F O R D E V E LO PI N G T H E I N DIC ATO R
To identify the unique challenges facing the federal
SyST E m
workforce, indicators must be comparable to past
It is important at the outset to establish the core defin- government performance, the private sector and
ing principles for this indicator system. The Partnership foreign governments.
believes that there are five core principles that must Consequential
apply to any effective indicator system to measure the It’s not enough to generate data that people
health of our federal civil service. understand. For the indicator system to be
Independent meaningful, people also need to understand why
A core motivation of an indicator system is to it matters. The indicator system will have to
create a consistent set of metrics that will be draw clear connections between the workforce
maintained over time. An independent system characteristics being measured and the quality
will send a strong message that indicators will not of the services being provided to the American
expire at the end of any four-year-term. Engaging people. Making and reinforcing this connection
credible, independent partners will also enhance in the minds of the public will be a powerful tool
the indicator system’s credibility with the general for driving reform and sustaining attention on this
public. topic.
Understandable
One of the primary goals of the State of the Public
Service project is to engage key stakeholders on the
issue of federal workforce revitalization. To do so,
the indicator system will need to be compiled and
presented in a way that is easily understandable by
all potential audiences and, in particular, by the
general public. This principle is particularly salient
considering that a great deal of information about
the health of our civil service is already available,
but its impact has been limited because it is used
primarily, if not exclusively, by internal audiences.
STAT E OF TH E Pu B LIC S E RVICE CON F E R E NCE | R E PO RT OF PRO C E E D I N G S
the state of the Public service second breakout session, they were asked to drill deeper
conference: deciding What to and suggest specific metrics. After each of the two
m e a sure breakout sessions, the groups reported back to the larger
body.
On June 29-30, 2006, more than twenty experts
representing the government, private sector, nonprofit, The conference closed with a plenary discussion about
philanthropic and academic worlds (see list of partici- the next steps for the project.
pants in appendix I) joined together at the Rockefeller The following is a summary of what participants said at
Brother Fund’s Pocantico, NY Conference Center for the conference and their recommendations on each of
the State of the Public Service Conference. The Partner- the six pillars.
ship decided that the best approach was to focus on two
fundamental questions:
w HAT D OE S A N E F F ECT IVE F E DE RA L wO Rk FO R CE
1. What are the core elements of an indicator system
LOO k L I kE?
that will measure the health of our civil service?
2. What are the next steps to build it? If the ultimate goal is to create a highly effective federal
civil service, it is important to define just what that
The conference began with a plenary session to answer means. In the opening plenary session, conferees were
the first question. The lead-in to that discussion was a asked to offer their definition of a high-quality work-
debate about what an effective civil service looks like. To force. There was broad consensus that an effective
fuel ideas, the Partnership also submitted a “strawman” government workforce is motivated by the public good,
indicator system for the group to analyze and discuss. not security or a stable paycheck; motivated to use its
The plenary session continued until the group reached discretionary energy toward job-related activities; given
consensus on the six core “pillars” of an effective civil the tools to do its job well; and trusted by the people
service and the key items a State of the Public Service and the leaders it serves.
indicator system should measure. Those six pillars: The Pocantico conferees stressed that government also
1. The right talent — Is government getting not only needs to be flatter, more results-oriented and more
the best people, but also the right talent with the accountable. Participants agreed that the work of the
skills and abilities to help agencies achieve their federal government will continue to require higher and
goals? higher skill levels. Currently, three out of every four
federal employees are knowledge workers, and this
2. An engaged workforce — Is the federal workforce proportion will increase. This knowledge-based work-
engaged and using its abilities to deliver results? force means that it is more important than ever to have
3. Strong leadership — Are senior government lead- talented people in government.
ers inspiring and empowering workers to perform Federal employees, like employees in all sectors, must
at their best? be technically competent. They must also demonstrate
4. Public support — Does the public support our other qualities — they must be committed, creative,
government and do top job candidates view the credible, caring, resourceful, responsive, and results-ori-
federal government as an employer of choice? ented.
5. Systems and structures — Is the federal govern- However, public service is also about a deeper set of
ment’s infrastructure enabling or inhibiting workers values and motivations. In a sense, the common good is
from doing their jobs well? government’s bottom line. And, the federal government
needs to tap into these values to attract, engage and re-
6. High performance — How well are federal work-
tain talent. One interesting issue raised by a participant
ers doing their job of delivering services to the
was the prospect that some form of mandatory public
American people, and promoting and implement-
service was necessary to get the American people think-
ing policies that strengthen our nation?
ing about “we” and not “me.” The speaker stressed that
this doesn’t mean just government service alone, but
Once consensus was reached on the pillars, participants
could include working at a non-governmental organiza-
split into two smaller groups for breakout sessions. At
tion, serving in the military or becoming a teacher.
the first breakout session, conferees discussed what we
would want to know within each pillar. During the
7
PA RT N E R S H I P F O R P u B LIC S E RVICE
One participant described an effective workforce as one Of course, any discussion of the workforce must also
where employees are willing to devote their “discretion- consider how to attract, engage and retain younger
ary energy” to their work in the federal government. workers, the fastest-growing segment of the workforce.
However, this energy has to be directed toward achiev- The current conventional wisdom is that many young
ing their agencies’ missions and goals. When the inter- people won’t stay anywhere longer than three years.
ests of employees and management overlap, the result is However, if we give talented young people the right
consensus on achieving goals. tools, make work rewarding, and provide good leader-
ship, they will stay longer. In fact, the federal govern-
At one participant’s agency, recruiters try to assess
ment does offer mobility and advancement opportuni-
motivation and interest by asking candidates how they
ties that can attract and keep talented younger workers.
measure success and what they want in a job. If there is
To take advantage of these opportunities, according to
alignment, there is commitment.
one conference participant, we need a public service
And that’s where leadership comes in. As one confer- whose “borders are more open.”
ence participant put it, “You can have the best people
Finally, federal employers shouldn’t overlook the
in the world but you have to have good leadership and
mundane — a nice place to work, and necessary tools
organizational structure.” There is a serious leadership
including access to technology. Simple things make a
problem in government — many are promoted because
difference and can have long-term benefits.
of technical expertise, whether or not they have the
skills to lead. One conference participant also cautioned As one observer concluded at the conference, “The
against confusing management with leadership. Leader- federal government is always going to be able to fill
ship is setting the agenda; management is guiding to get vacancies. The more important question is whether we
things done. Critical attributes for leadership include can fill them with talented and committed people with
courage, integrity and the commitment to be respon- the skills we need.”
sible stewards.
In addition to good leadership, the right organizational
culture, systems and structures must be in place to build
and maintain a good workforce. In a healthy culture,
where people are invested and empowered, anything is
possible. Effective organizations must also have systems
and structures that enable, and encourage, good per-
formers to succeed.
STAT E OF TH E Pu B LIC S E RVICE CON F E R E NCE | R E PO RT OF PRO C E E D I N G S
me a suring the he alth of the fe d e r a l attention on identifying high performers and how well
Workforce — the six Pill ar s they retain these workers. Special emphasis should be
also placed on the quality of the workforce in critical
With these concepts in mind, conference participants
occupations, such as foreign language translators. This
identified six essential “pillars” of effective government
review would help to reveal the talent gaps in the cur-
that should be measured by a State of the Public Service
rent workforce.
indicator system. As the conference deliberations show,
there are many potential indicators to support each On a related point, constantly refreshing projections
pillar. Despite the variety of possible measures, confer- of future hiring demands and future talent gaps would
ence attendees strongly agreed that the indicators must enable government to be more proactive, rather than
lead to action. That means, among other things, that for reactive in its efforts to secure the right talent. One
each indicator we need to identify who is accountable participant also said that these reviews should examine
and what the standard (benchmark) is for success. whether or not there are shortages/surpluses and what
the levels of expertise are.
The following section summarizes what conferees sug-
gested we need to know regarding each pillar and their One factor that might be difficult to measure, but was
ideas for measurement. It also contains relevant infor- deemed worth the effort, is whether or not employees
mation contained in the pre-conference report. are a good fit. The idea is that it would be valuable to
do a check-in survey with hiring managers 3-6 months
after a new hire to see if the new employee is a good fit.
T H E R I G H T TA LE N T Managers will be reluctant to admit mistakes, so it will
take extra effort to ensure the anonymity of the manag-
ers being surveyed.
gOAL
GOVE R N m E N T H A S T H E R I G H T P E O P LE — F RO m Finally, measuring the diversity of the workforce is im-
TOP TO BOTTO m — w I T H T H E R I G H T S k I L L S TO portant to ensure that government reflects the diversity
G E T TH E jOB D O N E of the nation.
Some of the specific metrics proposed as possible indi-
Attracting highly-qualified people to public service is cators to gauge whether government has the right talent
important, but even more crucial is understanding the include employee surveys to assess if managers and
extent that an employee is well-matched to his or her employees think they have the right talent; measures of
job. A Nobel Prize laureate (and the U.S. government recruiting effectiveness (e.g., number of qualified ap-
has produced surprisingly many) may be distinguished plicants per job, percentage of first-offers accepted, and
in a specific field, but still fail miserably at being a man- ratio of acceptances to job offers); productivity (outputs
ager. A key challenge is to identify data that, directly or per hour worked); and retirement projections.
indirectly, would help assess this person/job match. The pre-conference report highlights the Government
The breakout session identified a number of things we Accountability Office’s human capital metrics as an ex-
would like to know that could help to determine if ample of how some federal agencies are already measur-
government has the right talent. ing their talent stock. The measures include:
For instance, an understanding of the flow of talent • New hire rate — ratio of new employees hired to
coming into government from outside sectors could the number of planned hires.
prove very useful. More specifically, it would be help- • Acceptance rate — ratio of acceptances to offers
ful to know how much is coming into government and made.
from where that talent is coming. The flow of talent
from outside government was described as the “market • Retention rate — percentage of staff that stays
test” for the attractiveness of government jobs. In addi- with the agency.
tion, a profile of the people who are leaving government • Staff development — based on staff responses
would reveal the sources of government’s retention to four questions on the annual employee survey.
challenges. These questions ask employees to rate the impact of
A building block of any attempt to measure if govern- internal training, computer-based training, external
ment has the right talent would be an analysis of the training and on-the-job training.
current talent stock. This analysis should focus extra
PA RT N E R S H I P F O R P u B LIC S E RVICE
A N E N G AG E D wO Rk F O R C E index for more than 280 federal agencies and subcom-
ponents. These rankings have proven to be a useful tool
for the agencies being measured as well as potential job
gOAL seekers.
GOVE R N m E NT E m P LOyS E N E R G E T I C A N D
E NG AG E D E m P LOy E E S w H O D E L I V E R R E S u LTS In addition to employee survey questions, conference
participants also recommended using client surveys.
It was also mentioned that there is hard data available
Employee engagement is commonly seen as being to measure engagement. For example, it is possible to
closely tied to organizational performance, although quantify the number of employee hours required to
that link can be exceedingly difficult to establish in the generate outputs. Turnover rates and “early” voluntary
public sector. Private sector companies devote consider- separation rates can also be useful indicators.
able resources to measuring engagement.
Breakout team members said the biggest factors to STRONG LE ADE RS H I P
examine that will assess worker engagement are the level
of commitment to the agency’s mission and the sense
that work is making a difference. Almost equally impor- g OA L
tant is whether or not people feel connected to their co- m A N AG E R S A R E A B LE TO I N S PI R E A N D m A kE
workers. One conferee asked, “What motivates soldiers? m E A N I N G Fu L A N D CR E D I B LE D I ST I N C T I O N S
It’s not patriotism, as much as it’s their buddies.” Simply A m O N G E m P LOyE E S I N T E R m S O F P E R F O R m A NCE
put, if people respect their co-workers they are more
likely to stay and work hard. If they are dispirited by the
people around them, they will not be engaged. Successful leadership is critical to create effective work-
forces and effective workplaces. This is an area where
There was broad agreement within the breakout team research shows that the public sector lags behind the
that worker engagement measures would have to rely private sector. Corporate leadership development pro-
heavily on surveys. Participants suggested a series of grams have been shown to produce returns on invest-
possible questions, including: ment of up to 500 percent. The challenge for measuring
• Do I have the right skills/tools? leadership in the public sector is to establish equally
effective indicators, including measuring the results that
• Am I getting the training I need? leaders produce. The Partnership’s Best Places to Work in
• Am I challenged? the Federal Government rankings already provide survey
data on how federal employees feel about their leaders.
• Am I learning?
GAO surveys its employees on leadership through ques-
• Am I making a difference? tions such as, “My immediate supervisor gives me the
opportunity to do what I do best,” and “My supervisor
• Am I appreciated?
provides meaningful incentives for good performance.”
• Am I part of a team?
Conference participants stressed the need to distinguish
• Am I allowed to do my job? between political leadership and career leadership. The
• Do I have friends? Partnership is sponsoring additional research to assess
whether differences in leadership (i.e., political ap-
• Do I have the opportunity for advancement? pointees or civil servants) are linked to differences in
employee satisfaction.
As identified in the pre-conference report, the Partner-
ship for Public Service’s Best Places to Work in the Federal Other suggested measures of leadership effectiveness
Government rankings offer an excellent example of an include:
engagement indicator based on employee survey data. • Attrition of top performers. If turnover is higher
These rankings, created in partnership with the Ameri- in specific organizational units, this could suggest
can University Institute for the Study of Public Policy leadership problems.
Implementation and U.S. News and World Report, use
data from the U.S. Office of Personnel Management’s • The extent to which leaders develop and advance
Federal Human Capital Survey of hundreds of thou- top performers.
sands of federal employees to create an engagement
10
STAT E OF TH E Pu B LIC S E RVICE CON F E R E NCE | R E PO RT OF PRO C E E D I N G S
• How successful (or unsuccessful) a leader is in others are not. We need a better sense of which agencies
clarifying the organization’s mission and inspiring fall into each category.
people to achieve that mission.
Surveys should also be done for students at America’s
• Respect for diversity and success in achieving work- top universities since this is a cohort government must
force diversity. reach.
• 360-degree evaluations that would include external Another recommended measurement was customer
stakeholders. satisfaction. The University of Michigan’s American
Customer Service Index already tracks opinions of some
• Surveys of customers.
agencies, so some metrics already exist in this category.
It was also suggested that it could be useful to track me-
P u B L I C S uP P O RT dia coverage of the federal government (e.g., percentage
of positive/negative stories).
gOAL
A m E R IC A N S u N D E R STA N D, VA Lu E A N D S u P P O RT SyST E m S A N D STRu CT u R E S
F E DE RA L Pu B L I C S E RV I C E A N D T H E I m P O RTA N C E
OF HAVI NG G O O D P E O P LE I N T H E F E D E R A L
GOVE R N m E N T g OA L
GOV E R N m E N T SyST E m S A N D ST R u C T u R E S
S H Ou L D E m P Ow E R , N OT I N H I B I T F E D E R A L
Public attitudes toward our government and toward wO R k E R S
federal employment have a direct bearing on the health
of our public service.
Public support is a key driver of policymaker invest- Even the best, most highly motivated people can’t suc-
ment. If lawmakers know that broad public support ceed if the systems and structures they operate within
for a first-rate civilian workforce is comparable to the hold them back. One way to approach assessing this
support that exists for our military services, they will pillar is to first identify a set of “ideal” government
spend more time promoting constructive solutions and systems and structures. These could range from human
less time bashing bureaucrats. resource systems (e.g., recruiting and hiring, compensa-
tion, performance evaluation and management, training
Attitudes toward federal employment are also a key and development) to other areas such as organizational
part of the federal recruiting climate. If federal service structure, financial management, and procurement.
becomes more appealing, it’s reasonable to expect that After identifying the desired systems and structures, the
larger numbers of qualified applicants will apply for State of the Public Service approach can be to develop
hard-to-fill positions. measures to quantify the gaps between where the federal
Measuring and comparing public opinion about government is, and where it needs to be.
government to similar feelings about the private sec- More specific suggestions involved measuring govern-
tor would provide valuable insights into government’s ment efficiency. Participants suggested examining the
unique challenges. number of layers and organizational units within each
The suggested tactics to measure public support include agency and whether or not they have plans to reduce
national surveys that focus on issues like trust in gov- these numbers. Another suggestion was to measure
ernment and interest in federal service. One participant the number of duplicative programs. Other measures
commented that it is valuable to not only ask if people included:
are interested in federal service, but whether they are • Ratio of supervisors to employees;
“likely to recommend” government service, which may
be much more meaningful. • Number of steps necessary to complete critical
processes; and
It may also be useful to measure public attitudes about
the value of specific government agencies and services. • Percentage of political appointees (one participant
As one participant pointed out, since government is not suggested measuring the technical expertise of
a monolith it is worthwhile to ask questions about spe- political appointees).
cific agencies. Some agencies are well respected, while
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PA RT N E R S H I P F O R P u B LIC S E RVICE
A profile of pay and benefits was suggested. This should pendent to have maximum impact. While the admin-
allow for comparisons to the private sector and others istration should be commended for trying to grade the
the federal government is competing against for talent. performance of the government programs it manages,
According to one participant, “Unless we go through there is no question that those grades would have more
the entire performance measurement system itself, we credibility if the organization handing out the grades
will have fallen down. We need to put performance were not that same administration.
measurement side by side with pay.”
Another recommendation was that rather than measure
It is worth noting that during the discussion on systems the performance of individual programs or agencies, we
and structures, one issue was raised that falls outside should grade performance by function. This would be
the scope of the State of the Public Service project, but critical for making the indicators more understandable
nonetheless must be considered. This is the relationship and consequential for the public. The average American
between civil servants and the contractor networks that doesn’t care how the Animal and Plant Health Inspec-
are proliferating across the federal government. tion Service is doing its job, per se, but the “person on
the street” is exceedingly interested in knowing what
kind of job our government is doing to ensure food
H I G H P E R F O Rm A N C E safety.
Participants agreed that it is important that perfor-
gOAL mance measurements should have an accountability
GOVE R N m E NT I S I N N OVAT I V E A N D P RO D u C E S mechanism. If actions will be taken when a measure-
R E S u LTS ment system shows that an agency is performing poorly,
that will be a powerful incentive for agencies to im-
prove.
The final pillar of an effective federal workforce — a
While measuring performance is very difficult in a
high-performing government — is perhaps the most
public sector setting, it is critically important to try, be-
important, but it is also the most difficult pillar to
cause success contributes to better performance, a better
measure. It is widely accepted that for human resources
brand, better recruitment and better public support.
metrics to be meaningful they must, whenever feasible,
be linked to agency goals and objectives. Obviously,
government’s outcomes are tougher to measure than
most private sector “bottom-line” financial results.
Accordingly, public agencies have a far more difficult
task documenting the contributions that investments in
human capital make to mission accomplishment (i.e.,
versus private sector return on investment calculations).
Despite progress in attempting to measure the success
of government programs through the Government Per-
formance and Results Act, and the Program Assessment
Rating Tool (PART), the link between human capital
and performance is still largely a leap of faith.
During the breakout session on performance, the group
agreed that it would be helpful to build on, or tie into,
other performance measurement efforts. One partici-
pant suggested tying the State of the Public Service to the
National Academies’ Key National Indicators Initiative
on the grounds that linking to a larger initiative would
enhance the odds of creating something that will sur-
vive.
Participants discussed ways to improve our govern-
ment’s primary existing performance measurement tool
— PART. One idea is that PART, or a similar perfor-
mance measurement tool, would need to be more inde-
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STAT E OF TH E Pu B LIC S E RVICE CON F E R E NCE | R E PO RT OF PRO C E E D I N G S
ne xt ste P s For example, the Partnership will work with:
At the close of the conference, participants discussed • An advisory committee initially composed of at-
what the next State of the Public Service steps should be. tendees from the State of the Public Service Con-
It is important to note that the attendees agreed there is ference and federal agencies (particularly OPM
a critical need for these indicators, and the sooner these and OMB, to build on and extend their work on
metrics are developed, the better. workforce and performance measurement).
The group agreed that initial steps should build on pre- • The Partnership’s network of other federal agency
existing activity around measurement. More specifically, leaders, including Chief Human Capital Officers;
we must look closely at PART, the Partnership’s Best
Places to Work in the Federal Government rankings and • Established contacts in the Congress, to promote
OPM’s Human Capital Assessment and Accountability legislative changes that will improve the workforce
Framework (HCAAF). The latter requires all agencies and government performance; and
to maintain a current human capital plan and submit • The media, to communicate these results to key
to OPM an annual human capital accountability report audiences.
providing assessments against established HR metrics
Perhaps most important, the Partnership will reach out
for five interrelated human capital systems. The Execu-
to secure the foundation support that will be essential
tive Branch Management Scorecard, which gives each
to move this project forward.
federal agency a grade of “green” for success, “yellow”
for mixed results, and “red” for unsatisfactory in five Once the team is in place and funding is secured, the
government-wide management categories, should also partners will begin to identify, collect and analyze
be examined. data currently available to measure the six pillars. The
Partnership’s team will also develop and institutionalize
One other recommendation was to look at central gov-
systems to collect this information. The current goal is
ernments in other nations to study their measurement
to release an initial State of the Public Service report in
activities. This will not only help spur ideas about how
2008. The measures and the data to support them will
and what to measure, but could also eventually help
be continually analyzed and refined. The Partnership
establish international benchmarks so our government
will widely communicate results through reports, an
can see how it’s doing compared to other nations.
interactive Web site and other media. We will also work
Another critical early step is to catalog the measure- with stakeholders to identify and put in place changes
ments that will be needed and decide which ones to improve the federal workforce, and therefore improve
already exist and which will need to be created. Once federal government performance.
this list has been formulated it should be shared with
An immediate goal of the State of the Public Service
key stakeholders to ensure there is consensus that these
initiative is to create the indicators report. However, it
are the right measurements.
is important to reiterate that, at the end of the day, this
One specific idea for helping to get a better grasp on the project is about something bigger. It is about build-
task at hand was to convince a Congressional commit- ing a more innovative, effective federal workforce that
tee to hold a hearing on the measurement activities of will help our country overcome its biggest challenges.
one of the agencies it oversees. This effort could also The Partnership’s goal is not “just” to build a new set
help build support for the project on Capitol Hill. of metrics. It is to create what President Jimmy Carter
The conferees agreed that someone needs to “step up” once called “a government as good as its people” — a
and take the lead to make all of this happen. The Part- government whose greatest strength is its diversity, a
nership for Public Service appears to be a logical choice government driven by its common commitment to
to fill that role. Of course, the Partnership can’t do this the core principles of justice and opportunity for all, a
alone. Therefore, it will be necessary to partner with government whose innovative spirit is unparalleled in
other organizations committed to transforming govern- the world.” When we help build that workforce, we will
ment. be able to claim success.
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PA RT N E R S H I P F O R P u B LIC S E RVICE
APPENDIX I
STAT E O F T H E P u B L I C S E RV I C E CO N F E R E N C E PA RT ICI PA NTS
Sir Michael Barber, Partner, McKinsey & Company, Inc.
Tom Bernstein, President, Chelsea Piers LP
Patricia Bradshaw, Deputy Undersecretary of Defense for Civilian Personnel Policy, U.S. Department of Defense
Chad Bungard, Deputy Staff Director and Chief Counsel, House Committee on Government Reform,
Subcommittee on the Federal Workforce and Agency Organization, U.S. House of Representatives
G. Edward DeSeve, Professor, Fels Institute of Government, University of Pennsylvania
John D. Donahue, Professor of Public Policy, John F. Kennedy School of Government, Harvard University
Dr. Jesse Harriott, Vice President for Research, Monster.com
Stephen Heintz, President, Rockefeller Brothers Fund
Charlotte Kahn, Director and Co-Founder, The Boston Indicators Project
Steven Kerr, Chief Learning Officer, The Goldman Sachs Group, Inc.
Nancy Killefer, Senior Director and Washington Office Manager, McKinsey & Company, Inc.
Lance E. Lindblom, President and CEO, Nathan Cummings Foundation
Marta B. Perez, Chief Human Capital Officer, U.S. Department of Homeland Security
Ronald Sanders, Chief Human Capital Officer, Office of the U.S. Director of National Intelligence
Tania A. Shand, Professional Staff Member, House Committee on Government Reform, Civil Service and Agency
Organization Subcommittee, U.S. House of Representatives
Robert Shea, Counsel to the Deputy Director for Management, U.S. Office of Management and Budget
Benjamin R. Shute, Jr., Secretary, Rockefeller Brothers Fund
Kevin Simpson, Executive Vice President/General Counsel, Partnership for Public Service
Max Stier, President and CEO, Partnership for Public Service
Robert M. Tobias, Director of Public Sector Executive Programs, American University
David M. Walker, Comptroller General of the United States, U.S. Government Accountability
1
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www.ourpublicservice.org
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