PIOs Need Staff, Tech

Federal performance improvement officers often lack the authority and top-leader support that is necessary to improve government performance and results, according to a new report by the Partnership for Public Service and Grant Thornton.

The report, which is based on a survey of 23 of the 24 government PIOs or their designees at the largest federal agencies, found that while PIOs have varying impacts at their agencies, a few themes rang true among most: PIOs lack the authority and top-leader support to build a strong performance culture, they have multiple responsibilities that take away their focus from performance management, and they often spend too much time complying with duplicative reporting requirements.

President Obama in January signed the 2010 Government Performance and Results Modernization Act, which requires agencies to designate senior officials to serve as chief operating and performance improvement officers responsible for eliminating redundant programs and coordinating common administrative functions.

PIOs reported that aside from having a structure for performance measurement and a positive performance culture, agencies must have the tools, systems and skills to properly conduct performance measurement. Current data and systems are not cutting it, PIOs said, pointing to the need for new software, dashboards, balanced scorecards and spreadsheets to get the job done.

"The mandate may lead to great use of information technology and improved data collection and analysis, and foster broader dissemination of relevant performance outcomes," the report states. "But such change will take time, as well as financial investment."

The report also highlights the need for better performance management capacity, including recruiting new talent and teaching new skills to the existing workforce. "In our review, PIOs in agencies that made critical investments in staff and technology rated their performance cultures higher than those who did not," the report states.

See Federal performance officers stretched too thin, study says at Govexec.com.