Accenture tackles workforce planning

Accenture is taking aim at government workforce problems with a new service designed to help agencies address their human resources needs.

The company launched a strategic human capital management service Wednesday that will help federal, state and local agencies manage their workforce needs.

The announcement comes on the heels of a decision by the General Accounting Office to place people management on its high-risk list for programs that need immediate attention.

The new service will "help clients get their arms around this issue — the issue the [GAO] comptroller has put on his hit list for important issues," said John Hrusovsky II, a partner in Accenture's government practice.

The service involves asking a series of questions about how an agency is managing its human resources, Hrusovsky said. Questions include:

What percentage of your budget is spent on training? Do you have a succession plan for key executives? What is your retention rate over the past five years? Consultants then analyze the results, develop a list of key risk factors and an action plan, and highlight high-priority items that an agency should address, Hrusovsky said.

The process evaluates an agency's entire workforce, including information technology employees. "What we now offer is the ability to quickly work with an organization [and] in four to six weeks [conduct an] analysis and identify key action plans," he said.

Remedies can include how to attract and retain employees, how to capture an employee's knowledge about government operations and how to develop tools that can be used to transfer institutional knowledge to new recruits.