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Open Recommendations

FDA Workforce: Agency-Wide Workforce Planning Needed to Ensure Medical Product Staff Meet Current and Future Needs
GAO-22-104791
Jan 14, 2022
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2 Open Recommendations
Agency Affected Recommendation Status
Food and Drug Administration The Commissioner of FDA should develop and implement an agency-wide strategic workforce plan to document agency-wide human capital goals and strategies, which should include elements to ensure FDA is able to monitor and evaluate progress toward its human capital goals, such as performance measures to assess the effectiveness of these strategies. (Recommendation 1)
Open
When we confirm what actions the agency has taken in response to this recommendation, we will provide updated information.
Food and Drug Administration The Commissioner of FDA should establish a process to update its agency-wide strategic workforce plan on an ongoing basis. (Recommendation 2)
Open
When we confirm what actions the agency has taken in response to this recommendation, we will provide updated information.

Personnel Vetting: Actions Needed to Implement Reforms, Address Challenges, and Improve Planning
GAO-22-104093
Dec 09, 2021
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4 Open Recommendations
Agency Affected Recommendation Status
Congress Congress should consider requiring the Director of National Intelligence to develop continuous evaluation performance measures linked to goals to assess the performance of agencies' continuous evaluation programs, including measures to assess quality and the impact on resources. (Matter for Consideration 1)
Open
When we confirm what actions Congress has taken in response to this matter, we will provide updated information.
Office of the Director of National Intelligence The Director of National Intelligence, in consultation with the Deputy Director for Management of the Office of Management and Budget, the Director of the Office of Personnel Management, and the Under Secretary of Defense for Intelligence and Security, should ensure that the Director of the National Counterintelligence and Security Center develops performance measures for assessing the quality of all phases of the personnel security clearance process that align with the key attributes of successful performance measures. (Recommendation 1)
Open
ODNI did not state whether it concurred with this recommendation. As of October 2021, ODNI included several comments in its response to our draft report regarding our finding that it has not assessed the quality of all phases of the clearance process and that the investigation measure it developed is not reliable. Specifically, ODNI acknowledged that quality measures for the initiation and adjudication phases of the clearance process were needed. ODNI also stated that, although it explored using a performance measure for the quality of investigations it had previously developed, it ultimately decided not to use it. However, during our review, ODNI officials told us that they used this measure to assess agencies' performance on background investigations and ODNI provided documentation demonstrating how they used the measure. When we confirm what actions ODNI has taken in response to this recommendation, we will provide updated information.
Department of Defense The Secretary of Defense should ensure that the Director of the Defense Counterintelligence and Security Agency revises the National Background Investigation Services system schedule to meet all the characteristics of a reliable schedule as defined in GAO's best practice guides for scheduling and Agile software development. (Recommendation 2)
Open
DOD concurred with this recommendation. As of August 2021, DOD stated that the NBIS Executive Program Manager will continue to refine program milestones based on resourcing and evolving policy requirements using Agile software development best practices. When we confirm what actions DOD has taken in response to this recommendation, we will provide updated information.
Department of Defense The Secretary of Defense should ensure that the Director of the Defense Counterintelligence and Security Agency establishes a milestone for completing strategic workforce planning and issues a strategic workforce plan for the Defense Counterintelligence and Security Agency's entire personnel vetting workforce. (Recommendation 3)
Open
DOD concurred with this recommendation. As of August 2021, DOD stated that DCSA has an effort underway to implement our recommendation and that DCSA's strategic workforce plan will encompass its entire civilian workforce. When we confirm what actions DOD has taken in response to this recommendation, we will provide updated information.

Bureau of Land Management: Better Workforce Planning and Data Would Help Mitigate the Effects of Recent Staff Vacancies
GAO-22-104247
Nov 18, 2021
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2 Open Recommendations
1 Priority
Agency Affected Recommendation Status
Bureau of Land Management The Director of BLM should track data on vacancies and the use of details for all offices. (Recommendation 1)
Open
The Department of the Interior concurred with this recommendation. As of April 2022, the Bureau of Land Management said it intends to establish a more standardized process to track vacancies and detailees bureau-wide by June 30, 2022.
Bureau of Land Management
Priority Rec.
This is a priority recommendation.
The Director of BLM should develop an agency-wide strategic workforce plan that aligns the agency's human capital program with emerging mission goals and includes long-term strategies for acquiring, developing, and retaining staff to achieve programmatic goals. (Recommendation 2)
Open
The Department of the Interior concurred with this recommendation. As of April 2022, the Bureau of Land Management said it is in the process of developing a process for bureau-wide strategic workforce planning by June 30, 2022.

Department of Energy: Improvements Needed to Strengthen Strategic Planning for the Acquisition Workforce
GAO-22-103854
Nov 16, 2021
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4 Open Recommendations
1 Priority
Agency Affected Recommendation Status
Department of Energy The Chief Acquisition Officer should assess the agency's criteria for determining the workforce managed under the agency's Acquisition Career Management Program to ensure that, in addition to positions requiring acquisition certifications, any significant acquisition-related positions at DOE and NNSA are included in the program, in accordance with OFPP Policy Letter 05-01. The Chief Acquisition Officer should also ensure that training requirements are developed for acquisition-related positions added to the program. (Recommendation 1)
Open
DOE concurred with the recommendation. In its response to our report, DOE officials planned to review the Acquisition Career Management Program and assess if other acquisition-related positions should be added to the program. DOE plans to complete its assessment by the end of December 2022.
Department of Energy The Chief Acquisition Officer should establish a process for top management's participation in future strategic acquisition workforce planning efforts with program offices and NNSA. This process should include specific roles for the Chief Acquisition Officer and the Senior Procurement Executives for DOE and NNSA. (Recommendation 2)
Open
DOE concurred with the recommendation. DOE's response to our report stated that DOE and NNSA officials plan to review and assess their processes for strategic workforce planning, to include the roles of the Chief Acquisition Officer and Senior Procurement Executives, to determine if there is a need to further clarify DOE leadership coordination on acquisition workforce planning.
Department of Energy The Chief Acquisition Officer should determine critical skills and competencies for DOE and NNSA staff with acquisition-related responsibilities in positions that do not require a federal or DOE acquisition certification and ensure these skills and competencies inform training requirements. (Recommendation 3)
Open
DOE concurred with the recommendation. DOE's response to our report stated that DOE officials plan to review the Acquisition Career Management Program to determine whether additional positions and training should be incorporated into the program. DOE plans to complete the action by the end of December 2022.
Department of Energy
Priority Rec.
This is a priority recommendation.
The Chief Acquisition Officer should work with program and other offices, including NNSA, to lead ongoing and thorough analyses to identify gaps in skills and competencies for the agency's acquisition workforce and develop strategies to address identified gaps. This should include an analysis of the appropriate size of the acquisition workforce. (Recommendation 4)
Open
DOE concurred with the recommendation. DOE stated it plans to meet this recommendation by developing a survey to be administered to its acquisition workforce every two years. DOE plans to use findings from the survey to address identified gaps in skills and competencies. DOE also stated that it plans to evaluate its existing Procurement Management and Review program to identify ways to better identify gaps in skills and competencies within its acquisition workforce.
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