Implementing the President’s Management Agenda
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Implementing the President’s Management Agenda

Date
November 15, 2022
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The Partnership for Public Service and Guidehouse held an event on October 26 to release a new report, Building a Data Foundation: The Role of Data and Evidence in Advancing the President’s Management Agenda. Coming one year after the release of the PMA vision, the event featured a keynote from Cristin Dorgelo, senior advisor for management at the Office of Management and Budget, on making the PMA vision a reality.

Focusing on implementation

Dorgelo said the PMA has “tremendous potential [to create] an effective, equitable and accountable government that can deliver results for all.” She said this requires “restoring people’s faith in government and laying a strong technical foundation for the future.” While the PMA serves as a roadmap, she said, implementation is key to achieving results.

Dorgelo’s speech underscored the “foundational enablers” that will allow government employees to achieve the PMA vision. These include:

  • Forums or communities of practice where agencies can exchange information and discuss how to reach implementation.
  • IT and cybersecurity technology that allows for data management and service delivery.
  • Turning data into evidence and tracking performance through the government’s performance management framework.

Continuing to learn

For the first time, Dorgelo said the administration released a government-wide management learning agenda associated with the PMA. The document includes a series of research questions that focus on learning, bridging silos across agencies and catalyzing innovation beyond the federal government. 

Dorgelo noted that the administration is actively looking for help to answer the questions posed in the learning agenda. The goal is to find “research that identifies what’s working, why, for whom, and can we take those learnings and apply them to different contexts.” Individuals and organizations with expertise in these areas have been asked to contribute their knowledge to move the PMA forward.

Pillars for success

Dorgelo explained that the administration will focus on the three priorities: strengthening and empowering the federal workforce; delivering excellent, equitable and secure federal services and the customer experience; and managing the business of government.

The OMB official said strengthening and empowering the workforce is critical to keep our government running.  She said the government needs “data driven processes that can help us make decisions to be a more model employer… so that we can compete in a nationwide talent marketplace.” This includes reimagining the hiring process and making every federal job a “good job” where employees feel engaged, supported and heard.

Dorgelo said the plan to reimagine how the government delivers services is supported by a life experience team that is focusing on critical touch points when individuals need to interact with the government. These touch points include such issues as low-income parents giving birth, families facing financial shock and becoming newly eligible for government services, recovering from a disaster, approaching retirement and transitioning from military to civilian life.

Dorgelo emphasized that improved financial management is a critical component of the agenda, noting that the government awards $1.5 trillion in federal contracts and financial assistance every year, and some years much more. She said there’s already progress in acquisition and financial assistance to support manufacturing, emerging technology and underserved communities.

To be successful, however, Dorgelo said the government must support the federal workforce by collecting and using data to know if the government is on track, and by making sure the 40,000 contracting officers across government have the right tools and know-how to use them.

Moving forward

While there is a solid foundation for the PMA, a great deal of work lies ahead for federal leaders. Dorgelo said the government must focus on effective implementation and learn from current progress being made. “We have a blueprint here, but we need to actually build on it,” she said.

To learn more about what three federal agencies have done to implement the PMA, read our report, Building a Data Foundation: The Role of Data and Evidence in Advancing the President’s Management Agenda.


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