Between fiscal years 1989 and 2002, DOD’s civilian  workforce shrank from 1,075,437 to 670,166—about a 38 percent  reduction. Department-level Leadership Involvement in Strategic Planning for Civilian Personnel Has Increased in Recent Years

Strategic planning for the Department of Defense civilian workforce is  becoming a higher priority among DOD’s senior leadership, as evidenced  by direction given in 2001 in the Quadrennial Defense Review (QDR) and  the Defense Planning Guidance and by the Under Secretary of Defense for  Personnel and Readiness to develop a civilian and military human  resources strategic plan. High-level leaders in the Air Force, the Marine  Corps, the Defense Contract Management Agency (DCMA), and the  Defense Finance and Accounting Service (DFAS) have provided the  impetus for strategic planning and are partnering with civilian human  capital professionals to develop and implement their strategic plans. Such  partnership is increasing in the Army and not as evident in the Department  of the Navy. Key Elements of Strategic Plans for DOD Civilian Personnel Not in Place

For the most part, the strategic plans we reviewed lacked such key  elements as mission alignment, results-oriented performance measures,  and data-driven workforce planning. Without adequate alignment, performance  measures, and workforce data, DOD and its components cannot be certain  their human capital efforts are properly focused on mission  accomplishment. All of the civilian human capital plans we reviewed referred to their  respective organizations’ mission; however, the human capital goals,  objectives, and initiatives did not explicitly link or describe how the  civilian workforce efforts would contribute to the organizations’  overarching mission achievement, and more importantly how the extent of  contribution to mission achievement would be measured. Moreover, none of the plans in our review contained results-oriented goals  and measures. We also stated that to build the right workforce to  achieve strategic goals, it is essential that organizations determine the  critical skills and competencies needed to successfully implement the  programs and processes associated with those goals. Strategic Plans for Civilian Personnel Not Yet Integrated with Plans for Military Personnel or Sourcing Initiatives

The civilian human capital strategic plans we reviewed did not address  how the civilian workforce would be integrated with their military  counterparts or sourcing initiatives to accomplish DOD’s mission. Although DOD officials  maintain that these plans are intended to complement each other, the  plans are not integrated to form a seamless and comprehensive strategy. Furthermore, DOD’s civilian human capital strategic plan does not address  the role of civilian vis-à-vis contractor personnel or how DOD plans to link  its human capital initiatives with its sourcing plans, such as efforts to  outsource non-core responsibilities. Moreover, DOD top leadership has not provided its components with  guidance on how to align component-level strategic plans with the  departmentwide plan. As a result, DOD and  its components may not have a sound basis for funding decisions related  to human capital initiatives and may not be able to put the right people in  the right place at the right time to achieve the mission. Specifically, the objectives of this report were to assess (1) the extent to  which top-level leadership is involved in strategic planning for civilian  personnel and (2) whether strategic plans for civilian personnel are  aligned with the overall mission, results oriented, and based on data about  the future civilian workforce. We focused primarily on civilian human  capital strategic planning undertaken since 1988, when DOD began  downsizing its civilian workforce. We selected the military services since they account for  about 85 percent of the civilian personnel in DOD.
Why GAO Did This Study

The Department of Defense's (DOD) civilian employees play key roles in such areas as defense policy, intelligence, finance, acquisitions, and weapon systems maintenance. Although downsized 38 percent between fiscal years 1989 and 2002, this workforce has taken on greater roles as a result of DOD's restructuring and transformation. Responding to congressional concerns about the quality and quantity of, and the strategic planning for the civilian workforce, GAO determined the following for DOD, the military services, and selected defense agencies: (1) the extent of top-level leadership involvement in civilian strategic planning; (2) whether elements in civilian strategic plans are aligned to the overall mission, focused on results, and based on current and future civilian workforce data; and (3) whether civilian and military personnel strategic plans or sourcing initiatives were integrated.

What GAO Found

Generally, civilian personnel issues appear to be an emerging priority among top leaders in DOD and the defense components. Although DOD began downsizing its civilian workforce more than a decade ago, it did not take action to strategically address challenges affecting the civilian workforce until it issued its civilian human capital strategic plan in April 2002. Top-level leaders in the Air Force, the Marine Corps, the Defense Contract Management Agency, and the Defense Finance Accounting Service have initiated planning efforts and are working in partnership with their civilian human capital professionals to develop and implement civilian strategic plans; such leadership, however, was increasing in the Army and not as evident in the Navy. Also, DOD has not provided guidance on how to integrate the components' plans with the department-level plan. High-level leadership is critical to directing reforms and obtaining resources for successful implementation. The human capital strategic plans GAO reviewed for the most part lacked key elements found in fully developed plans. Most of the civilian human capital goals, objectives, and initiatives were not explicitly aligned with the overarching missions of the organizations. Consequently, DOD and the components cannot be sure that strategic goals are properly focused on mission achievement. Also, none of the plans contained results-oriented performance measures to assess the impact of their civilian human capital initiatives (i.e., programs, policies, and processes). Thus, DOD and the components cannot gauge the extent to which their human capital initiatives contribute to achieving their organizations' mission. Finally, the plans did not contain data on the skills and competencies needed to successfully accomplish future missions; therefore, DOD and the components risk not being able to put the right people, in the right place, and at the right time, which can result in diminished accomplishment of the overall defense mission. Moreover, the civilian strategic plans did not address how the civilian workforce will be integrated with their military counterparts or sourcing initiatives. DOD's three human capital strategic plans--two military and one civilian--were prepared separately and were not integrated to form a seamless and comprehensive strategy and did not address how DOD plans to link its human capital initiatives with its sourcing plans, such as efforts to outsource non-core responsibilities. The components' civilian plans acknowledge a need to integrate planning for civilian and military personnel--taking into consideration contractors--but have not yet done so. Without an integrated strategy, DOD may not effectively and efficiently allocate its scarce resources for optimal readiness.