For example, IRS is to be responsible for developing the strategic  workforce plan across IRS and for analyzing current and future workforce  needs. Thus, a strategic workforce plan for a unit within a  division could be developed by IRS, the division, or the unit. Objective, Scope, and Methodology

Our objective was to determine whether TEC has a workforce plan that  conforms to the critical elements for what should be in a plan and how it  should be developed and implemented. TEC Does Not Have a Workforce Plan That Includes the Critical Elements

TEC does not have a strategic workforce plan that includes the critical  elements, such as analyses of the workforce gaps and strategies. Without  such a workforce plan, TEC has less assurance that it has the necessary  workforce to meet its current program goals and to manage changes in its  programs and goals. IRS and SB/SE officials said that TEC does not have a  strategic workforce plan because of the effort in creating the division and  its units such as TEC to meet SB/SE taxpayer needs. SB/SE officials also said that they needed to have  some experience with TEC as a new unit and some data on its new TEC  workforce before developing a strategic workforce plan for TEC. Both types of analyses are needed to  determine the gap between the current TEC workforce and the workforce  needed in the future. Without such a plan, TEC is less likely to have the right number of staff  with the right skills in the right places at the right time to address its  priorities. Recommendation for Executive Action

Given the uncertainty on how the workforce plan for TEC will be  developed and implemented, we recommend that the Commissioner of  Internal Revenue ensure that the workforce plan for TEC be developed in  conformance with the critical elements for what a plan should include and  how a plan should be developed and implemented.
Why GAO Did This Study

Strategic workforce planning helps ensure that agencies have the right people with the right skills in the right positions to carry out the agency mission both in the present and future. The Internal Revenue Service's (IRS) Taxpayer Education and Communication (TEC) unit within its Small Business and Self- Employed Division assists some 45 million small business and self-employed taxpayers. Given the number of taxpayers it is to assist and changes in its priorities and strategies, GAO was asked to determine whether TEC has a workforce plan that conforms to critical elements for what should be in a plan and how it should be developed and implemented.

What GAO Found

Although it has existed for more than 2-and-a-half years, TEC does not have a strategic workforce plan that includes certain critical elements. For example, it has not identified gaps between the number, skills, and locations of its current workforce and the workforce it will need in the future, and the strategies to fill gaps. Such a workforce plan for TEC could be developed by IRS, the Small Business and Self-Employed Division, and/or TEC. Small Business and Self-Employed Division officials said that TEC does not have a strategic workforce plan because they focused on creating the division and units such as TEC to begin addressing taxpayer needs, and because they first wanted to gain some experience with TEC as a new unit. IRS and the Small Business and Self-Employed Division are creating a process for developing a workforce plan for TEC that in broad terms would incorporate the critical elements common to workforce planning. However, it is not yet clear whether the workforce plan for TEC will be developed and implemented consistent with these critical elements. For example, IRS and the Small Business and Self-Employed Division have not analyzed the skills that the TEC workforce will need to meet its program goals or outlined the process and data to be used to do these analyses.