For example, TSA has an approved interchange  agreement from OPM to allow permanent TSA employees to apply and  be selected for vacancies in competitive service agencies. DHS Recruiting and Hiring Roles and Responsibilities

Within DHS, OCHCO is responsible for ensuring that DHS has the  programs, policies, processes, and resources to recruit, hire, train, and  retain its overall workforce. CRC is chaired by D&I and has representatives from all of DHS’s  components. For example, USCIS’s sole MCO  is the immigration services officer (ISO) position, while one of TSA’s five  MCOs is its transportation security officer (TSO). DHS and Selected Components Are Implementing Recruiting and Hiring Strategies to Fill Mission-Critical Occupations

DHS has developed and taken steps to implement a coordinated  recruiting and outreach strategy and address resource constraints. In  addition, the four components we selected for review have various efforts  under way to develop and implement their own targeted recruiting and  hiring strategies. Components reported that they have generally been  successful in filling MCOs. Specifically, in 2011, D&I—through the CRC—developed the CROS to  better coordinate and link component recruiting and outreach efforts to  hiring for DHS mission and workforce needs (for all positions, including  MCOs), and leverage resources as well as reduce recruiting costs,  among other things. The CROS provides a high-level strategy that  supports DHS’s goal from its Workforce Strategy for Fiscal Years 2011- 2016 to “recruit a highly qualified and diverse workforce.” It is designed to,  among other things, guide outreach and recruitment efforts across DHS,  leverage all outreach and recruiting resources, and integrate recruiting  and outreach plans across DHS. D&I Is Taking Steps to Assess Implementation of the CROS, but Could Improve Tracking of Recruiting Costs

D&I has established performance measures to assess progress in  implementing the goals and objectives of the CROS, and plans to develop  performance targets in future iterations of the CROS to better track  component performance. While these measures are aligned with and cover key aspects of  performance related to the goals and objectives outlined in the CROS,  they do not include performance targets to track long-term, short-term, or  interim component progress toward achieving the goals of the CROS over  the period the strategy covers (2012–2017). D&I has developed a database for components to  use to track recruiting and outreach efforts and costs, but it does not  require that all components use this database or enter data in a  consistent manner. As a result, D&I does not have the information  required to accurately assess component performance for this objective. D&I officials said that since many components have their own systems for  tracking the costs associated with recruiting outreach activities (e.g.,  events attended, occupations for which they are recruiting, and number of  attendees), they do not want the components to duplicate efforts by  having them enter the same type of information in the DHS shared  database. D&I officials  acknowledged that obtaining comprehensive and consistent cost  information from all components in a manner that will ensure consistent  and complete reporting of such data would be a worthwhile endeavor, but  officials have not determined whether and how they will do so. As a  result, D&I does not have a baseline of all recruiting costs from which to  measure ongoing cost savings, making it difficult to determine how well  department resources are being leveraged through component  coordination or assess the extent to which they are achieving the second  goal of the CROS of optimizing outreach and recruiting resources  department-wide. Conclusions

As DHS faces increasingly complex national security challenges, it is  important that it effectively recruit and hire employees with the  appropriate skills to meet its mission requirements. While DHS  and selected components are implementing strategies to fill MCOs, and  generally report that they are able to fill MCO positions, DHS could better  assess its efforts to implement the CROS and achieve recruiting cost  savings by requiring all components to provide recruiting cost information  in a consistent manner. Recommendation for Executive Action

To help ensure that DHS has comprehensive data to help track recruiting  costs and coordinated efforts, we recommend that the Secretary of  Homeland Security direct OCHCO to take the following action:  require all components to provide D&I with recruiting cost information  in a consistent manner to allow better tracking of overall recruiting  costs and use this information to assess the extent to which recruiting  costs are being reduced by components as a result of increased  coordination and leveraging resources as called for in the CROS. If fully  implemented, DHS’s planned actions will address the intent of this  recommendation.
Why GAO Did This Study

With more than 240,000 employees doing diverse jobs, DHS's workforce supports the department's multiple missions to prevent terrorism and enhance security and ensure resilience from disasters, amongst others. Given these missions, it is important that DHS effectively recruit and hire employees with the appropriate skills. Within DHS, the Office of the Chief Human Capital Officer (OCHCO) is responsible for human capital policy development and implementation. GAO has previously reported on DHS's challenges in attracting and retaining a qualified workforce. GAO was asked to assess DHS's recruiting and hiring strategies. This report addresses the extent to which (1) DHS and four selected components have implemented recruiting and hiring strategies to fill MCOs, and (2) DHS has assessed these efforts. To conduct its work, GAO reviewed recruiting strategies and data on MCO hiring and losses, and interviewed officials from OCHCO and the four DHS components selected for this review based on their varieties of MCOs and recruiting strategies. Information from these components cannot be generalized to all of DHS, but provides insights.

What GAO Found

The Department of Homeland Security (DHS) and selected components are implementing strategies to fill mission-critical occupations (MCO), which are those occupations most critical to an agency's mission. In 2011, the Office of Diversity and Inclusion (D&I)--which coordinates component recruiting efforts--developed the Coordinated Recruiting and Outreach Strategy (CROS). Through the CROS, D&I intends to better coordinate and link component recruiting and outreach efforts to hiring for DHS mission and workforce needs (for all positions, including MCOs), and to leverage resources as well as reduce recruiting costs, among other things. D&I has begun to implement the CROS through various means, including requiring components to develop their own outreach and recruiting plans that align with the CROS. However, D&I has been limited in its ability to implement some elements of the CROS--such as recruiter training--because of budget constraints, according to D&I officials. The components selected for GAO's review--the National Protection and Programs Directorate, Transportation Security Administration (TSA), U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services, and U.S. Secret Service (USSS)--have also implemented various strategies to recruit and hire MCOs. In addition, these four components have generally been able to address hiring needs for MCOs. For example, USSS data show that vacancy rates were generally below 3 percent for MCO positions during fiscal years 2010 through 2012. Still, some officials have reported experiencing challenges attracting qualified candidates because of factors such as financial constraints and regional competition, among other things. For example, TSA has been challenged in filling certain positions in some areas where competition for other jobs makes it difficult to attract qualified candidates.
D&I is taking steps to assess implementation of the CROS, but could improve efforts to track recruiting costs. D&I assesses progress in implementing the CROS by tracking and monitoring component performance for six measures, such as compliance with data-tracking requirements. These measures are aligned with the two overarching goals of the CROS; however, they do not include targets to measure DHS's progress in achieving the goals over the period the strategy covers (2012-2017). D&I officials stated that they are gathering baseline data on these measures and plan to use these data to help develop targets in the future. In addition, three of the CROS's six annual measures are associated with its goal of recruiting a highly qualified workforce. However, DHS does not require components to report the information needed to accurately assess component performance for one of these measures--which calls for standardized data tracking of recruiting and outreach activities. D&I has developed a database for components to use to track recruiting efforts and costs, but it does not require that all components use this tool or provide data to DHS in a consistent manner. D&I officials said that since some components have their own tracking systems, they do not want the tracking systems to duplicate efforts. D&I acknowledges the importance of obtaining comprehensive and consistent cost information from components, but has not determined whether and how it will do so. As a result, D&I does not know the total amount of money being spent on recruiting and outreach throughout DHS, nor is it able to fully track component recruiting costs--and therefore cannot measure the results of the second goal in the CROS of optimizing outreach and recruiting resources.

What GAO Recommends

GAO recommends that DHS require all components to provide recruiting cost information in a consistent manner. DHS concurred with GAO's recommendation.