The Corps Lacks a Current Human Capital Plan to Guide Its Workforce Planning Efforts

The Corps’ 2002 strategic human capital plan is out of date and not aligned  with the agency’s most recent strategic plan, developed in 2005. However, the human capital plan has not been revised since 2002 to reflect  the Corps’ new strategic direction as outlined in the agency’s most current  strategic plan, developed in June 2005, and other recent events. For example, to fulfill its annual reporting requirements to OPM,  the Corps provides a list of completed human capital activities, such as  “Community of Practice Conference Workshop held,” and activities to be  undertaken, such as “Identify Fiscal Year 2008 Intern Requirements.”   However, we found that these updates are not an adequate substitute for  the Corps’ human capital plan because they do not represent a coherent  framework of the agency’s human capital policies, programs, and  practices, and they do not include any of the components of an effective  human capital plan, such as goals, strategies, and a system for measuring  how successfully the strategies have been implemented. For example, some division and district officials  told us that they are still using the 2002 human capital plan to guide their  activities; others said they relied instead on guidance they receive from  headquarters. The Corps Lacks the Necessary Agencywide Data on Critical Skills to Identify and Assess Its Workforce Needs

The Corps does not have comprehensive agencywide data on critical skills  to identify and assess current and future workforce needs. Effective workforce planning requires consistent agencywide data  on the critical skills needed to achieve current and future programmatic  results. However, the Corps does not have a process for collecting  comprehensive and consistent agencywide data, and headquarters has not  provided guidance to its divisions and districts on how to collect this  information. Consequently, we believe that the lack of this  information hampers the Corps’ ability to develop effective approaches to  recruiting, developing, and retaining personnel. However,  it is too early to evaluate the Corps’ overall progress on this effort. Oftentimes if this approval is  not received, he has had trouble hiring experienced scientists and  engineers and has had to hire less experienced staff instead. However, this is not the  case with the Corps because it does not have a current human capital plan  that is aligned with its strategic plan. Finally, although the Corps  uses a number of human capital tools to address the challenges it faces,  such as an aging workforce and competition from the private sector for  qualified applicants, it lacks a process to assess the effectiveness of these  tools. Without such a process, the Corps has no way to determine either  the overall costs and benefits of the tools it uses to recruit and retain  employees or whether additional approaches are needed to develop and  maintain its workforce for the future. Recommendations for Executive Action

To help the Corps better manage its workforce planning efforts, we are  recommending that the Secretary of Defense direct the Commanding  General and Chief of Engineers of the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers to  take the following three actions:     Develop a human capital plan that is directly linked to the Corps’ current  strategic plan and that contains all the key components of an effective plan  as outlined by the Office of Personnel Management. Appendix I: Scope and Methodology

We were asked to examine the (1) extent to which the Corps has aligned  its human capital plan with its strategic plan, (2) extent to which the Corps  has the information necessary to identify and meet current and future  workforce needs, and (3) challenges the Corps faces in meeting its  workforce needs. To assess the extent to which the Corps is collecting the information  necessary to meet current and future workforce needs, we visited and  interviewed Corps officials at two divisions (the North Atlantic and South  Pacific divisions) and three districts (New York, San Francisco, and  Sacramento) to obtain information about their strategic workforce  planning strategies and their human capital initiatives related to  recruitment, development, and retention of staff. We used the information  obtained from the visits to develop a structured interview that we  administered to the Corps’ eight divisions and a purposeful sample of 14 of  the Corps’ 38 districts that conduct work in the United States.
Why GAO Did This Study

With a workforce of about 35,000, the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers (the Corps) provides engineering services for civil works and military programs in the United States and overseas. Recently, the Corps' focus has shifted to also support contingency operations, such as responding to natural disasters. To meet its mission and emerging priorities, the Corps must have effective human capital planning processes to ensure that it can maintain its workforce. In this context, GAO was asked to examine the (1) extent to which the Corps has aligned its human capital plan with its strategic plan, (2) extent to which the Corps has the information necessary to identify and meet current and future workforce needs, and (3) challenges the Corps faces in meeting its workforce needs. To address these issues, GAO reviewed agency human capital and strategic planning documents, conducted structured interviews with eight Corps divisions and a purposeful sample of 14 of its districts, and interviewed other Corps officials.

What GAO Found

The Corps' strategic human capital plan is outdated; is not aligned with the agency's most recent strategic plan, which was developed in 2005; and is inconsistently used across the agency. Specifically, the human capital plan has not been revised since it was developed in 2002, and it is therefore not aligned with the Corps' current strategic plan. Headquarters officials told GAO they "abandoned" the use of the plan and replaced it with the human capital updates required under a presidential initiative. While these updates list the Corps' human capital activities and milestones for completing them, they do not contain key components of an effective human capital plan, such as goals, strategies, and a system for measuring performance. Moreover, the outdated human capital plan is being used inconsistently across the agency. Some divisions and districts are still using the 2002 plan to guide their human capital efforts, while others are relying on guidance from headquarters or the Office of Personnel Management or developing their own guidance. Without a current, consistently implemented human capital plan that is aligned with its strategic plan, the Corps' ability to effectively manage its workforce is limited. The Corps lacks the necessary agencywide information on critical skills to identify and assess current and future workforce needs and therefore cannot effectively perform its workforce planning activities. Effective workforce planning depends on consistent agencywide data on the critical skills needed to achieve the agency's mission. However, the Corps does not have a process for collecting consistent agencywide data, and headquarters has not provided guidance to the divisions and districts on how to gather this information systematically. Without guidance, some divisions and districts have collected this information independently, using varying methods, leaving the Corps with inconsistent and incomplete data with which to assess the agency's overall workforce needs. As a result, the Corps' ability to determine effective approaches to recruiting, developing, and retaining personnel is limited. Realizing the need for consistent information on critical skills, the Corps recently began an effort to systematically collect these data. However, it is too early to assess the Corps' progress on this effort. The Corps faces several challenges to its workforce planning efforts, such as competition from the private sector and others to hire qualified staff. To address these challenges, the Corps uses human capital tools such as recruitment and retention incentives. However, the Corps' use of some tools has sharply decreased recently. For example, in fiscal year 2002 the Corps awarded $750,000 in recruitment bonuses, but in 2006 this dropped to $24,000. One official told GAO he has had to hire less qualified staff because he has been unable to offer sufficient incentives. Moreover, the Corps lacks a process for assessing the effectiveness of the tools it uses. Consequently, the Corps can neither determine the overall costs and benefits of using these tools nor decide whether additional methods are needed to recruit, develop, and retain its current and future workforce.