GPRA provides a legislatively based mechanism for Congress and the executive branch to jointly engage in that reassessment. GPRA Provides Opportunity to Clarify Agencies’ Missions and Better Focus Programs

As I noted in an appearance before the Senate Committee on Governmental Affairs last May, in large measure, problems arising from unclear agency missions and goals and overlap and fragmentation among programs can best be solved through an integrated approach to federal efforts. A further important step toward sharpening agencies’ focus on outcomes would be for congressional committees of jurisdiction to hold comprehensive oversight hearings—annually or at least once during each Congress—using a wide range of program and financial information. Nevertheless, measuring outcomes is a critical aspect of GPRA, particularly for informing the decisions of congressional and high-level executive branch decisionmakers as they allocate resources and determine the need for and the efficiency and effectiveness of specific programs. How Are GPRA Performance Goals and Information Being Used to Drive the Agency’s Daily Operations? How Is the Agency Using Performance Information to Improve Its Effectiveness? What Steps Is the Agency Taking to Align Its Core Business Processes to Support Mission-Related Outcomes? Agencies’ efforts to focus on achieving results are leading a number of them to recognize the need to change their core business processes to better support the goals they are trying to achieve. Managing for Results: Status of the Government Performance and Results Act (GAO/T-GGD-95-193, June 27, 1995).
Why GAO Did This Study

GAO discussed: (1) the Government Performance and Results Act's (GPRA) potential contributions to congressional and executive branch decisionmaking; and (2) Congress' role in implementing GPRA.

What GAO Found

GAO noted that: (1) more federal agencies are recognizing the benefits of focusing on outcomes rather than activities to improve their programs' efficiency and effectiveness; (2) agencies cannot quickly and easily shift their focus because outcomes can be difficult to define and measure and major changes in services and processes may be required; (3) strong and sustained congressional attention is needed to ensure GPRA success; (4) GPRA provides a mechanism for reassessing agencies' missions and focusing programs while downsizing and increasing efficiency; (5) unclear goals and missions have hampered the targeting of program resources and caused overlaps and duplications; (6) Congress needs to hold periodic comprehensive oversight hearings and to gather information on measuring outcomes and determine how GPRA performance goals and information drive agencies' daily operations, how agencies use performance information to improve their effectiveness, agencies' progress in improving their financial and information systems and staff training and recruitment, and how agencies are aligning their core business processes to support mission-related outcomes.