By 2022, provide USAID staff access to integrated and accurate foreign assistance portfolio data to better assess performance and inform decision-making. By 2022, establish a plan to expand and leverage analytics capabilities of the Department’s integrated global logistics systems to drive data-informed decisions, efficiencies, and/or improved accountability in the supply chain. By 2022, improve or maintain the agencies’ Megabyte Act grades to A to realize cost savings and efficiencies.  

Enhance workforce performance, leadership, engagement, and accountability to execute our mission efficiently and effectively  

The Secretary’s Listening Report found that at both the Department of State and USAID, people are inspired by being of service and making a difference, and are passionate about the mission to serve humanity. In both cases, people are inspired by those with whom they work. The Report also identified human resource (HR) issues that the Department and USAID could each improve. Some of the findings for our agencies included distributed delivery of burdensome, duplicative transactions; redundant HR systems; and minimal quality assurance mechanisms to ensure accuracy and validity of data. The Department and USAID will each create nimble and data-informed decision making processes that lead to greater employee engagement with HR services. We will bolster programs to hire, develop, assess, and align technical, managerial, and leadership talent (especially at the senior ranks) specific to each agency. By focusing on the issues identified above, the Department and USAID will maximize the impact of our foreign policy objectives while further diversifying and empowering an agile workforce. Strategies for Achieving the Objective The Department and USAID seek to improve flexibility, cost effectiveness, and strategic human capital support at each agency. As such, the Department’s Impact Initiative and USAID’s ReDesign as well as the Human Resources Transformation Initiatives will be important in achieving this objective. We will establish consistent, measurable standards for HR processes and procedures, performance goals, and continuous improvement initiatives where needed. We will review and enhance service level agreements that better enable customers to focus on the core business/mission. In addition, we will expand or create specialized work teams and processes for complex inquiries. The Department and USAID will review HR functions and staff within each agency and recommend internal consolidation and outsourcing where appropriate to enhance flexible service delivery and provide global service and support to multiple bureaus more uniformly. Centralizing, consolidating, and automating transactions will allow HR staff at both agencies to provide more strategic human capital support. USAID will continue to advance implementation of its HR Transformation Objectives to strengthen HR operations. The Department and USAID will develop an integrated approach to talent management that maximizes transparency and employee engagement, motivation, and accountability. We will close the gap between current and desired workforce capabilities by adopting effective workforce planning tools and hiring programs with best practice metrics and targets. We will develop talent management platforms tailored to each individual agency to better align personnel with positions and streamline workforce strategic planning. USAID will complete implementation of its HR Transformation Objectives related to workforce planning and deployment of staff. The Department will complete and implement its TalentMap system and create full service websites for managers. The Department and USAID will emphasize professional development and empower leadership at all levels. Our approach will promote diversity and inclusion and will help increase employee wellness. We will enhance performance management tools that enable frequent and substantive discussions, including multisource feedback, tied to performance expectations. Increasing leadership and diversity classes will contribute to these outcomes. To ensure greater employee and management accountability, we will better align performance objectives to measurable criteria, and we will enforce mandatory training requirements. The Department and USAID will identify promising leaders and invest in their growth. Cross Agency Collaboration The Office of Management and Budget (OMB) and Office of Personnel Management (OPM) guidance is instrumental in achieving this objective. The Department and USAID meet with Congressional stakeholders to discuss proposed budgets and approaches to delivering on our missions as well as on the status of pending legislation and our implementation of new laws affecting effectiveness and efficiency. Risk Consolidating HR functions within each individual organization while ensuring they are compliant with legislative requirements will be expensive and time consuming. The Department of State and USAID must demonstrate that centralization will increase efficiency and ultimately save money. Centralization will challenge traditional HR structures and practices of the Department, particularly within regional bureaus. The Department and USAID must also ensure staffing levels align with the Department’s Impact Initiative and USAID’s ReDesign organizational structure and clearly communicate expectations for staff. As we implement new workforce planning tools and databases, there must be standard operating procedures that preserve the data quality of employee records. Finally, efforts to improve talent management within a merit-based system require sustained leadership within the Department and support from Congress and unions.