As it has recommended in the past regarding similar systems, GAO called for continued monitoring of DCIPS safeguards to ensure agency actions are effective.
In October DoD provided a draft DCIPS evaluation plan that would be executed after the first payout in January 2010.
GAO said however that without finalizing and executing the plan, DoD would not know if it has achieved desired outcomes from the system.
DoD has used several mechanisms to provide employees with information, but these they do not comprehensively identify and address employee perceptions of DCIPS, said the report.
Participants at most of the intelligence components noted that DCIPS was being implemented too quickly or many questions put forward online and through feedback groups went unanswered.
Although DoD officials have drafted surveys that will allow them to more comprehensively collect employee perceptions about DCIPS, these surveys lack questions that would provide insight about employee perceptions of certain safeguards and overall acceptance of DCIPS, the report said.
It called on the undersecretary of defense for intelligence to issue guidance to institutionalize a process to involve employees continually in future design and implementation changes to DCIPS, as well as guidance on the analysis of finalized ratings that explains how the demographic analysis of ratings is to be conducted.
It also called on the undersecretary for intelligence to finalize and execute the department’s evaluation plan with metrics to assess the system, including the implementation of internal safeguards, to help ensure the department evaluates the system’s impact.