DoD needs better insight into how many financial management contractor staff it has or what functions they collectively perform, says GAO. Image: Mark Van Scyoc/Shutterstock.com
By: FEDweek StaffIn the latest in a string of reports calling on agencies to better plan for their workforce needs in certain occupations or programs, the GAO has made the same recommendation for DoD financial management—which has been on the GAO’s high-risk list since 1995.
“When done effectively, strategic workforce planning can help the Department of Defense determine its financial management needs, deploy strategies to address skill gaps, and contribute to results,” a report said. However, it said that of five key principles for such planning, DoD is compliant with only three: involvement of top management, employees and other shareholders; using existing workforce flexibilities to support those strategies; and monitoring and evaluating outcomes.
It said DoD has policies and procedures in place to identify the competencies needed in its workforce of about 43,000 civilians involved with financial management, but it “does not know how many financial management contractor staff it has or what functions they collectively perform. This presents a major challenge in determining workforce needs.”
And while the department has developed hiring and training strategies for that staff, it “has not developed and implemented documented succession policies and plans. As a result, DoD increases the risk that it will be unable to quickly fill expected gaps in positions,” the GAO said.
Management agreed with a recommendation directed toward the first of those issues but not one for the second, saying that it is up to the contractors to determine the skill set needed. GAO reiterated that recommendation, saying that for DoD to plan for its own workforce effectively, it needs to know the skill sets contractors are using.
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