Agencies need to better assess the costs and benefits of executive training, and improve reporting, GAO has said.
It said CHCOs from 26 agencies reported spending about $57 million from 2008 to 2012 on executive training from external providers, most often relying on OPM’s Federal Executive Institute and the Harvard Kennedy School of Government.
Agencies are required to maintain records of training plans, expenditures and activities, and to report training data to OPM. But half of the CHCOs reported data that GAO deemed incomplete, or with limitations, according to GAO-14-132.
It said agencies are required by statue to evaluate how well training programs contribute to mission accomplishment and performance goals but some agencies struggle with this. CHCOs say its time consuming, costly and difficult, and they want additional OPM assistance.
According to the report, CHCOs recommend increasing interagency cooperation by sharing training facilities and expanding eligibility to SEScandidates from other agencies,as well as implementing or expand computer-based training. They also said OPM could help centralize training offerings by creating a centrally funded SES candidate development program.
OPM agreed with recommendations to establish interim milestones for meeting with agencies to address training data deficiencies and establish timeframes for improving the reliability of agency data, share information and examples of how agencies have evaluated the impact of executive training on agency mission and goals, and assess potential efficiencies identified by agencies for possible government-wide implementation.
