Federal Manager's Daily Report

Agencies’ use of performance information to make decisions “generally has not improved” over the last four years, GAO has said, adding that “for more than two decades, our work has highlighted weaknesses in the use of performance information in decision making across the federal government.”

“The benefit of collecting performance information is fully realized only when that information is actually used by managers to make decisions aimed at improving results,” a report said.

It said that results of a 2017 survey of some 4,400 federal managers–two-thirds of whom responded– it conducted on those issues were largely the same as those of a 2013 survey and “continue to point to certain practices that could help agencies improve managers’ use of performance information.” For example, GAO said it found that managers whose programs were subject to data-driven reviews (regular reviews used to assess progress on select agency goals) to a greater extent reported statistically significantly greater use of performance information to make decisions.

GAO noted that efforts have been pursued for years to improve the use of performance information, such as the Performance Improvement Council’s working group on agency performance reviews. However the PIC “has not yet taken a systematic approach to identify and share proven practices that led to, or challenges that may be hampering, increased use of performance information by managers.”

Both the administration’s President’s Management Agenda and government-wide reform plan also called for more focus on improving use of data in decision making, it added, but OMB and others responsible for that goal “have yet to fully develop action plans to hold agencies accountable for achieving it.”

GAO said that OMB had no comment on its recommendations for the PIC to identify and share proven practices and challenges and for OMB to more fully develop action plans to improve the use of data.