The nominee for deputy management director at OMB is a Washington D.C. management consultant with no public sector background and that is praised as an entrepreneur, but at a hearing before the Senate Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs Committee recently Jeffrey Zients emphasized that as the nation’s first chief performance officer he would work to strike the right balance between public and private sector best practices.
Zients previously served as CEO and chair of The Advisory Board Company and Chairman of the Corporate Executive Board, and is the founder and managing partner of Portfolio Logic, an investment firm focused primarily on business and healthcare service companies.
According to OMB director Peter Orzag, Zients would lead efforts on contracting and procurement reform, improving government productivity, building a performance agenda across government, and increasing transparency while working closely with chief technology officer Aneesh Chopra and federal CIO Vivek Kundra.
"If confirmed, I would seek to apply and instill government best practices more broadly while, at the same time, drawing on approaches and models that have proved successful in the private sector," Zients told the committee, adding, "As a CEO and advisor to CEOs, I found that leadership, measurement, and a motivated workforce create the foundation for good performance."
His nomination will have to be reported out of the committee before being voted on, but committee chair Joe Lieberman, I-Conn., and ranking member Susan Collins, R-Maine, were supportive in their statements.
Noting challenge he would face, said Collins: "It is unacceptable that federal agencies have identified more than 450 IT projects, totaling more than $26 billion for fiscal year 2009, as poorly planned, poorly performing, or both," adding that if confirmed, Zients would need to call on all his experience to serve effectively.