CHCOs also report that agencies are not using workforce data and analytics tools enough, or effectively enough, to support workforce rebuilding, according to the report, available here: http://ourpublicservice.org/OPS/.
Based on the interviews, it concluded that, “sustained attention is needed both to data development and to organizations’ ability to analyze and use that data effectively,” and the “HR infrastructure and HR workforce need to be strengthened” to ensure the best tools are being used in the best ways.
Skill gaps within the HR workforce as well as “structural” problems in HR laws and policy inhibit the support HR can provide to managers and leaders, the report said.
It called on OPM and OMB to continue emphasizing the development and use of mission-focused and data-driven HR tools, policies and practices (such as through an agency “engagement dashboard” planned by OMB to help keep managers focused on employee engagement).
The report also recommends that agencies and OPM work together on developing more metrics to measure the quality of new employees and capture hiring costs under various approaches, and it called on agencies “to follow through on initiatives to improve data-driven succession plans and workforce planning to address workload imbalances, the impact of budget reductions, adjustments in missions and advances in technology.”
