Today the Office of Management and Budget (OMB) released its latest round of updates to the President’s Management Agenda (PMA), which serves as the roadmap for ensuring an equitable, effective, and accountable Federal Government that delivers results for all. The Biden-Harris Administration has made significant progress in implementing the PMA over the past two years, taking bold steps to strengthen the Federal workforce, deliver excellent and equitable Federal services, and manage the business of government more effectively — with the north star of best serving the American people.
This past quarter, we celebrated successes in expanding workforce development, improving the service of high impact service providers, and facilitating parity and talent mobility across the Federal contracting workforce.
Strengthening the Federal Workforce
Recognizing the crucial role of those who keep the government running and deliver essential services daily, the Biden-Harris Administration has made Strengthening and Empowering the Federal Workforce its top priority. In line with this commitment, the administration has taken several key steps to bolster the workforce:
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Talent is critical to investing in America, and the Biden Administration exceeded its goal of hiring more than 5,800 targeted positions to support implementation of the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law (BIL). This expansion will contribute to the rebuilding of America’s infrastructure — including roads, bridges, and rails, while also expanding access to clean drinking water, high-speed internet, and addressing the climate crisis.
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The White House issued an Executive Order on Artificial Intelligence on October 30, outlining key areas for safe, secure, and trustworthy AI development and use. A key component of the Executive Order calls for a surge in national AI talent, including training and development of the Federal workforce.
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OPM co-hosted the October National Tech to Gov Virtual Forum and Job Fair in coordination with its agency and private sector partners, which had 1,400 attendees and included a five-part training series to better recruit and hire technical talent from the private sector.
To read all of the new Priority 1 milestones and goals, check out milestone tables here: Strategy 1, Strategy 2, and Strategy 3, and Strategy 4.
Delivering Excellent Customer Experience
The Federal government delivers critical services each day, from Social Security benefits to outdoor experiences to disaster response to airport security screenings. These interactions between the Federal Government and the public serve as crucial moments where we demonstrate our ability to deliver for those who need us most. Recognizing this vital connection, the second Priority of the PMA focuses on Delivering Excellent, Equitable, and Secure Federal Services and Customer Experience. Customer experience is intrinsically intertwined with everything we do, as recently highlighted in a blog on a Department of Veterans Affairs study, which demonstrated a promising potential relationship between employee engagement and customer satisfaction in government. By prioritizing customer experience and ensuring that every interaction is positive and productive, we can strengthen the public’s trust in government.
This quarter also marks two years since the issuance of the Executive Order on Customer Experience, and we are proud to celebrate the progress we have made in collaboration with our designated High Impact Service Providers (HISPs) and Life Experience projects.
As part of our work with HISPs, the latest quarterly data reports provide valuable insights into key government interactions, such as applying for a farm loan, updating Social Security direct deposit information, and working with USAID.
The Life Experience projects are transitioning to the development phase, where they will focus on learning from pilots conducted and scaling and implementing their findings. Examples of progress include:
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The Having a Child and Early Childhood life experience team’s distribution partners provided 3,000 Newborn Supply Kits to any mother having a baby at a pilot site hospital.
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The Facing a Financial Shock life experience team is collaborating with 20 states and non-profit organizations to develop cross-program policy tools, guidance, and resources to simplify and streamline benefit access.
To read all new updates to Priority 2, check out milestone tables here: Strategy 1, Strategy 2, and Strategy 3.
Managing the Business of Government
Lastly, in Priority 3, Managing the Business of Government, teams continue to streamline and modernize how business gets done. A significant component of this work is the elimination of unnecessary barriers to mobility for contracting professionals. Differences in contracting certifications had previously limited the ability for contracting professionals to move between civilian agencies and DoD. However, to promote flexible hiring and eliminate these unnecessary barriers, OMB’s OFPP and DoD have signed a Memorandum of Understanding establishing parity between the two certification programs. This means that contracting professionals certified in one agency can readily transition to roles in the other agency. This decision works in tandem with Priority 1 to help promote a stronger contracting workforce with more options to find the best job for their desired career path. Furthermore, the Better Contracting Initiative announced last month is expected to generate more than an additional 10 billion annually in savings and cost avoidance while improving the performance of Federal contracts.
Additionally, the Council on Federal Financial Assistance (COFFA) convened for its first meeting in late October where they began developing priorities to accomplish within the first year, including the identification of the core competencies necessary for the financial assistance workforce.
To view all updates to Priority 3, check out milestone tables here: Strategy 1 and Strategy 2.
In the coming months, the Biden-Harris Administration will continue to make progress on the PMA to invest in government’s capacity to deliver results for the American people. In January, we will host a PMA Webinar on Priority 3: Managing the Business of Government to discuss how PMA teams are fostering lasting improvements in the Federal acquisition system. Additionally, next week marks the two year anniversary of the CX Executive Order and the critical work being done to build trust in government. We invite you to join the celebration by following Performance.gov on LinkedIn and Twitter or posting about the progress made across the federal space using the #GovCX hashtag.
Stay Informed
We will continue to update Performance.gov quarterly with progress on agency and PMA priorities. Subscribe to our newsletter to receive updates straight to your inbox.
