Performance Measurement
Development of Performance Measurement Systems
for U.S. Army's Community and Family
Support Center Volunteer Programs
U.S. Army Community and Family Support Center
The U.S. Army's Community and Family
Support Center (CFSC) contracted with ICF International to develop separate, but parallel,
performance measurement systems for four
volunteer programs. ICF International is developing
the performance measurement systems for these
programs in three phases. Phase
I involves
obtaining a baseline understanding of the
individual programs, including understanding
of program implementation, identification
of key stakeholders, and determination of
program goals and objectives through telephone
interviews with respective program managers.
Phase II involves the development
of program-specific logic models and performance
indicators for each of the four volunteer
programs. Phase
III consists of the incorporation
of the performance indicators into the measurement
systems for each program, as well as pilot-testing
the systems at three Army installations.
Once developed, the performance measurement
systems will provide a means of systematically
tracking and evaluating volunteer program
data at the installation, regional, and Headquarters
levels. They also will enable program outputs
to be linked to program goals and objectives,
allowing for standards-based assessments
of program performance.
Measuring Workforce Planning Performance
U.S. Internal Revenue Service (IRS)
ICF International was awarded a contract by
the Internal Revenue Service to develop a
measurement framework for its workforce
planning process. The process we followed
included reviewing and documenting the workforce
planning process, reviewing the federal government
management and academic literature related
to workforce planning, conducting a benchmarking
study of workforce planning managers in government
and private sector organizations, creating
a measurement framework based on the phases
of workforce planning and the dimensions
critical to a high-performing organization,
and developing specific performance measurements
for each workforce planning phase. Each measurement
we developed included a specific objective,
inputs, actions, desired intermediate or
end outcome, performance indicators, and
performance targets. The IRS selected five
measurements to implement initially and is
selecting additional measurements to implement
each year.
Performance Measurement On-Line Tool (PM-OTOOL)
U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, Administration for Children and Families, Children’s Bureau
In order to report performance data for five Children’s Bureau discretionary grant programs (Abandoned Infants Assistance, Adoption Opportunities, Child Abuse and Prevention Treatment Act Research and Demonstration Projects, Child Welfare Training, and Infant Adoption Awareness Training), ICF developed the Performance Measurement On-Line Tool (PM-OTOOL), a Web-based data collection and reporting system, under the Child Welfare Information Gateway contract. Using the PM-OTOOL, grantees select performance measures (outputs and outcomes), then submit data on these measures at the end of each reporting period. Federal staff and grantees can create reports that reflect and analyze individual grantee data or aggregated data for a program for a particular reporting period or across multiple reporting periods. Grantees also can upload semi-annual and final reports to PM-OTOOL. ICF provides training and technical assistance to the Children’s Bureau and its grantees about performance measurement and how to use PM-OTOOL.
Title III and Title V Performance Measurement System
U.S. Department of Education, Institutional Development and Undergraduate Education Service (IDUES)
Agencies and organizations increasingly rely on performance measurement strategies to organize, manage, and evaluate programs. For this multiyear project, ICF’s education research experts developed a Web-based performance measurement system for the Title III and Title V programs on behalf of the U.S. Department of Education. Title III and Title V programs make available financial support to colleges and universities that serve substantial proportions of minority and low-income students. Working with the Department of Education's IDUES directors, IDUES program staff, and consultants, ICF designed and implemented a fully Web-based annual performance measurement (APR) system for Title III and Title V programs. This very successful system provides information for program monitoring, performance measurement, and communication about the IDUES program to Congress and other stakeholders. Current phases of the project include funding for three separate tasks: continuation of the APR system for the data collection and reporting cycle, analysis and reporting of recently collected data, and development and initiation of the first Web-based final performance report, to be completed electronically by grantees in the last year of their funding cycle.
Pay for Performance
Change Management Training for the Transition
to the National Security Personnel System
(NSPS)
U.S. Department of Defense (DoD), Washington Headquarters
Services (WHS)
To prepare managers and supervisors for
the transition to the National Security Personnel
System (NSPS), the Washington Headquarters
Services contracted with ICF International to
conduct change management training for its
staff. ICF International instructional
systems designers developed the training curriculum,
and ICF International instructors conducted
multiple half-day training sessions to provide
WHS managers with the essential skills needed
during times of significant change. This
training focused on providing an overview
about the components of the new personnel
system and its potential benefits, the characteristics
of the transition, and how to effectively
manage during times of change.
Rulemaking: Managing Public Comments
U.S. Department of Defense (DoD), National Security
Personnel System (NSPS)
The goal of this project was to ensure that
National Security Personnel System (NSPS)
Program Executive Office (PEO) staff and
managers were quickly and thoroughly informed
of the nature and content of public comments
received on proposed NSPS rules. NSPS represents
the most significant change to the civil
service since the Civil Service Reform Act
(CSRA) of 1978. It has the potential to affect
the entire civil service by granting unprecedented
flexibility to the civil service system.
ICF International supported the PEO by collecting,
analyzing, and documenting formal public
comments on the proposed enabling regulation.
ICF International's primary support consisted
of deploying CommentWorksSM,
ICF International's proprietary database and
software system, to collect, organize, classify,
and excerpt comments in whole or in part
that would enable PEO to develop a final
rule and defensible supporting administrative
record informed by the public input and feedback
presented in the comments. ICF International
provided briefings and reports on the scope
and content of public comments; electronic
files suitable for posting comments on the
NSPS Web site; use of the CommentWorks software
application to review, analyze, and document
public comments during a six-month period;
and user training for PEO staff. Learn more
about ICF International's comment-response assistance and
rulemaking
support.
Performance Management
Systems
Performance Assessment System
U.S. Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA)
FEMA needed to develop an agency-wide assessment
system that could be forward-looking and
prescriptive as well as "after the
fact." The agency, which has a diverse
set of missions and functions, required a
system that was able to address quick turnaround
needs, could be responsive to Congressional
and Office of the Inspector General (OIG)
inquiries/findings, and could incorporate
new internal initiatives. ICF International
and FEMA developed an assessment system that
is broad enough that it can be applied across
FEMA programs, projects, locations, directorates,
and organizational levels, yet detailed enough
that it can be customized to the specific
needs of each. The system has comparability
across assessments,; can be used as a management
tool at all levels within the organization,
allows FEMA to proactively understand performance
problems, and is based on achieving "outcomes"
as opposed to only "outputs."
Leadership Development Courses in Managing
Performance
U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC)
Among the training ICF International has developed
and delivered for SEC as part of the larger
Leadership Development Curriculum and Program
are two courses in Managing
Performance.
These courses provide participants with in-depth
knowledge about a variety of issues concerning
employee performance and evaluation. Supervisors
learn the components of performance management
and its cycle, how to develop performance
standards and plans that are consistent with
key SEC policies, and how to conduct annual
employee reviews. Selected experiential exercises
throughout the courses provide supervisors
with opportunities to practice effectively
communicating performance standards to foster
desired performance outcomes, and how to
minimize rater error and accurately evaluate
performance using documentation. Additionally,
supervisors learn strategies to provide constructive
feedback, as well as effective methods to
reward good performers and improve poor performers
within their line of influence.
Performance Culture Workshop
U.S. Office of Personnel Management (OPM), Division of Human Capital Leadership
and Merit System Accountability (HCLMSA)
ICF International was selected by OPM's
Office of Human Capital Leadership and Merit
System Accountability (HCLMSA) to develop
a series of workshops ("Knowledge Exchanges")
designed to share best practices and disseminate
key information to federal agency practitioners
responsible for improving human capital management
and performance. The workshops are being
designed in response to the requirements
laid out in the President's
Management Agenda, OPM's Standards
of Success,
and the Human Capital
Assessment and Accountability Framework (HCAAF). One
of the workshops,
Performance Culture, was targeted
to agency senior managers and provided tools
for agencies to develop a performance culture,
meet their "Proud to Be" goals, and "get
to green." In
developing these workshops, ICF International
is helping OPM and other federal agencies
to structure and define emerging human capital
issues; formulate models, strategies, and
tactics that can be introduced into the management
operations of a variety of agencies; and
provide highly interactive learning experiences
to agencies and other stakeholders.
Performance Management Component of Human
Resources Certificate Program
U.S. Internal Revenue Service (IRS), Agency Wide Shared Services (AWSS)
The IRS's Agency Wide Shared Services
(AWSS) offers cross-functional internal support
and has a highly technical pool
of employees. To lead AWSS and the
IRS into the future, the Personnel Services
employees needed exposure to the best practices
and latest theories in human resource (HR)
management, as well as top-notch leadership
skills. In partnership with Cornell University's
School of Industrial and Labor Relations,
ICF International consultants designed a customized
certificate program for Personnel Services
employees. The certificate program was organized
into five modules focusing on key HR topics.
Module 2 focused on issues of staffing and
supporting people and performance in the
organization, including performance management
systems, appraising performance, and providing
constructive feedback and employee development
opportunities. The overall program led to
a Certificate of Human Resource Management
Studies, which demonstrated that participants
had developed key HR competencies.
Assessment of Human Resources Capabilities
and Skills Needed for Contracting Acquisition
Management
U.S. Department of Energy (DOE), Contract and Privatization Office
To help DOE's Contract Reform and
Privatization Project Office assess its current
and future human resource capabilities and
needs, ICF International conducted a benchmarking
study in the private and public sector on
human capital management, workforce development,
and succession planning. The key objectives
of the assessment were to define core work
processes requirements to adequately manage
site contracts, evaluate existing staffing
skills and organization, understand current
roles and responsibilities of staff involved
in best business practices, and to identify
and inventory best practices from both within
the DOE community and in other public and
private sector organizations. We conducted
extensive document reviews, interviewed 60
federal and contractor personnel, and benchmarked
to identify public and private sector "best
practices" in executing and administering
the Performance-Based Management Contract.
Nine components of human capital management
were reviewed: (1) competency modeling
and competency-based education, (2) career
development systems, (3) succession planning
and workforce planning, (4) training, (5)
development, (6) recruitment and staffing,
(7) retention, (8) human resource planning
and management, and (9) rewards and recognition.
Following a review and analysis of the interview
data, as well as research of relevant literature,
the team developed a consensus on four major
cross-cutting issues that provided the basis
for nine recommendations.
Evaluation of Foreign Service Recruitment,
Selection, Training, and Workforce Planning
U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID), Office of Human Resources
Through focus groups, survey instruments,
structured interviews, and a benchmarking
study of best practices in other public and
private sector internationally oriented organizations,
ICF International evaluated and made concrete
recommendations for improving the recruitment,
selection, training, and workforce planning
programs of the U.S. Agency for
International Development (USAID). The guidance
and recommendations from this project are
currently being implemented by USAID to improve
the alignment between its workforce planning
and USAID's mission, goals, and budget
processes, and to increase the agency's
effectiveness in recruiting, selecting, and
training entry-level Foreign Service Officers
(FSO).
Leader Assessment and Feedback Program
U.S. Army
ICF International provided personnel research
services to develop combat leader competency
models and a multi-rater (360) leadership
assessment and feedback program for the U.S.
Army based on these competency models. The
project team used literature reviews, subject
matter expert review, and focus group methodology
to develop competencies and survey instruments
for Commanders, Staff Officers, and Non-Commissioned
Officers. ICF International led the survey development
phase, collecting survey item ratings by
12 subject matter experts and conducting
focus groups. The multi-rater instruments
were pilot tested, and statistical analyses
including reliability coefficients, factor
analysis, and confirmatory factor analysis
were conducted to ensure survey validity
and reliability. The project team produced
three multi-rater leadership assessment surveys,
a six-month program evaluation survey, assessment
report, interpretation guide, and an action
planning guidebook. The client used these
tools to assess and provide developmental
feedback to leaders across the U.S.
Army. A follow-on contract was awarded to
continue the program pilot.
GPRA, PMA, and
PART Compliance
Organizational Transition Workforce Planning
Workshop and Other Learning Events in Response
to the President's Management Agenda
U.S. Office of Personnel Management (OPM), Division of Human Capital Leadership
and Merit System Accountability (HCLMSA)
ICF International was chosen by OPM's
Office of Human Capital Leadership and Merit
System Accountability (HCLMSA) to design
and facilitate a series of eight workshops
to share best practices and disseminate key
information to federal agency practitioners
responsible for improving human capital management
and performance. The topics for the eight
workshops were: strategic
alignment, accountability, human capital
measurement, human capital evaluation, performance
culture, diversity issues, workforce planning,
and succession planning. Each workshop was delivered twice
to audiences of approximately 30 participants
from approximately 12 different agencies.
In response to the requirements laid out
in the President's Management Agenda
regarding strategic management of human capital,
HCLMSA developed a Human
Capital Professional Development Series and asked ICF International
to design and facilitate the eight workshops
to help federal agencies structure and define
emerging human capital issues and formulate
models, strategies, and tactics that they
could use to enhance organizational performance.
Planning and Performance Measurement
U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), National Response Team (NRT)
ICF International supported EPA's National
Response Team's (NRT) Planning
and Performance Measurement Ad Hoc Committee.
The Committee was formed to: (1) review NRT
member agency Government Performance and
Results Act (GPRA) performance measures and
determine how to influence upcoming GPRA
submissions; and (2) make recommendations
on NRT strategic and/or long-term planning.
ICF International provided logistical, analytical,
and technical support to the Committee, which
included drafting a National Response System
(NRS) mission statement and compiling NRS-related
NRT member agency and Regional Response Team
(RRT) goals, strategies, and performance
measures. The compilation was then used to
develop common performance measures for NRT
member agencies. ICF International also interviewed
several NRS member agencies and drafted a
final report that recommended measures to
more effectively evaluate and measure performance
and develop more appropriate goals.
Strategic Human Capital Planning and Implementation
Activities
U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS), Substance Abuse and Mental
Health Services Administration (SAMHSA)
ICF International was contracted by the Substance
Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration
(SAMHSA) to provide a comprehensive set of
organizational improvement services ranging
from competency modeling and workforce planning,
to training, team building, leadership coaching,
and other interventions to facilitate organizational
change and foster integration and organizational
transformation. ICF International is currently
developing competency models for all mission-critical
occupations, including a leadership competency
model and a technical competency model for
SAMHSA public health analysts and advisors.
In addition, ICF International created and is
currently delivering a Leadership Development
Program for SAMHSA's leadership cadre.
During Year 1 of the program, ICF International
designed and delivered the courses and prepared
detailed instructor and participant materials
for four key topics associated with performance
management: communications, emotional
intelligence, change management, and conflict
management. ICF International is currently integrating
these program activities with other SAMHSA
human capital activities such as performance
management, succession planning, Individual
Developmen Plan (IDP) development, and recruiting.
Budget and Performance Integration and Cost-Benefit
Analysis
U.S. Department of Labor (DOL), Employment Standards Administration (ESA),
Wage and Hour Division (WHD)
Consistent with the President's Management
Agenda (PMA), the WHD had developed a preliminary
performance integration model that demonstrated
the relationship between the agency's
annual performance plan and budget. ICF International
conducted a comprehensive evaluation to assess
the validity of the WHD's budget and
performance integration model, in the context
of progress made and compliance with the
President's Management Agenda (PMA)
scorecard, Office of Management and Budget
(OMB) Program Assessment Rating Tool (PART),
and the Government Accountability Office's
(GAO) Results-Oriented Budget Practices.
Specifically, the ICF International team reviewed
the mechanics of the model; validated the
assumptions and estimates of the model, and
the methodology and approach used within
the model to map and/or link budgets to the
WHD performance plan; identified opportunities
and made recommendations to improve the current
model; and provided recommendations to develop
and implement a budget and performance integration
model in regional and district offices. |
