This is the accessible text file for GAO report number GAO-12-487 
entitled 'Federal Emergency Management Agency: Workforce Planning and 
Training Could Be Enhanced by Incorporating Strategic Management 
Principles' which was released on April 26, 2012. 

This text file was formatted by the U.S. Government Accountability 
Office (GAO) to be accessible to users with visual impairments, as 
part of a longer term project to improve GAO products' accessibility. 
Every attempt has been made to maintain the structural and data 
integrity of the original printed product. Accessibility features, 
such as text descriptions of tables, consecutively numbered footnotes 
placed at the end of the file, and the text of agency comment letters, 
are provided but may not exactly duplicate the presentation or format 
of the printed version. The portable document format (PDF) file is an 
exact electronic replica of the printed version. We welcome your 
feedback. Please E-mail your comments regarding the contents or 
accessibility features of this document to Webmaster@gao.gov. 

This is a work of the U.S. government and is not subject to copyright 
protection in the United States. It may be reproduced and distributed 
in its entirety without further permission from GAO. Because this work 
may contain copyrighted images or other material, permission from the 
copyright holder may be necessary if you wish to reproduce this 
material separately. 

United States Government Accountability Office: 
GAO: 

Report to Congressional Requesters: 

April 2012: 

Federal Emergency Management Agency: 

Workforce Planning and Training Could Be Enhanced by Incorporating 
Strategic Management Principles: 

GAO-12-487: 

GAO Highlights: 

Highlights of GAO-12-487, a report to congressional requesters. 

Why GAO Did This Study: 

FEMA, within the Department of Homeland Security (DHS), employs a 
workforce of over 18,000 people, who are responsible for leading and 
supporting the nation in preparing for, protecting against, responding 
to, recovering from, and mitigating all hazards. GAO reported in 2007 
and 2011 that changes in FEMA's workforce, workload, and composition 
have created challenges in FEMA’s ability to meet the agency's varied 
responsibilities and train its staff appropriately. GAO was asked to 
review FEMA’s workforce planning and training efforts. This report 
addresses: the extent to which FEMA has (1) integrated its workforce 
planning and training efforts, (2) incorporated strategic management 
principles into these efforts, and (3) systematically gathered 
workforce and training data to inform its human capital decisions. GAO 
reviewed relevant documentation that describes FEMA’s agencywide 
workforce planning and training efforts, such as the agency’s 
strategic plan, reviewed and assessed FEMA’s strategic planning 
documents, and interviewed DHS and FEMA program and regional office 
officials. 

What GAO Found: 

The Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) is taking steps to 
integrate its workforce planning and training efforts across the 
agency consistent with critical success factors for strategic human 
capital management such as initiating working groups to coordinate 
related activities, but its efforts are in the early stages. Until 
recently FEMA’s efforts related to workforce planning have been 
independently conducted by various offices across the agency. In 
January 2012, FEMA human capital officials reported that they began 
integrating agencywide workforce planning initiatives underway by 
other program offices, such as FEMA’s Qualification System, which was 
developed to establish qualification requirements for FEMA’s workforce 
for deployment purposes, among other things. Additionally, FEMA’s 
Human Capital Office plans to release a directive that, according to 
officials, will address the need for integrating the agency’s training 
efforts consistent with critical success factors for strategic human 
capital management. Having integrated workforce planning and training 
could help FEMA ensure that it has the properly sized and skilled 
workforce to effectively meet its mission. However, the effectiveness 
of these integration efforts is dependent upon FEMA following through 
with its plans and it is, therefore, too early to assess their impact.
FEMA has taken steps to incorporate some strategic management 
principles into its workforce planning and training efforts but could 
incorporate additional principles to ensure a more strategic approach 
is used to address longstanding management challenges. Specifically, 
FEMA’s leadership has demonstrated commitment to effectively plan for 
and train its workforce, but has not established specific long-term 
goals, such as integrating agencywide training efforts, or 
quantifiable annual performance measures for these efforts. Such goals 
and metrics could help ensure accountability for FEMA’s workforce 
planning and training. Further, FEMA’s workforce planning and training 
could be enhanced by establishing lines of authority for these 
efforts. For example, FEMA’s Human Capital Office is responsible for 
providing leadership and direction for the agency’s human capital 
programs, but officials said that they have little authority over 
workforce planning efforts across the agency. Identifying lines of 
authority could help provide a strategic focus to FEMA’s workforce 
planning and training and ensure the agency is held accountable for 
the success of these efforts. 

FEMA has not developed processes to systematically collect and analyze 
agencywide workforce and training data that could be used to better 
inform its decision making. Specifically, the contractor who conducted 
a March 2010 baseline assessment of FEMA’s workforce reported that 
they gathered workforce data from three different databases to conduct 
their analysis, noting that conflicting data from these databases had 
to be resolved to make the information usable for their analysis. 
Additionally, FEMA has taken steps to track training information, but 
its tracking processes do not provide a reliable account of all 
training activities of FEMA employees. Developing systematic processes 
to collect and analyze its agencywide workforce and training data 
could help FEMA make more informed decisions. 

What GAO Recommends: 

GAO recommends that FEMA: identify long-term quantifiable mission-
critical goals; establish a time frame for completing the development 
of quantifiable performance measures; establish lines of authority for 
agencywide workforce planning and training efforts; and develop 
systematic processes to collect and analyze workforce and training 
data. DHS concurred with all recommendations. 

View [hyperlink, http://www.gao.gov/products/GAO-12-487]. For more 
information, contact David C. Maurer at (202) 512-9627 or 
maurerd@gao.gov. 

[End of section] 

Contents: 

Letter: 

Background: 

Incorporating Strategic Management Principles Could Enhance FEMA's 
Workforce Planning and Training Efforts: 

FEMA Could Benefit from More Systematically Collecting and Analyzing 
Workforce and Training Data: 

Conclusions: 

Recommendations for Executive Action: 

Agency Comments and Our Evaluation: 

Appendix I: Strategic Human Capital Management Critical Success 
Factors: 

Appendix II: FEMA Program Office Responsibilities and Description of 
Initiatives Related to Workforce Planning: 

Appendix III: FEMA Program Office Responsibilities Related to 
Workforce Training: 

Appendix IV: Comments from the Department of Homeland Security: 

Appendix V: GAO Contact and Staff Acknowledgments: 

Tables: 

Table 1: Databases that Maintain FEMA Workforce Information: 

Table 2: FEMA Information Systems Used for Collecting and Tracking 
Training: 

Table 3: Strategic Human Capital Management Critical Success Factors: 

Figures: 

Figure 1: Overview of FEMA's Workforce, Fiscal Years 2005, 2008, 2012: 

Figure 2: FEMA Organizational Chart: 

Figure 3: FEMA Program Offices' Responsibilities and Workforce 
Planning Initiatives: 

Figure 4: FEMA Program Offices' Workforce Training Responsibilities: 

Abbreviations: 

CORE: Cadre of On-Call Response/Recovery Employees: 

DAE: Disaster Assistance Employees: 

DHS: Department of Homeland Security: 

FEMA: Federal Emergency Management Agency: 

FQS: FEMA Qualification System: 

Homeland Security Institute: Homeland Security Studies and Analysis 
Institute: 

Human Capital Office: Office of Chief Component Human Capital Officer: 

Post-Katrina Act: Post-Katrina Emergency Management Reform Act of 2006: 

[End of section] 

United States Government Accountability Office: 
Washington, DC 20548: 

April 26, 2012: 

Congressional Requesters: 

The Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA), within the Department 
of Homeland Security (DHS), employs a workforce of over 18,000 people, 
who are responsible for leading and supporting the nation in a risk-
based, comprehensive emergency management system of preparedness, 
protection, response, recovery, and mitigation to prepare for, protect 
against, respond to, recover from, and mitigate all hazards. FEMA's 
workforce includes permanent staff as well as short-term and long-term 
temporary staff who require a variety of specialized skills. In the 
aftermath of Hurricane Katrina, Congress passed the Post-Katrina 
Emergency Management Reform Act of 2006 (Post-Katrina Act), expanding 
FEMA's mission and responsibilities.[Footnote 1] Among other things, 
the Post-Katrina Act required FEMA to develop a strategic human 
capital plan that includes an assessment of the critical skills and 
competencies of FEMA's workforce and provide an action plan that 
includes workforce planning strategies and program objectives to train 
employees.[Footnote 2] 

As we have previously reported, changes in FEMA's workforce, workload, 
and composition have created challenges in the agency's ability to 
meet its changing responsibilities and train its staff appropriately 
even as FEMA's ability to successfully meet its mission of preparing 
for, responding to, and recovering from all hazards has been tested as 
never before.[Footnote 3] In 2011, FEMA responded to more disasters 
than any other year in its history. Specifically, during fiscal year 
2011, FEMA responded to 124 declared major disasters and emergencies, 
helping thousands of individuals and communities reduce the economic 
loss and human suffering associated with disasters. For example, 
tornadoes devastated the town of Joplin, Missouri, and severely 
impacted the Southeast region, while Hurricane Irene affected 14 
states and more than 35 million people along the East Coast. This 
environment increases the importance of FEMA effectively identifying 
the appropriate size and skills of its workforce. Recognizing these 
challenges, FEMA's administrator identified workforce planning and 
training as one of the agency's five priorities for fiscal years 2012 
through 2016 in its strategic plan. A key component of the agency's 
continuing evolution is the Administrator's goal of ensuring that, in 
addition to their day-to-day responsibilities, every FEMA employee is 
fully prepared to be deployed as a part of the national disaster 
workforce to more fully embrace the agency's core mission and meet 
FEMA's goal to address the needs of survivors within 72 hours, and 
restore basic services and community functionality within 60 days. 

We have previously reported on the challenges FEMA faces in conducting 
strategic workforce planning and training activities. For example, in 
2007 we reported that FEMA needed adequate data, plans, and systems to 
effectively manage resources for its day-to-day operations.[Footnote 
4] Specifically, we reported that FEMA was conducting its workforce 
planning from the bottom up, office by office, and this approach was 
likely to result in workforce plans that meet the immediate needs of 
individual offices rather than produce an integrated, long-term 
strategy for the entire agency. We also noted that FEMA lacked human 
capital strategies, such as succession planning and a coordinated 
training effort, which are integral to managing resources. We 
recommended that FEMA apply attributes of effective workforce 
planning, including establishing strategic direction, assessing the 
number and skill sets of its workforce, conducting succession 
planning, and developing training requirements.[Footnote 5] To address 
this recommendation, in 2008 FEMA issued its Strategic Human Capital 
Plan. More recently, in June 2011 we reported that FEMA faced 
challenges, including the lack of effective collaboration between 
program and support offices, and strategic human capital planning 
related to Post-Katrina Act requirements.[Footnote 6] As a result, we 
recommended that FEMA develop a comprehensive workforce plan according 
to the Post-Katrina Act that identifies agency staffing and skills 
requirements, addresses turnover and staff vacancies, and analyzes 
FEMA's use of contractors. FEMA concurred, and in responding to this 
recommendation, reported that it had acquired a contractor to conduct 
a baseline assessment of its workforce to inform the agency's future 
workforce planning efforts. We discuss this baseline assessment later 
in this report. 

In addition, our prior work on strategic human capital management 
across the federal government has identified long-standing concerns in 
this area. For example, in 2001 we designated strategic human capital 
management as a high-risk issue and reported that the government's 
management of people--its human capital--was the critical missing link 
in reforming and modernizing the federal government's management 
practices.[Footnote 7] Since that time, the federal government has 
made progress in addressing its human capital challenges and we have, 
therefore, narrowed the scope of this high-risk area to focus on the 
most significant challenges that remain to close current and emerging 
critical skills gaps in vital areas such as acquisition, foreign 
language capabilities, and oil and gas management.[Footnote 8] In June 
and December 2011, DHS provided us with letters documenting actions 
taken and planned to address its human capital challenges, including a 
lack of integrated strategies, requirements, capabilities, and 
resources as well as a lack of integrated functional policies, 
procedures and internal controls. Specifically, DHS described its 
strategy to transform the department and address the root causes that 
contributed to our initial high-risk designation of implementing and 
transforming DHS. However, we believe that the strategy could be 
strengthened by, for example, DHS more consistently reporting on 
available resources and corrective actions as well as establishing 
measures and report on progress made for all initiatives. These 
changes, if implemented and sustained, provide a path for DHS to 
address this high-risk area. Nevertheless, in March 2012 we reported 
that in many instances, DHS had more work ahead to fully implement the 
department's strategy and address its human capital challenges. 
[Footnote 9] 

As a tool for addressing human capital challenges governmentwide, we 
have previously identified a model of strategic human capital 
management, which describes strategic human capital planning as a 
cornerstone and identifies critical success factors, including the 
need for the integration of human capital approaches and data-driven 
human capital decisions.[Footnote 10] We have also identified 
strategic management principles that incorporate elements of results 
and accountability to facilitate long-term strategic management. 

Due to FEMA's ongoing strategic workforce planning challenges, you 
asked us to review FEMA's workforce planning and training efforts. 
This report assesses the extent to which FEMA has: (1) integrated its 
workforce planning and training efforts consistent with strategic 
human capital planning critical success factors; (2) incorporated 
strategic management principles into these efforts; and (3) 
systematically gathered workforce and training data to inform its 
human capital decisions. 

To assess the extent to which FEMA has integrated its workforce 
planning and training efforts, we reviewed relevant documentation that 
describes FEMA's agencywide and regional workforce planning efforts, 
such as the Homeland Security Studies and Analysis Institute's 
(Homeland Security Institute) FEMA Workforce Baseline Assessment 
issued in March 2010.[Footnote 11] We also reviewed documentation on 
FEMA's current and planned training efforts, including a report issued 
by FEMA's Leadership Training and Development Working Group that 
documents training limitations and planned efforts to address these 
limitations. We compared FEMA's workforce planning and training 
efforts against our previously identified critical success factors for 
strategic human capital management.[Footnote 12] We also reviewed 
relevant documentation on DHS's workforce planning and training 
guidance to its components, including the DHS Workforce Planning 
Guide, and assessed the extent to which FEMA's workforce planning and 
training efforts are in alignment with this departmental guidance. We 
interviewed officials from various FEMA program offices, including 
those from the Office of the Chief Component Human Capital Officer 
(Human Capital Office), the Incident Workforce Management Office, the 
Office of the Chief Financial Officer, the Office of Policy and 
Program Analysis, the Office of the Chief Procurement Officer, the 
Emergency Management Institute, and the Training, Exercise, and 
Doctrine Office to discuss their roles in workforce planning and 
training efforts and how their efforts were integrated on an 
agencywide level. Further, we interviewed and obtained documentation 
on workforce planning and training efforts from FEMA officials in 
Region IV--selected because it is one of the agency's largest regions--
to obtain a regional perspective on the integration of these 
efforts.[Footnote 13] While we cannot generalize the information we 
obtained from FEMA officials in Region IV, it provides important 
insights. In addition, we interviewed analysts from the Homeland 
Security Institute assisting FEMA with its workforce planning efforts, 
to obtain information on the integration of this contractor's work 
with other efforts under way across the agency. We also interviewed 
officials from the DHS Office of the Chief Human Capital Officer, 
including the Chief Learning Officer, to discuss its oversight and 
guidance to its component agencies related to workforce planning and 
training to ensure alignment with the department. 

To assess the extent to which FEMA has incorporated strategic 
management principles, we reviewed and assessed FEMA's strategic 
planning documents, including its Strategic Human Capital Plan, 2008-
2012, and its fiscal years 2009 and 2010 Human Capital Operational 
Plans to determine FEMA's approach for its workforce planning and 
training efforts. We compared FEMA's ongoing and planned workforce 
planning and training efforts against strategic management principles 
we have previously identified. We also interviewed officials from FEMA 
program offices, including those from the Human Capital Office, the 
Incident Workforce Management Office, and the Office of Policy and 
Program Analysis to determine the extent to which these officials were 
taking steps to incorporate such principles, including clearly 
identifying lines of authority for the agency's workforce planning and 
training efforts. 

To assess the extent to which FEMA has systematically gathered 
workforce and training data to inform its human capital decisions, we 
reviewed relevant documentation related to the agency's historical 
efforts to gather such data, including our previous reports and FEMA 
documentation such as the FEMA Strategic Plan, Fiscal Years 2011-2014. 
We reviewed the methodology and findings of the Homeland Security 
Institute's FEMA Workforce Baseline Assessment and a report by the 
National Academy of Public Administration, and interviewed analysts 
from the Homeland Security Institute regarding the scope, methodology, 
and findings of their assessment.[Footnote 14] We determined that the 
scope and methodology of the Homeland Security Institute assessment 
and the National Academy of Public Administration audit were 
sufficient for us to rely on the results. We also interviewed 
officials from the FEMA program offices that play a role in tracking 
workforce and training data, including the Human Capital Office, the 
Incident Workforce Management Office, the Office of the Chief 
Financial Officer, the Office of the Chief Procurement Officer, the 
Office of the Chief Information Officer, and the Emergency Management 
Institute. We also interviewed Region IV FEMA officials to obtain 
information on the regions' role in gathering workforce and training 
data. We compared FEMA's efforts to systematically gather workforce 
and training data against our previously identified critical success 
factors for strategic human capital management.[Footnote 15] 

We conducted this performance audit from August 2011 through April 
2012 in accordance with generally accepted government auditing 
standards. Those standards require that we plan and perform the audit 
to obtain sufficient, appropriate evidence to provide a reasonable 
basis for our findings and conclusions based on our audit objectives. 
We believe that the evidence obtained provides a reasonable basis for 
our findings and conclusions based on our audit objectives. 

Background: 

Overview of FEMA's Workforce: 

FEMA's workforce is comprised of a combination of permanent full-time 
employees (permanent employees) and temporary employees. Permanent 
employees conduct a wide variety of specialized functions including 
mitigation activities, such as flood mapping and managing the National 
Flood Insurance Program; preparedness activities, such as national 
capabilities assessments; and managing nationwide grant programs, 
among other things. According to FEMA, the agency obligated 
$630,649,000 to fund the salaries and benefits of its permanent 
employees for fiscal year 2012.[Footnote 16] FEMA's temporary 
employees are primarily dedicated to disaster assistance. Disaster-
related temporary employees with 2-to 4-year appointments are referred 
to as Cadre of On-Call Response/Recovery Employees (CORE), and 
Disaster Assistance Employees (DAE), who perform disaster-related work 
for 2-year intermittent appointments.[Footnote 17] While permanent 
employees are hired under provisions of Title V of the U.S. Code that 
govern competitive service, disaster relief employees are hired and 
funded under the authority of the Robert T. Stafford Disaster Relief 
and Emergency Assistance Act.[Footnote 18] Funding for DAEs and COREs 
varies on an annual basis based on the number of declared disasters. 

As of March 2012, FEMA reported that it had a workforce of over 18,000 
employees, of which approximately 26 percent--or over 4,700--are 
permanent. The remaining 74 percent are comprised of COREs, DAEs, and 
other employees.[Footnote 19] From fiscal years 2005 through March 
2012, FEMA's permanent workforce has increased by approximately 128 
percent (from 2,100 to 4,792) and its disaster-related temporary 
employees (COREs and DAEs) have increased by approximately 146 percent 
(from 5,458 to 13,418 employees). Figure 1 illustrates the changes in 
FEMA's permanent, DAE, and CORE workforce during fiscal years 2005, 
2008, and 2012. 

Figure 1: Overview of FEMA's Workforce, Fiscal Years 2005, 2008, 2012: 

[Refer to PDF for image: vertical bar graph] 

FEMA workforce personnel: 

Fiscal year: 2005; 
Permanent: 2,100; 
DAE: 4,773; 
CORE: 68. 

Passage of Post Katrina Act in 2006 (Hurricane Katrina, August 29, 
2005): 

Fiscal year: 2008; 
Permanent: 2.964; 
DAE: 8,622; 
CORE: 5,342. 

Fiscal year: 2012; 
Permanent: 4,792; 
DAE: 10,845; 
CORE: 2,573. 

Source: GAO analysis of FEMA data. 

[End of figure] 

Approximately 70 percent of FEMA's permanent workforce is located at 
its headquarters and the remaining 30 percent are assigned to FEMA's 
10 regional offices.[Footnote 20] FEMA disaster response employees 
also work at temporary disaster response/recovery sites established 
across the country. FEMA consists of six primary components: Response 
and Recovery, Federal Insurance and Mitigation, Protection and 
National Preparedness, United States Fire Administration, Regional 
Operations, and Mission Support. See figure 2 for FEMA's 
organizational chart, as of January 2012. 

Figure 2: FEMA Organizational Chart: 

[Refer to PDF for image: organizational chart] 

Top level: 
Administrator [bolded]: 
Deputy Administrator. 

Adjunct to top level: 
Office of Chief Counsel (DHS Direct Report); 
DNS Center for Faith Based and Neighborhood Partnerships (serves all 
of DHS). 

Second level, reporting to Administrator/Deputy Administrator: 
* Chief of Staff: 
- Executive Secretariat; 
- National Advisory Council. 
* Office of Chief Financial Officer; 
* Office of External Affairs; 
* Office of Equal Rights; 
* Office of Regional Operations; 
* Office of Disability Integration & Coordination; 
* Office of Policy and Program Analysis; 
* Law Enforcement Advisor; 
* Protection and National Preparedness [bolded]: 
- Grant Programs Directorate; 
- National Preparedness Directorate: 
-- National Training, Education, and Exercise; Emergency Management 
Institute; 
- National Continuity Programs Directorate; 
- Office of National Capital Coordination. 

Third level, reporting to Administrator/Deputy 
Administrator:                        
* Mission Support Bureau [bolded]: 
- Office of Chief Administrative Officer; 
- Office of Chief Information Officer; 
- Office of Chief Procurement Officer; 
- Office of Chief Component Human Capital Officer; 
- Office of Chief Security Officer; 
* U.S. Fire Administration; 
* Regions I-X; 
* Federal Insurance and Mitigation Administration; 
* Office of Response and Recovery [bolded]: 
- Response Directorate; 
-- Training, Exercise, and Doctrine Office; 
-- Incident Workforce Management Office; 
- Recovery Directorate; 
- Office of Federal Coordinating Officer Operations; 
- Office of Readiness and Assessment; 
- Logistics Management Directorate. 

Source: GAO analysis of FEMA information. 

Note: The bolded program offices above indicate those organizations 
that play a role in FEMA's workforce planning and training efforts. 

[End of figure] 

Several program offices within FEMA play a role in the agency's 
workforce planning and training efforts: 

* Within FEMA's Mission Support Bureau in headquarters, the Human 
Capital Office is responsible for providing leadership and direction 
to all stakeholders, including FEMA headquarters and regional offices 
on human capital programs, products, and services. 

* Also within the Mission Support Bureau, the Office of the Chief 
Procurement Officer is responsible for overseeing FEMA's acquisition 
of services. 

* Within the Office of the Administrator, the Office of Policy and 
Program Analysis is responsible for reviewing proposed policies and 
programs for agencywide consistency and compliance with Departmental 
guidance. 

* Under the Office of Response and Recovery, the Incident Workforce 
Management Office is responsible for the deployment of personnel, the 
management of the surge capacity forces, disaster response cadre 
management, and the implementation of the FEMA Qualification System 
(FQS).[Footnote 21] 

* The Training, Exercise, and Doctrine office, also within the Office 
of Response and Recovery, develops training requirements and 
agencywide disaster-related doctrine, and funds the development and 
revision of FQS related disaster workforce training, among other 
functions. 

* The Emergency Management Institute, under Protection and National 
Preparedness, serves as the agency's principle component in developing 
and delivering emergency management training--including courses for 
employees to certify under FQS--and creates and manages courses using 
an accredited curriculum management system. 

FEMA Workforce Strategies: 

The Post-Katrina Act required FEMA to develop, and update annually 
through 2012, a strategic human capital plan that includes an 
assessment of the critical skills and competencies required for its 
workforce.[Footnote 22] In May 2008, FEMA issued its Strategic Human 
Capital Plan, 2008-2012, which presented, among other things, the 
agency's plans for a restructured workforce and improvements to its 
training programs. For example, under the initiative to train and 
professionally develop its workforce, the plan states that FEMA will 
build a professional leadership program that identifies and prepares 
future leaders to fill projected vacancies. The agency is currently 
drafting an updated strategic human capital plan and expects to issue 
it by the end of fiscal year 2012. FEMA also issued human capital 
operational plans for fiscal years 2009 and 2010 (and issued final 
reports to Congress on these plans), which FEMA is using to meet the 
Post-Katrina Act requirement for annual updates to the strategic plan, 
but did not issue an operational plan for fiscal year 2011. According 
to FEMA officials, the plan is under review by DHS and the agency will 
submit a report to Congress on the plan. However, FEMA did not provide 
a time frame for when the fiscal year 2011 operational plan will be 
submitted. 

Critical Success Factors for Effective Workforce Planning and Training 
Programs: 

Our model of strategic human capital management identifies critical 
success factors, including the need for the integration and alignment 
of human capital approaches and data-driven human capital decisions, 
for effective agency planning.[Footnote 23] We designed this model 
based on the human capital practices of leading public and private 
organizations to help agency leaders manage their people and integrate 
human capital considerations into daily decision making to help 
achieve program results. See appendix I for additional details on the 
cornerstones and critical success factors identified in our model. 

High-performing organizations identify their current and future human 
capital needs, including the appropriate number of employees, the key 
competencies and skills mix for mission accomplishment, and the 
appropriate deployment of staff across the organization, and then 
create strategies for identifying and filling gaps. Our work has shown 
that attributes of effective workforce planning include coordinating 
and integrating efforts across the organization to develop, 
communicate, and implement a workforce plan that is tailored to 
address workforce gaps and improve the contribution of critical skills 
and competencies needed for mission success.[Footnote 24] Effective 
organizations identify and invest in the needs of its workforce 
through its strategic and annual planning and ensure that these 
strategies are fully integrated. Attributes of effective training 
programs also include developing training goals and related 
performance measures that are consistent with an agency's overall 
mission, goals, and culture.[Footnote 25] Similarly, DHS has issued 
guidance calling for its component agencies to develop workforce plans 
that identify anticipated workforce needs including action plans with 
strategies, performance measures, and targets to meet those needs. 

In addition, we have previously reported that maximizing the value of 
human capital is a function not just of specific actions, but of 
cultural transformation.[Footnote 26] To achieve such transformation, 
the development and integration of strategic management principles as 
part of an overall management and accountability framework can provide 
an agency with tools to shape not only long-term strategic management, 
but also management infrastructure and controls needed to support 
organization transformation initiatives in the day-to-day business of 
an agency.[Footnote 27] Specifically, these strategic management 
principles are: 

* demonstrating top leadership commitment to change; 

* identifying long-term, mission-critical goals through a re-
invigorated strategic planning process tied to serving Congress; 

* developing annual goals and a system for measuring progress; and: 

* establishing individual accountability and commensurate authority 
for achieving results. 

FEMA Is Working to Integrate Its Workforce Planning and Training 
Efforts, but Its Efforts Are in the Early Stages: 

FEMA is taking steps to integrate its workforce planning efforts to 
help ensure the agency has the properly sized and skilled workforce to 
effectively meet its mission, but until recently, its efforts related 
to workforce planning have been independently conducted by various 
offices across the agency. FEMA also has efforts under way to meet the 
different types of training needs of its workforce; however, the 
agency has taken limited steps to integrate its training efforts. As 
FEMA is in the early stages of its integration efforts, it will be 
important for the agency to follow through with these efforts to help 
ensure they address long-standing management challenges associated 
with workforce planning and training. 

Workforce Planning Efforts: 

FEMA has begun to integrate its workforce planning efforts across the 
agency. Integrating workforce planning efforts is an important step 
for helping to ensure that the agency has the appropriate number of 
staff to effectively meet FEMA's mission of preparing for, responding 
to, and recovering from all hazards. However, as we have previously 
reported, and found during the course of our review, until recently 
FEMA's efforts related to workforce planning have been independently 
conducted by various offices across the agency with little 
coordination. For example, in 2007 we reported that FEMA had not set a 
strategic vision for its workforce planning efforts and therefore 
these efforts were not being conducted in accordance with attributes 
of effective workforce planning.[Footnote 28] Specifically, we found 
that FEMA was conducting its workforce planning from the bottom up, 
office by office, and this approach was likely to result in workforce 
plans that meet the immediate needs of individual offices rather than 
produce an integrated, long-term strategy for the entire agency. As a 
result, we recommended that FEMA apply the key principles of strategic 
workforce planning, including establishing a strategic direction and 
assessing the number of employees and critical skills FEMA needs, 
among other things. DHS did not comment on this recommendation. 

Since this review, FEMA has reported actions to address our finding. 
For example, the conference report accompanying the DHS appropriations 
act for fiscal year 2010 provided that a total of $2 million was for 
FEMA to partner with the Homeland Security Institute to conduct a 
study of its human capital resources.[Footnote 29] FEMA's Human 
Capital Office is overseeing the institute's efforts to conduct a 
baseline assessment of the number, responsibilities, and locations of 
FEMA's workforce. According to FEMA officials, as of January 2012, the 
agency expended approximately $1.4 million for this effort, and the 
results of the baseline assessment will be used to compare FEMA's 
current workforce to its desired workforce and assess the gaps in 
workforce skills and competencies. FEMA human capital officials 
reported that this assessment and resulting analysis, referred to as 
the Strategic Workforce Planning Initiative, will provide a basis for 
developing an agencywide workforce plan to address the agency's future 
workforce needs for disaster-related and day-to-day operations. 
According to FEMA officials, this initiative will ultimately result in 
a workforce plan for the agency, but they could not provide time 
frames for when such a plan would be issued. 

Also, the Office of Policy and Program Analysis has developed a Force 
Planning Model, which is designed to provide an estimate of the number 
of temporary and permanent employees needed to respond to a variety of 
potential disaster scenarios. Although the data behind the Force 
Planning Model was not initially considered or used by the contractor 
assessing FEMA's current workforce, FEMA's Human Capital Office and 
its Office of Policy and Program Analysis are working to more closely 
coordinate their efforts. Specifically, when we initially met with 
FEMA's Human Capital Office in September 2011, they said they had 
limited awareness of the model and its potential usefulness for their 
workforce planning efforts. Since then, human capital officials 
reported that they have been coordinating more closely with the Office 
of Policy and Program Analysis in further developing the Force 
Planning Model. In January 2012, FEMA human capital officials also 
noted that the results of the Force Planning Model will define the 
size of the future workforce. See figure 3 and appendix II for a 
description of FEMA program office responsibilities and initiatives 
related to workforce planning. 

Figure 3: FEMA Program Offices' Responsibilities Workforce Planning 
Initiatives: 

[Refer to PDF for image: interactive graphic] 

Instructions: Roll over blue highlighted organizations below
to see individual program office’s responsibilities and workforce
planning initiatives. 

Highlighted organizations are: 

Office of Policy and Program Analysis; 
Office of Chief Procurement Officer; 
Office of Chief Component Human Capital Officer; 
Incident Workforce Management Office. 

(See appendix II for information) 

Source: GAO analysis of FEMA information. 

[End of figure] 

[Side bar: FEMA Qualification System (FQS): 

The FEMA Qualification System (FQS) is the latest initiative in FEMA's 
ongoing efforts to credential its workforce. According to agency 
officials, FQS is intended to standardize and streamline the 
certification process for all FEMA employees, in comparison to prior 
credentialing efforts which focused on temporary Disaster Assistance
Employees. As a part of FQS, FEMA officials reported that they will 
establish performance and training standards for each FEMA disaster-
related position. Once FQS is implemented, the system will certify an 
employee's status based on the employee's recognized performance and 
knowledge, as well as the training the employee has completed, 
measured against established standards. FEMA officials stated that 
they are working with the agency's employee unions in order to
finalize the implementation of this initiative. Source: FEMA. End of 
side bar] 

For disaster response operations, the Incident Workforce Management 
Office, under the Office of Response and Recovery, is taking steps to 
integrate FQS with other workforce planning efforts under way across 
the agency. According to FEMA, the agency developed FQS to: (1) 
document the disaster response functions and capabilities of its 
permanent and temporary employees; (2) establish consistent and fair 
qualification requirements for all FEMA disaster workforce positions; 
and (3) ensure a qualified disaster workforce based on performance 
standards, among other things.[Footnote 30] While FEMA human capital 
officials said in September 2011 that they had little involvement with 
the implementation of FQS, in January 2012 they reported that they had 
begun participating in an agency wide working group dedicated to the 
FQS to help ensure its integration with other agency wide workforce 
planning efforts. Further, in January 2012 FEMA also reported on the 
relationship between FQS and the Force Structure effort, led by the 
Office of Recovery and Response, which is based on the Force Planning 
Model. According to FEMA, the Force Structure effort will use the data 
provided by the Force Planning Model to set target disaster staffing 
levels by position, based on historical data, to ensure that the 
agency has enough trained and experienced disaster personnel to 
accomplish its mission. 

Further, FEMA's Human Capital Office and the Office of the Chief 
Procurement Officer within the Mission Support Bureau are coordinating 
to integrate their efforts related to the agency's implementation of 
DHS's Balanced Workforce Strategy, which is aimed at determining the 
proper balance of contractors and federal employees needed to support 
daily operations.[Footnote 31] Specifically, FEMA human capital 
officials said in September 2011 that they were not involved with the 
agency's implementation of the Balanced Workforce Strategy and in 
November 2011, they stated that data gathered by the Office of the 
Chief Procurement Officer were not used for their workforce planning 
efforts. In January 2012 human capital officials stated that they did 
not have policies or procedures in place to ensure integration of 
agency wide workforce planning initiatives, but they were working with 
the Office of the Chief Procurement Officer to determine how to 
integrate the Balanced Workforce Strategy and Strategic Workforce 
Planning Initiative efforts.[Footnote 32] These actions, if 
implemented effectively, could help ensure an integrated approach for 
FEMA's workforce planning efforts; however, it is too early to assess 
the extent to which these efforts are effective in meeting overall 
agency workforce needs as they have been recently initiated and are 
dependent upon FEMA following through with its plans. 

Training Efforts: 

FEMA has efforts under way to meet the different types of training 
needs of its workforce; however, the agency has taken limited steps to 
integrate its training efforts. We identified four broad categories of 
training FEMA conducts: (1) disaster response-related training, (2) 
Human Capital Office required training, (3) leadership development 
training, and (4) professional development training. See figure 4 and 
appendix III for a description of the various program offices with 
training responsibilities throughout FEMA. 

Figure 4: FEMA Program Offices' Workforce Training Responsibilities: 

[Refer to PDF for image: interactive graphic] 

Instructions: Roll over blue highlighted organizations below
to see individual program office’s responsibilities and workforce
planning initiatives. 

Highlighted organizations are: 

Protection and National Preparedness; 
Emergency Management Institute; 
Office of Chief Component Human Capital Officer; 
Training, Exercise, and Doctrine Office; 
Incident Workforce Management Office. 

(See appendix III for information) 

Source: GAO analysis of FEMA information. 

[End of figure] 

* Disaster Response-Related Training: The Incident Workforce 
Management Office coordinates disaster response-related training 
within FEMA, including developing the budget and recommending 
allocations of training funds from the disaster relief fund.[Footnote 
33] Specifically, the Incident Workforce Management Office leads the 
coordination of disaster response-related training efforts and the 
Training, Exercise, and Doctrine office, another office in the Office 
of Response and Recovery, creates and validates training requirements 
for disaster response occupations developed under FQS.[Footnote 34] In 
implementing this system, FEMA identified 322 separate position task 
books for responding to disasters.[Footnote 35] According to FEMA 
officials, for each of these task books FEMA developed qualifications 
sheets that list the requirements to become qualified in each of the 
322 positions. For instance, through the FQS process, FEMA developed 
the position task book for a hazardous materials specialist. Skills 
required to qualify for this position include demonstrating proper use 
of personal protective equipment, knowledge of decontamination 
procedures, and operation of monitoring and detection equipment, among 
other things. The Administrator's new Disaster Workforce 
Transformation, initiated in December 2011, is intended to focus on 
training and certifying the entire workforce for incident management 
and incident support positions in the field. However, during a 
February 2012 meeting with FEMA officials overseeing the 
implementation of the Disaster Workforce Transformation, they stated 
that the agency had not yet decided how disaster response-related 
training would be revised to reflect the workforce transformation 
because it was too soon in the process to make such decisions. 

* Human Capital Office Required Training: The Human Capital Office is 
responsible for ensuring that all permanent employees and COREs 
complete training required by statute, DHS, and FEMA.[Footnote 36] In 
March 2012, FEMA's Human Capital Office announced the mandatory 
courses required of its permanent employees and COREs for calendar 
year 2012. These courses are required to be taken on a schedule 
established by the agency. Specifically, FEMA has developed a series 
of more than 20 training courses covering topics such as ethics, 
safety orientation, and information security.[Footnote 37] According 
to human capital officials, the Human Capital Office must report this 
training information to DHS throughout the year. The Human Capital 
Office collects training records from various sources, including 
training management information systems and data calls from individual 
program offices. 

* Leadership Development Training: FEMA has not yet identified the 
office responsible for leadership development training, but in 
November 2011, the agency designated an individual within the 
Protection and National Preparedness Directorate to create a 
leadership development training program.[Footnote 38] Specifically, 
this individual is using the findings gathered during an internal 
review conducted by a FEMA working group on the current leadership 
development activities, limitations, and suggestions to develop this 
program. This individual is coordinating with other FEMA officials to 
develop time frames for completing development of the program and 
fully implementing it. A key component of FEMA's leadership developing 
training is to be the Future Leaders Program, creating an annual 
cohort of nonsupervisory employees who are participating in a year-
long pilot program. According to FEMA officials, the Future Leaders 
Program will be one mechanism to provide development training for 
employees at different levels of experience and pay grades in the 
agency. FEMA also established a Leadership Development Council in 
February 2011 to, among other things, prepare potential candidates to 
fill leadership positions. Until a comprehensive leadership 
development program is fully developed, FEMA plans to continue to use 
courses and offerings already in place to provide some leadership 
tools to prospective and current managers. 

* Professional Development Training: FEMA also offers training 
opportunities to permanent employees through opportunities provided by 
or approved by their respective offices. According to FEMA officials, 
professional development training is independently defined by each 
program office and the training may be offered from several sources. 
For instance, FEMA training officials stated that an individual 
employee may identify a need for training on a particular topic 
through his or her individual development plan. In addition to 
individuals requesting training, a program office may sponsor 
training. For example, a program office with budgeting 
responsibilities may sponsor a class on federal appropriations law. 
Such training may be conducted either within FEMA--for example at the 
Emergency Management Institute--or from an external source, such as 
another federal agency, a conference, or a private sector organization. 

FEMA has efforts under way to meet the different types of training 
needs of its workforce, but the integration of these efforts has been 
limited, although the Human Capital Office reported that it plans to 
implement a policy to address the need for integration. Currently, 
different program offices throughout FEMA are responsible for planning 
training activities. For instance, two offices within the Office of 
Response and Recovery--the Incident Workforce Management Office and 
the Training, Exercise, and Doctrine Office--are responsible for the 
planning, development, and implementation of disaster-response 
training. Moreover, the Emergency Management Institute is responsible 
for, among other things, ensuring that all disaster-response training 
meets the qualifications needed for classes to be accredited, while 
the Human Capital Office ensures that permanent employees and COREs 
take required training courses. Further, every program office is 
separately responsible for managing professional development training, 
and FEMA has not assigned planning responsibilities for leadership 
development training to any program office. In general, there is no 
one office or individual overseeing training activities to ensure they 
are integrated throughout the agency. 

According to human capital officials, the offices responsible for the 
different types of training will need to integrate their planning and 
development of training programs to respond to a new policy they plan 
to implement. Doing so could help FEMA prioritize training funding and 
ensure that the most important needs for developing mission-critical 
skills and competencies are addressed first. Human capital officials 
said they are drafting a new agencywide directive on employee training 
and development to help standardize training employee efforts across 
the agency. According to human capital officials, this directive will 
provide a basis for prioritizing training management decisions for 
mission-critical positions, and increase their oversight of agencywide 
training programs. However, as of March 2012, this directive was still 
in draft form. This new directive, if it appropriately addresses the 
need to integrate training efforts across the agency, could help FEMA 
enhance the effectiveness of its training. However, this outcome is 
contingent upon FEMA following through with its plans to enhance its 
workforce training, and it is, therefore, too early to assess the 
effectiveness of FEMA's planned actions. 

Incorporating Strategic Management Principles Could Enhance FEMA's 
Workforce Planning and Training Efforts: 

FEMA efforts to integrate its workforce planning and training are 
positive steps, but FEMA has not used a strategic approach to identify 
and mitigate longstanding management challenges in workforce planning 
and training that impact the agency as a whole. Our work has shown 
that incorporating strategic management principles can help provide 
accountability for producing results. We have previously reported that 
to build the capability to lead and execute change, an agency should 
(1) demonstrate top leadership commitment to change; (2) identify long-
term, mission-critical goals through its strategic planning process; 
(3) develop annual goals and a system for measuring progress; and (4) 
establish accountability and commensurate authority for achieving 
results. These principles are also reflected in the Human Capital 
Assessment and Accountability Framework issued by the Office of 
Personnel Management in March 2006 that calls for human capital 
planning that includes leadership, goals, objectives and strategies; a 
workforce plan; and performance measures and milestones for annual 
assessments of agencies' human capital management for accountability 
in achieving results.[Footnote 39] 

Demonstrating Top Leadership Commitment: 

FEMA leadership's continued commitment to effectively plan for and 
train its workforce is in alignment with attributes of effective 
workforce planning and training and critical to the agency's success 
in executing the agency's efforts in these areas. Our assessment of 
leading organizations' success in management reforms found successful 
leaders create processes and systems within which to operate, but give 
managers the authority to pursue their organizational goals while 
using those processes and systems. They also integrate the 
implementation of separate organizational improvement efforts into a 
coherent unified effort. The commitment of FEMA's leadership to 
enhancing and integrating agencywide strategic workforce planning and 
training reflects these principles in the agency's strategic planning 
documents. For example, the FEMA Administrator's Intent for Building 
the FY 2012-2016 Future Year Homeland Security Program, issued in 
February 2010, lays out the agency's priorities that include improving 
FEMA's workforce capabilities and notes that the integration between 
mission support activities, such as human capital and procurement, 
must be improved, simplified, and streamlined to better enable FEMA to 
execute the programs and policies used to achieve its mission. The 
document calls for a unity of effort within the agency to build, 
sustain, and improve its capabilities by ensuring that responsibility 
and authority for its mission support programs is placed 
appropriately. Similarly, the FEMA Strategic Plan, Fiscal Years 2011-
2014 states that FEMA must build, sustain, and improve its workforce 
and develop its current and future leadership. The plan also 
identifies FEMA's ability to develop its workforce as the single most 
important driver of the agency's future success. Finally, FEMA's Human 
Capital Office has drafted a directive establishing a FEMA Human 
Capital Accountability System intended to provide a systematic 
approach to overseeing human capital operations agencywide, assess 
accountability results, and improve performance on all aspects of 
human capital management policies, programs, and activities. According 
to human capital officials, this directive was expected to be 
finalized at the end of February 2012, but as of March 2012, it was 
still in draft form. 

Identifying Long-Term, Specific Mission-Critical Goals: 

As discussed above, FEMA has developed initiatives and defined related 
outcomes for the management of its workforce, but neither the current 
Strategic Human Capital Plan nor the current FEMA strategic plan 
identify long-term, specific mission critical goals related to the 
agency's on-going workforce planning and training efforts. 
Specifically, the current Strategic Human Capital Plan, issued in May 
2008, has not yet been updated to align with the FEMA Strategic Plan, 
Fiscal Years 2011-2014, issued in February 2011. Rather, the Strategic 
Human Capital Plan is aligned with the former version of the agency's 
Strategic Plan, issued in January 2008. In addition, the Strategic 
Human Capital Plan does not contain specific quantifiable goals for 
its workforce planning and training efforts that reflect the end 
result FEMA wishes to achieve. Further, the current FEMA strategic 
plan does not provide mission critical goals specific to the agency's 
ongoing workforce planning and training efforts. In particular, the 
FEMA Strategic Plan, Fiscal Years 2011-2014 documents four initiatives 
for the agency--(1) foster a whole community approach to emergency 
management nationally; (2) build the nation's capacity to stabilize 
and recover from a catastrophic event; (3) build unity of effort and 
common strategic understanding among the emergency management team; 
and (4) enhance FEMA's ability to learn and innovate as an 
organization. Related to each of these initiatives, FEMA outlines the 
key outcomes it would like to achieve. For example, under its second 
initiative FEMA reports that it will implement a performance-based 
qualification requirements system for all FEMA personnel participating 
in disaster response and recovery activities and a dynamic readiness 
measurement system for FEMA teams and deployable assets. Under its 
fourth initiative, FEMA states that it will create a collaborative 
infrastructure to support learning and innovation across the emergency 
management enterprise. However, the FEMA Strategic Plan, Fiscal Years 
2011-2014 does not discuss how these initiatives will incorporate 
agencywide workforce planning and training efforts under way, such as 
the Strategic Workforce Planning Initiative or the development of a 
leadership development program. In addition, the initiatives describe 
broad goals that lack specificity to link their achievement to actual 
performance. Such initiatives are related to the agency's priorities 
of improving workforce capabilities and human capital activities, as 
documented in the FEMA Administrator's Intent for Building the FY 2012-
2016 Future Year Homeland Security Program. According to FEMA human 
capital officials, the agency is updating its Strategic Human Capital 
Plan that will be in alignment with the agency's broader Strategic 
Plan, and may consider developing long-term, specific mission-critical 
goals related to ongoing workforce planning and training efforts as 
part of this updated Strategic Human Capital Plan. FEMA human capital 
officials stated that they plan to issue the updated Strategic Human 
Capital Plan by the end of fiscal year 2012. 

We have previously reported that agencies can encourage greater use of 
performance information by aligning agencywide goals and objectives. 
[Footnote 40] We have also reported that agencies should develop 
associated performance goals that are objective and quantifiable to 
allow a comparison of programs' actual results with the desired 
results.[Footnote 41] Developing long-term mission critical goals is 
also one strategic management principle. For example, FEMA's strategic 
mission-critical goals could include integrating agencywide training 
efforts or the effective implementation of FQS within established time 
frames. The agency's efforts to update its Strategic Human Capital 
Plan provide FEMA with an opportunity to identify and document long-
term and specific mission critical goals that reflect the agency's 
current priorities for workforce planning and training over the next 
four fiscal years and provide a road map for meeting those goals. 
Until FEMA determines what it would like to accomplish through its 
workforce planning and training efforts and develops related goals, 
the agency will be limited in its ability to gauge its success in 
these two areas. 

Developing a System for Measuring Annual Progress: 

FEMA's workforce planning and training efforts could also benefit from 
the development of specific and quantifiable performance measures 
aligned with annual performance goals. FEMA's Fiscal Year 2010 Human 
Capital Operational Plan documents the agency's strategic initiatives, 
priorities, related deliverables, and target deadlines, but does not 
identify outcome-oriented measures to assess the agency's progress in 
meeting its workforce planning and training goals.[Footnote 42] For 
example, under its Rightsizing the Agency Strategic Initiative, FEMA 
notes that it will conduct a bottom-up rightsizing analysis and 
discusses its Strategic Workforce Planning Initiative as a related 
effort. However, the human capital operational plan does not include 
measures for assessing the agency's progress in addressing this 
initiative. Similarly, under its training and professional development 
of the workforce initiative, reported in its fiscal year 2010 human 
capital operational plan, the agency states that building a 
comprehensive leadership development program and integrating it with 
agency succession planning is a priority for the agency. However, 
metrics to gauge the agency's progress in addressing this initiative 
were not established in this plan. Further, more recent annual 
operational plans have not been completed in a timely manner. For 
example, according to FEMA human capital officials, as of March 2012, 
its annual human capital operational plan for fiscal year 2011 was 
still in draft form and they and they could not provide time frames 
for when the agency would issue an operational plan for fiscal year 
2012. Because the fiscal year 2011 human capital operational plan was 
not issued in a timely manner, any measures developed in association 
with this plan could not be used to gauge the impact of their ongoing 
workforce planning and training efforts. 

Developing quantifiable performance measures aligned with annual 
performance goals could also help ensure that FEMA is held accountable 
for addressing long-standing workforce challenges. For example, in 
2007 we reported that FEMA lacked a business continuity plan for its 
day-to-day operations, did not have guidelines on what constitutes a 
mission-critical position, and had not conducted an assessment of what 
minimum level of support is necessary.[Footnote 43] As a result, we 
recommended that FEMA develop business continuity plans for the day-to-
day operations to ensure that critical program functions are 
maintained at a sufficient level when permanent employees are called 
to respond to a disaster.[Footnote 44] We specified that these plans 
should include clear guidelines on who holds a mission-critical 
position at headquarters and, therefore, either cannot be deployed for 
disaster-relief efforts or needs to have alternates designated to 
provide backup in their absence. FEMA's Strategic Human Capital Plan, 
2008-2012 identified the development of continuity programs as one of 
the agency's core competencies to support the vision of FEMA, but the 
agency's annual operational plans did not establish related milestones 
or measures, or identify which office(s) in FEMA were responsible for 
managing these programs. According to FEMA officials, the Office of 
Policy and Program Analysis' Force Planning Model calculates the 
number of non-deployed employees needed to maintain agency operations 
during a disaster and has developed guidelines on who holds a mission-
critical position at headquarters. However, FEMA has not developed 
quantifiable performance measures that would hold the agency 
responsible for accomplishing this task and has therefore not yet 
identified those positions that either cannot be deployed for disaster-
relief efforts or needs to have alternates designated to provide 
backup in their absence. Although FEMA's Strategic Human Capital Plan, 
2008-2012 specifically states that FEMA will analyze its occupational 
series to better identify its mission critical positions, agency 
officials stated that organizational and staffing changes have limited 
their ability to ensure continued management focus on identifying 
these positions and developing a business continuity plan. Without 
measures and milestones for developing business continuity plans 
needed to effectively implement the Administrator's vision that every 
FEMA employee can be deployed, the agency may face difficulties in 
achieving its fundamental strategic goals. 

As we have previously reported, leading organizations we have studied 
that were successful in measuring their performance generally had 
applied two practices.[Footnote 45] First, they developed measures 
that were (1) tied to program goals and demonstrated the degree to 
which the desired results were achieved, (2) limited to the vital few 
that were considered essential to producing data for decision making, 
(3) responsive to multiple priorities, and (4) responsibility-linked 
to establish accountability for results. Second, the agencies 
recognized the cost and effort involved in gathering and analyzing 
data and made sure that the data they collected were sufficiently 
complete, accurate, and consistent to be useful in decision making. In 
its report on the results of its audit of FEMA's human resources 
operations, DHS's Office of the Chief Human Capital Officer recognized 
the need for FEMA to develop performance measures to gauge the 
effectiveness of its human capital efforts, including those related to 
its workforce planning and training efforts. In FEMA's response to 
this audit, the agency indicated that it has efforts under way to 
develop performance measures. However, as of March 2012, the agency 
has yet to complete this effort. According to standard program 
management principles, time frames or milestones should typically be 
incorporated as part of a road map to achieve a specific desired 
outcome or result.[Footnote 46] As FEMA continues its efforts to 
provide annual updates on its implementation of the Strategic Human 
Capital Plan through its operational plans, establishing a time frame 
for developing quantifiable performance measures could ensure that the 
agency is held accountable for following through with this important 
effort. The development of these metrics could help FEMA obtain more 
meaningful information from which to gauge the effectiveness of its 
workforce planning and training efforts and take corrective action, if 
needed. 

Establishing Accountability and Commensurate Authority: 

Workforce Planning Efforts: 

According to its mission statement, FEMA's Human Capital Office is 
responsible for providing leadership and direction on human capital 
programs and developing and managing policies, programs, and 
activities designed to ensure the strategic management of FEMA's 
workforce, among other things. However, officials from the Human 
Capital Office told us that their office has little authority over 
workforce planning efforts across the agency because the agency does 
not require program and regional offices to report on such efforts. 
Specifically, their office does not have operational authority over 
program and regional offices to require that they report on such 
efforts. As a result, despite FEMA's efforts to integrate its 
workforce planning, as discussed earlier, accountability and 
commensurate authority have not been established to oversee the 
implementation of these efforts. 

In January 2012 the FEMA Deputy Administrator released a memo to 
agency personnel documenting the Human Capital Office's role and 
responsibilities related to assigning many FEMA employees, including 
its permanent staff, to either a disaster response or a disaster 
support position within FQS. The Human Capital Office, in coordination 
with other FEMA program offices, was delegated responsibility for, 
among other things, issuing an interim directive requiring employees 
conducting hiring interviews to explain and reiterate the agency's 
vision using a set of standard questions and briefing points. However, 
this memo does not establish the authority of the Human Capital Office 
related to the implementation and oversight of FQS or the extent to 
which FQS will impact this office's implementation of the Strategic 
Workforce Planning Initiative. Rather, the memo documents tasks that 
the Human Capital Office is required to complete, such as conducting 
an agencywide inventory of all currently filled and vacant positions 
and identify those positions and employees for which the office does 
not have a position description. 

In addition, during initial meetings with Human Capital Office 
officials in September 2011, they stated that they were not overseeing 
the Office of the Chief Procurement Officer's implementation of the 
Balanced Workforce Strategy or assessing its impact on agencywide 
workforce planning efforts. During a follow-up meeting in January 
2012, human capital officials stated that their office planned to play 
a more active role in the implementation of this strategy by 
overseeing the determination of the agency's contractor positions. 
However, according to FEMA human capital officials, the agency has not 
established the authority of the Human Capital Office related to 
FEMA's on-going implementation of the Balanced Workforce Strategy 
because the two offices have not historically conducted their efforts 
in an integrated manner. Establishing authority for agencywide 
workforce planning efforts could help ensure that the agency is held 
accountable for addressing long-standing management challenges, such 
as credentialing its disaster workforce and developing a process to 
systematically track workforce data. 

Training Efforts: 

Similarly, while FEMA's Strategic Human Capital Plan identifies the 
need for effective leadership, lines of authority for overseeing 
agencywide training efforts have not been established. Specifically, 
while the Human Capital Office oversees mandatory training for 
permanent employees and CORE, human capital officials play a limited 
role in the development or management of disaster-related training 
through their involvement in an agencywide FQS working group. For 
instance, FEMA officials stated that the Human Capital Office does not 
have any authority or oversight of the FQS or the disaster-related 
training that will be required under this system. Instead, the 
Incident Workforce Management Office and the Training, Exercise, and 
Doctrine office under the Response Directorate develop and manage 
disaster response-related training programs, including leading the 
development and implementation of the FQS. Further, individual program 
offices are responsible for managing their own office-related 
professional development training activities, and human capital 
officials said they have limited visibility over what training 
activities individual program offices have implemented and, therefore, 
cannot ensure that these training activities are effectively 
prioritized to meet agencywide training objectives. In addition, FEMA 
has not yet identified an organization to lead the implementation of 
leadership development training. Clearly establishing lines of 
authority from a central body to those program offices involved in 
workforce training could help ensure that the agency takes steps to 
address long-standing challenges, such as tracking the training of its 
workforce to help prioritize resources. 

Strategic management principles include establishing individual 
accountability and commensurate authority for achieving results. We 
have also previously identified establishing a leadership position as 
being in alignment with attributes of effective training programs. 
[Footnote 47] For instance, a chief learning officer has an important 
role in maximizing an agency's investments in workforce development 
programs by conducting activities such as developing training based on 
strategic initiatives, among other things. According to FEMA human 
capital officials, the integration of workforce training management 
functions into a centralized office is complicated by FEMA's mission 
to provide external training to state and local first responders. In 
addition, human capital officials expressed concern regarding their 
limited role in agencywide workforce training activities. To address 
this concern, human capital officials stated that they planned to 
issue a directive in January 2012 that would, among other things, 
clarify roles and responsibilities with respect to employee training. 
However, as of March 2012, this directive was not yet issued. Human 
capital officials also said they have proposed that the agency 
establish a chief learning officer or a similar position to oversee 
training efforts across the agency, but FEMA management has not 
determined whether to create such a position or identified the 
responsibilities for this position. FEMA officials could not provide a 
time frame for when this position would be created. 

Clearly identifying lines of authority, through its Strategic Human 
Capital Plan or other strategic planning documents, could provide a 
strategic focus to FEMA's workforce planning and training efforts and 
could help ensure the agency is held accountable for the success of 
these efforts. Until such action takes place, it will be difficult for 
FEMA to provide reasonable assurance that it is managing its workforce 
and training programs in an integrated manner to help fulfill the 
mission of the agency. 

FEMA Could Benefit from More Systematically Collecting and Analyzing 
Workforce and Training Data: 

FEMA has not developed an integrated process to systematically collect 
and analyze agencywide workforce and training data that could be used 
to better inform FEMA's decision making. 

Workforce-Related Data: 

In June 2011, we reported that FEMA lacked accurate data on its 
current staffing levels, largely because of technology issues, 
exacerbating the difficulties of workforce planning.[Footnote 48] 
Similarly, analysts from the Homeland Security Institute responsible 
for conducting FEMA's baseline assessment said that to obtain a 
complete picture of FEMA's workforce they requested data from three 
different databases, which are characterized in table 1, and developed 
a separate database to conduct their analysis. 

Table 1: Databases that Maintain FEMA Workforce Information: 

Name: Automated Deployment Database; 
Description: Maintained by the Incident Workforce Management Office, 
this database tracks all FEMA deployable employees, permanent and 
temporary. This database includes information such as employee name, 
contact information, job title, and specialty such as foreign language 
skills. Tracking also includes an employee's cadre readiness, initial 
disaster site location (duty station), and training. According to FEMA 
officials, the Automated Deployment Database receives data feeds from 
the National Finance Center every two weeks. 

Name: Manpower; 
Description: Maintained by the Office of the Chief Financial Officer, 
this database contains data on the number of authorized FEMA 
positions, including permanent and CORE positions. It also compiles 
each position's associated data, such as program office, level, and 
staffing status. Data are entered manually into Manpower and are not 
integrated with any other database. 

Name: National Finance Center; 
Description: FEMA's workforce information within this database is 
maintained by the Human Capital Office. The National Finance Center 
provides employee-focused systems and services to federal 
organizations, which include personnel action processing and 
administration of payroll changes, among other actions. 

Source: GAO analysis of FEMA information. 

[End of table] 

Within the baseline assessment, the Homeland Security Institute 
reported that FEMA did not have the integrated data needed to assess 
agencywide workforce needs, raising concerns that queries of existing 
FEMA workforce databases will, in some cases, produce questionable 
results. Specifically, for the baseline assessment, analysts from the 
institute identified inconsistencies in the spelling of FEMA's job 
titles, outdated position descriptions, and differences between the 
numbers of employees paid compared to the number of authorized 
positions among FEMA's three databases. As a result, the institute 
recommended that the agency develop a systematic process to collect 
and analyze such data to better inform its future workforce planning 
efforts. FEMA officials stated that they were aware of these 
inconsistencies and were working to resolve them as well as to improve 
their efforts to request workforce data from their existing databases. 
We also cited this issue in our 2007 report on FEMA's management of 
resources for day-to-day operations.[Footnote 49] Specifically, we 
reported that FEMA lacked data on staffing levels because, in lieu of 
an integrated data collection process, the agency used multiple and 
disparate systems managed by different offices to gather data. As a 
result, we recommended that FEMA collect sufficient data to enable the 
agency to monitor its progress and support resource priorities for its 
operations. DHS did not comment on this recommendation. 

Similarly, in 2009 the National Academy of Public Administration 
reported that a lack of a single system to track and account for the 
workforce, complexities associated with tracking multiple workforce 
categories, and problems with FEMA's human resource management system, 
had hindered efforts to obtain complete and accurate human capital 
data for review.[Footnote 50] According to the Academy, these 
shortcomings had significant consequences in 2009, when FEMA 
established a hiring freeze because the number of staff hired exceeded 
authorized levels. Acknowledging this challenge, in March 2010, the 
FEMA Administrator noted that without institutional controls, the 
agency was hiring at rates that could not be sustained and there was 
no way to track these positions. FEMA, however, has not yet developed 
a systematic process for collecting and analyzing its workforce data 
to inform its workforce planning efforts. Instead, FEMA officials 
stated that their current efforts to improve how they request 
workforce data from the agency's existing databases have helped to 
resolve issues identified by the Homeland Security Institute. 
Nonetheless, in our discussions with analysts from the institute, they 
said that the challenges they identified in their baseline assessment 
will likely continue to hinder FEMA's ability to obtain accurate data 
until FEMA develops a systematic process to collect and analyze 
workforce data. Our model of strategic human capital management 
provides that decisions involving human capital management and their 
link to agency results should be routinely informed by complete, 
valid, and reliable data; and that data gathered should be kept 
current.[Footnote 51] The DHS Workforce Planning Guide also notes that 
as part of component agencies' workforce planning efforts, they should 
collect and analyze data on their workforce capabilities. Developing a 
systematic process to collect and analyze workforce data could help 
provide FEMA with key information on its workforce and help provide 
the agency with reasonable assurance that staffing discrepancies do 
not occur again. 

Training-Related Data: 

Similarly in 2007, we reported that while agencies need to invest 
resources, including time and money, to ensure that employees have the 
information, skills, and competencies they need to work effectively in 
a rapidly changing and complex environment, FEMA did not have an 
integrated system to track employee training and, therefore, no way of 
reliably tracking the cost of training, who has received it, or how 
successful it has been.[Footnote 52] We recommended that FEMA, among 
other things, establish training requirements and tracking systems for 
its workforce, and that the agency collect sufficient data in a way 
that enables managers to monitor progress and support resource 
priorities for day-to-day operations that are linked to its disaster 
relief mission. DHS did not comment on this recommendation, but in 
2008, FEMA issued its Strategic Human Capital Plan, 2008-2012, in 
part, to address it. However, the agency has not developed an 
integrated process to track and analyze information on agencywide 
training activities, including training completions and training 
costs. Specifically, we identified five different systems that collect 
information on various workforce training activities throughout FEMA, 
which are characterized in table 2. 

Table 2: FEMA Information Systems Used for Collecting and Tracking 
Training: 

Name: FEMA Employee Knowledge Center System; 
Description of training information collected: Collects information on 
FEMA intranet courses such as DHS and FEMA required courses, as well 
as Emergency Management Institute-developed independent study courses. 
The FEMA Employee Knowledge Center system is also the primary 
interface for the FEMA workforce to take online courses, and provides 
information on some classroom training course schedules. 

Name: Independent Study Database System; 
Description of training information collected: Collects information on 
FEMA emergency management courses online, but offered outside of the 
FEMA Employee Knowledge Center system and available to the general 
public. 

Name: National Emergency Training Center Admission System; 
Description of training information collected: Collects applications 
and admissions information about classroom courses offered at 
Emergency Management Institute-sponsored locations and used to 
determine attendance of courses. 

Name: Automated Deployment Database; 
Description of training information collected: Collects training 
records of courses taken while deployed to a disaster that were 
offered through the disaster field training office, which are then 
manually uploaded to the FEMA Employee Knowledge Center system.[A] 

Name: Training Information Access System; 
Description of training information collected: Collects and reports 
information on completed training, receiving intermittent updates of 
training records from the FEMA Employee Knowledge Center, the 
Independent Study Database, and the National Emergency Training Center 
Admission System. 

Source: GAO analysis of FEMA information. 

Note: [A] Some historical training records are not available through 
the Automated Deployment Database and may only be obtained through a 
disaster employee's home regional occupational manager. 

[End of table] 

FEMA has taken steps to consolidate and collect training information 
through the Training Information Access System, but the system does 
not provide a comprehensive or accurate account of all training 
activities of FEMA employees. For instance, Emergency Management 
Institute officials responsible for system maintenance stated that 
these information systems do not automatically download information 
with the Training Information Access System, and may have information 
that the Training Information Access System does not have to determine 
training completion. A regional training manager also said that to 
report back to FEMA headquarters on course completions, multiple 
databases must be accessed and disaster employees' occupational 
managers must also be consulted to obtain an accurate account of an 
employee's training record. Further, although FEMA's Human Capital 
Office must report on the completion of courses required by the 
department, FEMA human capital officials reported that they must 
access the Training Information Access System or the FEMA Employee 
Knowledge Center and reach out to FEMA's program offices to obtain 
information on the completion of its required courses. They added that 
a lack of policies and procedures for tracking and analyzing training 
data limits their ability to verify the accuracy or comprehensiveness 
of the information provided by other program offices. In addition, 
none of the five information systems track data related to the 
completion of leadership or professional development courses. 

Officials from the Emergency Management Institute stated that their 
office is responsible for implementing upgrades to the FEMA Employee 
Knowledge Center system, and the planned upgrades will collect some 
professional development training information in the future. However, 
these officials stated that FEMA does not have plans to collect 
information related to leadership development with its current 
upgrades, although officials have discussed intentions to use the FEMA 
Employee Knowledge Center system to do this in the future.[Footnote 
53] Moreover, FEMA has plans to implement a new information system for 
FQS, but the agency has not yet developed plans to integrate this 
system with FEMA's other training information systems, citing that it 
was too early in the process to determine how such an integration may 
occur. However, until FEMA develops a plan to integrate its systems 
that track and analyze training, including the new information system 
for FQS, the agency will not have a complete picture of how training 
programs across the agency are being utilized, the effectiveness of 
these programs, or the costs associated with this training. 

In our prior work related to strategic workforce planning, we 
concluded that staffing decisions, including needs assessments, should 
be based on valid and reliable data.[Footnote 54] We have also 
reported that developing and implementing a training management 
information system is a key element for the strategic management of 
training and an attribute of effective training programs, and we note 
the importance of analyzing the results of training provided.[Footnote 
55] Further, an integrated training management information system can 
provide a more efficient means of ensuring quality, administrative 
efficiency, economy, or adequacy to meet requirements and can help 
agencies realize cost savings through standardization of record 
keeping and simplified and more accurate reporting on courses, 
certifications, educational attainment, costs, or standards. 

According to officials from FEMA's Human Capital Office, DHS has 
efforts under way to review its human capital systems across the 
department, and FEMA is awaiting guidance from the department before 
developing new processes, systems or consolidating databases. In the 
absence of integrated systems, FEMA officials reported that they plan 
to continue gathering workforce data from FEMA's various databases to 
inform their workforce planning efforts. While FEMA began implementing 
a phased-in upgrade to the FEMA Employee Knowledge Center system in 
February 2012, Emergency Management Institute officials stated 
additional enhancements to this system, such as collecting information 
on completed leadership development training, could not be considered 
until initial upgrades were complete. In February 2012, FEMA released 
a directive that clarifies the role of FEMA's Chief Information 
Officer and a newly established governance board to lead and integrate 
FEMA's information technology role to consolidate duplicative 
investments and applications, among other things. Such an integrated 
approach could provide FEMA's program offices the opportunity to 
develop systematic processes to track training information. Developing 
systematic processes to collect and analyze its agencywide workforce 
and training data could help the agency make more informed decisions 
about how to enhance its workforce planning and training efforts in an 
efficient and effective manner. 

Conclusions: 

FEMA's ability to successfully meet its mission of preparing for, 
responding to, and recovering from all hazards has been tested as 
never before as FEMA responded to more disasters than any year in its 
history in 2011. To effectively respond to disasters, FEMA personnel 
must make the best decisions under extreme pressure inherent during 
large-scale disasters. Agency personnel are also required to work in 
dynamic environments characterized by rapidly changing priorities and 
ground rules to help communities respond and recover from disasters. 

According to FEMA, the agency is taking steps to strengthen the 
nation's capacity to respond to and recover from large-scale 
disasters, such as those experienced in 2011. Since the enactment of 
the Post-Katrina Act in October 2006, FEMA has attempted to address 
historical workforce planning and training challenges. For instance, 
FEMA's Strategic Workforce Planning Initiative represents a commitment 
by the agency to determine the current workforce composition, what the 
workforce needs to be in the future, and how the gaps between the two 
may be overcome. Likewise, FEMA's workforce training programs address 
the challenge of meeting agency needs for implementing uniform 
credentialing for disaster response and providing leadership 
development opportunities for all full-time employees. FEMA is also 
taking steps to integrate its workforce planning and training efforts 
across the agency. For example, FEMA has established a working group 
to facilitate the implementation of the FEMA Qualification System that 
provides a venue for stakeholders from across the agency to provide 
input on its implementation and the training programs associated with 
this system's new disaster occupation. However, the effectiveness of 
these integration efforts is dependent upon FEMA following through 
with its plans and it is, therefore, too early to assess their impact. 

As FEMA moves forward with its efforts to integrate its workforce 
planning and training programs, these efforts could be better guided 
by incorporating strategic management principles, to help ensure the 
agency is held accountable for producing results. For example, as part 
of the agency's work to update its Strategic Human Capital Plan, FEMA 
could benefit from identifying and documenting long-term and 
quantifiable mission critical goals that provide a road map for 
meeting the agency's intended outcomes of its workforce planning and 
training efforts. In addition, establishing time frames for completing 
the development of quantifiable performance measures related to the 
agency's workforce planning and training efforts could help ensure 
that FEMA is held accountable for establishing measures that would 
assist the agency in gauging its progress implementing these efforts. 
These measures could, for example, be documented in its annual updates 
on its implementation of the Strategic Human Capital Plan. Such 
metrics could help ensure that the agency is held accountable for 
meeting the goals established for its workforce planning and training 
efforts. Moreover, explicitly establishing lines of authority among 
FEMA's program offices could help the agency ensure that workforce 
planning and training efforts address agency needs, and that 
appropriate decision makers are held accountable for implementing 
these programs in alignment with FEMA goals and objectives. 

Moreover, we continue to believe that FEMA's workforce-related 
decisions could be enhanced by developing systematic processes to 
collect and analyze its agencywide workforce and training data. FEMA 
acknowledges the value of developing such processes, but the agency 
has not yet taken action to do so. Without systematically collecting 
and analyzing workforce and training data, FEMA will be limited in its 
understanding of its workforce and training needs. 

Recommendations for Executive Action: 

To help ensure that FEMA's agencywide workforce planning and training 
efforts are conducted in a comprehensive and integrated manner, we 
recommend that the FEMA Administrator take the following three actions: 

1. identify and document long-term and quantifiable mission critical 
goals that reflect the agency's priorities for workforce planning and 
training; 

2. establish a time frame for completing the development of 
quantifiable performance measures related to workforce planning and 
training efforts; and: 

3. clearly establish lines of authority for agencywide workforce 
planning and training efforts. 

To better inform FEMA's decision-making related to agencywide 
workforce planning and training efforts we recommend that the FEMA 
Administrator develop systematic processes to collect and analyze 
workforce and training data. 

Agency Comments and Our Evaluation: 

We provided a draft of this report to DHS for comment. We received 
written comments from DHS on the draft report, which are summarized 
below and reproduced in full in appendix IV. DHS concurred with the 
report and recommendations and indicated that it is taking steps to 
address the recommendations. In commenting on the draft report, DHS 
described the efforts the department has underway or planned to 
address our recommendations to improve FEMA's workforce planning and 
training efforts. The actions DHS reported are important first steps; 
however, additional efforts are needed to help ensure that our 
recommendations are fully implemented, as discussed below. 

In regards to our recommendation that FEMA identify and document long-
term and quantifiable mission critical goals that reflect the agency's 
priorities for workforce planning and training, DHS agreed and stated 
that FEMA is working with the Office of Personnel Management and other 
federal agencies to establish an emergency management occupational 
series that will assist FEMA in building its future workforce. 
Moreover, DHS stated that FEMA's updated Strategic Human Capital Plan 
for fiscal years 2012 through 2016 will specifically identify goals 
that move the agency closer to its priorities related to employees 
training. FEMA's stated plan for identifying goals that reflect its 
priorities for employee training is a positive step. DHS's response 
did not indicate whether FEMA intends to identify long-term and 
quantifiable mission critical goals related to its workforce planning 
efforts. Taking such action would more fully address our 
recommendation. 

Regarding our recommendation that FEMA establish a timeframe for 
completing the development of quantifiable performance measures 
related to workforce planning and training efforts, DHS agreed and 
stated that in the spring of fiscal year 2012, the Homeland Security 
Institute will report its FEMA workforce planning study findings that 
will include strategies and recommendations to address identified 
workforce issues. On the basis of these strategies and 
recommendations, FEMA will establish timeframes for their 
implementation through the fiscal year 2012 through 2016 Strategic 
Human Capital Plan. The Strategic Human Capital Plan for fiscal years 
2012 through 2016 will have milestones and metrics for addressing key 
workforce planning efforts and will align workforce planning and 
training to DHS guidance and FEMA doctrine. FEMA's reported efforts to 
address workforce planning are noteworthy. In order to meet the full 
intent of our recommendation, FEMA should establish timeframes for 
completing the development of quantifiable performance measures 
related to workforce planning and training efforts. 

In regards to our recommendation that FEMA clearly establish lines of 
authority for agencywide workforce planning and training efforts, DHS 
agreed and stated that in December 2010, FEMA on-boarded a Chief 
Component Human Capital Officer, a Deputy Component Human Capital 
Officer, and a Human Resources Officer who will have overall 
responsibility for the FEMA workforce planning initiative. According 
to DHS, in August 2011, the FEMA Human Capital Office reorganized to 
create the Workforce Effectiveness Division responsible for 
coordinating and managing this initiative. As a result of the 
Strategic Workforce Planning Initiative, the Workforce Effectiveness 
Division will develop agency procedures regarding the development of 
workforce plans. In addition, DHS stated that in 2011, the FEMA Deputy 
Administrator instituted FEMAStat, an agencywide data-driven review 
process where FEMA leadership evaluates performance against 
objectives, identifies barriers to success, agrees on actions to 
eliminate barriers, and hold leaders of FEMA programs accountable for 
implementation. Through FEMAStat, the FEMA Deputy Administrator 
required the Mission Support Bureau, the Office of Response and 
Recovery, and Protection and National Preparedness to develop an 
agreed upon approach with respect to employee training, management, 
and coordination throughout the agency. As such, DHS noted that FEMA, 
through FEMAStat will clearly establish lines of authority for 
training. FEMA's planned efforts to assign responsibility for its 
Strategic Workforce Planning Initiative and establish lines of 
authority for training efforts are important steps. DHS's response did 
not indicate how FEMA will establish lines of authority for its other 
workforce planning efforts underway across the agency. Identifying and 
implementing such action would be necessary to fully address the 
intent of our recommendation. 

With regard to our recommendation that FEMA develop systematic 
processes to collect and analyze workforce and training data, DHS 
agreed and noted that FEMA is implementing several initiatives that 
will increase the capacity to collect and analyze workforce planning 
and training data. For example, FEMA is in the process of implementing 
EmpowHR, which is an integrated suite of applications that will 
support a single system providing comprehensive employee information. 
According to DHS, EmpowHR will enable FEMA to (1) make critical 
decisions regarding workforce utilization, (2) forecast workforce 
turnover and placement, and (3) project future resource budget 
allocations on a fiscal year basis to achieve mission goals. DHS also 
stated that FEMA is developing a human capital data warehouse that 
will provide the capacity to comprehensively report and analyze 
employee pay and training data. FEMA also recently implemented an 
upgrade to its learning management system, which will allow for 
scheduling and training employee training and provide reporting 
capabilities allowing for skill and competencies gap closing analysis. 
These actions, if implemented effectively, would address the intent of 
our recommendation. 

DHS also provided technical comments that we incorporated, where 
appropriate. 

We are sending copies of this report to the Secretary of Homeland 
Security, appropriate congressional committees, and other interested 
parties. This report will also be available at no charge on GAO's 
website at [hyperlink, http://www.gao.gov]. 

If you or your staffs have any questions about this report, please 
contact me at (202) 512-9627 or maurerd@gao.gov. Contact points for 
our Office of Congressional Relations and Public Affairs may be found 
on the last page of this report. Key contributors to this report are 
listed in appendix V. 

Signed by: 

David C. Maurer: 
Director, Homeland Security and Justice Issues: 

List of Congressional Requesters: 

The Honorable Joseph I. Lieberman Chairman Committee on Homeland 
Security and Governmental Affairs United States Senate: 

The Honorable Susan M. Collins Ranking Member Committee on Homeland 
Security and Governmental Affairs United States Senate: 

The Honorable Daniel K. Akaka Chairman Subcommittee on Oversight of 
Government Management, the Federal Workforce, and the District of 
Columbia Committee on Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs 
United States Senate: 

The Honorable Gus M. Bilirakis 
Chairman 
Subcommittee on Emergency Preparedness, Response, and Communications 
Committee on Homeland Security 
House of Representatives: 

The Honorable Bennie G. Thompson 
Ranking Member 
Committee on Homeland Security 
House of Representatives: 

[End of section] 

Appendix I: Strategic Human Capital Management Critical Success 
Factors: 

Our model of strategic human capital management identifies four 
cornerstones and eight critical success factors for managing human 
capital strategically, which embody an approach to human capital 
management that is fact-based, focused on strategic results, and 
incorporates merit principles and other national goals.[Footnote 56] 
We noted that when considering the human capital cornerstones and the 
critical success factors, it is important to remember that they are 
interrelated and mutually reinforcing. Table 3 identifies the critical 
success factors for managing human capital strategically. 

Table 3: Strategic Human Capital Management Critical Success Factors: 

Cornerstone: Leadership; 
Critical success factors: 
Commitment to Human Capital Management: 
Demonstrated commitment of senior leadership to develop more effective 
ways of doing business, accomplishing results, and investing in human 
capital; 
Critical success factors: Role of the Human Capital Function: 
Utilization of human capital professionals to contribute in management 
decisions to support the long-term accomplishment of the agency's 
mission. 

Cornerstone: Strategic Human Capital Planning; 
Critical success factors: 
Integration and Alignment: 
Development of human capital strategies that effectively accomplish 
mission and programmatic goals and results; 
Critical success factors: Data-Driven Human Capital Decisions: 
Development of human capital management decisions using fact-based, 
performance-oriented approaches. 

Cornerstone: Acquiring, Developing, and Retaining Talent; 
Critical success factors: 
Targeted Investments in People: 
Providing resources and incentives that support and encourage 
employees to attain agency goals and objectives; 
Critical success factors: Human Capital Approaches Tailored to Meet 
Organizational Needs: 
Utilization of flexibilities in human capital strategies that are 
appropriate to meet organizational requirements. 

Cornerstone: Results-Oriented Organizational Cultures; 
Critical success factors: 
Empowerment and Inclusiveness: 
Involvement of employees and employee organizations in the planning 
process to develop agency goals, insights, and foster employee 
understanding and acceptance of organizational goals and objectives; 
Critical success factors: Unit and Individual Performance Linked to 
Organizational Goals: 
Alignment of individual employee performance expectations with agency 
goals so that individuals understand the connection between their 
daily activities and their organization's success. 

Source: GAO. 

[End of table] 

[End of section] 

Appendix II: FEMA Program Office Responsibilities and Description of 
Initiatives Related to Workforce Planning: 

Program office: Office of Chief Component Human Capital Officer; 
Responsibilities: Is to provide leadership and direction to the agency 
concerning human capital programs; develops and manage policies, 
programs, and activities designed to ensure the strategic management 
of the agency's human capital assets; 
and ensure that strategic management of human capital is integrated 
into all aspects of the agency's operations; 
Initiative related to workforce planning: 
Strategic Workforce Planning Initiative; 
Aimed at identifying the gaps in current workforce based upon 
identified requirements, as well as human capital requirements to 
achieve required operational capabilities. This initiative is to 
result in the development of workforce plans, strategies, and tools to 
transform the current posture into the workforce of the future. 

Program office: Incident Workforce Management Office; 
Responsibilities: Is responsible for coordinating strategic priorities 
for FEMA's disaster workforce and strengthening partnerships and 
processes that qualify, prepare, support, and deploy the right 
disaster workers with the right skills at the right time; 
Initiative related to workforce planning: 
FEMA Qualification System; 
FEMA created this system to establish minimum, consistent, and fair 
qualification requirements for all FEMA employees; 
and for deployment purposes, to help ensure a qualified disaster 
workforce based on performance standards. 

Program office: Office of Policy and Program Analysis; 
Responsibilities: Is to guide and coordinate the policies, strategic 
planning, and analysis of FEMA programs; 
Initiative related to workforce planning: 
Force Planning Model; 
Designed to provide FEMA with the number of employees, broken out by 
permanent full-time employees, Cadre of On-Call Response/Recovery 
Employees, and Disaster Assistance Employees needed to effectively 
respond to a disaster dependent on its severity, and to sustain day-to-
day operations. 

Program office: Office of Chief Procurement Officer; 
Responsibilities: Is responsible for overseeing FEMA's acquisition 
mission, providing customer support in acquisition planning, and 
developing and monitoring the agency's acquisition policy, among other 
things; 
Initiative related to workforce planning: 
Balanced Workforce Strategy; 
Gathers the results of program offices' use of DHS's Balanced 
Workforce Strategy tool. DHS established the Balanced Workforce 
Strategy as a departmentwide initiative to assist the department and 
its component agencies in determining the appropriate balance of 
federal employees and contractors. 

Source: GAO analysis of FEMA information: 

[End of table] 

[End of section] 

Appendix III: FEMA Program Office Responsibilities Related to 
Workforce Training: 

Program office: Office of Chief Component Human Capital Officer; 
Responsibilities: Is to provide leadership and direction to the agency 
concerning human capital programs, including workforce training. 
Tracks human capital training information on permanent full-time 
employees and the Cadre of On-Call Response/Recovery Employees. 

Program office: Incident Workforce Management Office; 
Responsibilities: Is responsible for defining and coordinating the 
strategic priorities for FEMA's response workforce training programs, 
including the implementation of training requirements associated with 
new occupations under the FEMA Qualification System. Is also to work 
with other disaster-response stakeholders, such as the Emergency 
Management Institute and disaster occupation managers, to ensure that 
standards for training are implemented broadly throughout the 
workforce. 

Program office: Training, Exercise, and Doctrine Office; 
Responsibilities: Is to develop and validate training requirements for 
disaster response occupations under the FEMA Qualification System 
certification. Is responsible for working with stakeholders, such as 
disaster occupation managers, to develop requirements and courses for 
each disaster-related occupation. Annually evaluates courses to ensure 
that the meet expectations for preparing the workforce for disaster 
deployment. 

Program office: Emergency Management Institute; 
Responsibilities: Is responsible for supporting the creation and 
delivery of disaster response-related courses for FEMA's workforce, 
including providing classroom courses, and ensures that all disaster-
related courses meet accreditation requirements. Is also responsible 
for working with officials responsible for training deployed personnel 
to properly staff courses with subject matter experts. Responsible for 
managing training information management systems that provide online 
training and track training information. 

Program office: Protection and National Preparedness; 
Responsibilities: Appointed an individual to lead the creation of a 
comprehensive FEMA workforce leadership development training program 
with direction from the Leadership Development Council. However, FEMA 
has not yet delegated which program office is responsible for the 
implementation. 

Program office: Individual Program Offices; 
Responsibilities: Professional Development Training: Initiated or 
authorized by program management for individual employees. May be 
identified through employee individual development plans or through 
program office needs. This training is provided by both internal and 
external sources. 

Source: GAO analysis of FEMA information. 

[End of table] 

[End of section] 

Appendix IV: Comments from the Department of Homeland Security: 

U.S. Department of Homeland Security: 
Washington, D.C. 20528: 

April 10, 2012: 

David C. Maurer: 
Director, Homeland Security and Justice: 
U.S. Government Accountability Office: 
441 G Street, NW: 
Washington, DC 20548: 

Re: Draft Report GAO-12-487, "Federal Emergency Management Agency:
Workforce Planning and Training Could Be Enhanced By Incorporating 
Strategic Management Principles" 

Dear Mr. Maurer: 

Thank you for the opportunity to review and comment on this draft 
report. The U.S. Department of Homeland Security (DHS) appreciates the 
U.S. Government Accountability Office's (GAO's) work in planning and 
conducting its review and issuing this report. 

The Department is pleased to note GAO's positive recognition of the 
Federal Emergency Management Agency's (FEMA's) leadership commitment 
to enhancing and integrating agency-wide strategic workforce planning 
and training, as reflected in multiple FEMA strategic planning 
documents. We also appreciate GAO's recognition of many of the 
challenges FEMA faces, including the fact that during the Fiscal Year 
(FY) 2011 FEMA responded to more disasters than any other year in its 
history. DHS remains committed to effectively identifying the 
appropriate size and skills of its workforce and working with its 
partners throughout all levels of government, law enforcement, private 
industry, and in the public to ensure the safety, security, and 
resilience of our Nation. 

The draft report contained four recommendations, with which the 
Department concurs. 

Specifically, GAO recommended that the FEMA Administrator:
Recommendation 1: Identify and document long-term and quantifiable 
mission critical goals that reflect the agency's priorities for 
workforce planning and training. 

Response: Concur. The Post Katrina Emergency Management Reform Act of 
2006 (PKEMRA) outlined the legislative requirement for the FEMA's 
Strategic Human Capital Plan (SHCP). In May 2008, FEMA submitted to 
Congress a SHCP for FY 2008 — FY 2012. This plan provided an initial 
map of how FEMA would create an environment and culture that supports, 
nurtures, and sustains a ready workforce. The updated plan for FY 
2012 — FY 2016 SHCP will take that charge further by addressing 
workforce planning issues as identified in PKEMRA and the Office
of Personnel Management's (OPM's) Human Capital Assessment and 
Accountability Framework. 

Other FEMA priorities related to workforce planning include the FEMA 
Office of the Chief Component Human Capital Officer (OCCHCO) tasking 
the Homeland Security Studies and Analysis Institute (HSSAI) to assist 
with its strategic workforce planning initiative. There are three 
overall objectives to this initiative: (1) identify the human capital 
requirements needed for FEMA to achieve its required operational 
capabilities; (2) identify gaps in its current workforce based upon 
identified requirements; and (3) develop workforce plans, strategies, 
and tools to ensure FEMA has the right people in the right place at 
the right time. In addition, FEMA, in conjunction with the OPM and 
several other federal agencies, is in the process of establishing an 
emergency management occupational series that will assist FEMA in 
building the future workforce to include developing succession 
planning methodologies, career pathing, building competencies, etc. 

Additionally, FEMA's FY 2011 — FY 2014 Strategic Plan's fourth 
initiative, enhancing FEMA's ability to learn and innovate as an 
organization, reflects the agency's priority towards building, 
sustaining and improving the workforce and developing the current and 
future leadership. As part of this initiative, the FEMA Administrator 
has required FEMA's Mission Support Bureau to create a collaborative 
infrastructure to support learning and innovation across the emergency 
management enterprise. The updated FEMA FY 2012 — FY 2016 SHCP will 
specifically identify goals that move the agency closer to our 
priorities regarding employee training. 

Recommendation 2: Establish a timeframe for completing the development 
of quantifiable performance measures related to workforce planning and 
training efforts. 

Response: Concur. Annually, FEMA reports to Congress its yearly human 
capital accomplishments through the Human Capital Operational Plan. In 
addition, in the spring of FY 2012, the HSSAI will present its 
workforce planning study findings. This study will include 
strategies/recommendations to address identified workforce issues. On 
the basis of these strategies/recommendations, FEMA will establish 
timeframes for implementation through the FY 2012 — FY 2016 SHCP. The 
SHCP will have milestones and metrics for addressing key workforce 
planning parameters and will align workforce planning and training to 
DHS guidance and FEMA doctrine. Finally, FEMA is in the process of 
consolidating agency training, as mentioned above, which will 
prioritize agency-wide training efforts. 

Recommendation 3: Clearly establish lines of authority for agency wide 
workforce planning and training efforts. 

Response: Concur. Beginning in December 2010, FEMA on-boarded a Chief 
Component Human Capital Officer, a Deputy Component Chief Human 
Capital Officer, and a Human Resources Officer who will have overall 
responsibility for the FEMA workforce planning initiative. The FEMA 
OCCHCO reorganized in August 2011, creating the Workforce 
Effectiveness Division (WED) responsible for the coordination and 
management of the agency's workforce planning initiative. As a result 
of the HSSAI workforce planning strategies/recommendations, FEMA 
OCCHCO WED will develop agency procedures regarding the development of 
workforce plans. 

Additionally, in 2011, the FEMA Deputy Administrator instituted 
FEMAStat, an agency-wide data driven review process where FEMA Senior 
leadership evaluates performance against objectives, identifies 
barriers to success, agrees on actions to eliminate barriers and hold 
Senior leaders of FEMA programs accountable for implementation. The 
FEMA Deputy Administrator through FEMAStat assigned an action item to 
the Mission Support Bureau, Office of Response and Recovery, and 
Protection and National Preparedness requiring an agreed upon Agency 
approach to employee training, management and coordination. As such, 
FEMA through FEMAStat will clearly establish lines of authority for 
training. 

Recommendation 4: Develop systematic processes to collect and analyze 
workforce and training data. 

Response: Concur. FEMA is currently implementing several initiatives 
that will increase the capacity to collect and analyze workforce and 
training data. For example, FEMA is currently in the process of 
implementing EmpowHR. EmpowHR is an integrated suite of applications 
that support critical human resources components in a single 
enterprise system providing comprehensive employee information 
enabling FEMA to: (1) make critical decisions concerning workforce 
utilization, (2) forecast workforce turnover and placement, and (3) 
project future resource budget allocations on a fiscal year basis, for 
optimum achievement of mission goals. 

Currently one of the ways FEMA is building its capacity to collect and 
analyze workforce and training data is through the development of a 
human capital data warehouse. The warehouse will provide the capacity 
to report and analyze employee pay and training datasets that 
previously were housed separately. FEMA also recently implemented an 
upgrade to the learning management system which will allow for 
scheduling and tracking our employees for training. This system will 
also provide reporting capabilities allowing for skills and 
competencies gap closing analyses. Each of these initiatives will 
significantly improve FEMA's ability analyze workforce and training 
data. 

Again, thank you for the opportunity to review and comment on this 
draft report. Technical comments for the report were previously 
provided under separate cover. We look forward to working with you on 
future Homeland Security issues. 

Sincerely, 

Signed by: 

Jim H. Crumpacker: 
Director: 
Departmental GAO-OIG Liaison Office: 

[End of section] 

Appendix V: GAO Contact and Staff Acknowledgments: 

GAO Contact: 

David C. Maurer, (202) 512-9627 or maurerd@gao.gov: 

Acknowledgments: 

In addition to the contact named above, Christopher Keisling, 
Assistant Director, managed this assignment. Vanessa Dillard, Jeremy 
Manion, and Meg Ullengren made significant contributions to the work. 
Tracey King provided significant legal support and analysis. Cynthia 
Saunders assisted with design and methodology. Linda Miller and Debbie 
Sebastian provided assistance in report preparation. Robert Robinson 
developed the report graphics. 

[End of section] 

Footnotes: 

[1] The Post-Katrina Emergency Management Reform Act of 2006 was 
enacted as Title VI of the Department of Homeland Security 
Appropriations Act, 2007, Pub. L. No. 109-295, 120 Stat. 1355 (2006). 

[2] 5 U.S.C. § 10102. 

[3] See GAO, Budget Issues: FEMA Needs Adequate Data, Plans, and 
Systems to Effectively Manage Resources for Day-to-Day Operations, 
[hyperlink, http://www.gao.gov/products/GAO-07-139] (Washington, D.C.: 
Jan. 19, 2007); GAO, FEMA: Action Needed to Improve Administration of 
the National Flood Insurance Program, [hyperlink, 
http://www.gao.gov/products/GAO-11-297] (Washington, D.C.: June 9, 
2011). 

[4] [hyperlink, http://www.gao.gov/products/GAO-07-139]. 

[5] DHS did not comment on this recommendation. 

[6] [hyperlink, http://www.gao.gov/products/GAO-11-297]. 

[7] GAO, High Risk Series: An Update, [hyperlink, 
http://www.gao.gov/products/GAO-01-263] (Washington, D.C.: Jan. 2001). 

[8] GAO, High Risk Series: An Update, [hyperlink, 
http://www.gao.gov/products/GAO-11-278] (Washington, D.C.: Feb. 2011). 

[9] GAO, Department of Homeland Security: Continued Progress Made 
Improving and Integrating Management Areas, but More Work Remains, 
[hyperlink, http://www.gao.gov/products/GAO-12-365T] (Washington, 
D.C.: Mar. 1, 2012). 

[10] GAO, A Model of Strategic Human Capital Management, [hyperlink, 
http://www.gao.gov/products/GAO-02-373SP] (Washington, D.C.: Mar. 15, 
2002). 

[11] The Homeland Security Institute is a federally funded research 
and development center that provides independent analysis of homeland 
security issues. Specifically, the Homeland Security Institute 
provides government the expertise to conduct cross-cutting mission 
analysis, strategic studies and assessments, development of models 
that baseline current capabilities, among other efforts. 

[12] [hyperlink, http://www.gao.gov/products/GAO-02-373SP]. 

[13] Obtaining comprehensive information on the workforce planning and 
training efforts under way at FEMA's regional offices would have 
required site visits to each of the 10 regions. 

[14] National Academy of Public Administration, FEMA's Integration of 
Preparedness and Development of Robust Regional Offices: An 
Independent Assessment (Washington, D.C.: Oct. 2009). 

[15] [hyperlink, http://www.gao.gov/products/GAO-02-373SP]. 

[16] According to FEMA, the agency obligated $558,097,000 to fund the 
salaries and benefits of its permanent employees in fiscal year 2011. 

[17] CORE positions are temporary, excepted service appointments with 
specific "Not to Exceed" dates. The appointments are two and four-year 
terms and are typically renewed if there is ongoing disaster work and 
funding is available. DAE's are activated in direct response to a 
disaster declaration to support the work of FEMA at the disaster site. 
FEMA hires DAEs as 2-year, intermittent employees who are deployed as 
needed for emergencies and/or disasters. 

[18] See 42 U.S.C. § 5149(b)(1). The Robert T. Stafford Disaster 
Relief and Emergency Assistance Act, as amended, known as the Stafford 
Act, constitutes the statutory authority for most federal disaster 
response activities, especially as they pertain to FEMA and FEMA 
programs. This act authorizes the President to issue a "major 
disaster" declaration to provide a wide range of federal aid to states 
determined to be overwhelmed by hurricanes or other disasters. 42 
U.S.C. § 5170. FEMA is tasked with coordinating the response under the 
Stafford Act. 

[19] As of February 2011, FEMA employed approximately 991 other 
employees, including other government employees on assignment to FEMA 
and full-time and part-time FEMA staff with a set end date of 
employment. FEMA also employed approximately 7,892 contractors. 

[20] Approximately 60 percent of those working for headquarter 
components are located outside of the immediate Washington, D.C. 
metropolitan area. FEMA's 10 regional offices are located in Atlanta, 
Georgia; Boston, Massachusetts; Denton, Texas; Denver, Colorado; 
Chicago, Illinois; Kansas City, Missouri; New York, New York; Oakland, 
California; Philadelphia, Pennsylvania; and Seattle, Washington. 

[21] Prior to June 2011, the Incident Workforce Management Office was 
named the Disaster Workforce Division under the Office of the Chief 
Component Human Capital Officer. FQS is a FEMA initiative intended to 
credential its workforce. FQS is discussed in further detail later in 
this report. 

[22] 5 U.S.C. § 10102. 

[23] [hyperlink, http://www.gao.gov/products/GAO-02-373SP]. While our 
model includes aligning agencies' human capital approaches with 
current and emerging needs, this attribute is associated with higher 
levels of strategic human capital planning. Reflective of FEMA's 
actions in this area, we focused our review on FEMA's efforts to 
integrate their workforce planning and training efforts. 

[24] GAO, Human Capital: Key Principles for Effective Workforce 
Planning, [hyperlink, http://www.gao.gov/products/GAO-04-39] 
(Washington, D.C.: Dec.11, 2003). 

[25] GAO, Human Capital: A Guide for Assessing Strategic Training and 
Development Efforts in the Federal Government, [hyperlink, 
http://www.gao.gov/products/GAO-04-546G] (Washington, D.C.: Mar. 2004). 

[26] [hyperlink, http://www.gao.gov/products/GAO-02-373SP]. 

[27] GAO, Architect of the Capitol: Management and Accountability 
Framework Needed to Lead and Execute Change, [hyperlink, 
http://www.gao.gov/products/GAO-02-632T] (Washington, D.C.: Apr. 17, 
2002) and Architect Of The Capitol: Management and Accountability 
Framework Needed for Organizational Transformation, [hyperlink, 
http://www.gao.gov/products/GAO-03-231] (Washington, D.C.: Jan. 17, 
2003). 

[28] [hyperlink, http://www.gao.gov/products/GAO-07-139]. 

[29] H.R. Rep. No. 111-298, at 101-02 (2009) (Conf. Rep.). 

[30] The Incident Workforce Management Office assumed responsibility 
in June 2011 for FEMA's longstanding efforts to implement an 
agencywide credentialing program for its disaster workforce, now 
referred to as FQS. 

[31] DHS announced its Balanced Workforce Strategy in July 2010. 

[32] We discuss the authority of the Human Capital Office in more 
detail later in this report. 

[33] The disaster relief fund is appropriated funding separate from 
FEMA's salaries and expenses account, through which most of FEMA's 
other training efforts are funded. For fiscal year 2012, the Incident 
Workforce Management Office provided $6 million for disaster response 
training courses conducted by the Emergency Management Institute for 
all FEMA employees. Prior to fiscal year 2012, FEMA's Emergency 
Management Institute was responsible for coordinating disaster 
response training. 

[34] According to FEMA, the Training, Exercise, and Doctrine office is 
responsible for funding the development and revision of FQS-related 
courses. Also, FEMA officials stated that disaster response-related 
training will consist mainly of FQS-related training once FQS is fully 
implemented. 

[35] Position task books are issued to employees in training for 
disaster-related occupations and describe all activities, minimal 
skill sets, and tasks that are necessary for successful performance in 
a given position. 

[36] In January 2012 DHS released its Orientation Facilitation Guide 
to its components, containing the core topics that must be included in 
every new employee orientation effort. These topics include, among 
other things, an orientation of the department and ethics training. 

[37] FEMA has also developed a list of 15 mandatory courses that all 
employees must take in order to deploy to a disaster. Several 
mandatory deployment courses overlap with required training for all 
permanent employees and COREs, such as basic records management, 
diversity awareness, and disaster-related training including disaster 
management training. However, required training must be taken by 
permanent employees and COREs regardless of whether they deploy. 
Further, the Human Capital Office is not responsible for ensuring that 
employees are deployable, which is the responsibility of disaster 
occupation managers and field office training officials. 

[38] According to FEMA, the agency has committed $2 million through 
the end of fiscal year 2013 to fund leadership development efforts. 

[39] Office of Personnel Management, Human Capital Assessment and 
Accountability Framework (Washington, D.C.: Mar. 2006). 

[40] GAO, Managing for Results: Enhancing Agency Use of Performance 
Information for Management Decision Making, [hyperlink, 
http://www.gao.gov/products/GAO-05-927] (Washington, D.C.: Sept. 9, 
2005). 

[41] GAO, Department of Energy: Further Actions Are Needed to Improve 
DOE's Ability to Evaluate and Implement the Loan Guarantee Program, 
[hyperlink, http://www.gao.gov/products/GAO-10-627] (Washington, D.C.: 
July 12, 2010). 

[42] Performance measures can be classified as output, process/input, 
or outcome oriented. Output measures focus on the quantity of direct 
products and services a program delivers. Process/input measures 
address the type or level of program activity an organization conducts 
and the resources used by the program. Outcome measures offer 
information on the results of the direct products and services a 
program has delivered. 

[43] [hyperlink, http://www.gao.gov/products/GAO-07-139]. 

[44] DHS did not comment on this recommendation. 

[45] [hyperlink, http://www.gao.gov/products/GAO-02-632T]. 

[46] The Project Management Institute, The Standard for Program 
Management© (Newton Square, PA.: 2006). 

[47] [hyperlink, http://www.gao.gov/products/GAO-04-546G]. 

[48] [hyperlink, http://www.gao.gov/products/GAO-11-297]. 

[49] [hyperlink, http://www.gao.gov/products/GAO-07-139]. 

[50] National Academy of Public Administration, FEMA's Integration of 
Preparedness and Development of Robust Regional Offices: An 
Independent Assessment (Washington, D.C.: Oct. 2009). 

[51] [hyperlink, http://www.gao.gov/products/GAO-02-373SP]. 

[52] [hyperlink, http://www.gao.gov/products/GAO-07-139]. 

[53] According to Emergency Management Institute officials, FEMA 
implemented its first phase of the FEMA Employee Knowledge Center 
system updates in February 2012. They stated that this update allows 
FEMA managers to track additional information related to training, 
including the type of employee (permanent, DAE, or CORE) completing 
the training. 

[54] GAO, DHS Immigration Attorneys: Workload Analysis and Workforce 
Planning Efforts Lack Data and Documentation, [hyperlink, 
http://www.gao.gov/products/GAO-07-206] (Washington, D.C.: Apr. 17, 
2007). 

[55] [hyperlink, http://www.gao.gov/products/GAO-04-546G]. 

[56] [hyperlink, http://www.gao.gov/products/GAO-02-373SP]. 

[End of section] 

GAO’s Mission: 

The Government Accountability Office, the audit, evaluation, and 
investigative arm of Congress, exists to support Congress in meeting 
its constitutional responsibilities and to help improve the 
performance and accountability of the federal government for the 
American people. GAO examines the use of public funds; evaluates 
federal programs and policies; and provides analyses, recommendations, 
and other assistance to help Congress make informed oversight, policy, 
and funding decisions. GAO’s commitment to good government is 
reflected in its core values of accountability, integrity, and 
reliability. 

Obtaining Copies of GAO Reports and Testimony: 

The fastest and easiest way to obtain copies of GAO documents at no 
cost is through GAO’s website [hyperlink, http://www.gao.gov]. Each 
weekday afternoon, GAO posts on its website newly released reports, 
testimony, and correspondence. To have GAO e-mail you a list of newly 
posted products, go to [hyperlink, http://www.gao.gov] and select “E-
mail Updates.” 

Order by Phone: 

The price of each GAO publication reflects GAO’s actual cost of 
production and distribution and depends on the number of pages in the 
publication and whether the publication is printed in color or black 
and white. Pricing and ordering information is posted on GAO’s 
website, [hyperlink, http://www.gao.gov/ordering.htm]. 

Place orders by calling (202) 512-6000, toll free (866) 801-7077, or 
TDD (202) 512-2537. 

Orders may be paid for using American Express, Discover Card, 
MasterCard, Visa, check, or money order. Call for additional 
information. 

Connect with GAO: 

Connect with GAO on facebook, flickr, twitter, and YouTube.
Subscribe to our RSS Feeds or E mail Updates. Listen to our Podcasts.
Visit GAO on the web at [hyperlink, http://www.gao.gov]. 

To Report Fraud, Waste, and Abuse in Federal Programs: 

Contact: 
Website: [hyperlink, http://www.gao.gov/fraudnet/fraudnet.htm]; 
E-mail: fraudnet@gao.gov; 
Automated answering system: (800) 424-5454 or (202) 512-7470. 

Congressional Relations: 

Katherine Siggerud, Managing Director, siggerudk@gao.gov, (202) 512-4400
U.S. Government Accountability Office, 441 G Street NW, Room 7125
Washington, DC 20548. 

Public Affairs: 
Chuck Young, Managing Director, youngc1@gao.gov, (202) 512-4800
U.S. Government Accountability Office, 441 G Street NW, Room 7149 
Washington, DC 20548.