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State Department: Using Best Practices to Relocate Employees Could Reduce Costs and Improve Service

NSIAD-98-19 Published: Oct 17, 1997. Publicly Released: Oct 17, 1997.
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Highlights

GAO discussed: (1) the Department of State's process for transferring employees and their household effects overseas; and (2) opportunities for State to apply the best practices that private-sector and other government organizations use to complete overseas transfers.

Recommendations

Matter for Congressional Consideration

Matter Status Comments
Because the Department of State has not indicated support for GAO's recommendations intended to improve the quality and efficiency of its transfer and shipping process, Congress may wish to consider directing State to implement them.
Closed – Not Implemented
Congress has not acted on this issue.

Recommendations for Executive Action

Agency Affected Recommendation Status
Department of State The Secretary of State should establish a special team under the direction of the Under Secretary for Management to design an implementation strategy for improving management of the Department's employee transfer process. The strategy should take into account the transfer activities of the Arms Control and Disarmament Agency (ACDA), the U. S. Agency for International Development (AID), and the United States Information Agency (USIA). The team should be composed of staff from each of the key bureaus and offices currently involved in the process. Its mandate should include identifying the most appropriate organizational structure, location, and staffing arrangements for centralizing management of the transfer function, ensuring accountability and control over the entire process, and providing one-stop shopping for the employee.
Closed – Implemented
State has not yet adopted the concept of one-stop shopping. State is, however, developing a Customer Service Center to help employees during the transfer process.
Department of State The Secretary of State should establish a special team under the direction of the Under Secretary for Management to design an implementation strategy for improving management of the Department's employee transfer process. The strategy should take into account the transfer activities of ACDA, AID, and USIA. The team should be composed of staff from each of the key bureaus and offices currently involved in the process. Its mandate should include developing an integrated information management system to handle the reengineered transfer process, based on off-the-shelf technologies or information resource management initiatives already under way in the Department, if possible.
Closed – Implemented
State has not established a special team to design an implementation strategy; however, State is working to integrate some aspects of its information system.
Department of State The Secretary of State should establish a special team under the direction of the Under Secretary for Management to design an implementation strategy for improving management of the Department's employee transfer process. The strategy should take into account the transfer activities of ACDA, AID, and USIA. The team should be composed of staff from each of the key bureaus and offices currently involved in the process. Its mandate should include developing a plan for outsourcing those parts of the transfer process where analyses show that outsourcing would provide better, more cost-effective service than performing the functions in-house. Key parts of the process that should be examined include medical and move management services.
Closed – Not Implemented
State did not comment on the potential to outsource its move-related functions and has no plans to do so.
Department of State The Secretary of State should establish a special team under the direction of the Under Secretary for Management to design an implementation strategy for improving management of the Department's employee transfer process. The strategy should take into account the transfer activities of ACDA, AID, and USIA. The team should be composed of staff from each of the key bureaus and offices currently involved in the process. Its mandate should include developing costs, time, and quality performance measures for managing the process and measuring the impact of reengineering efforts.
Closed – Implemented
State did not implement this recommendation but it anticipated that some performance measures concerning shipping times and costs may be developed as part of its broader effort to reengineer its logistics system.
Department of State The Secretary of State should direct the Transportation Division to substantially expand the use of door-to-door shipments of household effects.
Closed – Not Implemented
State claims that it will use door-to-door shipments to the extent possible. However, State also contends that variable conditions at its overseas posts limit the potential for using door-to-door arrangements. For this reason, State plans to continue using its hybrid approach to shipping that includes both the direct procurement method and door-to-door shipments.

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Topics

Americans employed abroadBest practicesCentralizationEmployee transfersFederal agency reorganizationFederal employeesFreight transportationHousehold goodsPerformance measuresRelocation allowancesTransportation costsComparative benchmarking products