DOD Personnel: Further Actions Needed to Strengthen Oversight and Coordination of Defense Laboratories' Hiring Efforts
Highlights
What GAO Found
The Department of Defense's (DOD) laboratories (defense labs) have used the laboratory-specific direct hire authorities more than any other category of agency-specific or government-wide hiring authority for science, technology, engineering, and mathematics personnel. As shown below, in fiscal years 2015—2017 the labs hired 5,303 personnel out of 11,562 total hires, or 46 percent using these direct hire authorities. Lab officials, however, identified challenges to hiring highly qualified candidates, such as delays in processing security clearances, despite the use of hiring authorities such as direct hire.
The Defense Laboratories' Most Used Hiring Authorities, Fiscal Years 2015—2017
|
Hiring authority category |
Number of actions |
Percentage |
|
Defense lab direct hire authorities, all |
5,303 |
45.9 |
|
Internal hiring actions |
1,379 |
11.9 |
|
Expedited hiring authority |
1,370 |
11.9 |
|
Government-wide direct hire authorities |
789 |
6.8 |
|
Othera |
668 |
5.8 |
|
All otherb |
2,053 |
17.8 |
|
Total |
11,562 |
100c |
Source: GAO analysis of Department of Defense data. | GAO-18-417.
a Other includes all other defense laboratory-specific direct hiring authorities used.
b All other includes remaining five categories of hiring authorities.
c Percentages may not sum to total due to rounding.
DOD and the defense labs track hiring data, but the Defense Laboratories Office (DLO) has not obtained or monitored these data or evaluated the effectiveness of the labs' hiring, including the use of hiring authorities. While existing lab data can be used to show the length of time of the hiring process, effectiveness is not currently evaluated. According to lab officials, timeliness data do not sufficiently inform about the effectiveness of the authorities and may not reflect a candidate's perception of the length of the hiring process. Further, the DLO has not developed performance measures to evaluate the effectiveness of hiring across the defense laboratories. Without routinely obtaining and monitoring hiring data and developing performance measures, DOD lacks reasonable assurance that the labs' hiring and use of hiring authorities—in particular, those granted by Congress to the labs—result in improved hiring outcomes.
DOD does not have clear time frames for approving and implementing new hiring authorities. The defense labs were unable to use a direct hire authority granted by Congress in fiscal year 2015 because it took DOD 2½ years to publish a federal register notice—the process used to implement new hiring authorities for the labs—for that authority. DOD officials identified coordination issues associated with the process as the cause of the delay and stated that DOD is taking steps to improve coordination—including meeting to formalize roles and responsibilities for the offices and developing a new approval process—between offices responsible for oversight of the labs and personnel policy. However, DLO's new federal register approval process does not include time frames for specific stages of coordination. Without clear time frames for its departmental coordination efforts related to the approval and implementation of new hiring authorities, officials cannot be certain they are taking action in a timely manner.
Why GAO Did This Study
DOD's defense labs help sustain, among other things, U.S. technological superiority and the delivery of technical capabilities to the warfighter. Over time Congress has granted unique flexibilities—such as the ability to hire qualified candidates who meet certain criteria using direct hire authorities—to the defense labs to expedite the hiring process and facilitate efforts to compete with the private sector.
Senate Report 114-255 included a provision for GAO to examine the labs' hiring structures and effective use of hiring authorities. This report examines (1) the defense labs use of existing hiring authorities and officials' views on the benefits of authorities and challenges of hiring; (2) the extent to which DOD evaluates the effectiveness of hiring, including hiring authorities at the defense labs; and (3) the extent to which DOD has time frames for approving and implementing new hiring authorities. GAO analyzed DOD hiring policies and data; conducted a survey of 16 defense lab officials involved in policy-making; interviewed DOD and service officials; and conducted nongeneralizable interviews with groups of officials, supervisors, and new hires from 6 labs—2 from each of the 3 military services, selected based on the labs' mission.
Recommendations
GAO recommends that DOD (1) routinely obtain and monitor defense lab hiring data to improve oversight; (2) develop performance measures for evaluating the effectiveness of hiring; and (3) establish time frames to guide hiring authority approval and implementation. DOD concurred with the recommendations.
Recommendations for Executive Action
| Agency Affected | Recommendation | Status |
|---|---|---|
| Department of Defense | The Secretary of Defense should ensure that the Defense Laboratories Office routinely obtain and monitor defense laboratory hiring data to improve the oversight of the defense laboratories' use of hiring authorities. (Recommendation 1) |
DOD concurred with our recommendation and responded to our report with steps the department was and would be taking to improve oversight and coordination of the defense laboratories' hiring efforts. In February 2019, DOD provided initial documentation of the data collection instruments it developed to routinely obtain defense laboratory hiring data in the second quarter of each year through the Laboratory Quality Enhancement Program Personnel Subpanel (LQEP-P). Specifically, these data collection instruments request data on the use of the direct hire authorities and Senior Scientific Technical Manager positions, as well as information on why the laboratories are not using their full direct hire authority allocations, to the extent they are not. Additionally, the department stated that the Subpanel members discussed the laboratories' needs and any barriers to implementing the authorities granted, in an effort to identify ways to overcome specific barriers. Subsequently, in October 2021, DOD provided updated information indicating that data collection for fiscal years 2014 through 2019 was delayed until mid-2020 to (1) ensure that all Science and Technology Reinvention Laboratory (STRL) Personnel Program cycles for fiscal year 2019 were complete, noting that some laboratories operate their personnel program years on the fiscal year, while others operate on calendar years; and (2) the start of COVID in early 2020 caused additional delays with the data collection until mid-2020. DOD provided a copy of the draft evaluation report, which included hiring process metrics collected for the stated period of time. The department also indicated that fiscal year 2020 data collection efforts were completed in September 2021 and undergoing analysis, with plans established to conduct annual personnel data collection efforts moving forward. As a result of implementing our recommendation, DOD has established a mechanism for routinely collecting and monitoring consistent data on the defense laboratories' use of direct hiring authorities and will be better positioned to understand the laboratories' use of those authorities going forward.
|
| Department of Defense | The Secretary of Defense should ensure that the Defense Laboratories Office develop performance measures to evaluate the effectiveness of the defense laboratories' use of hiring authorities as part of the labs' overall hiring to better inform future decision making about hiring efforts and policies. (Recommendation 2) |
DOD concurred with our recommendation and cited steps the department was and would be taking to improve oversight and coordination of the defense laboratories' hiring efforts. In June 2018, DOD acknowledged receipt of our final report and stated that the department's overall position on the report had not changed. In February 2019, DOD stated that the Defense Laboratories and Personnel Office, in collaboration with the Laboratory Quality Enhancement Program Personnel Subpanel (LQEP-P), established a working group tasked with developing performance measures to evaluate the effectiveness of various defense laboratories authorities, including an evaluation of the hiring authorities. At that time, DOD provided a draft of its proposed performance measures for evaluating the effectiveness of its use of hiring authorities. According to DOD, the development of these performance measures would standardize time-to-hire metrics across the components and enhance benchmarking and the comparative analysis process. In October 2021, DOD provided information on its STRL Evaluation plan, including a Powerpoint briefing of the plan and a draft of its Evaluation Report, which included information and data on hiring performance measures-for example, a comparison of hiring timeframes based on the use of direct hire authority versus traditional hiring. According to DOD, the Defense Laboratories and Personnel Office will collect this information to determine if allocations are being utilized and, if not, to identify challenges preventing and identifying solutions. As a result of implementing our recommendation, DOD has established a mechanism for collecting and evaluating data related to the effectiveness of the defense laboratories' use of hiring authorities as part of the labs' overall hiring, which will be used to better inform future decision making about the defense laboratories' hiring efforts and policies.
|
| Department of Defense | The Secretary of Defense should ensure that the Defense Laboratories Office, in collaboration with the Under Secretary of Defense for Personnel and Readiness and the Laboratory Quality Enhancement Panel's Personnel Subpanel, establish and document time frames for its coordination process to direct efforts across the relevant offices and help ensure the timely approval and implementation of hiring authorities. (Recommendation 3) |
DOD concurred with our recommendation and cited steps the department was and would be taking to improve oversight and coordination of the defense laboratories' hiring efforts. In June 2018, DOD acknowledged receipt of our final report and stated that the department's overall position on the report had not changed. In June 2020, DOD stated that a DOD Instruction had been developed and was in the coordination process. According to DOD, the instruction establishes policies, assigns responsibilities, prescribes procedures to manage and execute the Science and Technology Reinvention Laboratory (STRL) personnel demonstration project authorities, and proposes draft timelines for the coordination process. DOD stated it expected to finalize the instruction by September 2020, but noted that the DOD Instruction coordination process involves concurrence by all stakeholders and could take up to five years. In October 2021, DOD provided a final draft of its STRL Instruction, which includes a section entitled "Procedures for Publishing an Individual FRN." As we reported in 2018, the department has typically published a federal register notice whenever the defense laboratories are granted a new hiring authority in legislation. On December 29, 2021, DOD published DOD Instruction 3201.05: Management of Science and Technology Reinvention Laboratory Personnel Demonstration Projects, which includes the aforementioned section on publishing an individual FRN and time frames for specific steps in the FRN coordination process. As a result of implementing our recommendation, DOD has established and documented time frames for its coordination process to better direct efforts across the relevant offices and help ensure the timely approval and implementation of hiring authorities going forward.
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