National Weather Service: Additional Actions Needed to Improve the Agency's Reform Efforts
Fast Facts
In 2017, the National Weather Service started an effort to reform the agency and better prepare the U.S. for extreme weather events. The agency has established 20 reform initiatives, such as automating weather balloon launches, to free up staff for other responsibilities and improve service to emergency managers and others.
The agency has largely followed leading reform practices, but it still has more to do. For example, the agency has designated leadership positions to oversee the reforms, but it has not established a dedicated implementation team that has the capacity to manage the reform process. Our recommendations address these practices.
A Weather Balloon Auto-Launcher in Fairbanks, Alaska
Highlights
What GAO Found
The Department of Commerce's National Weather Service (NWS) initiated the Evolve Program in 2017 to carry out a series of agency reforms to help it achieve its strategic vision of strengthening the nation's readiness and responsiveness to extreme weather events. The program has 20 reform initiatives that are in varying stages of completeness and are intended to free up staff time and improve service to the agency's partners, among other things.
NWS has substantially followed five of eight leading reform practices.
Extent to Which NWS Has Followed Selected Leading Practices for Effective Agency Reforms
|
Practice |
Extent followed |
|
Establishing goals and outcomes |
◒ |
|
Involving employees and key stakeholders |
◒ |
|
Using data and evidence |
● |
|
Addressing fragmentation, overlap, and duplication |
● |
|
Leadership focus and attention |
◒ |
|
Managing and monitoring |
● |
|
Strategic workforce planning |
● |
|
Employee performance management |
● |
Legend:
● Substantially followed —NWS took actions that addressed most or all aspects of the selected key questions GAO examined for the practice.
◒ Partially followed —NWS took actions that addressed some, but not most, aspects of the selected key questions GAO examined for the practice.
Source: GAO analysis of National Weather Service (NWS) documents and interviews with NWS officials. | GAO-21-103792
However, the agency has only partially followed the other three practices, resulting in gaps.
Establishing goals and outcomes. NWS has established goals for the Evolve Program but has not established performance measures for key elements of the program's reform efforts.
Involving employees and key stakeholders. NWS has engaged its employees in a number of ways in developing the Evolve reforms, including by sending quarterly email updates to all employees. However, the agency has not developed a two-way communications strategy for the program that listens and responds to employee concerns about the proposed reforms.
Leadership focus and attention. NWS has designated three leadership positions as having primary responsibility for leading the implementation of the reforms. However, the agency has not established a dedicated implementation team that has the capacity to manage the reform process. Instead, the agency has primarily relied on rotating leaders and part-time staff for the Evolve Program, an approach that has not provided adequate leadership and staff continuity for the program.
By addressing gaps in these areas, NWS would have better assurance that its Evolve reform efforts will succeed.
Why GAO Did This Study
Extreme weather events, such as tornadoes and hurricanes, have caused major damage and loss of life in the United States. NWS is responsible for developing weather forecasts and issuing warnings to help protect life and property from such events. NWS has determined that it needs to reform its operations and workforce to effectively carry out this responsibility and to improve its provision of services to emergency managers and other partners.
GAO was asked to review NWS's reform efforts under the Evolve Program. This report examines, among other things, the actions NWS has taken under the Evolve Program and the extent to which it has followed selected leading practices for effective agency reforms. GAO reviewed relevant NWS documents, interviewed officials, and assessed the Evolve reform efforts against selected leading practices.
Recommendations
GAO is making three recommendations to NWS: (1) incorporate key attributes of successful performance measures as it develops measures for the Evolve Program, (2) develop a two-way communications strategy for the program that outlines how the agency will listen and respond to employee concerns, and (3) revise its approach to staffing the program to improve leadership and staff continuity. The Department of Commerce agreed with GAO's recommendations.
Recommendations for Executive Action
| Agency Affected | Recommendation | Status |
|---|---|---|
| National Weather Service | The Director of NWS should ensure that as NWS continues its efforts to develop performance measures for the Evolve Program's reform efforts, it incorporates GAO's key attributes of successful performance measures to the extent appropriate for the program. (Recommendation 1) |
Since GAO's report was issued in 2021, the National Weather Service (NWS) has replaced the agency's reform efforts under the Evolve Program with a set of change initiatives under a new Change Management Unit. In January 2024, NWS developed four overarching performance measures that will be used for all of the change initiatives. These measures incorporate GAO's key attributes of successful performance measures and are focused on measuring performance in the following areas: (1) accountability for adopting change management practices; (2) communication effectiveness with the NWS workforce; (3) adherence to timelines; and (4) employee engagement. According to NWS officials, the agency plans to track and report on the progress being made on these measures to NWS senior leadership on a monthly basis.
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| National Weather Service | The Director of NWS should ensure that the final communications strategy developed by the Evolve Program is a two-way communications strategy that outlines how NWS will listen and respond to employee concerns about the agency's reform efforts, including NBM. (Recommendation 2) |
Since GAO's report was issued in 2021, the National Weather Service (NWS) has replaced the agency's reform efforts under the Evolve Program with a set of change initiatives under a new Change Management Unit. According to NWS officials, the new change initiatives cover a range of technological, operational, and human resource efforts, and will also help to inform the agency's development of new versions of the National Blend of Models (NBM). NWS highlighted the importance of focusing on two-way communication throughout the agency as one of the key tenets in the charter for the Change Management Unit, and the agency has taken several steps to communicate with and obtain feedback from employees on the change initiatives. For example, NWS assigned a representative from the NWS Employees Organization to each of the change initiative teams to help ensure that employee perspectives are represented and included in decision making. NWS also launched a virtual suggestion box in January 2023 to help facilitate two-way communication on the change initiatives. According to NWS officials, employees can submit their ideas or ask questions about the change initiatives through this website, and the submissions are then reviewed by the Change Management Unit and assigned to senior leaders to follow up with responses. In addition, NWS is developing specific communications plans for each of the change initiatives that will, among other things, outline the agency's strategies for communicating and engaging with employees and external stakeholders on each initiative.
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| National Weather Service | The Director of NWS should revise NWS's approach to staffing the Evolve PMO to improve leadership continuity, staff continuity, and the sufficiency of staff resources to effectively implement the Evolve Program's reform efforts. (Recommendation 3) |
Since GAO's report was issued in 2021, the National Weather Service (NWS) has replaced the Evolve PMO with a new Change Management Unit to oversee the agency's reform efforts (now referred to as change initiatives). In doing so, NWS has taken several steps to improve leadership continuity, staff continuity, and the sufficiency of staff resources for implementing the change initiatives. For example, whereas the previous Evolve PMO had rotating leadership, NWS has established a permanent director of the Change Management Unit and embedded the new unit within the agency's organizational structure as part of the Office of Organizational Excellence. In addition, to help ensure staff continuity and the sufficiency of staff resources, NWS has designated senior executives to lead each change initiative and has given these initiative leads the authority to determine the composition of staff members that are needed to serve on each initiative team. NWS officials stated that the intention is for team members to remain on their initiative teams until the initiatives have been completed, and that each change initiative lead is empowered to bring as many members on their team as they feel is needed and to add new team members when necessary if they determine that additional expertise or insight is required.
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