The Office of Management and Budget is the one federal agency that can play a pivotal role in ensuring the effective implementation of programs and policies across the entire government. Besides its budget responsibilities, OMB can and should be doing more as a government-wide catalyst for evidence-based decision-making, innovation, management reform and interagency and intergovernmental coordination.
In this report, “From Decisions to Results: Building a More Effective Government Through a Transformed Office of Management and Budget” the Partnership for Public Service suggests six target areas for the next president to focus on in order to transform the Office of Management and Budget into a primary coordination hub for translating decisions made at the White House and Congress into results for citizens.
Shared services allows the government to redirect resources to critical mission activities and strategic priorities and provide shared platforms in areas such as cybersecurity, benefits, law enforcement, financial services and defense.
Using a shared services provider to carry out these functions enables the government to standardize, reduce and cut administrative costs. It can also enhance service quality by improving processes and incorporating secure, innovative technologies across government agencies at the same time.
Shared services can also enable government to achieve enterprise goals by improving its ability to work across agency boundaries and achieve economies of scale.
Learn how the next administration has an opportunity to use shared services to improve how government is managed and enhance the administration’s ability to carry out policy priorities.
Learn more about the Partnership’s shared services work
Report from the Congressional Research Service (CRS) on midnight rulemaking background and options for Congress.
Report by the Government Accountability Office (GAO) that provides information on conversions of political appointees to career positions, and reviews the implementation and effectiveness of the Office of Personnel Management’s (OPM) policy for reviewing conversions, which went into effect in 2010.
On the campaign trail, the presidential candidates promise swift action on policy promises. Come January, the next occupant of the Oval Office will need to transform these campaign promises into policies and programs that produce positive outcomes for the American people. During the past year, the Partnership for Public Service and the IBM Center for The Business of Government held roundtable dialogues with a wide range of experts to inform the next president and the new administration’s team about critical management issues. Through these discussions and accompanying reports we have developed a management roadmap for the next administration.
Read the whitepapers
Managing the Government’s Executive Talent
Building an Enterprise Government
Enhancing the Government’s Decision-Making
Encouraging and Sustaining Innovation in Government
Learn more about the Ready to Govern® initiative.
The inspectors general serve as the canary in the coal mine, warning federal leaders of agency risks and vulnerabilities. They also have a unique, long-term perspective on their organizations since they typically remain in place through changes in leadership. In this report, “Walking the Line: Inspectors General Balancing Independence and Impact,” the Partnership for Public Service and Grant Thornton Public Sector set out to identify ways incoming agency leaders and Congress can form constructive relationships with the IG community.
According to a 2015 survey by Pew Research, only 20 percent of the public believes the federal government runs its programs well, with 59 percent reporting that the government is in need of “very major reform.” With rates of trust in government at an all-time low, technology and innovation will be essential to achieve the next administration’s goals and deliver services more effectively and efficiently to the American people.
In this report, “Encouraging and Sustaining Innovation in Government: A Technology and Innovation Agenda for the Next Administration,” authors Beth Simone Noveck and Stefaan Verhulst provide a set of recommendations for how incoming leaders can use innovation as a catalyst in achieving the administration’s priorities.
This is the fourth whitepaper in our Management Roadmap series, published jointly by the Partnership for Public Service and the IBM Center for The Business of Government. The reports share lessons learned from roundtable dialogues with key stakeholders, identifies promising initiatives and offers ideas on successful implementation. The project will culminate with a Management Roadmap capstone report later this year incorporating lessons from all four whitepapers.
A presidential transition is a time of change for the country—but nowhere is that change more acutely felt than in the federal government itself. A new wave of politicians and political appointees will come in to reset agendas and missions, causing career civil servants to feel anxiety over the unknown elements that will change the nature of their jobs. This added employee stress has the potential to severely diminish employee engagement, mitigating governmental effectiveness before the transition and after the next administration takes over.
To reduce anxiety and prevent false information from spreading, managers must find ways to creatively and proactively communicate with employees. Read the Partnership for Public Service and Deloitte’s latest Best Places to Work in the Federal Government® analysis to learn more about the essentials of communicating with federal employees during a presidential transition.
The National Academy of Public Administration (NAPA) convened four panels to tackle the management issues determined to be most critical to the success of the new Administration. This report catalogues their findings and recommendations regarding: Collaboration Across Boundaries, Strategic Foresight, Evidence-Based Approaches and Recruitment and Retention.
In the “Making Government Work” section of the Policy Playbook for America’s Next President, the Partnership and No Labels present a vision for a more efficient, effective and responsive government. The ideas include: improve the presidential transition process; reform how government hires and manages its people; and transform government from a culture of compliance to one of customer service.
