Featured March 31, 2026 Show me the data: Performance management needs evidence-based, holistic reform Back to Blog Beyond one-off fixes: The root causes holding government back Date April 6, 2026 Authors John Zachary Tags Government Effectiveness Through our Government for a New Era initiative, we are stepping back to ask: How should our government’s personnel and management systems function to make federal agencies more effective, responsive and accountable? Rather than one-off fixes, we are examining the root causes of personnel and management challenges—guided by the question, “If we designed these systems from scratch today, how would we do so?” To structure our thinking, our policy team developed a driver diagram—a tool used in quality improvement to map a project’s main goal and the major factors involved—to visualize how a government focused on delivering for the American people should work and what’s getting in the way. We focused on three primary drivers: hiring, leadership and performance management. Across all three, we identified four root causes of alignment or misalignment. We call them the 4 P’s: Planning, Process, Purpose and Permeability. Planning No policy succeeds without disciplined, iterative planning. When agencies launch initiatives without workforce forecasting, aligned hiring timelines and adequate funding, vacancies persist and implementation falters. Leaders must embed forward-looking workforce planning into strategic and budget cycles so that capacity exists before it’s needed. Notably, planning does not have to be overly rigid or time-consuming—if planning is static or takes too long, it’s no longer relevant. Throughout our root cause and driver exercise, we noted not only the importance of planning for positions and hiring but also planning for growth and development among public servants, even if that means they step in and out of government service. Process Well-intentioned initiatives and one-off fixes have layered processes on top of one another and produced a system rife with bloated proceduralism –one so confusing that not even experts or long-time HR officials can confidently explain it. This creates delay and dampens motivation instead of sparking efficiency and innovation. We need to not just improve but intentionally replace outdated processes with simpler, clearer ones that enable public servants to act with efficiency. Purpose Civil servants thrive when they understand how their work connects directly to their agency’s mission and when agency leadership rewards excellent performance. Government systems should be designed in a way that facilitates, not complicates, the desired outcomes of government. And if we want our government to be effective, innovative, transparent and accountable, internal incentives, including pay, benefits and performance management must be structured accordingly. Permeability The current ineffective federal hiring systems and other features of civil service compensation and development discourage people from coming in and out of government service. To deliver effective government systems and outcomes, the government must be able to attract talent from across sectors, assess skills accurately and develop employees. There have been many one-off initiatives to bring in specific types of talent, but they have not addressed the underlying issues, and together, they have only created more complexity. We need to fix the baseline hiring and personnel systems to enable permeability and dynamism. These 4 P’s emerge repeatedly in our analysis and they are mutually reinforcing. To build a more effective, responsive and accountable government, the 4 P’s should ground reimagination and reform efforts. Pushing ourselves to look at root causes, not just the symptoms and solutions those in the good government space are used to hearing about, will help ensure reform proposals go beyond the status quo and get at the true opportunities to unlock improved outcomes and efficiency for the American people. Learn more about the Government for a New Era initiative, our effort to develop reforms for a more effective, responsive and accountable government. John Zachary designs and delivers leadership development sessions and programs at the Partnership's Public Service Leadership Institute®.
