Roadmap for Renewing Our Federal Government Roadmap Home Leadership and Stewardship Workforce Innovation and Tech Collaboration Collaboration THE CHALLENGE Solving major challenges—such as the worst pandemic in 100 years and its severe economic fallout—requires an unparalleled level of cooperation and collaboration among agencies, different levels of government, political parties and the private and nonprofit sectors. Yet, the federal government frequently operates in organizational silos that make it hard to work across jurisdictional boundaries to leverage resources and coordinate efforts to serve the public more effectively. To respond to current and future challenges, there must be increased coordination across government and sectors. Political polarization has stymied progress on major policy issues and contributed to 21 full or partial government shutdowns since 1976, including the longest-ever shutdown—34 days—that ended in January of 2019 and resulted in disrupted services to the public and to state and local governments. In a recent GAO report, ten of 24 surveyed federal agencies reported that they do not have a designated employee responsible for ensuring compliance with a presidential executive order that requires agencies to consult with state and local governments when making rules that will directly affect them. Congress has appropriated roughly $4.5 trillion of economic relief and stimulus across sectors in response to the pandemic, dwarfing the 2009 American Recovery and Reinvestment Act’s original cost of $787 billion, requiring cross-sector collaboration at a scale never seen before. 103 federal agencies—from the National Institutes of Health to the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau—have been activated to respond to the pandemic. RECOMMENDATIONS FOR CONGRESS Expand All Recommendations Fund innovative collaboration models around specific national or global challenges. Federal agencies responded to the COVID-19 pandemic in new and innovative ways while navigating complex challenges and collaborating across government. To better deal with current challenges and be prepared for future crises, Congress should build on cross-agency success stories, replicate best practices, take stock of lessons learned, provide sufficient staff, infrastructure and resources for existing and new coordinating capabilities, and create more joint funding opportunities for interagency collaboration. Educate members of Congress and congressional staff on how the executive branch works and about agency efforts to implement the laws. Formalized educational opportunities for lawmakers and staff can enrich their understanding of how policies work in practice, the importance of cross-agency collaboration, and how congressional oversight can help make programs more effective. Opportunities for members and staff could include agency and field visits, fellowships, shadowing programs, presentations and conferences. RECOMMENDATIONS FOR THE BIDEN ADMINISTRATION Provide guidance to agencies on best practices for public-private partnerships, including potential types of partners, methods of engagement, ethical considerations and relevant legal authorities. Public-private partnerships are a valuable tool for tackling big problems, but real or perceived barriers can discourage agencies from using them. Administration guidance that taps into the wealth of expertise in each agency and leverages existing resources could be valuable in spurring cross-sector innovation. Enhance Performance.gov as a tool for sharing information, learning and outcomes. The federal government’s website for monitoring goals and results is a valuable resource but could better inform future collaboration efforts and support the work of different policy and management councils. For example, information supporting council decision-making, outlining interagency council activities and summarizing lessons learned and outcomes will increase transparency and showcase the impact. Include more voices—from across government, regional offices, other sectors and the public—in agency decision-making efforts. Gathering a wider variety of perspectives, including those of regional employees and program implementors, will result in more informed and better policy decisions. Interagency and policy management councils can enhance their decision-making by engaging stakeholders from regional offices across the country as they discuss issues that impact the workforce. RECOMMENDATIONS FOR FEDERAL AGENCIES Create interagency initiatives to tackle common management challenges. Interagency collaboration is essential for an effective federal response to a host of challenges, so it is vital that agencies bring the right people to the table. Implementation teams should have designated leaders, roles and responsibilities, and work together to ensure that outcomes align with the vision of policy and management councils. Career senior executive-level officials should be deployed to help implement cross-agency initiatives to sustain momentum across leadership transitions. Include evaluation experts in projects, initiatives and policy design efforts. As policymakers introduce more data and evidence into decision-making, bringing in employees with evaluation expertise on the front end will help ensure that initiatives and policies are results-driven, meaningful and relevant. This collaborative effort can ensure that lessons learned are captured and shared to inform future work. Enhance coordination between agencies and constituent service representatives. Effective collaboration between constituent service representatives in congressional offices and federal agencies will lead to more timely, accurate and honest communication and have a big impact on how the public experiences government. Agencies should offer orientation services to congressional district or state office staff to foster strong working relationships and ensure that the public is well-served. Boost regional coordination by providing dedicated funding for Federal Executive Boards. Approximately 85% of all federal employees work outside of the Washington, D.C., area. Federal Executive Boards support these employees and played a critical role in helping agencies respond to the pandemic. Funding FEBs through the Office of Personnel Management or the Office of Management and Budget would consolidate oversight, management, priority-setting and implementation of management issues affecting federal regional offices across the country. Download all our recommendations RESOURCES Biden administration’s success depends on how they handle the federal government’s leadership crisis In his first days in office, President Biden has taken significant steps to demonstrate how he will lead the government’s 2.1 million civil servants. We commend the new administration for taking early action to rebuild the federal workforce and offer recommendations for the team to focus on next. Read More A Pivotal Moment for the Senior Executive Service: Measures, aspirational practices and stories of success Inspired by President Obama’s December 2015 Executive Order – Strengthening the Senior Executive Service, the Partnership for Public Service and McKinsey & Company set out to identify practices to bolster the SES and provide baseline metrics on these practices. Download Building the Leadership Bench: Developing a Talent Pipeline for the SES In the next five years, nearly two-thirds of the Senior Executive Service (SES)—the elite cadre of civil servants who hold the top managerial and policy positions in government—will be retirement eligible. Given the complex challenges confronting our government, the need for strong leaders to fill these executive positions is critical. Are federal agencies prepared for the potential turnover? Are agency leaders identifying and developing aspiring executives? Download Mission-Driven Mobility: Strengthening Our Government Through a Mobile Leadership Corps The Partnership for Public Service, in collaboration with McKinsey & Company examined all forms of mobility—intraagency to multisector—and identified the extent to which they are currently used and the barriers to their use. This report also sets forth a series of solutions for increasing SES mobility and building a leadership corps better equipped to drive results in government. Download SES Joint Policy Proposal The Partnership for Public Service, the Volcker Alliance and Senior Executives Association have worked to identify solutions to strengthen the federal civil service, including at the leadership levels. By joining together, our organizations hope to build momentum to improve the government’s senior level talent management system and propel the civil service modernization conversation forward. We will pursue this agenda in Congress and with the Office of Personnel Management, the Office of Management and Budget and federal agencies. Read More A Nonpartisan Model for Developing Public-Service Leaders As Covid-19 spreads around the globe and throughout the United States, effective government leadership matters more than ever. Enter Dr. Anthony Fauci. Having led the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases through six presidential administrations, Fauci embodies what it means to serve the American public. Whether at a congressional hearing, at a White House press conference, or on TV shows like Face the Nation, both the people and the president look to the 79-year-old public servant for direction in this uncertain time, on everything from why social distancing matters to what actions we can take to lessen the burden on hospitals and the healthcare system. Read More Tracking how many key positions Biden has filled so far The Post and Partnership for Public Service, a nonprofit, nonpartisan organization, are tracking roughly 700 key executive branch nominations through the confirmation process. These positions include Cabinet secretaries, deputy and assistant secretaries, chief financial officers, general counsel, heads of agencies, ambassadors and other critical leadership positions. These are a portion of the roughly 1,200 positions that require Senate confirmation. Read More Ready to Serve Serving America through a presidential appointment is a great honor and responsibility. Read More Center for Presidential Transition The Partnership for Public Service’s Center for Presidential Transition® serves as the premier nonpartisan source of information and resources to help presidential candidates and their teams lay the groundwork for a new administration or for a president’s second term. Read More Public Service Leadership Model To help government leaders take advantage of the opportunity they have been given to improve our country, we developed the Public Service Leadership Model. This model is the new standard for effective federal leadership. It identifies the core values leaders must prioritize, and the critical competencies they must master to achieve their agencies’ missions and desired impact. By using the model, leaders can evaluate their performance, assess their leadership progress and chart a course for self-improvement. Read More
