Building the Enterprise - Booz Allen Hamilton

“It’s very difficult to deal withthe problems if you don’t knowwhich programs are workingwell and which ones are not.”nior ranks. In effect, the intelligenceagencies require a sixth enterpriseleadership Executive Core Qualification,in addition to the five nowmandated by OPM for promotioninto the SES.We believe OPM should makeinteragency or intergovernmentalexperience and enterprise leadershipcompetencies mandatory inorder to be selected for the SES.Doing so will take more than just apolicy declaration. This will requirean enabling infrastructure to brokerinteragency assignments. It alsowill require an enterprise executiveperformance appraisal system toensure consistent treatment of candidatesas they move from agency toagency, a policy OPM has just institutedfor all of government. In addition,SES candidate developmentprograms need to be far more robustand far more enterprise-focusedthan today.Perhaps the most importantenabling mechanism would be theestablishment of an Enterprise ExecutiveResources Board (EERB) todevelop and manage government’smost senior leadership talent. Todayevery agency has its own ExecutiveResources Board (ERB) chaired by asenior appointee such as the deputysecretary or equivalent, comprisingthe agency’s top political and careerexecutives and responsible for developingand selecting SES membersand assigning them to key agencyleadership positions. Given theagency-centric focus of ERBs, it’s nowonder there is no interagency executivemobility. The only enterpriseelement of the current senior executivedevelopment and selection processis an OPM qualifications reviewof all new SES members to ensurethey meet the five mandatory corequalifications.The executive resources boardmodel can be applied at the enterpriselevel. The White House shouldestablish an EERB chaired by OMB’sdeputy director for management,comprising PMC members, OPM’sdirector and some of government’smost respected former career executives.Their job would be to identify,evaluate and assign a select numberof career SES members for enterpriseposts, such as deputies to Cabinet-or sub-Cabinet-level enterprisegoal leaders, or goal leaders in theirown right. Not every SES memberwould qualify—the elite pool managedby the EERB would be limitedto those with interagency experienceand demonstrated enterpriseleadership skills. Those in the poolwould compete for prestigious enterpriseleadership positions.Enterprise executives drawnfrom career SES ranks, as well asthose selected from outside government,would serve five-year-termpresidential appointments, be compensatedat critical pay levels andhave performance contracts withthe PMC. At the conclusion of theirterms, enterprise executives withcareer SES status could remain intheir current enterprise executivepositions, be assigned to other suchpositions or return to career SES positionsin their home agencies. Allof these actions would be overseenby the EERB, but administered byOPM executive resources staff. TheEERB also would monitor the benchof enterprise-qualified senior executivesand even aspiring SES candidates(GS-14s and -15s) to ensurethat there is an adequate pipeline oftalent to fill enterprise positions asthey turn over. •STRATEGY 5ESTABLISH AN INDEPENDENTOFFICE OF EVALUATION TO ASSESSENTERPRISE PERFORMANCEGoal leaders and enterprise executivesmust be able to rigorously evaluatetheir portfolios of programs,determining which ones are workingand which are not. However, twodecades after the advent of GPRA,the federal government is strugglingto measure program performance.Government programs and governmentofficials tend to focus on thebudget or the numbers of peopleserved, but they are much less likelyto try to link those measures to realworldoutcomes.BUILDING THE ENTERPRISE 15