Setting New Goals to Deliver a More Effective and Efficient Government

Since the President took office, the Administration has worked hard to improve the effectiveness and efficiency of the Federal Government. A key component of this effort has been setting clear, measurable goals to drive better outcomes for the American people. These include agency-specific goals and government-wide goals in areas benefiting from cross-agency collaboration.  

To continue our progress in this area, today, the Administration is announcing new two-year Agency Priority Goals (APG) and new longer-term Cross-Agency Priority (CAP) Goals, as well as releasing agency Strategic Plans outlining strategies for improving performance over the coming years. The new goals were selected based on their importance in accelerating economic growth, expanding opportunity, and ensuring the nation’s long-term fiscal strength.

 For example:

• A new CAP goal is being established to spur job growth by encouraging more foreign direct investment (FDI) in the U.S. Over the last ten years, U.S. affiliates of foreign companies employed more than five million workers, mainly in high-paying manufacturing jobs, which, on average, pay up to 30 percent more than non-FDI jobs. The National Economic Council, together with the Department of Commerce and the Department of State, will lead this effort.  They will be responsible for improving coordination across the Government and enhancing Federal investment tools and resources.   
• A new CAP goal led by the General Services Administration and the Office of Management and Budget (OMB) is focused on increasing Government efficiency by establishing cost and quality benchmarks in areas such as human resources, acquisition, IT and property management.  These new benchmarks will give agencies better data so they can make more informed choices about allocating resources and improving processes.
• The Department of Veteran Affairs, in partnership with the Department of Housing and Urban Development, is setting a joint APG of eliminating Veterans’ homelessness in 2015, ensuring that our veterans receive the care and quality of life they deserve. 

This spring, goal teams will release detailed implementation plans with specific metrics and milestones for Cross-Agency Priority Goals. Cross-Agency Priority Goals efforts will be co-led by leadership from the Executive Office of the President and Federal agencies, allowing for more broad-based ownership of cross-agency initiatives. This year also marks the first time that all agencies have revised their Strategic Plans at the same time, allowing for better interagency coordination.

As we have done with prior goals, we will track progress on a quarterly basis on Performance.gov, allowing the public to see how we are doing, and judge what is working well and what is not. Last month, OMB released a report on recently completed APGs and ongoing CAP Goals that showed significant progress across the Government.  We look forward to building on that progress as we work to achieve the new goals announced today.

Beth Cobert is Deputy Director for Management at the Office of Management and Budget