Although the President’s Management Agenda is best known for its five governmentwide programs, the plan features several smaller initiatives. They include:
Faith-Based and Community Initiative.
Privatization of military housing.
Better research and development criteria.
Reform of food aid programs.
Coordination of Veterans Affairs and Defense department programs and systems.
Source: President’s Management Agenda
When the Bush administration first created the President’s Management Agenda in 2001, it had five key governmentwide goals. Although the agenda has grown over the years, with new objectives added and existing ones expanded, experts agree that the original five will continue to be priorities in the next president’s administration.
For the most part, the importance of the goals does not depend on which candidate wins in November. Either Sen. John McCain (R-Ariz.) or Sen. Barack Obama (D-Ill.) will face the same challenges, and the policies set out in Bush’s agenda will still pertain. However, either of them might reshape and rethink the approach to solving the challenges.
The agenda is a policy document that highlights the areas where agencies needed better management. Although great strides have been in made in attacking some of the problems, with lesser progress showing in other areas, none of the problems have been fully solved, observers said.
Six years have passed since the original management agenda took effect in fiscal 2002. Now the Bush administration is preparing to leave the future in other hands.
1. Strategic human capital management The federal government faces a set of well-known problems with personnel. Young job seekers are often attracted more to the private sector than to the government as they seek higher pay and greater prestige. Meanwhile, many of the government’s most experienced hands are nearing retirement age.
“Probably the biggest thing was the creation of the chief human capital officer position, but they’re still struggling with strategic human capital planning,” said Deniece Peterson, a senior analyst at market research firm Input.
The CHCO position was created by legislation in 2002. It required 24 agencies to create that position to serve as the top policy adviser in each agency on anything related to human resources management. The CHCOs are responsible for hiring, training and managing their agencies’ workforces.
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