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Office of Research & Development

ORD Goal 1 Meeting

July 18, 2006

Office of Research & Development

ISS Staff Update

February 27, 2007

Page 2February 27, 2007

Agenda Where We Have Been

ISS Timeline ISS Mission and Objectives

How We Performed ISS Personnel Benefits ISS Customer Benefits ISS Service Level Agreements ISS Performance Monitoring and Continuous Improvements

What We Have Learned Observations and Lessons Learned

Where We Are Going ISS Updates Team Meeting Agenda

Page 3February 27, 2007

Where We Have Been

Page 4February 27, 2007

ISS Timeline

April 2005 to December 2005 Jan 2006 to June 2006 July 2006

Planning Implementation

April 2005- DAA/Management charged IOAA/ORMA/OSP with

the task of consolidating administrative services for the three offices into one unit to be operational by October 2005

•Assigned 16 FTE to consolidated unit (originally 27.41 FTE, spread across 47 individuals, performed some level of administrative functions)

• Identified administrative functions to consolidate into the new unit

•Mapped work processes and developed standard operating procedures (SOPs) for every function

•Designed and named organization structure- Integrated Service Staff (ISS)

•Assigned work responsibilities to ISS staff•Conducted customer survey - major finding was lack of information on who was performing the task, status, feedback, and follow through

Developed and launched ISS Portal to provide:• Specific and summary data on administrative tasks• Performance metrics on meeting service level agreements• Workload distribution information

Continuously updating ISS Portal as part of the ORD@WORK Portal (next major enhancement due in Oct 2006)

Monitoring

June 2006- ISS reorganization effective (officially assigned to

the IOAA)

Exploring opportunities to expand use of the Portal as a tool in other areas of ORD

Page 5February 27, 2007

ISS Mission and Objectives

Provide quality services according to negotiated performance standards and standard operating procedures

The ISS will efficiently and effectively provide exceptional financial and administrative support services. This high-performing team will create a

seamless experience for customers requesting service.

Provide easy access for customers to request services

Maintain dialogue with customers on quality service and satisfaction

Streamline work processes to better serve customers

Evaluate and continuously improve service

Page 6February 27, 2007

How We Performed

Page 7February 27, 2007

ISS Personnel Benefits

Certain staff members were able to gain team leader and management experience

Staff members have written SOPs and guidance for all tasks they complete

Staff members are given the opportunity to increase their knowledge, skills and abilities

Staff has designated support and back ups allowing for easier workload balancing during scheduled and unscheduled office absences

Staff is better positioned to take advantage of changes in the way ORD provides administrative services in the future.

Page 8February 27, 2007

ISS Customer Benefits

Customers receive higher quality service and products from well-trained ISS staff members

Customers can be sure their needs are still met when ISS staff members are away from the office

Customers have a clear understanding of when to expect services to be completed

Customers receive notification of when requests are received and completed

Customers can access the one stop Portal to request services, view points of contact and standard operating procedures for common administrative services

Page 9February 27, 2007

ISS Service Level Agreements (SLA)

86%88%90%92%94%96%98%

100%

Percentage of SLAs Met

Improvement in SLAs Met

Feb 06 - May 06

June 06 - Sept 06

Budget and Finance

Team

Extramural Management

Team

Human Resources

Team

Information and Facilities Management

Team

The ISS has improved its performance in meeting timeliness Service Level Agreements (SLA)

Page 10February 27, 2007

Performance Monitoring and Continuous Improvements

Organization Maturity

Mat

uri

ty o

f P

erf

orm

ance

Me

asu

res

Volume

The ISS is committed to monitoring performance levels of each service team. As the ISS matures, new performance measures are developed and monitored.

Adoption Rate

Customer Satisfaction

Staff Satisfaction

Quality

TimelinessFinancial

Page 11February 27, 2007

What We Have Learned

Page 12February 27, 2007

Observations and Lessons Learned ISS started out as a pilot and is now a proof of concept for

consolidation of administrative services Initial structure, 2 teams, did not work given workload and

training needs of staff Some initial staff assignments have been changed based on

workload Original process maps and SOPs needed enhancement Budget and human resources work assignments were modified

based on customer organization Continuous monitoring is needed of workload, staff training

needs, and customer interaction Portal works well as tool to receive work requests and provide

performance metrics

Page 13February 27, 2007

Where We Are Going

Page 14February 27, 2007

New bi-weekly team meetings to discuss new and existing work, balance workload and assign responsibilities

Team calendars to be kept showing staff availability and recurring tasks and deadlines

ISS Updates

Version 2.0 is coming- look and feel will be updated, more interactive services

Service requests will be integrated with ticket tracking software instead of manual Excel sheet

Training will be provided to staff to take advantage of new features

ISS Portal

Christiane Brown to head day-to-day operations for the ISSManagement

Changes

ISS Portal

Page 15February 27, 2007

Team Meeting AgendaPurpose: To ensure that all team tasks are prioritized and completed on time and that workload is distributed equitably.

5 minsTeam Member Schedule UpdateTeam members share updates to schedule- time off, alternate work schedule, etc. One member updates master calendar.

10 mins New and Open ItemsStaff members discuss new and open tasks

5 mins Closed ItemsStaff members report which items have been closed out

10 mins IssuesStaff members describe any issues or problems currently faced

5 mins Summary of Priorities and Actions Staff agree on prioritization of actions to complete that day and decisions are documented via email to all team members and ISS management

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DRAFT: For discussion purposes only

Office of Research & Development

ORD Goal 1 Meeting

July 18, 2006

Office of Research & Development

Administrative Efficiencies Project (AEP) Information Briefing and Status Update

February 12, 2007

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“Why Change?”

The rising costs of human capital, along with a flat year-out budget, will erode funding available for research and science.

ORD’s administrative support function is highly decentralized with each organizational unit having its own independent, unique administrative support structure.

The lack of standardization, specialization, and process automation across ORD indicates a significant opportunity to decrease costs associated with administrative support.

Making administrative support more efficient will enable ORD to meet its budget challenges and create opportunities to shift resources to its core mission, research and science.

To Preserve Our Mission...“Perform research and development to identify, understand, and solve

current and future environmental problems”

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“Why Now?”

Examining ORD's budget forecast from a macro-level reveals that projected savings from planned decreases to staff count alone will not be sufficient to counter the cost of rising wages.

Acting now will ensure processes and technologies are in place to offset diminishing workload capacity resulting from future staff reductions.

Projected

Reduction to

Staff

Count Through

Attrition

Projected Wage

Increases for

On-board Staff

Rising Staffing Costs

Flat Year-out Budget

Diminishing Funds

Available for

Research & Science

2006 2007 2008 2009 2010 2011 2012

Approx. $600 million

Projected

Reduction to

Staff

Count Through

Attrition

Projected Wage

Increases for

On-board Staff

Rising Staffing Costs

Flat Year-out Budget

Diminishing Funds

Available for

Research & Science

2006 2007 2008 2009 2010 2011 2012

Approx. $600 million

Given the enormity and timing of budget challenges, ORD must begin to prepare now to minimize the future impact on research and science.

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Note that CBPP represents cuts in real (not nominal) terms.

Source: CBPP, 2006http://www.cbpp.org/2-9-06bud.htm

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EPA’s S&T Appropriation

$730$788 $769 $770 $767 $779

0

100

200

300

400

500

600

700

800

900

FY 2006 FY 2007 FY 2008 FY 2009 FY 2010 FY 2011

Mill

ions

Appropriated Requested OMB Estimate* * Source: CBPP, 2006http://www.cbpp.org/2-9-06bud-computerrun.pdf

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ORD Budget by Component

$86.0

$65.3

Op. Exp.TravelWCF

$86.0

$93.7

Extramural

Earmarks

$0.0

$100.0

$200.0

$300.0

$400.0

$500.0

$600.0

$700.0

1999 2000 2001 2002 2003 2004 2005 2006 2007 2008 2009 2010 2011 2012 2013 2014

Enacted Pres.Bud.

Projected

(Do

llar

s in

Mil

lio

ns)

(Assumes 5% annual PCB growth - including COLA, Enrichment and Awards)

PCB

$557.2

STAR

Res. Support

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ORD FTE Actuals and Projected Budget

1974.8

1954.9

1931.9

1915.1

1895.6

1876.3

1857.2

1838.3

1819.59

1800

1820

1840

1860

1880

1900

1920

1940

1960

1980

2000

2004Actuals

2005Actuals

2006 2007 2008 2009 2010 2011 2012

FT

E

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ORD Cost per FTE Actuals and Projected Budget

$109.2

$115.4

$120.9

$127.8

$135.5

$143.7

$152.3

$161.4

$100.0

$110.0

$120.0

$130.0

$140.0

$150.0

$160.0

$170.0

2004Actuals

2005Actuals

2006 2007 2008 2009 2010 2011 2012

Co

st

pe

r F

TE

$ 0

00

's

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“What happened before this?”

Goal 1 study identified 92 service delivery improvement recommendations highlighting systemic, cross-cutting issues relating to administrative support.

As of Nov. 2006, 47 of the 92 recommendations either have been implemented or are in the process of being implemented.

The Administrative Efficiencies Project (AEP) is a continuation of the Goal 1 workgroups’ efforts to identify opportunities to “Provide exceptional administrative services”.

AEP analyses and final recommendations are based on the data collected during the Goal 1 effort*.

The Goal 1 workgroups identified significant opportunities for administrative improvement and savings across various administrative

support areas.

*NOTE: The AEP report and related information can be found at the ORD@Work homepage http://intranet.epa.gov/ordintra/

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“What is the AEP?”

Identify ORD-wide organizational alignment options and implementation approaches to achieve a 25% to 35% reduction in annual administrative support costs over a 5 year timeframe.

Identify and leverage ORD-wide approaches for the delivery and support of administrative services, including common business practices, standard operating procedures, and existing technology.

Maximize the use of ORD personnel’s knowledge, skills, and abilities.

Design an organization that takes advantage of industry and government best practices for administrative support service delivery management.

Create approaches that allow for ongoing performance monitoring based on agreed upon service level agreements and continuous improvement of administrative services.

An initiative launched in May of 2006 to analyze administrative service delivery at ORD and develop an improved ORD-wide service delivery

approach.

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NIH Administrative Consolidation - Initiative to reduce administrative cost through service consolidation in Acquisition, Budget, EEO, Facilities, Finance, Grants, Human Resources, and Information Technology.

NASA Shared Service Center (NSSC) - Consolidation of Financial Management, Human Resources, Information Technology, and Procurement. Projected annual labor cost savings of $8.7 million.

USDA Forest Service HR Consolidation - Centralization of HR functions to a single location in Albuquerque for an anticipated savings of $20 million a year.

EPA Centers of Excellence - Consolidate and streamline the Agency’s functions related to contracts, grants, and human resource by creating Centers of Excellence.

E-Gov Travel - GSA-managed E-Government initiative aimed to realize cost savings and increase service through common, automated, and integrated approaches to managing the travel function.

“Where else is this happening?” The President’s Management Agenda (PMA) and budget challenges are

forcing all Federal Agencies to focus on their core missions, and consolidate, centralize, and/or outsource non-core operational support activities.

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“How will this really benefit ORD?”

Achieve significant savings over the 5-year implementation period while minimizing disruption to staff

Counter the budget shortfall and allow funds to be redirected to research and science efforts

Increase customer satisfaction and service delivery through service level agreements and performance monitoring

Broaden capability for continuous improvement through process standardization and automation

Increase visibility into ORD-wide operations and reduce management burden through the implementation of a common administrative architecture

Specialize work environment for administrative staff enabling service ownership with transparent performance recognition and accountability

Changing the way ORD provides administrative support services will enable us to focus our resources on research and science.

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“Where are we now?”

Business lines include: budget, human resources, facilities, extramural, and information technology/information management

Team leads identified for budget and human resources and charged by the management council to develop detailed implement plans by September 30, 2007

Designs and implementation plans will be based on the requirements of the AEP charge and the vision of the high-level recommendations in the October report

Implementation planning for other lines of business will be initiated at a later date

The AEP report was issued in October of 2006 and recommended ORD alignment into five business lines.

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“What is the potential impact to administrative staff?”

ORD is committed to its workforce through the ORD Principles.

Professionalize personal skill-set through training and task specialization

Use expertise to shape more efficient, standardized administrative business processes at ORD and help lead change

Develop in-depth functional skills

Enhance knowledge sharing with other professionals

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Next Steps

1. Conduct briefings at all ORD locations with opportunities for Q&A (schedule TBD)

2. Design and implement process to involve affected staff in future state administrative support at ORD (schedule TBD)

3. Conduct routine communications with ORD communities via web, newsletters, and face-to-face meetings

ORD management plans to actively engage the administrative community during this effort.