OIG Strategic Plan 2013–2016 Update
In August 2013, we issued our Strategic Plan 2013–2016. Our vision is to be the trusted oversight organization of the Board and the CFPB. This past year, we laid the groundwork for improvement in providing timely, high-quality products and services; developing our workforce; engaging our stakeholders; and improving our internal operations. We have made significant progress thanks to the help and commitment of OIG staff members. Following are some of the highlights by goal area.
Goal 1: Deliver timely, high-quality products and services that promote agency improvement.
Timeliness
- As of the end of this reporting period, 44 percent of our issued reports in 2014 were completed within 9 months.
- Our response to a congressional request on the CFPB’s headquarters renovation was completed in 5 months.
- Several employee workgroups developed recommendations to reduce the cycle time of engagements, through initiatives such as standardizing processes for agency information requests and increasing the efficiency of the quality review process for our reports.
Quality
We established an OIG Quality Assurance program to ensure compliance with applicable standards for all OIG operations.
- Our Office of Audits and Evaluations received a rating of pass for a peer review conducted by the Tennessee Valley Authority OIG. The Tennessee Valley Authority OIG found that our system of quality control has been suitably designed and complied with to provide us with reasonable assurance of performing and reporting in conformity with the Government Auditing Standards, established by the Comptroller General of the United States, in all material respects.
- A U.S. Railroad Retirement Board OIG peer review found that our Office of Investigations was in compliance with the quality standards established by CIGIE and the applicable Attorney General guidelines.
Major Management Challenges
- Although not required by law, we developed for the first time our listings of major management challenges for the Board and the CFPB. These listings will help the Board as it embarks on its new strategic plan process and the CFPB as it continues to develop as a new agency. The listings will also help us focus our resources on critical areas to promote agency improvement.
Goal 2: Increase employee engagement; cultivate leadership; and foster a skilled, knowledgeable workforce.
- We conducted our second annual employee engagement survey last year. The survey results were positive, and we announced action plans to further improve certain areas of employee engagement. We are grateful that we have a committed and engaged workforce, and we strive to continually improve, recognizing that increased employee engagement equals improved organizational performance.
- This past year, we participated in a Board pilot performance management program. This program places emphasis on frequent employee-manager conversations focusing on the what (what employees do to accomplish their work) and the how (how employees accomplish their work). This program also emphasizes learning, improving, and growing in one’s career.
Goal 3: Optimize stakeholder engagement.
- We did preliminary work to determine how to promote a culture of engagement with our stakeholders and seek their input on the value and impact of our work. We plan to implement a feedback approach during the next calendar year.
- We unveiled a new website to improve our external communications. The website exemplifies our new brand as the OIG for the Board and the CFPB. It has a simple, clean, modern look; provides an online Hotline complaint form; and makes it easy for visitors (employees, congressional stakeholders, members of the media, and the general public) to find what they are looking for, including on a smartphone or a tablet.
Goal 4: Enhance the capacity of the OIG to accomplish expanded oversight while improving operational effectiveness.
- During this reporting period, we began efforts to collect and analyze data on a quarterly basis to assess OIG results and progress toward performance goals, a process we call OIG Stat. OIG Stat will allow us to better measure and report on our performance and identify improvement opportunities.
- CIGIE has published the Quality Standards for Federal Offices of Inspector General (also known as the Silver Book), which sets forth the overall quality framework for managing, operating, and conducting the work of OIGs. Our Quality Assurance program conducted our first-ever Silver Book review of OIG operations, found general OIG compliance with Silver Book standards, and made some recommendations for improvement.
