I am pleased to present the Strategic Plan 2013–2016 for the Office of Inspector General (OIG) of the Board of Governors of the Federal Reserve System (Board) and the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB).
The Strategic Plan 2013–2016 provides an overview of our organizational goals and objectives for the next three years and the indicators we will use to measure our performance. As part of this strategic planning process, we developed a new vision: "To be the trusted oversight organization of the Board and the CFPB." This vision stems directly from our commitment to provide independent, objective, and effective oversight and to be the primary organization responsible for addressing questions from the public and Congress regarding the accountability of the Board and the CFPB.
Accordingly, our overriding strategic goal is to provide timely, high-quality products that promote improvement within the Board and the CFPB. Our other goals focus on developing our workforce, optimizing our engagement with our stakeholders, and enhancing the capacity of our office to accomplish our oversight duties and maximize our own operational effectiveness.
The plan is the culmination of a months-long process that included a thorough functional assessment and organizational review of the OIG, as well as outreach to our stakeholders at the Board, the CFPB, and Congress, to gain their perspectives on how we can provide value and achieve results.
Much has changed since our last strategic plan was issued, including my appointment as Inspector General. Both the Board and the CFPB have unveiled their new strategic plans for the coming years, and the effectiveness of our oversight depends on having a strategic plan that aligns with those of the Board and the CFPB and with the challenges they face. Our plan must remain dynamic; it must position us not only to adapt to changes at the Board and the CFPB but also to anticipate them.
My thanks go to the OIG staff for their dedication and tireless effort to bring positive change to the agencies we oversee. I look forward to working with my staff to make the OIG the trusted oversight organization of the Board and the CFPB.
/signed/
Mark Bialek
Inspector General
The Office of Inspector General (OIG) provides independent oversight by conducting audits, evaluations, investigations, and other reviews of the programs and operations of the Board of Governors of the Federal Reserve System (Board) and the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB) and demonstrates leadership by making recommendations to improve economy, efficiency, and effectiveness and by preventing and detecting fraud, waste, and abuse.
To be the trusted oversight organization of the Board and the CFPB.
We will realize our vision by being
Dynamic. We are proactive and adaptable to changing circumstances while striving to continuously improve.
Insightful. We understand complex issues from various perspectives and provide valuable, meaningful information to our stakeholders.
Value Added. We provide products and services that exceed expectations and produce positive, useful results.
Engaged. We are committed to our strategic direction and to building trust with each other and with our stakeholders. We are empowered to make a positive impact.
Integrity. We hold ourselves and each other to the highest ethical standards.
Objectivity and Independence. We conduct our work based on supportable facts without bias or undue influence.
Respect. We treat each other and our stakeholders with consideration, professionalism, and dignity.
Excellence. We are committed to achieving the highest quality in everything we do.
Collaboration and Teamwork. Our success lies in working together; fostering an inclusive and mutually supportive environment; and affording each team member the opportunity to contribute, learn, develop, and grow.
Various environmental factors impact the OIG's services, business processes, and organizational structure. The following summarizes the external and internal environmental factors that influenced the development of the OIG's Strategic Plan 2013–2016.
Given their critical roles in the nation's economy, the Board and the CFPB have come under increased scrutiny in the years since the financial crisis. Therefore, as the OIG for both agencies, we are receiving increased requests and inquiries for timely information from Congress and other stakeholders.
The Federal Deposit Insurance Act, as amended, requires that the OIG review failures of financial institutions supervised by the Board. Given the decline in the number of state member bank failures over the past two years, we are focusing more resources on Board and CFPB high-risk areas.
Because of the Board's and the CFPB's increased use of IT resources and big data (large and complex collections of data sets), as well as emerging cybersecurity threats, we are increasing our focus on IT issues.
Our organization has grown significantly since our oversight responsibilities were expanded to include the CFPB and new Board responsibilities. As a result, the majority of our staff is relatively new. We have undertaken several initiatives, such as workforce planning and succession planning, to enable us to manage our growth effectively.
The growth of our organization due to our expanded oversight responsibility has required that we integrate a new middle-management level to better handle a growing workload, improve policies and procedures and administrative support, and build our staff 's expertise in complex subject-matter areas.
During the last year, we conducted a complete functional assessment and organizational review of the OIG. This review highlighted the need for adjustments to our organizational framework to ensure that we effectively adapt to changing circumstances, provide consistent and timely oversight of the Board and the CFPB, improve our internal operations, and develop expertise in key oversight areas. The results of the functional assessment and organizational review informed our reorganization.
Our strategic plan addresses four focus areas that are paramount to our success as an organization. Each focus area has a single goal with objectives and performance indicators. The objectives detail specific outcomes that we must achieve to realize our goals and execute our strategy, and the performance indicators are the mechanisms by which we will assess our progress in attaining our objectives and goals.
Deliver timely, high-quality products and services that promote agency improvement.
Increase employee engagement; cultivate leadership; and foster a skilled, knowledgeable workforce.
Optimize stakeholder engagement.
Enhance the capacity of the OIG to accomplish expanded oversight while improving operational effectiveness.
We conduct audits, evaluations, investigations, and other reviews of Board and CFPB programs and operations to promote their improvement and to detect and prevent fraud, waste, and abuse. The success of our work depends on its timeliness, quality, and measurable impact on agency programs and operations.
Strategic Goal 1: Deliver timely, high-quality products and services that promote agency improvement.
| Objectives | Performance Indicators |
|---|---|
| Reduce the completion time of engagements | Percentage of audits and evaluations completed within annual performance targets |
| Enhance quality standards and streamline the report drafting and quality review process for OIG products | Improvement in annual employee survey and focus group results |
| Focus OIG resources on critical agency programs, operations, and management challenges | Percentage of audits and evaluations focusing on major management challenges and high-risk areas |
| Implement effective project management approaches in all OIG functions | Effective performance metrics dashboard for OIG functions |
| Reduced project completion times | |
| Establish a process to measure the impact of OIG products | Survey responses and stakeholder feedback on OIG reports |
| Percentage of corrective action recommendations accepted and implemented | |
| Cost savings or measurable improvements in efficiency or effectiveness of agency programs or operations |
Our employees must be fully engaged for our organization to reach its full potential. We believe that effective leadership fosters employee engagement and that employee engagement increases organizational performance.
Strategic Goal 2: Increase employee engagement; cultivate leadership; and foster a skilled, knowledgeable workforce.
| Objectives | Performance Indicators |
|---|---|
| Promote a culture of involvement, continuous feedback, and recognition | Improvement in annual employee survey and focus group results |
| Improve message content, delivery methods, and timeliness of internal communications | Improvement in annual employee survey and focus group results |
| Implement an effective framework for career development | Development and implementation of career and training map models for auditors, investigators, and other OIG staff based on OIG competencies |
| Improvement in annual employee survey and focus group results | |
| Increase interaction among various OIG functional areas | Development and implementation of written procedures formalizing interactions among OIG functional areas |
| Establish an effective knowledge management system | Increased use of the established knowledge management system |
We have a variety of stakeholders, including the agencies we oversee; Congress; and, ultimately, the public. To effectively engage all our stakeholders, the work we undertake should reflect their concerns and input, and the results of our work should be communicated as timely and effectively as possible.
Strategic Goal 3: Optimize stakeholder engagement.
| Objectives | Performance Indicators |
|---|---|
| Promote a culture of engagement with stakeholders | Annual assessment of quantity and quality of stakeholder outreach |
| Encourage stakeholder input | Annual assessment of stakeholder input on OIG work |
| Improve message content, delivery methods, and timeliness of external communications | Annual survey of stakeholders on the effectiveness of our external communications |
Because an OIG evaluates how well agency programs and operations function, we have a particular responsibility to ensure that we operate as effectively and efficiently as possible. We should be a model organization that strives to continuously improve.
Strategic Goal 4: Enhance the capacity of the OIG to accomplish expanded oversight while improving operational effectiveness.
| Objectives | Performance Indicators |
|---|---|
| Evaluate OIG performance to identify areas for improvement | Effective use of performance metrics dashboard for all OIG operations |
| Improvement in annual employee survey and focus group results | |
| Promote a culture of continuous improvement | Improvement in annual employee survey and focus group results |
| Enhance productivity through further integration of technology | Increased use of data analytics in audits, evaluations, and investigations |
| Redevelopment and increased use of SharePoint | |
| Improvement in annual employee survey and focus group results | |
| Assess the current organizational framework to ensure the effectiveness of our oversight of the Board and the CFPB | Annual review of the current organizational framework |
| Improvement in annual employee survey and focus group results |
