CPO: from the private sector to the federal government

The federal government's first Chief Performance Officer, Jeffrey Zients, faced a confirmation hearing in the Senate yesterday. The long-time CEO and entrepreneur says he'll try to convert his experience in the private sector into new ways to improve management of the government.

Officially, his title is the Deputy Director for Management at the Office of Management and Budget, but for all intents and purposes, "Chief Performance Officer" is how the White House and OMB Director Peter Orzag are looking at Jeff Zeints.

In his opening statement at his confirmation hearing before the Senate Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs Committee, Zeints first talked about his own management philosophy.

As a CEO, I've always focused on three areas: leadership, measurement and a motivated workforce. I believe leadership starts with putting the right team together, and articulating the right goals for the organization. Measurement means translating these goals into an operating plan with clear metrics. A motivated workforce means creating an environment to attract and keep the best talent. I believe these three are the keys to strong performance.

During the question and answer session, Maine Senator Susan Collins, Republican and ranking member of the committee, took issue with a legacy of the Bush Administration: PART, the much ballyhooed Program Assessment Rating Tool.

She explained that in hearings by her Senate committee and examinations by the Government Accountability Office virtually no government agencies used PART ratings to set budget priorities for federal programs, despite the high cost and personnel time used to compile the data for PART, which is self-reported by the agencies and not subject to an independent audit.

Zients said he agreed with Collins, that "the test of a performance management system is 'is it being used?'" Zients says he favors a more collaborative approach involving all stakeholders to create a better system than PART.

Responding to lawmakers, Zients said:

• Government is appreciably different from the private sector, where the bottom line is the ultimate arbiter of success or failure. In government, success or failure of a program can differ from agency to agency, depending on the goal of the program.

• Reforming the federal hiring process is key to preparing the government to hire the next generation of federal workers to replace the "golden tsumani" of retirees expected to leave government service in the next decade.

• He supports President Obama's call to redefine "inherently governmental work," to determine what jobs need to be brought back into the federal service and which jobs are more appropriately outsourced to outside contractors.

There's no word from the committee when Zients' nomination will come up for a vote before going to the full Senate, where he is expected to be approved.

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