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Board of Governors of the Federal Reserve System
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Government Performance and Results Act Annual Performance Report
2011

Internal Board Support Function


Strategic Goal

Foster the integrity, efficiency, and effectiveness of Board programs and operations

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Annual Performance Objectives

  1. High-caliber staff: Develop appropriate policies, oversight mechanisms, and measurement criteria to ensure that the recruiting, training, and retention of staff meet Board needs
  2. Fair, equal treatment of employees: Establish, encourage, and enforce a climate of fair and equitable treatment for all employees regardless of race, creed, color, national origin, age, or sex
  3. Effective planning and management: Provide strategic planning and financial management support needed for sound business decisions
  4. Security of information: Provide cost-effective and secure information resource-management services to Board divisions by supporting divisional distributed processing requirements and provide analysis on information technology issues to the Board, the Reserve Banks, other financial regulatory institutions, and other central banks
  5. Safe, secure work environment: Provide safe, modern, secure facilities and necessary support for activities conducive to efficient and effective Board operations

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Performance Metrics

See table 3 for the five metrics, targets, and results for the one-year period.

Table 3. Performance metrics: Internal Board support function

Metric Target Results
Develop qualified and diverse pools of internal and external candidates for all position postings. Increase the number of qualified and diverse candidates at the Board.
    The Board continues to enhance and expand its outreach recruitment efforts toward the objective of increasing diversity in the applicant pool. The Board uses a variety of recruitment methods, which include attending college and university career fairs; posting positions on job boards; placing advertisements in targeted minority and female publications; and announcing job opportunities internally and externally with industry, trade, and minority and female professional organizations. To assess the effectiveness of the different recruitment channels and strategies in achieving a diverse applicant pool, the Board performs applicant tracking reviews to determine the diversity of applicant pools, recruitment source, and hire results. Information derived from program assessments is used to improve diversity outreach and recruitment efforts. The increased outreach efforts have resulted in diverse hires for job categories with low minority representation and an increase in diverse applicant pools for a number of positions.
Enhance management accountability for EEO, diversity, and inclusion strategy execution. No specific target.

    The Office of Minority, Women and Inclusion (OMWI) was established January, 2011, pursuant to section 342 of the Dodd-Frank Act. The OMWI office is included in the Office of Diversity and Inclusion (ODI). The ODI builds on the Board's longstanding efforts to promote equal employment opportunity and diversity and to foster inclusion in all aspects of its mission and scope. An ODI strategic plan is being developed to establish and communicate the Board's goals and objectives for fostering an inclusive work environment where diversity is respected and leveraged to better serve the agency's mission.

    The inclusion of three performance objectives for officers and managers focus on EEO, diversity, and inclusion: (1) engage in effective communications; (2) encourage staff development; (3) demonstrate and promote EEO, diversity, and inclusion. The performance review process measures results that are visible, specific, persistent, and intentional. Each operational division has an EEO liaison who works with ODI to address recruitment and retention issues specific to the liaison's division. The ODI, in conjunction with each EEO liaison, monitors progress on increasing the workforce diversity and addressing barriers to EEO, diversity, and inclusion.
Receive an unqualified opinion for the Board's annual financial audit, as well as for the accompanying reviews of internal controls and compliance with laws and regulations. Receive an unqualified opinion on the Board's financial statements.
    The Board achieved a clean opinion on the financial statements, as well as a clean internal control opinion. No deficiencies noted, and no management letter comments provided by the auditors.
Enhance Boardwide physical security to protect Board resources. Continue updating perimeter security to better control pedestrian/vehicle traffic on or around the facilities.
    As a result of the Law Enforcement Unit's (LEU) comprehensive vulnerability assessment, the Board commenced an upgrade to perimeter security in 2011, including the New York Avenue perimeter security upgrade project as well as security enhancements to the C Street vehicle barrier project. Additional alarms and security cameras have been installed at the International Square location and the Board's warehouse; LEU response plans are in place for both locations. These projects will improve the LEU's ability to protect the Board's infrastructure and personnel.
Reduce the threat of disruption to operations and improve our capacity for disaster recovery to reduce the time needed to resume normal operations. No specific target.

    The Board has made considerable progress in enhancing the ability to continuously perform the Federal Reserve's essential functions during a natural disaster, influenza pandemic, or man-made disaster. The Board's continuity of operations plans (COOP) are reviewed and updated annually. Steps taken to address a possible influenza pandemic greatly enhanced the ability of Board divisions to work via remote access to Board information technology (IT) networks. This COOP plan was tested during severe snowstorms in 2009 and 2010, when a large number of employees worked from home and were able to log on, as well as to participate in audio conference calls that substituted for on-site meetings.

    In addition, the IT infrastructure at the Board's relocation site has been upgraded and can be quickly made operational in response to a crisis. The Board also operates multiple secure communications systems in accordance with the requirements of Directive 3-10 from the National Communications System. The Board exercises its ability to perform its essential functions from the relocation site three times a year--during an annual Department of Homeland Security and Federal Emergency Management Agency exercise and two Board contingency tests. In 2011, the Board adopted a flexible COOP implementation strategy focused on readiness and tied to threat reporting. As a result, the Board works closely with members of the intelligence and law enforcement communities to ensure the latest national intelligence estimates are incorporated into physical protection plans and IT security.

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Operational Processes and Resources Required to Meet Goals

In this Section:

Operational Processes, Skills, and Technology

Although support and overhead activities do not represent the core operations of the Board, they are important to the successful accomplishment of the Board's mission. The Management Division bears major responsibilities for providing line operations staff with the tools they need to conduct their operations effectively and efficiently. The division is responsible for Boardwide personnel and financial management activities; property management; coordination of strategic planning, budget formulation, execution and reporting; and procurement. It also provides the full spectrum of facility and logistical support for the Board's day-to-day operations, including managing office space and property and providing food services and physical security. The Legal Division provides support for the procurement and personnel functions, including the ethics program. The Office of Staff Director has oversight responsibilities for the EEO programs, the Office of Diversity and Inclusion program, and continuity of operations and business resumption activities. Finally, a portion of the resources allocated to the Division of Information Technology, as a direct expense, goes to provide infrastructure support that is not charged to the functional areas, including mainframe operations, central automation and telecommunication support, data and communications security, local area network administration, and technology reviews that benefit all Board functions.

Funding and Resources

The resources used to achieve this goal are reported in the Information Technology, Legal, Management, and Office of Staff Director divisions; IT Income, Residual Retirement, and Special Projects; and in the Office of the Inspector General, whose combined 2011 expenses were $199.8 million. The amount includes costs for 1,132 authorized positions.

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Validation and Verification of Measured Values

Performance is measured using data from various Board data systems. The financial management system, a relational database maintained on a distributed network, is tightly linked to the budget system. This link facilitates performance reporting and management control. The personnel management system, also a relational database maintained on a distributed network, is linked to the financial system through the payroll interface and the chart of accounts and to the budget system through the position, cost, and control reports.

Costs for centrally provided information resources are controlled by the IT transfer-pricing system, which ensures that information resources--a significant portion of the Board's budget--are properly planned, reviewed, and supported and are charged to the requesting division. The transfer pricing system ensures accountability by providing managers with a tool for comparing the costs and benefits of projects and then deciding whether it is more efficient to directly budget the resources needed to perform the work or to pay the Division of Information Technology to perform the work.

The Board's financial system, which follows generally accepted accounting principles, is audited by an independent outside auditor to ensure that financial statements provide a fair assessment of the Board's financial situation. As part of that audit, which is managed by the Board's Office of Inspector General, internal controls are reviewed and a formal report is provided to the Board. To ensure efficiency, various components of the Board's operations are subject to external professional review.

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Last update: July 10, 2012

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