Option #2: Total quality management and the Office of Personnel Management (OPM) on Federal Retirements

Description

The Government Accounting Office (GAO), Office of Personnel Management (OPM) in May of 2019 published the Federal Retirement: OPM Actions Needed to Improve Application Processing Times. OPM has a goal of processing most retirement application in 60 days, but for several years has not met that standard. The GAO OPM for that reason, studied the process for federal retirement processing to determine root causes of delays, and to determine what strategies should be employed to remedy the situation.   (Links to an external site.) While the document provides root cause analysis and recommends six opportunities for improvements, it offers no quality management plan. You have been contracted to develop a quality management plan, and you will report to the Comptroller General of the United States, the director of the Government Accountability Office. The GAO is a legislative branch agency established by Congress in 1921 to ensure the fiscal and managerial accountability of the federal government. If your quality management plan is acceptable, the Comptroller General of the United States will support your company for project managing the implementation of funded improvements. This could be a long and lucrative contract for your company. Note: While the document at the core of this assignment is an actual document published by The Government Accounting Office, the quality management scenario described is fictional and only for the educational purpose of showing mastery of the course objectives set forth for this course. In Module 8, you are asked to build upon your work from Module 3 and show additional mastery through other course modules. Provide the following quality management plan in your final portfolio: Provide an opening paragraph which describes the importance of the using this case to show your mastery of course objectives, and mapping of what is contained in your paper to prove that mastery. Delineate your next section with a header, and in less than one page, describe the current situation with federal retirement processing, the recommendations from the GAO study, and the role of the GAO OPM in promoting quality. Delineate your next section using headers and sub-headers with your work from Module 3. Include any updates that you wish to make as a result of learning more about quality management, and input from your instructor in Module 3 for the following:  Is the current Federal Retirement: OPM Actions Needed to Improve Application Processing Times document one that promotes high quality? If yes, how? If no, why not and what should change to promote quality? Support your position with specific references to the GAO report or current scholarly documentation. What do you interpret to be meant by “quality” from the perspective of the GAO OPM, retirees, Congressional leaders, and the public both now and in the future? What support do you have for your position with specific references to the SCIDG or current scholarly documentation? What are the drivers for change, and the barriers to change from the perspective of the GAO OPM, retirees, Congressional leaders, and the public? Are there competing drivers for change that may impact quality from the public’s perspective? Support your position with specific references to the GAO report or current scholarly documentation. Delineate your next section with a header to discuss the operational issues that must be managed and controlled to support quality including partnering and strategic alliances if any are pertinent. How will those issues be managed and controlled in your plan? As usual, what support do you have for your position with specific references to the GAO report or current scholarly documentation? Delineate your next section with a header to discuss the human resource issues that must be managed and controlled to support quality including employee empowerment, teamwork, education and training. How will those issues be managed and controlled in your plan? As usual, what support do you have for your position with specific references to the GAO report or current scholarly documentation? Delineate your next section with a header to discuss customer satisfaction and how it will be measured. How will and when will measurement happen in your plan? As usual, what support do you have for your position with specific references to the GAO report or current scholarly documentation? Delineate your next section with a header to discuss how problems will be solved, conflicts resolved, and how decisions will be made especially any interagency issues, or legislative issues that may arise. As usual, what support do you have for your position with specific references to the GAO report or current scholarly documentation? Delineate your next section with a header to discuss what quality tools should be used, when and how, including communications tools, process control tools, benchmarking, or other tools as you find appropriate. What support do you have for your position with specific references to the GAO report or current scholarly documentation? Finally, conclude with the final section making a recommendation to the Comptroller General of the United States for your plans, and why your company is in the best position to lead the quality management effort going forward through implementation.